In spite of some recent publications, the value of the agglutination test as a check on the efficiency of meningococcus serum has not been given the proper clinical appreciation. Regarding this, our experience with some forty-five cases of epidemic meningitis may be of interest.
When the Army of Occupation entered Coblenz, sporadic cases of meningitis appeared, never two in the same company or neighborhood. All patients, whether brought in late or early in the disease, were at once put on the usual treatment, which consisted of intraspinal and at times intravenous injections of serum. This product, that of an American commercial firm, was five months old and dated good for another month.
At this time Captain Leon Unger of Chicago, who in France had had considerable experience with this disease, urged that in clinical value the American serum was vastly inferior to that of the Pasteur laboratories.
In spite of