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The lymphoid cell composition of milky spots was analyzed in unprimed mice before and after i.p. immunization with sheep red blood cells. Milky spots contained surface immunoglobulin-positive B lymphocytes, and T cells of the helper and cytotoxic phenotype. After secondary antigen challenge (a) the number of lymphocytes increased up to 40-fold, (b) B and T cells were found to segregate into distinct areas in situ, and (c) lymphocytes were found to associate with I-A-negative stromal cells in vivo. These findings qualify milky spots as a peripheral lymphoid organ exhibiting a remarkable change in number and composition of lymphocytes in response to a local antigen stimulus.

The migration of 51Cr-labeled autologous lymphocytes from intestinal or prescapular lymph was compared in fetal lambs and adult sheep. A subpopulation of lymphocytes present in intestinal lymph of adults which migrated to the small intestine was not found in fetal intestinal lymph. There were marked differences in the migration of fetal and adult lymphocytes to the lungs and liver. In spite of the absence of circulating antibodies or immunoglobulins and of extrinsic antigen in the immunologically virgin sheep fetus, the circulation of lymphocytes through the spleen and lymph nodes of fetal lambs was more intense than in the adult.