EARLY INVESTIGATIONS OF STREPTOCOCOUS SERUM
The serum of animals immunized against hemolytic streptococci was early introduced for the treatment of human disease. Marmorek1 employed a streptococcus of high virulence to immunize horses, asses and sheep. The serum of these animals was then found to possess preventive and curative value in the streptococcic infection of rabbits. Marmorek treated forty-six patients with severe erysipelas by the injection of from 5 to 20 cc. of serum, and all but one made a rapid recovery. He believed that a potent serum could be obtained only by employing for immunization a virulent and toxic strain of the streptococcus.Subsequent clinical experience with serum therapy in streptococcic infections has resulted in conflicting opinions. Some reports were favorable, but perhaps more were unfavorable. In part, these discrepancies may be ascribed to the use of different serums, but this explanation is not quite adequate. Even today we