THE WASSERMAN REACTION IN SYPHILIS, LEPROSY, AND 



YAWS.' 



By Horace D. Bloombergh.^ 



(From the United States Army Board for the Study of Tropical Diseases as they 

 Eanst in the Philippine Islands.) 



These observations were undertaken with a view of determining if 

 the Wasserman reaction could be obtained in certain tropical diseases 

 in which it has been reported by some authors to be positive. Owing 

 to a scarcity of material at the time the work was being done we were 

 able to examine only two cases of yaws. The methods we employed for 

 mailing the tests followed in general the original procedure of Wasser- 

 man except as regards the antigen, which was prepared from normal 

 guinea-pig heart. 



Sheep are not slaughtered in Manila and fresh sheep's blood from different 

 animals can not therefore be obtained. The cells used in all our tests were 

 obtained at different times as needed from the blood of the same sheep. Only 

 during the last series of tests did the suspicion arise that the sheep had 

 been bled too frequently, and therefore the cells were fragile and less resistant 

 than usual to the combined influence of amboceptor and complement. The cells 

 were thoroughly washed and used on the same day as prepared. The dose was 

 1 cubic centimeter of a 5 per cent suspension in 0.85 per cent salt solution. 



The complement was the serum of a guinea pig killed on the day of the test. 

 In this factor wei found great variation in concentration. At times the serum 

 was found to be almost devoid of complement. On several occasions we attempted 

 to preserve the complement by the addition of sodium chloride according to 

 the method of Hecht(l) but without good results. The dose of the complement 

 was 0.1 cubic centimeter, or, as employed in actual practice, 1 cubic centimeter 

 of a 1 : 9 dilution, in salt solution. 



The hsemolytic amboceptor was the inactivated serum of a rabbit ■ which had 

 been immunized by successive doses of well-washed sheep cells. As a rule, we 

 have used the amboceptor in the dilution of 1 : 600. Our practice has been to 

 take at least twice the amount which, wdth 0.1 cubic centimeter of complement, 

 completely haemolyzed 1 cubic centimeter of a 5 per cent suspension of blood cells 

 in one hour, requiring, however, complete haemolysis with the quantity used in 



' * Read, by permission of the Chief Surgeon, Philippines Division, before the 

 Eighth Annual Meeting of the Philippine Islands Medical Association at Manila, 

 P. I., February 22 to 24, 1911. 



^ Major, Medical Corps, United States Army. 



335 



