22, 3 Goodpasture and De Leon: Reaction in Yaws 223 



doses of 0.1 cubic centimeter of a 1 plus 4 dilution. This antigen 

 was not anticomplementary with twice the amount used in the 

 test. A few tests were made with a cholesterinized alcoholic 

 extract of beef heart in doses of 0.2 cubic centimeter of a 1 plus 4 

 dilution of approximately the same antigenic strength as the 

 former antigen, and showing no inhibition of hemolysis with 

 twice the amount used in each test, The test was controlled by 

 the use of normal and syphilitic sera. 



The results of tests on the twenty-three sera ■ titrated before 

 treatment to determine the minimal fixing dose— that is, the 

 least amount of serum necessary to prevent complete haemolysis 

 —are tabulated in Table 1. 



Table 1.— Wassermann reaction with titrated serum from yaws. 



It is to be observed that approximately half of these sera have 

 a minimal fixing dose of 0.004 cubic centimeter or less, and in 

 only one is 0.1 cubic centimeter necessary for a positive reaction. 

 The serum of a yaws patient in this stage of the disease is evi- 

 dently strong in its complement-binding power with lipoidal 

 antigens, and in this respect compares favorably with sera 

 from untreated syphilis. Serum from three untreated cases of 

 syphilis was titrated for comparison, the minimal fixing dose 

 being 0.002, 0.1, and 0.01 cubic centimeter, respectively. 



So far as the results go, it can safely be said that the maximum 

 complement-binding strength of serum from early secondary 

 yaws is equal in the Wassermann test to the maximum found 

 in syphilis. 



Twelve of the twenty-three cases of yaws were observed over 

 a period of several months. The Wassermann reaction was 



performed on spinal 



