Incidence of Spirochaeta Pallida in Cerebrospinal Fluid During Early Stage of Syphilis

It is now universally admitted that the causative agent of syphilis may invade the central nervous system during the early stage of the disease at the time of the general dissemination of the organism. This fact has been proved by (a) the occurrence at such a time of clinical signs of disease of the central nervous system; (b) the presence of abnormalities of the cerebrospinal fluid, and (c) the recovery of the organism itself from the spinal fluid. There is already an extensive literature dealing with the first two phases of the question, and no detailed reference need be made to them in this communication. It is our purpose to deal with the last-named aspect of the question, namely, the occurrence ofSpirochaeta pallidain the spinal fluid of patients with early untreated syphilis, and to report the results of a series of inoculations of rabbits with such fluid. HISTORY