SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE INCIDENCE OF DRUMSTICKS IN POLYMORPHONUCLEAR NEUTROPHIL LEUCOCYTES OF FEMALES

Blood films from mongolian imbeciles and controls of both sexes were examined for number of lobes of the polymorphonuclear neutrophil leucocytes and for the incidence of the drumstick appendage. The material consisted of 40 films and 500 cells were classified in each. No drumsticks were found in any of the males. The incidence in female mongols was about one third of that of the controls. This was associated with a decreased lobe count in the mongols. The incidence of drumsticks was found to increase with increasing segmentation of the nuclei from one to five lobes. The incidence of drumsticks in cells of constant lobe number was lower in mongols than in controls.