The working hypothesis is presented that states of repressed, intense frustrated longing are of central importance in certain cases of common cold, asthma, hay fever, and urticaria. Whatever the more specific factors in the choice of site for the symptom, the repressed longing, basically for the mother, frustrated or threatened with frustration, occupies the central rôle. The longing, which is only one factor in the production of the symptoms, operates in some cases independently of, and in other cases together with specific allergic sensitivities, perhaps increasing them in the individual. It is a biological factor which apparently influences and complements allergic sensitivity in certain cases.