﻿IMMUNITY RESEARCH. 349 



confirmed later(25) — from 70 to 75.5 per cent of 163 cases giving a posi- 

 tive result either for syphilitic virus or for anti-syphilitic reaction 

 product. They could demonstrate the virus in the blood of patients 

 taking mercury. The anti-bodies were particularly abundant in the spinal 

 fluid. Wassermann and Plaut(37) employed this last fact in the inves- 

 tigations of various paralyses. They found that the spinal fluid from a 

 certain number of paralytics contained anti-syphilitic material which 

 acted with fresh extracts of syphilitic organs to deflect complement. In 

 some cases the spinal fluid of a paralytic had slightly greater deflecting 

 action than his serum. 4 Wassermann (34) notes further that the test is 

 available for the diagnosis of protozoon infections. 



The results obtained by Wassermann and his colleagues with this 

 method are certainly extremely interesting, in fact, almost startling, but 

 the work in other laboratories has not yet given that confirmation to the 

 claims of Wassermann which justifies us in accepting them unreservedly. 

 The criticisms have to deal with the mechanism of the phenomenon on 

 the one hand, and on the other, with its practical value in diagnosis. 

 Furthermore, the application of this method in each particular infection 

 raises a certain number of special questions. 



The two principal hypotheses to explain the deflection have been out- 

 lined above. Weil and Nakayama, Axamit(l) and F. Mayer (quoted by 

 Kanzi(31)) object to the test in toto, claiming that deflection can be 

 produced by mixing a complement serum with bacterial extracts alone 

 without any anti-bacterial serum; Weicharclt(38) adds that deflection 

 can be produced by electrolysis and by heat, and Uhlenhuth(33) found 

 that disappearance of complement can be brought about by diverse sub- 

 stances producing mechanical precipitation, while Landsteiner and 

 Stankovic(19) obtained similar results with colloidal suspensions. It 

 has been observed that albuminous solutions in general absorb comple- 

 ment, in amounts proportional to the quantity of albumin. Wassermann 

 and Plant recently remarked upon the unaccountable and rapid altera- 

 tions in deflecting power occurring in the extracts ready for use in 

 the experiment and upon the differences between various extracts, sug- 

 gesting that these differences and the sediment gradully forming in 

 even the clearest extracts are autolytic in origin. They speak also of the 

 need of determining that the total amount of albumin in the various 

 mixtures is not sufficient to deflect complement, and they suggest that 

 only extracts be used which in 0.1 cubic centimeter doses, cause no 

 deflection. 



Moreschi(24) has recently concluded that the test is not sufficiently 



4 Recently the value of this method in diagnosis of syphilis has been confirmed 

 by A. Schutze, Berl. Klin. Wchnsch. (1907), 120. and by Marie and Levaditi, Ann. 

 de Vlnst. Pasteur (1907), XXI, 138. 

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