Eosinophils — Nominated but Not Elected

Abstract

Resolved, that we agree with Walter B. Cannon's dictum that "What happens in our bodies is directed toward a useful end," what, then, is the useful end of the eosinophil?Certainly, the eosinophil is a spectacular cell. How is it possible that a cell that is so ubiquitous, so beautiful when stained, has been able to hide its purposes for more than 100 years? The predicament has been portrayed in Arthus' delightful preface to his De l'Anaphylaxie à l'Immunité: "Oh, of course, at the end of a day of experimental work during which I found facts that seemed interesting . . .