there has been renewed interest in the general problem of resistance to infection. It has been shown recently that patients with multiple myeloma likewise are susceptible to recurrent bacterial infections, particularly pneumococcal pneumonia.1-5 Zinneman and Hall 2 and Lawson and his associates 4 demonstrated that certain patients with multiple myeloma and large amounts of abnormal serum globulins had little or no normal \ g=g\globulin or serum antibody. This fact seemed to account for their peculiar susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia.Experiences at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital with 51 cases of multiple myeloma in the period from 1947 to 1957 are reported in the light of recent knowledge of protein abnormalities and with special emphasis on the incidence of infection, particularly bacterial pneumonia. Materials and MethodsIn each case, the diagnosis was established either by biopsy of bone marrow or accessible tumor or necropsy and serum-protein electrophoresis. Data which are of common knowledge and have been discussed in previous reviews will be mentioned only briefly.Serum electrophoresis was performed either on paper or by the Tiselius method, with use of the portable model made by the American Instrument Company, operated at 10 ma. and allowing 120 minutes for separation. A barbital (Veronal) buf¬ fer was used at pH 8.6. The "ridgepole" method was used in paper electrophoresis, with use of Whatman No. 3 filter paper and a current of 6 ma.Ten hours were allowed for separation of proteins.The 51 patients with multiple myeloma represent 0.05% of 101,956 admissions during the study period. Forty-two are dead, eight are living, and one has been lost to follow-up. Twenty-eight (55%) came to necropsy. Twenty-eight patients were followed by this hospital for an average of 3.4 admissions and two patient-year's care per patient. Fifteen patients died during their first admission, and eight patients were not seen after the first admission, being referred to private physicians, nursing homes, or other hospitals. Eighty per cent of the patients were aged be¬ tween 50 and 70 years at the time of first ad¬ mission; the youngest was 26; the oldest, 73. The average age was 57 years. No difference in age incidence was noted in paraplegic patients or in those with pneumonia. The type and location of this hospital is reflected in the 100% maleness and Caucasian ancestry of the series.Most patients presented themselves with one complaint. Thirty-four (67%) complained of bone pain, most frequently localized to the back and usually low in location. Six patients (12%) pre¬ sented themselves with either pneumonia or a history of recurrent bouts of pneumonia over a period of several years. Three patients (6%) had primary complaints of pneumonia. Other initial complaints included weakness, anorexia, fatigability, tumor, paraplegia, and cough. Cough occurred to a troublesome degree in 35% of patients. It

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The components of a Brucella melitensis strain were obtained by differential centrifugation and diethylaminoethyl-cellulose ionexchange chromatography. Rabbit antisera to these Brucella fractions were tested for agglutinins, precipitins, and blocking phenomena.

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Commercial purified protein derivatives (PPD), old tuberculin (OT), the bacillary extract, and the culture filtrate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra were submitted to Sephadex G-25 and diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-cellulose chromatography. The ability of the fractions obtained to elicit delayed dermal hypersensitivity in M. tuberculosis H37Ra-infected guinea pigs was studied. Skin tests with Sephadex fractions in M. tuberculosis H37Ra-infected guinea pigs showed that the tuberculin activity was localized in the first fraction. All other Sephadex fractions were nonessential and nonspecifically irritating. Fractions from chromatography of Sephadex G-25 fraction 1 on DEAE-cellulose columns showed that all but the first were able to elicit delayed hypersensitivity reactions. There was a variability in the capacity to elicit the tuberculin reaction according to the fraction injected and the stage of tuberculous infection in guinea pigs. Compared to the others, the seven lots of commercial PPD were variable in composition and content. They contained both essential and nonessential materials for the tuberculin reaction. Sephadex fraction 1 would appear to be a better tuberculin as it excludes nonessential nonspecifically irritating elements and contains the complement able to elicit the tuberculin reaction. Its methodological simplicity would be economically advantageous.