486 BOWMAN. 



"Experiments IV, V, VI, and IX show also that yaws antibodies and antigen 

 are different from syphilis antibodies and antigen and therefore syphilis and 

 yaws differ specifically." 



Iii 1906 4 Landsteiner, ISTeisser and Poetzl used an alcoholic extract of 

 guinea pig's heart in complement-binding experiments with serum from 

 eases of surra. This extract when employed with serum from patients 

 with syphilis gives a positive reaction in 80 per cent of the cases, but it 

 had never been used with serum from those infected with yaws. There- 

 fore, I decided to subject the sera of yaws patients to the complement 

 fixation test with this extract, in the hope of throwing further light upon 

 the relationship of yaws to syphilis. The sera were taken from four 

 children and one adult with well-marked cases of yaws having the typical 

 incrusted ulcer, in smears from which numerous Spirochoetce pertenues 

 were found. 



One gram of guinea pig's heart was ground finely and 50 cubic centimeters of 

 95 per cent alcohol added. The whole was then heated for three hours at 60 

 °C. and the clear fluid decanted. Red blood cells of the ox were used, and 

 immune rabbit serum, which was hemolytic when diluted 1 to 5,000, furnished" 

 the amboceptor. 



Three preliminary experiments were always performed before the 

 final Wassermann reaction, to determine the following : 



1. Whether the extract was hsemolytic. 



The extract was added to washed ox-blood cells in three dilutions, 0.4, 0.2 and 

 0.1, and- allowed to stand one hour at room temperature. 



2. Whether the extract inhibited haemolysis. 



The extract in dilutions 0.8, 0.4, 0.2,. 0.1 and 0.05 -4- complement or fresh 

 guinea pig's serum was allowed to stand one hour at room temperature (about 

 30° C), then 1 cubic centimeter of a 5 per cent washed ox blood and 0.001 cubic 

 centimeter amboceptor were added and incubated. 



3. The serum to be examined 0.1 in each tube and salt solution 0.4, 0.2, 0.1 

 added in place of the extract and the whole allowed to stand one hour at room 

 temperature. Then 1 cubic centimeter of washed ox blood and 0.001 cubic centi- 

 meter of amboceptor added. 



It was found that the extract from the guinea pig's heart with the 

 serum from cases of syphilis inhibited hemolysis; that is, 0.1 cubic centi- 

 meter of inactivated serum from a case of syphilis -4- extract of guinea 

 pig's heart (0.4, 0.2, and 0.1) + complement from fresh guinea pig's 

 blood serum, and, in one hour, 0.001 amboceptor + 1 cubic centimeter 

 ox-blood cells added, gave no haemolysis. A parallel experiment per- 

 formed at the same time, in which the same reagents were used, with the 

 exception that yaws serum was substituted for the syphilitic serum, 

 resulted in almost complete haemolysis. 



This experiment was performed many times, but always with the 



i Wien. klin. Wchnschr. (1907), 20, 1420. 



