41 capacity. No correlation was seen. The expianation for the higher B,, levels is not apparentat this time. ~— > ae Studies of Genetically Inherited Traits Blood Groups. The laboratory analysis of blood groups was conducted by Dr. L.N. Sussman and colleagues and reported as follows. The results of the 1958 and 1959 studies were combined, makinga total of 310 individual bloods. Care was taken to avoid duplication. The results of this broader sampling, compared to findings of Simmonset al. for the same area”® andfor the Polynesians’® are presented in Tables 27, 28, and 29. Data on all individuals tested are given in Appendix 6. Thefindings may be summarized as follows. 1. ABO system. The high frequency of the B gene is again demonstrated, in contrast to the absence of B genes in the Polynesians. The absenceof A, genein this area has been noted repeatedly.” In the presentseries a single individual of group A.B was confirmed. The x? value in this system is 5.18 (p=0.15). The excess of AB persons (expected 8, observed 14) contributes the major part of the x° deviation. 2. MLNsystem. The extremely lowfrequency of M gene has been noted in manystudies of this population andarea, in contrast to its high frequency in Polynesians. The x* value in this system is 23.7 ( p=0.001), whichis statistically invalid. The error lies in the finding of 25 M persons whereas only 11.6 could be expected. Thus it appears that the N gene in the heterozygote escapes detection. If to the Amerindians, Mongolians, and Eskimos,*? among whom some Diego positive people are found. The following blood group characteristics of 310 Marshallese representsignificant differences from those of their eastern neighbors (Polynesians) and suggest a relationship with Southeast Asians and Indonesians. 1. A relatively high B gene frequency. 2. A high N genefrequency. 3. Extremely high R' gene frequency. 4. Total absence of Kell and Diego factors. Haptoglobins and Transferrins. moved by random selection to give a sample of 124 individuals in which the families included, at most, parents and one child. The distribution of the haptoglobin types in this group did not differ significantly from that in the total group. In each case, agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg predictions was good, suggesting that the population was homogeneousfor this trait. Omitting the two sera with no haptoglobins, the frequencyof the Hp' gene is 0.58 and of the Hp? gene 0.42. The frequency of the Hp! gene ts higher than in the West European populationssofar tested. Four Rongelapese had no detectable hapto- globin either in 1957 or 1959. In addition. in many sera onlyvery small amounts of haptoglobin ——_ this were corrected for, the result would be an even greater frequency of N gene. 3. RA- Hr system. The marked frequencyof the R' gene is again demonstrated, higher than reported in any other study. The failure to demonstrate any rh negative persons suggests that the probable genotype of the heterozygous Rh,people is R'R°. This is further supported by the finding of two persons of phenotype Rh,. The x? value in this system is 13.7. Again thestatistical value is diminished because 2 Rh, people were found whereas 0.26 were expected. It can be seen that a major change in x’ value can be caused bya single individual of “unusual” grouping. 4. Other systems. Thefailure to find in this group of 310 a single person with a Diego or Kell factor is noteworthy. The Marshallese, Maoris,*' and Polynesians are similar in this respect, in contrast The distribu- tion of the haptoglobin types in the 176 Rongelapese tested is shown in Table 30. Data onall individuals tested may be found in Appendix 6. This sample included some families with two or more offspring; in these, all siblings but one were re- Table 29 Rh-Hr Frequency Among Marshallese and Polynesians Marshallese Present report Phenotype percent Rh, Rh, Rh,rh Rh,Rh, Rh, Rh, Gene frequency R? R? R° 90.9 4.2 3.9 0.3 0.6 0.950 .020 .030 Simmons ecal.”* 90.6 0.7 8.0 0.3 0.12 0.951 .04 .006 Polynesian Simmons and Graydon*® 19.6 0.7 30.0 29.7 0.449 543 .007