We show that the stellar photored magnitude, m₁₀, of the 10th by brightness galaxy in an Abell cluster is not a good indicator of the cluster distance. We find that the values of m₁₀ for clusters in the southern Galactic hemisphereare systematically fainter by about 0 ͫ. 17 than those in the northern hemisphere. This may be due to higherabsorption of objects in the south Galactic hemisphere or to atmospheric extinction in observations of clusters in high zenith angles.