Precipitins and Phylogeny in Animals

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Abstract
An argument in favor of the use, and value, of serologic characters, particularly the precipitin reaction, in the analysis of racial descent, is presented. The results obtained in certain precipitin studies involving common Mammalia and common Amphibia are summarized. The degrees of antigenic similarity or "relationship" were determined quantitatively and were found to require graphical expression in 3 dimensions. The results so far obtained seem helpful in the determination of the relationships of the species studied. The serologic and morphologic methods are in a sense complementary; they may eventually come to have more nearly equal value in phylogeny.