Abstract
Lymphocytes are primitive stem cells capable of differentiating into all the other types of blood cells, and also into reticuloendothelial cells and fibroblasts. Also, they are end cells dying after a few hours without having performed any known function. This chapter re-examines the theories of lymphocyte function. The lymphocytes are divided into large, medium, and small. The large and medium are actively mitotic and are more or less confined to the lymphopoietic centers in the lymphoid tissues where they differentiate into small lymphocytes. The small lymphocytes undergo no further mitosis; they are the end products of lymphopoiesis, and they circulate in large numbers in the blood and lymph and throughout the connective tissues of the body. It is probable that the large lymphocyte is the most primitive cell of the series and that it originates by direct differentiation from reticuloendothelial cells. The medium stage is an intermediate stage in maturation to the small lymphocyte. Hematologists working with air-dried films or imprints use a somewhat different terminology. The chapter mainly focuses on the small lymphocyte and discusses their distribution in the body.
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