During the past 20 years, celJ biology has made immense strides which
have completely transformed the time-honored morphological hematology of
yesterday. This progress is primarily due to the introduction of new
techniques which allow functional rather than anatomic studies: labeling
techniques have made possible the study of celJ kinetics from birth to
death of a celJ: culture techniques (both in vivo and in vitro) have
made it possible to establish the progeny of certain stern celJs, their
growth poten- tiaL and the mechanisms of their regulation. The results
have been so impressive and have so aroused the enthusiasm 01' young
hematologists that it has become fashionable in so me quarters to
consider the microscope an "extinct instrument" and morphology littlc
more than an outmoded (if agreeable) pastime of little scientific
interest. One of the consequences is the wish of some investigators to
study cytology without the aid of their eyes. The present book makes us
realize once more that morphology is the science of structure and shape
and that its aim is not to colJect pictures but to understand them. It
is true that microscopic observation, even when made with the electron
microscope, cannot by itself answer some basic questions of celJ
biology. However, the hematologist who uses only a single technique is
like a person who would describe the world from the point of view of a
single sensory organ and would refuse the aid of the others.
