Technical method Technical method

utilised in this laboratory for the past four years to screen specimens for syphilis serology, using the automated reagin test (ART) and the automated Reiter protein complement fixation test (ARPCFT). These two tests were performed separately with two sets of equipment as previously described (Macfarlane etal., 1976; Macfarlane and Elias-Jones, 1977). It soon became evident that an increase in the sample speed of the ARPCFT from 80 samples/hour to 100 samples/hour was desirable as this would increase throughput and bring the system into line with the ART, which samples at 100/hour, thus allowing the two tests to be intergrated. Increased throughput would increase the workload involved in the preparation of specimens for testing, a proces