Abstract
The chief results of a study of structural transformations in the living blood cells of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are given in this paper.
The blood cells were usually prepared for observation by mixing fresh blood with Ringer's fluid containing sufficient hirudin to prevent coagulation.
Dark field illumination proved to be satisfactory for the observation of structural transformations in blood cells.
The following five forms or phases may be assumed by vertebrate white blood cells:
1. The hyaline surface phase which is characterized by a hyaline change and great increase in viscidity of the surface layer.
2. The hyaline phase in which the globular component is localized in a small area of the extremely hyaline cytoplasm.
3. The fine pseudopodial phase which is characterized by the protrusion of fine long motionless protoplasmic processes.
4. The ciliated phase of the white blood cell shows numerous beating cilium-like processes.
5. The flagellated phase is distinguished by the presence of numerous long protoplasmic processes which exhibit the rapid undulatory movement characteristic of flagella.
Notable redistribution phenomena have been observed in erythrocytes of both warmand cold-blooded vertebrates as well as the formation of either cilium-like or flagellum-like processes. White blood cells or erythrocytes which have numerous rapidly moving protoplasmic processes may be actually free-swimming.
Similar structural transformations have been observed in myelocytes, “pyrrhol” cells, and in cells from inflammatory exudates.
The rô1e of structural transformations of white blood cells in phagocytosis has been investigated with interesting results.
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