Some Differential Counts of the Cells in the Lymph of the Dog: Their Bearing on Problems in Hæmatology

Our knowledge of the cell-formula of the lymph is nearly comprised in the statement that small mononuclear elements make it up almost entirely. No systematic differential counts of the lymphcells in man or in other animals are on record. According to the most recent work, that of Weidenreich ( I ) , whose paper is as yet only reported in brief, one finds in the thoracic duct of the rabbit, the dog, the cat, the guinea-pig and the monkey, non-granular cells in large number, "especially little lymphocytes, but next to these large leucocytes with round nuclei, in which last all stages of mitosis are met. Finely granular leucocytes (neutrophile or amphophile) are few, as are eosinophile leucocytes." As an aside to another investigation I have had opportunity to observe cells from the lymph of a number of healthy dogs. Differential counts of these have disclosed facts which seem worthy of report. There exists a good general description of the elements found in the lymph of the dog--that of Biedl and v. DecasteUo (2). They noted in the fluid all the cells of the animal's blood except the mast-cell. Polymorphonuclear neutrophiles were present only as evidence of blood-contamination. Mitoses in the mononuclear leucocytes were rare. Once they found a large number of eosinophile cells independent of blood-admixture. These authors give no differential counts of the leucocytes. Delamere (3) mentions that out of 133 successive cells he noted 128 lymphocytes, three polymorphonuclear neutrophiles, and one eosinophile.