Neutral hydrogen in isolated galaxies: first results for five early-type systems

The neutral hydrogen properties of the first five early-type galaxies observed in our survey of isolated galaxies are presented. The galaxies are found in regions of very low density and hence are ''isolated'' at least with respect to the majority of galaxies. Among this sample, early-type systems are extremely rare. The five isolated early-type galaxies presented here contain substantial masses of neutral hydrogen. In addition, their hydrogen-mass-to-luminosity ratios M/sub H//L vary substantially but are high relative to published values for other early-type galaxies. The morphological classification of these galaxies is uncertain, but, in light of the remainder of the sample, their distinctiveness is established