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. It is classified as a type I hypersensitivity reaction. Signs a ...

caused by

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

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

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.

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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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