The Eosinophil

The literature on the eosinophil is vast. In the preface to this book the authors refer to a review published in 1914 which cited almost 3,000 references. That this and much subsequent work has contributed so little to our u.nderstanding of the eosinophil is largely due to the fact that techniques available to study haematogenous cells were inappropriate to the fundamental problems of their origins and functions. The best way to study cell function is to use methods xvhich measure functions methods which study structure and distribution of highly mobile cell populations in histological 'stills' cannot by their very nature get into these problems in any depth. Since the 1960's many such methods have been developed and much of the rapid expansion of knowledge in immunology and haematology has been due to their application. The aUthors of this bcok have been chosen to emphasize these aspects of their subject.