• 1 January 1966
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 11  (2) , 89-+
Abstract
The formation of antibody to goat erythrocytes has been studied in embryos and young chicks. Opsonizing antibody was measured by accelerated clearance of antigen and the sensitivity of this technique compared with hemagglutination tests. A wide range of immunizing doses of goat erythrocytes was used; all induced immunity. Small amounts of antibody were detected as early as the day of hatching but vigorous antibody production did not occur until 3 days later. An immune response could be induced in 12-day-old embryos and the most vigorous response was obtained by injection of 14-day-old embryos. Antibody production was relatively poor between the 15th day of embryonic life and 15th day of embryonic life and 15 days after hatching. This was due to the presence of maternal antibody.