FONG WAN - Library

POISON OAK
Berkeley, California.
In the summer of 1922, while I was attending the seven-day Confer-
ence of the Presbyterian Young People at San Anselmo, in the midst of
my enjoyment, I contracted a very severe case of Poison Oak. My
friends fairly whitewashed me with soda and I tried other remedies
without any perceivable effect, as the Poison Oak continued to spread.
The pus dripped so copiously from one of my forearms that one of the
Conference leaders went to a private home and begged an old sheet
with which to bandage me. My face and neck were so bad that I tried
to isolate myself from my companions for fear that they might catch it.
I returned in torment to Berkeley with my face swollen almost
beyond recognition and one of my eyes nearly closed. When I entered
the house, my mother, who has great faith in the FONG WAN HERB-
ALIST, lost no time in phoning him and describing my condition. He
sent me a package of white powder by Special Delivery. I wasn't par-
tial to Chinese Herbs myself, for I hated the smell of them when they
were cooking and I liked their taste less, but as this was an odorless
white powder, which neither burned not discolored the skin, and which
required only to be mixed with a little water into a thin paste, I was
willing to give it a trial.
Within an hour after the first application, the pus had ceased to
drip and the terrible burning and itching were almost gone. Four appli-
cations had been made before bedtime, and the inflammation was al-
ready beginning to subside. My sleep was undisturbed and when I got
up the next morning I scarcely recognized myself in the glass, as the
swelling in my face was gone, both eyes were open wide, and the
eruption had begun to dry. Within twenty-four hours after the first
application it had practically disappeared. Three days later when I
went to church with my skin smooth and natural, my friends who had
come home with me could hardly believe their eyes. They insisted upon
knowing what had wrought the magic.
My own prejudice against Chinese Herbs had been completely over-
come, and in March, 1923, when I came down with a bad case of Flu,
accompanied by high fever and bloody urine, I drank the herbs without
protest and was back at College within a week.
In the spring of 1924 my mother heard that a young girl friend out
at Danville had planned to come to Berkeley on a certain day to buy
her Easter1 hat, but had been prevented because she was suifering so
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