Long before Blood Type Dating, there was this:
… Says Scientist!
The secret of a really happy marriage, according to Dr. F. N. Walker, of Toronto, is to marry someone who is of the same blood group as yourself. He has made an analysis of the blood groups of 500 married couples to support his statement.
EUGENISTS have for many years been urging that people should for their own sakes and that of the future race submit themselves to a health test before marriage.
Many quietly and unobtrusively do so. Perhaps before very long a blood test will be added to the examination, and only persons of the same blood group advised to marry.
This “matching” of blood may lead to a purer blood stream and a finer race physically and mentally may evolve.
Compatibility of blood and compatibility of temperament may go together; if so, husband and wife should live in truer sympathy and understanding.
Marriage should be more permanent— divorce less frequent—life a finer harmony.
The old saying that “blood will tell” is becoming more true every day.
Dr. Karl Landsteiner, winner of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Medical Research, discovered that human blood is of four different types, and that blood of one type does not always mix with blood of another type.
We all know the importance of this discovery with regard to blood transfusion. For this purpose the blood of the patient and of the donor must mix well.
The two bloods must be tested and proved to be compatible and of compatible blood groups.
If the two bloods are not compatible the red cells, instead of mixing freely, will clump or glue together. If this glueing together or agglutination takes place in a man’s veins, death may result.
Now that the donor and the patient may be proved to belong to the same blood group, through Dr. Landsteiner’s discovery, blood transfusion saves thousands of lives yearly.
Out of 1036 transfusions reported by Pemberton of the Mayo Clinic, only three deaths were recorded, and these were the result of errors in the determination of the blood groups.
Which Are You?
EVERY human being belongs to one or other of the four blood groups, namely, O, A, B, and AB.
In the red blood cells there are two substances called agglutinogens A and B. If an individual possesses both these substances in his blood cells, he is said to belong to group AB. if neither, he belongs to group O, if he possesses only A, to group A; and if only B, he belongs to group B.
These blood groups are inherited and remain unchanged throughout life.
This dividing of human beings into blood groups has become one of the most certain means of determining parentage. Once a mother, if the paternity of her child was questioned, had to depend upon inherited likenesses and peculiarities to prove the identity of the father of her child.
Today the Law Courts of New York State, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Italy legally use the evi- dence of blood tests in the establishing of paternity. Several cases are quoted by Dr. Wiener in a recent issue of a scientific monthly:
A woman wrongly accused a man of the paternity of her illegitimate child. The man denied it. Samples of the blood of the man. woman, and child were sent to Dr. Wiener for examination. The tests proved that the woman belonged to group O, the man to group A, and the child to group B.
As group B was not present in the mother’s blood, the father must have belonged to group B or AB. So the man was acquitted.
Two new-born infants had been accidentally changed in hospital. After
[TO determine what blood group a per- son belongs to is a very simple matter. So simple that it is the work of a few moments for an ex- perienced scientist with a microscope. A tiny drop of blood from the finger, as might be drawn from the prick of a thorn on a rose, would be large enough to tell the expert to which group an individual belonged.]
taking their baby home, Mr. and Mrs. B, discovered that the baby had a label on its back with the initial “W.”
At the “W” home, the baby was found to bear the initial “B.”
All six individuals were then grouped, in the following manner: Mr. B.—group AB, Mrs. B.—group O, baby bearing initial “W”—group O, Mrs. W.—group O, Mr. W.—group O, baby bearing initial “B”—group A. Since a group A child could not occur in the W. family, but might occur in the B. family; and since a group O child could not occur in the B. family, but was possible in the W. family, it was evident that the babies were properly labelled, but had been taken to the wrong house.
The death of Baron Ampthill just recently recalls another famous case in which the blood groups were used as evidence.
The Hon. John Hugo Russell, it will be remembered, who is now Lord Ampthill, petitioned for divorce, claiming that his boy child was not his own son. The petition was dismissed and the boy, who is now fourteen, has become heir to the barony.
But Love Is Blind
IT can easily be seen from this brief description of the work that has already been done with the blood groups that the idea of like blood groups being more compatible as marriage partners has a sound basis.
But will anyone ever put it into practice? Love is blind, they say—so blind that it will overlook the most obvious makings of an unhappy marriage.
It is hardly likely that a girl who is so infatuated that she will marry a man who has all the ear-marks of a bad hus- band will bother to find out to which blood group he belongs. For wise people, however, there is more in the idea than meets the eye. and it might be worth putting into practice.
—Maydee Dobbie.
See also: 1935 article suggests marrying someone with your own blood type