DEMONSTRATION OF SPIROCHAETA PALLIDA IN THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

The presence of Spirochaeta pallida in human tissues and body fluids has been demonstrated either by animal inoculation or by direct examination of stained smears and of fresh preparations, especially with the aid of the dark-ground illumination.In the case of the cerebro- spinal fluid, only one successful inoculation is on record.Hoffman,1 in 1906, reported the inoculation of a mon- key's eyebrow with spinal fluid from a patient with papular syphilis and the appearance of a small but distinct lesion in thirty-two days.A number of failures have been reported with the use of monkeys, one by Hoffman, two by Neisser2 and seven by Thibierge and Ravaut and LeSourd.3The last-named authors used the centrifugate of spinal fluid from patients with second- ary syphilis, cerebrospinal syphilis and hereditary syphilis, but never succeeded in producing a lesion.By direct examination, spirochetes have been found in the spinal fluid in five cases, in two of which the exam- ination was made post mortem.Dohi and Tanaka,4 in 1905, using (¡iemsa's stain, found the organism in the fluid in a case of papular syphilis.Bahes and Panea,8 in 1905, by Giemsa's stain, found one spiróchete after long search in the fluid of a child which died shortly after birth.Gaucher and Merle," in 1910, with the dark-field microscope, in a case of syphilis of the nervous system examined post, mortem, found spirochetes in the spinal and ventricular fluids.Rach,' in 1910, found spiro¬ chetes in abundance by the dark-field microscope, in the turbid fluid of a 4-months-old infant with hereditary syphilis.Sézary and Paillard," in 1910, in a centri- fuged specimen from a hémiplégie with skin symptoms, found one spii'ochete a fier fifteen minutes' search with the dark-field microscope.Many failures to find the * Read in the Section on Genito-Urinary