Abstract
To the Editor.— The Editorial (212: 1514, 1970) on the Mitey Allergen in House Dust, commits the commonest of fallacies in human reasoning: generalization from the particular. That mites constituteanactive, evenanimportant factor involved in house dust sensitivity is an established fact: but not that it istheactive principle of house dusts. If mites weretheactive principle, thenallpatients sensitive to house dust would react toeveryhouse dust extract that is a proven cause of clinical allergy in a particular patient. This is certainly not the case. House dusts are obviously conglomerates, with compositions that vary as much as do the people who live in the houses. Different patients may be sensitive to different specific components, and not necessarily to some common components, such as mites, or animal hair (wool) that are present in many or most dusts. Thus, in my experience, of
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