NORMAL BLOOD DETERMINATIONS IN THE SOUTH

Abstract

The opinion has been frequently expressed that the red cell count and particularly hemoglobin are low in the South. Musser and Wirth¹ advanced the thesis that anemia is more prevalent in the South than the North. Lippincott² concluded that the normal average percentage of hemoglobin and erythrocyte counts in the region of the state of Mississippi are lower than the usually accepted standards. His determinations, however, were made on patients in hospitals and clinics, and his methods do not appear to have been accurate. On the other hand, Major W. P. Chamberlain,³ studying the blood of a large number of soldiers in the Philippines, found a normal count for red corpuscles and possibly a slightly lowered precentage of hemoglobin. Like Chamberlain, Balfour 4 expressed the belief that climate alone does not produce any change in the blood and that so-called tropical anemia is apparent rather than genuine. In order to