Red pulp

The red pulp (also called splenic pulp, but should not be confused with white pulp) is a soft mass of a dark reddish-brown color, resembling grumous blood

It consists of a fine reticulum of fibers, continuous with those of the splenic trabeculae, to which are applied flat, branching cells.

Modern texts usually divide the space of the red pulp into cords of Billroth and sinusoids.

Cells found in red pulp
The meshes of the reticulum are filled with blood:


 * The white corpuscles are found to be in larger proportion than they are in ordinary blood.


 * Large rounded cells, termed splenic cells, are also seen; these are capable of ameboid movement, and often contain pigment and red-blood corpuscles in their interior.


 * The cells of the reticulum each possess a round or oval nucleus, and like the splenic cells, they may contain pigment granules in their cytoplasm; they do not stain deeply with carmine, and in this respect differ from the cells of the Malpighian bodies.


 * In the young spleen, giant cells may also be found, each containing numerous nuclei or one compound nucleus.


 * Nucleated red-blood corpuscles have also been found in the spleen of young animals.