1. 1. This definition excludes antibody-like substances such as the hemagglutinins found in normal human serm. These reagents do not, however, pose the problem of the mechanism of specific respnse which is the burden of this discussion.
2. 2. Talmage, in this issue of Science, discusses various aspects of antibody specificity, including the number of antibodies, which may be exaggerated in current immunological thought. For the present discussion, however, this nimber is left open for experimental determination, for it would embarrass a theory of cellular selection only if it is large compared with the number of potential antibody-forming cells in the organism. To anticipate proposition A1, as few as five determinant amino acids would allow for 20 = 3,200,000 types of antibody.
3. A Theory of the Structure and Process of Formation of Antibodies*
4. Genetics and immunology
5. THE MECHANISM OF THE IMMUNOLOGICAL RESPONSE