with the technical assistance of NELLIE CURRY Five thousand four hundred and sixtyone normal individuals were tested for rheumatoid factor. The latex slide test was positive in 4.1 per cent SHC in 2.4 per cent and SSC in 0.18 per cent. There was no positive correlation of presence of rheumatoid factor and race or sex, but all tests increased in positivity with age. Physical examinations of individuals with at least one test positive for rheumatoid factor showed 5.4 per cent had possible or definite rheumatoid arthritis.Cinque milles quatro centos e sexantaun subjectos normal esseva testate pro factor rheurnatoidee. Le test de latex a lamina esseva positive in 4,l pro cento, le test de SHC esseva positive in 2,4 pro cento, e le test de SSC esseva positive in 0,18 pro cento. Esseva trovate nulle correlation positive inter le presentia de factor rheumatoidee e le racia o le sex0 del subjectos, sed omne le tests monstrava un augmento del incidentia de positivitate in parallela con le augmento del etate del subjectos. Le examine physic del subjectos con positivitate in a1 minus un del tests pro factor rheumatoidee monstrava que 5,4 pro cento habeva definite o possibile arthritis rheumatoidee. HE HIGH DEGREE of sensitivity (latex1 and sensitized human cell2)T and specificity (senbitized sheep cel13p10) of the presently available tests for detecting rheumatoid factor have made them one of the most widely used and satisfactory parameters for the detection of unidentified rheumatoid arthritis in the normal This study was undertaken to try to determine the iricidence of the rheumatoid factor id normal individuals and the circumstances which may have influenced its occurrence. Five thousand four hundred and sixty-one normal individuals were studied and 2,712 of these were compared with 73 patients with degenerative arthritis and 68 patients with non-rheumatic diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Normal PopulationOur study population is comprised of five groups of individuals: (1.) 3,335 blood donors (2.) 1,808 pregnant women, (3.) 120 applicants for employment at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, (4.) a group of 116 executives, and ( 5 . ) 84 individuals resident in a local home for the aged. Except for the executive group, both Negroes and Whites are represented in each group. There was a total of 2,214 Negroes and 3,247 Whites.

Conservation biology is an area within the ecology concentration leading to the M.S. or Ph.D. degree. Research emphasis is on regional and international subjects dealing with a wide range of organisms and ecosystems. Courses, seminars, and research projects comprising basic and advanced training in conservation biology are available. Programs are tailored to individual students and may include environmetxtaUy oriented offerings in agriculture, botany, engineering, geography, landscape design, law, philosophy, planning, sociology, and zoology. Representative FacultyMichael E. Douglas, Ph.D.: evolutionary and conservation biology, phylogenetic systematics, quantitative ecology, multivariate and geometric morphology. Thomas E. Dowling, Ph.D.: evolutionary and conservation genetics, population biology, biochemical and molecular genetics of speciation in freshwater fishes.Conservation biology is an area of specialization in the Wildlife Ecology and Environmental Biology programs. Students receive an M.S. degree in biology after a 2-to 3-year program featuring course work in a variety of disciplines and completion of a thesis project. Interdisciplinary research thesis studies are encouraged. Students may specialize in one of several areas including endangered species conservation, environmental toxicology, landscape ecology, population conservation and management, population genetics, and wetlands ecology.M.S. and Ph.D. degrees with research emphasis in conservation biology are offered in both wildlife science and zoology graduate programs. Current specializations include natural history and management of rare species, conservation genetics, international wildlife trade policy, and tropical ecology. Additional opportunities for research in conservation biology and field ecology are available through departmental participation in the Auburn Group in Ecology and membership in the Organization for Tropical Studies. Representative FacultyTroy L Best, Ph.D. (Zoology): ecology of threatened and endangered bats and ro-dents, food l~blts and reproductive biology of vertebrates. James L. Dohie, Ph.D. (Zoology): natural history and management of threatened and endangered turtle species. F. Stephen Dobson, Ph.D. (Zoology): rarity of mammalian species, alpine mammal ecology. Jack W. Feminella, Ph.D. (Zoology): conservation of stream invertebrates and their habitats. Craig Guyer, Ph.D. (Zoology): tropical ecology, impact of land use history on endemic amphibians and reptiles. Goeffrey Hill, Ph.D. (Zoology): habitat use by Neotropical migrant songbirds, avian behavioral ecology. Nickolas R. Holler, Ph.D. (Wildlife Science): ecology of threatened and endangered rodents, ecology of Neotropical migrant songbirds. Michael C. Wooten, Ph.D. (Zoology): Conservation genetics of mammals and fish, microgeographic structuring of endangered populations.Conservation Biology is an emphasis within the graduate degree program in ecology that awards both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. This program also allows students an opportunity to design a program wit...

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