srNopsis Serum haptoglobin has been estimated quantitatively in 25 patients with haemolytic disease, and its diagnostic value assessed by comparing the levels with those obtained in 1 lOnormal subjects, in 149 patients with other forms of anaemia, and in 37 patients with non-haematological disorders. The normal range was found to be 33 to 213 mg./100 ml.; subnormal levels were found in 80% of patients with haemolytic disease or megaloblastic anaemia, patients with haemorrhage into the tissues, and occasionally in association with other diseases. When taken in conjunction with other clinical and laboratory features this simple biochemical estimation can be of diagnostic value.

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Summary. A study of 10 patients with primary acquired sideroblastic anaemia demonstrates a link between the ferrokinetic abnormalities, the clinical severity and the distribution of storage iron between the labile and the fixed stores. There appears to be a progressive change from an initial mild impairment of haemoglobin synthesis, through a phase of ineffective erythropoeisis and partial erythropoietic failure, to a final stage of complete erythropoietic failure. This progress is associated initially with an increased iron content of the labile store but in the later stages with transfer of iron to the fixed, non‐chelatable store. The change from the early Type I phase to the late Type III phase is associated with clinical deterioration and increasing transfusion requirements which are predominantly responsible for an increased iron load which is a feature of this stage of the disease.