NORMAL SERUM THERAPY 257 



is but little reaction after the injection, except in tabetics in whom 

 lightning pains may occur, or become more violent for a while, if 

 they previously existed. 



Results. Too little time has elapsed since this method of treat- 

 ment was first advocated, and too small a number of patients has 

 as yet been treated to warrant any far-going conclusions. 



Swift and Ellis mention four tabetics, in whom the cell count in 

 the cerebrospinal fluid promptly fell to normal, while the globulins 

 decreased in amount much more rapidly than during the previous 

 treatment with salvarsan and mercury alone; at the same time the 

 Wassermann reaction in the spinal fluid became negative in two 

 of the patients, even when 0.5 c.c. of fluid was used in the test. 

 In two other patients, however, the treatment had little effect on 

 the Wassermann. 



As the writers suggest, future experience may show that the best 

 results may be obtained by further enforcing the beneficial effect 

 of the serum by the addition of neosalvarsan. They mention that 

 in one instance the patient received 0.5 milligram of the neosalvarsan 

 diluted with 12 c.c. of normal serum plus 18 c.c. of normal saline, 

 as a first injection, which was followed ten days later by one of 

 1 milligram, similarly diluted, without causing any undue reaction. 



NORMAL SERUM THERAPY 



Under various pathological conditions normal serum also has been 

 injected for curative purposes and favorable results have been 

 observed in many instances. A number of investigators thus report 

 a remarkable influence upon certain toxicoses of pregnancy. Mayer 

 mentions several cases of various types of dermatoses (herpes, 

 urticaria, pruritus) besides a case of eclampsia, and one of acro- 

 paresthesia of the finger tips, in which excellent results followed 

 the injection of serum from a normal case of pregnancy. He con- 

 cluded that the serum of the patients in question was deficient 

 in normal protective substances against the poisons which are 

 absorbed from the developing embryo, and that these substances 

 are specific in their nature. Freund, on the other hand, while con- 

 firming the beneficial effects of the serum of normally pregnant 

 women upon the toxicoses referred to, obtained equally satisfactory 

 17 



