OBSERVATIONS ON SCHUERMANN'S COLOR TEST FOR SYPHILIS

Since the introduction of the serum test for syphilis by Wassermann, Neisser and Bruck, in 1906, using the method of complement fixation or deviation as evolved by Bordet and Gengou, in 1901, a large number of modifications of Wassermann's original method have been suggested, many of which have proved of distinct value in simplifying the carrying out of the test and in rendering the diagnoses made thereby more accurate. The results of the many thousands of tests which have been made have shown the remarkable value of the reaction, but the method demands considerable skill in laboratory technic and a wide experience in interpreting its results. Any method, therefore, which would place the serum diagnosis of syphilis on a plane easily reached by the man of average laboratory training with the equipment ordinarily found in a doctor's office, or at least easily secured, should first be accurately tried out by