INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM 

 INFLUENCE OF COLD ON HOST- PARASITE INTERACTIONS 



L. Joe Berry 



Department of Biology 



Bryn Mawr College 



Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 



The purpose of the Symposium is familiar to all of you, but permit 

 me the privilege of stating it in my own way. It is our task in the 

 two and one- half days ahead to look critically at an area that is part 

 science, part superstition, and part unknown, with the view of deter- 

 mining how much time, effort, and money should be spent in its 

 study. We must ask now and throughout the proceedings whether 

 cold is an important factor in modifying or altering host- parasite 

 interaction. We have been brought here by a branch of the Armed 

 Forces of the United States because the medical authorities of that 

 branch charged with the responsibilities of safe- guarding the health 

 of military and civilian personnel, who are, for the sake of the 

 security of our country, forced to live in hostile environments, need 

 to have an answer. They arelookingtous for help, and if it is with- 

 in our wisdom to provide, I know we will. There is before us, there- 

 fore, a very real and practical problem which is our primary con- 

 cern; but there is also the challenge of pure science. Medical and 

 biological science from its earliest history has been preoccupied 

 and inquisitive about the role the environment plays in the behavior 

 and response of living organisms. I do not know to what extent the 

 phases of the moon exert an influence at the time of planting or 

 cultivating, or harvesting the yield and value of crops, but I have 

 heard in my youth from many firm and dogmatic assertions by 

 practicing farmers that they do. I also recall with some nostalgia 

 my mother, my great aunts, and indeed, our faithful country doctor 

 warning against wet feet, cold on the back of the neck, night aii; 

 cooling off too fast from a good sweat and the dire consequences 

 (all of an infectious nature) that would otherwise result. I remember 

 with affection my mother's wish to protect me from the hostile 



