There are few laboratory procedures in common use which have aroused greater interest in the recent past or have been subjected to more intensive and extensive investigation than the complement-fixation reaction as applied to the serologic diagnosis of syphilis, or, as it is commonly known, the Wassermann reaction.
Both investigation and discussion have centered on two points: its reliability and the exact significance to be placed on the results obtained, and matters of technic as affecting the delicacy and reliability of the test. It is to be regretted that these two important phases of the question have not infrequently been discussed and investigated as separate entities rather than as intimately related factors of a most complicated and intricate problem.
It is impossible artificially to assign to this reaction a predominant value in any set stage of syphilis. If an arbitrary division is to be made, it seems fair to conclude