Welcome

Abstract

Sir John, ladies and gentlemen. I am very happy to welcome you on behalf of the French Group on the Study of Red Cell Filtration. I have been trying to think of what filtration has to do with the countries present and of what links all these countries together. I think that as far as red cells are concerned, Great Britain has an eminent position thanks to William Hewson, who was the first to write that red cells are not always globular. I think that is one of our prime concerns. He had very modern thoughts because he also wrote that white cells were easily overlooked, which is another one of our acute problems. William Hewson went even further because he developed links with the United States at this early stage as he dedicated his most important book on the lymphatic system to Benjamin Franklin. But there are so many other reasons for our American friends to be here, especially their responsibility for so much of our knowledge in this field. Our friends from Germany are especially welcome. I must say that personally I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes. Yesterday I managed to find the original edition of ‘His Last Bow’ in Piccadilly and I am very excited and happy about that. Nevertheless what has all this to do with Sherlock Holmes? Well, we are near Baker Street which as you all know is the home of the great man.