110
Blood-Group Identifications of Indian Breeds
Dew [1939] in a blood grouping expedition in
East Africa tested individuals of 46 tribes, and
found groups A and B only. He interprets the
distribution on the basis of mutation and suggests
that the Bantu does not descend from the Negro
but is rather a pure example of the common stock.
An Egyptian origin is suggested for Hottentots.
Thomas [1939] reports on blood-group distri-
bution in England. Out of 5,000 people, 2,233
were of group O, 2,162 of A, 444 of B and 161 of
AB group. Haldane [1940] studied the blood-
group frequencies of 75 European population
groups. A striking variation was discovered
in the frequencies of A and O groups, among the
peripheral population of Western Europe, there
being a low proportion of group B in Scandinavia,
Iceland, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia and the British
Isles. Populations with low B are regarded as
remnants of a primitive European civilization.
In India, Malone and Laheri [1929] studied three
types of people, (1) Turko-Iranians, (2) Indo-
Aryans and (3) Dravidians. They confirm the find-
ings of Hirschfeld in concluding that these people
are characterized by a high incidence of group B.
The Dravidians are also characterized by a high
incidence of group A. Macfarlane [1938] studied
the blood-group distribution in Bengal. Data
from lower Bengal show that the frequency of
groups A and B increases as one passes from higher
to lower castes, the highest frequency of group
O being found among caste Hindus. Bengalee
depressed classes have the highest percentage of
group B so far found in India. Bengalee-Muslims
have a blood-group distribution similar to that
of their low-class Hindu neighbours. Macfarlane
[1940] also studied the problem in Baster State
and found a high frequency of group B among the
Bhils, this being regarded as due to in-breeding.
Almost all the Chenchus of Baster State belonged
to groups O and A and in this respect resemble
the hill tribes of the Western Ghats and the Malyali
lower castes, so sharing the distinction of being
the only Indian tribe with more group A than B,
Sarkar [1940], in 96 tests on certain primitive
people of India, Huyani nagas (Assam and Bihar),
showed the predominance of group A over B,
excepting among the Thado-Kukis. Greval and
Chandra [1940] tested Hindus, Muslims and Anglo-
Indians of Calcutta. A high frequency of groups
O and B was found in Hindus and Muslims, where-
as group A was the highest and B the lowest among
the Anglo-Indians. Sheshadhari-Nathan and
Timothy [1942] carried out a similar investi-
gation in Madras. Group O was the highest
B lowest among the Anglo-Indians. Pai
[1934] found a high frequency of group B am
Todas (Guindy, Madras).
The technique used in the blood-grouping ti
was the same as that described in the auth
previous article [Singh, 1942]. It consisted
mixing in a small tube about four drops of se
and an equal amount of 2 per cent washed
cell suspension, gently mixing and exposing
mixture at 37°C. (dry incubator) for 30-60 min
Cattle of the following breeds were select
for study: Kumauni (hill), Sindhi, Gir, Sahi
Tharparkar, Hariana, Kankrej, Amritmal
Kangayam, Ongole, Dhanni, Afghan and Friesi
The distribution and location of these bre
can be seen in Fig. 1 from which it is evident t
they are subject to a wide range of climatic
other environmental factors.
In this work there are three main sources
difficulty: (a) the low and quickly deteriorat
titre of the serum. (This difficulty does not a
in blood-group work with human sera, which w
cold storage can be used for some days), (b)
necessity of carrying out the tests at 37ºC. a
(c) the number of antigenic components in t
erythrocytes of cattle. The location of some
the cattle in places where there are special tra
port difficulties was an additional hindran
For these reasons the results recorded here a
not as detailed as might be desired and the obje
has rather been to determine certain broad fa
regarding the blood affinities.
The usual practice was to bleed 12 animals
the morning, test the 144 combinations of seru
and cells, and read the results the same evening
The results largely depended on the partialis
antigenic components present in the blood of in
dividuals of the group tested on one day. Occ
sionally, cells and serum from an animal found
be a good reactor on the previous day were it
cluded, in order to increase the chances of obtain
ing positive reactions. The reason for this is tha
a few cattle, giving no reactions with serum an
cells from one lot of animals, may exhibit positive
reactions with isogen or isonin* or with both thes
components when tested with serum and cell
from another lot. In this way the group classi
fication first recorded had to be altered after
further test, though this was not frequent.
* Isohaemagglutinins and Isofaemagglutinogens will be
termed isonins and isogens, after Greval et al [1941].