prised of the sojourn wrote (September 22, 1932) : "Some- 277 

 how, I had not heard of your illness. Dear Wherry, I hope you 

 are better and that things are going well with you." He 

 answered (September 26, 1932) : 



I should certainly have looked you up had I been able to make 

 the trip into Chicago. I think I am through with my angina 

 . . . and am back on the job. I do hope that the position of 

 the Memorial institute has improved, for the splendid record 

 it has made must not be interrupted. Dr Jordan told me in 

 confidence about it. 



He was able to make the Montreal meeting of the American 

 college of physicians in February of 1933. A (four page!) 

 printed report [81] told his tale. 



An important factor in susceptibility and immunity and one 

 largely overlooked is that it is requisite, in order for bacteria 

 to thrive and multiply, to have food in solution. ... A 

 microorganism can lead a parasitic existence only when food 

 substances are provided by a host; thrives at low oxygen 

 tension; puts the gels of the host in solution. If after implant- 

 ing itself in the tissues of a host, the interaction between the 

 parasite and the host leads to the liberation of substances which 

 injure the host and interfere with the normal defense mecha- 

 nism of the host then the parasite is a pathogenic parasite. In 

 the sensitized animal the ability to split a specific protein is 

 greatly enhanced and the phenomena of ordinary inflamma- 

 tion are greatly exaggerated. . . . The reaction between 

 parasite and host leads to marked local edema. 



The thing at stake, in his mind, was how most effectively 

 to "desensitize" the patient. It might be accomplished "ac- 

 tively" by the use of small doses, frequently repeated, of a 

 specific antigen — a proper vaccine; or "passively," through 

 employment of a correct antiserum. "For the treatment of 

 acute bacterial infections accompanied by hypersensitivity our 

 hope must lie in the production of desensitizing antisera," 

 Wherry wrote. 



In the rest of his report he detailed the good results he had 

 had by the last named methods in killing down the hang-over 

 signs and symptoms "due to persistent hypersensitivity" in a 

 whole flock of infections. But he did not reserve this glory to 



