MedicineHematologyHematology PhysiologyHemostasisTransfusion MedicineRed Blood Cell TransfusionTransfusion ReactionsAgglutination ReactionsLandsteiner’s Rule
Landsteiner and Shattock’s 1900 discovery of iso‑agglutinins led to the classification of human blood into three groups, later expanded to a fourth by Decastello and Sturli, with Hektoen highlighting their clinical significance. The author aims to correct an error concerning the discovery of blood groups cited in the article and its review. To the Editor: The article on “The History of Blood Transfusion” (The Journal, Nov.
<h3>To the Editor:</h3> —The article on "The History of Blood Transfusion" that appeared in the department of Miscellany (The Journal, Nov. 12, 1932, p. 1717) interested me considerably. May I point out an error which involves the discovery of the blood groups that appears in this article and also in the review by Zimmerman and Howell in the September issue of the<i>Annals of Medical History</i>, from which the article inThe Journalis apparently concentrated. On page 1719 appears the paragraph: "In 1900 Landsteiner (and, independently, Shattock) made the momentous discovery which was recently awarded the Nobel prize, namely, that human blood contains iso-agglutinins, capable of agglutinating other human red blood corpuscles, and that human blood is divided into three groups with regard to the agglutinating reactions. Decastello and Sturli (1902) added a fourth group. Hektoen (1907) was the first to point out the significance of iso-agglutinins in human