Abstract
In syphilitic diseases of the nervous system the composition of the cerebrospinal fluid has become of increasing importance. On the exact chemical picture of the fluid, especially from a quantitative standpoint nothing has been done. It is true, the proteins and to some extent the phosphorus have been roughly estimated and in some cases correlated to the Wassermann reaction.
For this deficiency of quantitative data the reason is found in the lack of material; the present chemical methods used heretofore having been too crude for the low concentration of substances in the very small amounts of fluid.
Since the development of nephelometry the quantitative estimation of many of the substances occurring in minute amounts in the body is a comparatively simple matter.
In the hope of getting useful information, we have studied quantitatively the proteins of cerebrospinal fluids with nephelometric methods, and have correlated our findings with the Wassermann reaction and other tests.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.