Charles Harrison Blackley (5 April 1820 – 4 September 1900) was the discoverer of the mechanism behind

allergic rhinitis Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...

caused by

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

, commonly called hay fever. The isolation of hay fever as a condition had been known since 1819 through the work of

John Bostock John Joseph Bostock (born 15 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Notts County. Bostock made his professional debut for Crystal Palace at the age of 15. In 2008, he signed for Tottenham Hotsp ...

. Blackley was the first to connect pollen to the condition, and though he held some later discredited views, his insight was an important step in the research of allergens. His most important work was a book titled the ''Experimental Researches on the Causes and Nature of Catarrhus aestivus'', published in 1873. Charles Darwin had read this book and wrote to thank him for it. He was very interested in Blackley’s experiments and in another letter explained that some pollens are wind-blown while others depend on insects for dispersal, for which Blackley was extremely grateful. Correspondence between Blackley and Darwin is being published through the

Darwin Correspondence Project The British naturalist Charles Darwin corresponded with his extended family and with an extraordinarily wide range of people from all over the world. The letters, over 15,000 in all, provide many insights on issues ranging from the origins of ...

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Darwin Correspondence Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackley, Charles Harrison 1820 births 1900 deaths People from Bolton 19th-century English medical doctors

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