PREFACE 



THIS booklet on the mast cells is in two parts. The first is a review of the 

 literature, mainly up to 1950 when the work described in the second part 

 began. The second part is essentially the thesis, 'Functions of the 

 Tissue Mast Cells', which was accepted in 1958 by the University of St. 

 Andrews for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 



In preparing the manuscript for publication I have been reminded of the 

 very great help which I have received from other workers at various stages, and 

 which I wish freely to acknowledge. 



Some of the early experiments on the histology and histochemistry of 

 mast cells were carried out in Edinburgh in collaboration with Dr. J. M. 

 Drennan of the Department of Pathology. Mr. (now Professor) D. M. Douglas 

 and Dr. J. P. Graham of the Wilkie Research Department, Edinburgh, helped 

 me in experiments on peptone shock in dogs. Later, in Dundee, when a 

 pharmacological approach was required, Professor R. B. Hunter not only 

 offered me the very considerable facilities of his department, but also introduced 

 me to Dr. G. B. West, without whose cheerful enthusiasm and unlimited 

 patience further progress would have been slow indeed. Much of the present 

 work on histamine in mast cells has already been published in collaboration 

 with Dr. West, and this forms the main body of the second part of the book: 

 where it is appropriate, a reference to the original paper is given under the 

 chapter heading. On the departure of Dr. West for London, the pharmaco- 

 logical investigations were continued by his successor, Dr. P. B. Marshall, and 

 by Miss Rosemary Cass. Dr. West and I have acknowledged elsewhere the 

 valuable contributions of Mr. K. W. Head of the Royal (Dick) School of 

 Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh, who supplied us with much unusual veterinary 

 material, and of Mr. S. W. Stroud of the Research Division, Boots Pure Drug 

 Co. Ltd., Nottingham, for his assistance with the heparin assays. In some 

 experiments the initial extraction of the heparin was carried out by Dr. D. M. 

 Shepherd of the Department of Pharmacology, Queen's College, Dundee, to 

 whom we also owe our thanks for his advice on problems connected with the 

 chromatography of tissue extracts. An interesting off-shoot of the present 

 study has been the work of Dr. J. D. B. MacDougall of the Department of 

 Anatomy, who has succeeded in growing various types of mast cell in tissue 

 culture and has himself published several papers on the subject. I record 

 with special gratitude the constant flow of encouragement and advice of 

 Professor A. C. Lendrum of the Department of Pathology: many of the 

 paraffin sections were cut and stained by Mr. W. Slidders in Professor 



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