ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCES IN THE OLD OPEN CLUSTERS NGC-2243 AND MELOTTE-66

High dispersion, high S/N CCD spectra of two giants in each of the old , metal-poor open clusters NGC 2243 and Melotte 66 are used to derive their chemical composition. We found [Fe/H]= - 0.48 +/- 0.15 and [Fe[H ] = - 0.38 +/- 0.15 for NGC 2243 and Melotte 66 respectively; these va lues are close to those deduced from photometry, but much larger than those derived from low S/N photographic spectra of the same stars. At the level of accuracy of element-to-element abundance ratios derived i n this paper (+/- 0.1 dex), the composition of NGC 2243 and Melotte 66 cannot be distinguished from that of stars of similar metallicity in the solar neighborhood.