Of the recent advances in serology there is hardly any phenomena which seems to promise the attainment of such practical clinical importance as the method developed by Wassermann for the demonstration of antibodies in the body fluids of syphilitics.
By this method, of the value of which we have been persuaded as the result of our own investigations, one is enabled to determine with almost positive certainty, in a large number of cases, the existence of syphilis in an individual irrespective of the length of time he has had his infection.
It may be asserted, but with reserve, that the scope of this test seems to extend beyond diagnosis and to allow one to judge in some degree the efficacy of previous treatment and also to venture some judgment as to prognosis.
The first communication on this subject was published by Wassermann, Neisser and Bruck.1 They called attention in