A blood sample containing leukocytes flows through a flow cell. A light
source emits a light beam in a first direction. The light beam incident
into the flow cell is scattered by the blood sample as scattered light. A
first detector detects an intensity of forward small scattered light out
of the scattered light. The first detector is arranged so as to have a
maximum angle of a detection angle range for the forward small scattered
light stemmed from the first direction at a position inside (outside) of
the flow cell, which is 3.1 (4) degrees or less. A second detector
detects an intensity of forward large scattered light out of the
scattered light. The second detector is arranged so as to have a
detection angle range for the forward large scattered light stemmed from
the first direction at a position inside (outside) of the flow cell,
which falls in a range from 8 to 12 (10 to 16) degrees. A processor
classifies the leukocytes based on the detected intensity of the forward
large scattered light and the detected intensity of the forward small
scattered light.