Blood-Groups among Australian Merino Sheep

Abstract

IN this laboratory, from time to time, we come across an anti-sheep cell hæmolytic serum from rabbits which causes rapid agglutination and sedimentation of sheep red blood cells. This is undesirable from the serologist's point of view. A sample of such Serum was recently tested against fifteen random samples of sheep cells, and the latter, on the basis of agglutinability, could be sharply divided into two groups. We do not, of course, regard this observation as original, but merely wish to stress its importance for serologists and especially also for commercial firms dealing in bacteriological laboratory material. It might be well to define the group to which belonged the red cell antigen used in preparing a given hæmolysin, two or more groups having been determined on the basis of response to immune agglutinin. Incidentally, we pursued the line suggested by the above observation, and found that there are at least two ‘blood groups’ amongst purebred Australian merino sheep.