It is quite generally accepted at present that the defense of the body against tubercle infection is cellular and that serum antibodies in this respect are not of any great importance. There are antibodies, however, in the serum and they have been shown to be of real value in the diagnosis of tuberculosis, a fact which the evidence of recent years has fully established.The serum test is a valuable addition to our diagnostic resources meeting, as it does, a deeply felt want. As is known, the tuberculin test is too sensitive since it indicates that infection, at some time, has taken place. On the other hand the positive recognition of tubercle bacilli indicates an advanced stage of the disease, namely caseation of tubercular foci and hence open phthisis. In this stage the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is readily made but, as Macchiavelli rightly said, it is then very difficult to cure.
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