Fig. 2.

Theoretical considerations in the use of adjuvant thymectomy and splenectomy for the conditioning of recipient patients. The concept of the function of the thymus as an organizer in establishing fetal and neonatal immunologic reactivity is based largely on the work of Miller,²⁵, ²⁶ and may have no relevance in the adult animal. The role of the spleen in controlling response to antigenic stimuli in adult life is suggested by the work of Wissler and his colleagues.¹², ⁴⁶ The contribution of these ancillary procedures to homograft survival is highly speculative at present.