FIXATION OF COMPLEMENT 149 



with this work is the comparative importance and 

 value of the serological and bacteriological examina- 

 tion of cases of suspected gonorrhoeal infection. It is, 

 to-day, a fact that the judiciary courts of our land re- 

 quire that the presence of the gonococcus be demon- 

 strated, culturally, in order to establish its indisput- 

 able and legal identity. Based on this qualification, 

 there are many cases of gonococcic infection impos- 

 sible to determine, and we do not hesitate to state that, 

 in our judgment, many such cultures are in reality the 

 Micrococcus catarrhalis and not the gonococcus. This 

 applies particularly to such isolation of the diplo- 

 coccus of Neisser from chronic inflammatory proc- 

 esses. JMoreover, it must be generally recognized 

 that the demonstration of a Gram-negative diplococ- 

 cus in smear is often insufficient and faulty evidence 

 on which to base a diagnosis of gonococci. Therefore, 

 it is most fortunate that in the chronic stage of the 

 disease with complications, the complement-fixation 

 test seems to be signally meritorious, while in the 

 acute, subacute and frequently in the chronic forms of 

 the diseases when the gonococcus may be demonstrated 

 bacteriologically, the serological test promises little or 

 nothing. 



Conclusions, — Detailed and careful analysis of the 

 gonococcus complement-fixation test, performed with 



