The effect of gold on the passive transfer of adjuvant induced arthritis was studied to determine if gold acted in the donor and/or recipient arms of this model. Joint scores were markedly decreased in rats receiving spleen cells from donor animals treated with gold (p less than 0.01) suggesting that gold injections alters the development and/or function of the spleen cells from these animals which transfer adjuvant induced arthritis. Gold treatment of recipient animals had little effect on subsequent arthritis.