The basis of the histamine assay in human skin: II. Wheal formation

1. Subepidermal injection of histamine solutions in isotonic saline in four subjects evoked whealing after a mean delay of 2.6 min, this estimate being derived by regression modelling. 2. Wheal growth was better modelled by the logarithm of time than by time, suggesting that wheal size depends upon assisted diffusion of histamine in the dermis. 3. Wheal growth was piecemeal, not continuous, consistent with the successive involvement of neighbouring vascular territories. 4. Wheal growth was completed by 9 min after injection.