GERMANY AND IMMUNOLOGY

To the Editor:  —A current article by Colonel Vedder on the Wassermann reaction in the Journal of Immunology (4:141 [May] 1919) fires a train of thought already laid. Colonel Vedder suggests that the term "Wassermann reaction" be abandoned in favor of "Bordet-Gengou reaction." Partisan as I am of the Belgian school, I regret that I cannot see the force of the argument assigned by Colonel Vedder. He states correctly that, whereas Wassermann's original idea was that his reaction in syphilis was to be regarded as a reaction between a specific antigen (extract of fetal syphilitic liver) and its corresponding antibody, it has since been realized to be nonspecific in respect to the antigen employed. As the reaction of Bordet and Gengou is strictly specific in both respects, Wassermann would seem entitled to credit for developing a novel type of nonspecific fixation reaction of great practical utility.There are, however,