ORTHO DIAGNOSTICS nx.

Raritan, New Jersey 08869

Philip Levine, M.D., F.R.C.P.
Consultant (201) 524-2203-4

March 13, 1980

Elvin Kabat, M.D.

College of Physicians & Surgeons
Neurologic Institute

701 West 168 Street

New York, N.Y. 10032

Dear Elvin:

I received the letter from Clyde Stormont (herewith enclosed) with
your quite appropriate reply to Stormont's "How in the hell did
you know that?" as follows, "That's easy, Phil's been phoning
everyone:" You see I have changed considerably since you were my
consultant in the late 40's and early 50's - I have since learned
how to communicate and this I do very well. Indeed, this is one
of the few areas about which I can plead guilty and yet be mighty
proud of it too, because I am also a good listener.

As for your remark at the City University affair about my having
only one case - here is a copy of appropriate sheets taken from a
grant application which is self-explanatory. Actually you have
stimulated me to prepare an article about "Only One Case". I have
two such in my.record: (1) Levine & Stetson, JAMA 1939, (2) Levine
et al, Proc.Soc.Exp.Biol.& Med. 1951 (This paper was rejected in
Science). These led me to search for other firsts.

You probably saw a description of the Rous' sarcoma published in
J.Exp.Med. 1910 and republished with original pagenation in the
November 1979 issue of the same JEM. The following year he demon-
strated the first example of the viral nature of this type of
malignancy. In 1909 Landsteiner published the first example of the
viral nature of polio. These two examples demonstrate the old maxim
"from little acorns, great oak trees grow". When I have the time,
I'll surely find many more examples of "firsts" from which major
advances emerged.

For several years I have been aware of the fact that you have been
more and more occupied with very important tasks of correlating the
species specific genetic markers and their amino acid sequences.
(incidentally, I received the recent beoklet in which your outstanding
work is documented).
To: Dr. Elvin Kabat March 13, 1980
Page 2

All of this reminds me that by virtue for your superb training with
Michael and your work with Tiselius you have been primarily an
immunochemist and thus you require highly exacting physical and/or
chemical measurements. However, it is the biologist who with

his wide scope and broad outlook can take the big jump required to-
open wide areas for further exploration. This I first learned from
Landsteiner who in 1925 or 1926 informed me that the great discoveries
of the future will be made in areas where one or more disciplines
border on others. This I have never forgotten even though many
years elapsed before I applied this principle especially in the years
following my first official retirement.

Currently I am now in a very exciting area in which I am attempting
to establish in my 1951 patient that the biologic test injection of
25m1 incompatible blood invoked activation of macrophages, phagocytic
monocytes and lymphokines. The release of their secretions, some or
many of them pyrogens and their enzymes, have the property of
penetrating areas of foreign illegitimate tissue and incompatible
blood. Thus scavengers become available to rid the body of anything
foreign (see the papers of Zanvil Cohn and Tony Allison The

result of it all is that I now have animal models to study metastasis
and their prevention with the enthusiastic support of Josh Fidler.

Elvin, this is a long letter and I am risking the possibility that
this and the accompanying papers will suffer the fate of the waste
basket. As you know, I have long been your admirer and gained much
from our old contacts at Ortho. You must be aware of the fact that
in the scientific world you have the reputation of that of a rare
man of total integrity.

And so, in the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan, the night has been
long and ditto my song - and thank goodness, they are both of them
over.

Kindest regards.

Sincerely yours,
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