152 APPLIED IMMUNOLOGY 



tholinitis, and it would appear that the infection must 

 ascend at least to the level of the uterus in order to 

 produce a positive blood response. 



14. Inoculations of gonococcus bacterin, antigono- 

 coccic serum, etc., may in themselves by the produc- 

 tion of immune bodies be causes of positive reactions. 

 How long these immunizing effects may endure is un- 

 known, but we have observed patients, treated by im- 

 munotherapy, who one year later demonstrated nega- 

 tive complement-fixation reactions. 



15. Although the bacteriological demonstration of 

 the gonococcus culturally is the only absolute method 

 for its identification in chronic inflammatory processes, 

 the method as a routine procedure is impractical and 

 susceptible of many failures and fallacious results, so 

 that the complement-fixation test is not only less la- 

 borious, but is productive of a higher percentage of 

 positive findings. 



A series of comparative studies using non-specific 

 with the specific antigens in the performance of the 

 gonococcus complement-fixation reaction has been 

 carried out (Thomas, B. A., Ivy, R. H., and Bird- 

 sail, J. C, Surgery, Gynecology, and Obstetrics, 

 1914). Polyvalent antigens were prepared from 

 various non-gonorrhoeal Gram-negative and positive 

 bacteria, namely, the Micrococcus catarrhalis, the Dip- 

 lococcus meningitidis, the Pneumococcus, the Strepto- 



