FOREWORD 19 



the attendant conditions of "general debility," neurasthenia, etc., 

 where a general tonic effect is desired. For treatment of severe 

 rheumatoid conditions, of tuberculosis, and of cancer, I turn at 

 once to a Proteal containing Alfalfa protein (Proteals No. 29, 

 No. 39, or No. 60), or to the combination of proteins of Alfalfa 

 seed, Alfalfa meal, and Millet, as represented by Proteal No. 45. 

 Not infrequently I shift from one Proteal to another, experi- 

 mentally, after a few doses; and sometimes I have found that 

 an individual patient responds far better to one type of protein 

 than to another, regardless of the type of malady. 



In my office recently a case of tuberculosis, for example, 

 showed slight modification of symptoms under Rape seed protein 

 (No. 42), but responded promptly when a shift was made to 

 Alfalfa protein (No. 60). Such individual idiosyncrasies are to 

 be expected, in the light of our knowledge of varying suscepti- 

 bility to the proteins of therapeutic serums, and should always 

 be looked for when a case fails to respond to initial Proteal treat- 

 ment. No conclusion should be drawn, however, until after the 

 administration of at least eight or ten doses. 



It should be borne in mind, also, that gradual and cumulative 

 improvement, rather than sudden and spectacular changes, may 

 be expected in the treatment of such chronic and intractable con- 

 ditions as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, even in the most 

 favorable cases. 



The Proteal response is totally different from the specific re- 

 sponse of the therapeutic serums and vaccines. Proteals are not 

 Serums or Vaccines. Each of these words is a generic term, 

 having a restricted meaning, and the words cannot properly be 

 used interchangeably. By definition, a Proteal is a solution of 

 non-specific vegetable proteins. Serums are specific agents with 

 an animal blood serum for the excipient. Vaccines, in the mod- 

 ern interpretation, are specific bacterial cultures containing the 

 dead bodies of bacteria and their toxins. 



Serums and vaccines necessarily contain proteins, and no doubt 

 they have a non-specific action along with the desired specific 

 action. To a limited extent they have been used non-specifically 

 (typhoid vaccine, for example, in the treatment of arthritis), but 

 such use seems to me unwarranted unless it shall appear that, 

 when thus used, they have therapeutic advantages over the non- 

 specific and non-toxic vegetable proteins (Proteals), which lack 

 their toxicity. 



The vaccines in particular, whatever their value in this con- 

 nection, cannot be expected to duplicate the Proteal response, be- 

 cause their type of protein (bacterial) is different from that of 

 the higher vegetables. As illustrating a typical difference in re- 

 sponse, the vaccines invoke a polynucleosis, whereas a typical 



