Manhattan's unlikely and pactolian Central Park South has spawned an unparalleled attack on one of the eye's oldest enemies—trachoma. Sponsored primarily by the New York Academy of Sciences and the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, the conference heard 31 papers and discussions which have appeared since as a 382-page paperback. Fundamental uncertainties from introduction through conclusions are reflected by the title, Biology of the Trachoma Agent.*
The half-century between identification of intracytoplasmic inclusions by Halberstaedter and Prowazek (1907), and the first successful culture of trachoma by T'ang of Pekin (1957), produced many advances in clinical chemotherapy. Only, however, in the half-decade since egg yolk culture of trachoma, have there been significant advances in understanding of the disease agent. Conference Chairman, Francis B. Gordon, gave an opening admonition against flailing about in semantics, and he kept conferees' attention focused on fundamental aspects of clinically related virology. Basic science participants