100 APPLIED IMMUNOLOGY 



properly standardized unit of complement and hsemo- 

 lytic amboceptor, as suggested to us by Laird, instead 

 of double or triple units as employed by many 

 workers. We must conclude that with cholesterinized 

 antigens, varying degrees of inhibition of hsemolysis 

 may be obtained in serums from many conditions 

 other than syphilis, and in normal persons. While ex- 

 perimental investigations are to be highly commended, 

 we therefore regard the employment of these artificial 

 antigens for routine clinical use at the present stage of 

 our knowledge, instead of being an advance in sero- 

 logic technic, rather as a distinct step backward. 



Schamberg, Kolmer, and others report that they 

 obtained positive Wassermann reactions, using the 

 cholesterinized antigens in over 28 per cent, of twenty- 

 two cases of psoriasis, in a great many of which syphi- 

 lis could almost certainly be excluded, thus providing 

 evidence that weak reactions with these antigens do 

 not necessarily mean syphilis, and that a diagnosis of 

 syphilis cannot be based on weak and medium inhibi- 

 tions when they are employed. We hold that weakly 

 positive reactions with syphilitic liver-extract mean 

 nothing but syphilis. Even though it were true that 

 the cholesterinized antigens give a more " delicate " 

 reaction and may furnish positive results in cases of 

 syphilis that are negative to the syphilitic liver-ex- 

 tract, it is a very much less serious error to overlook an 



