Type specific antibodies for pneumococci are present in man in a large proportion of individuals after the age of 2 years. In a previous discussion (1) one of the authors (W. D. S.) suggested that these antibodies may be the result of contact with each individual bacterial antigen. The present report is a description of tests conducted to test this hypothesis. A group of children were selected who had no antibodies for the 3 strains of pneumococcus most common in disease. During a period in which it was expected that type specific antibodies would appear in the serum of some of these subjects, frequent observations were made of the nasopharyngeal bacterial flora. The pneumococci that were found in the throat cultures of these individuals were then compared with the antibodies that developed. Methods and Subjects. The plan was carried out as follows.
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Sutliff et al. (1937) studied this question.