612 BIOLOGY OF PNEUMOCOCCUS 



other organism may be present. Lastly, the infection may be so 

 severe that specific treatment is ineffectual, or the infection may 

 be overcome but the patient, exhausted by the struggle, succumbs. 



Summary 



A notable beginning has been made, but it is after all only a be- 

 ginning. With the development of more potent and refined serum, 

 possibly from an animal other than the horse, and a better knowl- 

 edge of dosage, with a wider appreciation of the urgency of early 

 diagnosis and prompt administration of serum, and with greater 

 discrimination in the use of this biological agent, the doubts which 

 linger in many a medical mind should be largely dissipated and 

 specific serum treatment should advance to an even more impor- 

 tant place than that which it now holds in the treatment of pneu- 

 monia. 



