VII. 

 ANTITOXIC SERUM THERAPY. 



JIST view of recent events, the consideration of serum 

 therapy in general and of the antitoxic serum 

 treatment of diphtheria in particular is of the greatest 

 interest. Reference has been made to the progress of 

 investigations in this direction, and tO' the fact that 

 already this new principle of treatment, prophylactic 

 and curative, had been brought to the point of a prac- 

 tical test. As every one knows, it has engaged the 

 intense interest and attention of the world. Having 

 thus established for itself a place in the history of 

 medical progress, it will be well to briefly survey its 

 origin and development. 



I have already discussed the various methods, the 

 outgrowths of modern bacteriology, which have, with 

 more or less success, been tried in the attempt to imi- 

 tate or improve upon nature in securing an immunity 

 from or cure of infectious diseases. These experi- 

 ments have been based upon the discovery that, the 

 infectious diseases being due to germs, their phenom- 

 ena, including self-cure, and subsequent immunity, 

 were in some way the' results of the presence of the 



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