The development of specialization in allergy; a historical review and a view ahead.

Clinical allergy as a special field of practice is a little more than twenty-five years old. The organized efforts of the two national societies for the study of allergy and the many county, state and regional groups of physicians interested in allergic diseases have served to bring all workers in the field together in pursuit of a common objective. However, the foundation stones for the specialty were laid by a number of astute clinical observers during the past hundred years. This historical sketch aims to portray these men and their work, and points out how the introduction of the skin test as a diagnostic method has dominated the clinical approach to allergic diseases during the past half-century-and that the technique is gradually losing some of its significance. This changing emphasis from the older diagnostic procedures to other techniques is the results of the discovery of the new hormones, cortisone and corticotropin (ACTH). These hormones have presented another method of studying the mechanism of allergic phenomena in man. Finally, brief reference is made to the growing recognition of the significance of the psychosomatic factors in the management of the allergic patient and the influence of this and the other additions to knowledge on the training of the future generations of allergists.