BLOOD-GROUPS AND RACE^ 



By J. MiLLOT 

 Professor at the Sorbonne, Paris 



It has been known for a long time that there might exist dijfferences 

 in the blood of animals of different species: Morphological differences 

 connected with the shape and size of the red corpuscles, or chemical 

 differences relating to variations in the respiratory pigment, called 

 haemoglobin. It was also known that individual differences, acquired 

 during life, might appear in the blood: As a result of illness, for in- 

 stance, certain properties of the blood might be permanently modified 

 by the formation and accumulation of antibodies. At the beginning 

 of this century it was discovered that beside these variations of a 

 zoological or accidental nature, human blood possesses hereditary 

 constitutional differences of an individual and racial importance. 

 The study of these, and especially of their anthropological applica- 

 tion, has advanced considerably; at the present moment it almost 

 forms an independent branch of science. The investigations bearuig 

 on it are to be counted by thousands, and several scientific periodicals 

 are now exclusively devoted to it. 



What are these blood-differences and how were they discovered? 

 Their history is closely associated with blood-transfusion. 



Blood is known to consist of a large number of small corpuscles 

 iu suspension in a liquid, the plasma. The corpuscles are of two sorts, 

 white (called leucocytes) and red (called erythrocytes) which are 

 much more numerous. Two constituents may also be distinguished 

 in the plasma: A liquid (serum) consisting essentially of a 7-percent 

 solution of salt water, and albuminoid substances in solution, most 

 of which are precipitated if the blood flows out from the organism, 

 producing the well-known phenomenon of coagulation. Under nor- 

 mal conditions the red corpuscles float freely in the plasma, without 

 adhering to each other; but under certain conditions adherence occurs 

 and the erythrocytes collect together in bunches, producing the 

 phenomenon of agglutination. This result can happen both in vitro, 



' Translated by O. 0. S. Crawford, editor of Antiquity, who wishies to thank Prof. Russell Gates for 

 reading the article and correcting some technical errors of translation. Eeprinted by permission from 

 Antiquity, vol. 9, no. 36, December 1935. 



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