274 THE TREND OF THE RACE 



One fact of much interest is that guinea pigs from alcoholized 

 parents produce a relatively defective progeny even though they 

 may not have been given alcohol themselves. "Animals as far as 

 three generations removed from the direct alcohol treatment are 

 still differentiated as a group from the control in regard to the 

 weight of the litters in which they are born, the tendency of the 

 litters to result in failure, the high proportion of prenatal mor- 

 tality over postnatal, and the total mortality which is one and 

 one-half times higher than the normal." Deformities and defects 

 appear much more commonly in the alcoholic strains. Among 

 these were paralysis agitans, opaque cornea, cataract and opaque 

 lenses, small defective eyes, complete absence of one eye, and, 

 finally, complete absence of both eyeballs. In some cases there 

 were deformities of the limbs, albinos, and dwarf forms with a low 

 degree of vitality. No defects were noted in the normal line. 

 Defects sometimes arose in strains in which the males only had 

 been alcoholized, in some cases the treatment having been given 

 only to the grandparents or great-grandparents of the deformed 

 animal. 



It is a noteworthy fact that when males alone are subjected 

 to alcohol the effect on the early mortality of the offspring is 

 often very marked, although in other respects the greatest injury 

 is done when the females only are treated. In the latter case 

 there is opportunity not only for the germ cells to become affected 

 so as to produce a true hereditary change, but the embryo may be 

 directly injured by the alcohol in the mother's blood. Deteriora- 

 tion in offspring as a result of intoxication of the male parent can 

 scarcely be due to anything but a change produced in the germ 

 cells. The fact that defects thus arising may be transmitted to 

 further generations is indicative of the production of a true 

 hereditary effect through a modification of the germ plasm. 



The investigations of Pearl on the hereditary effects of alcohol 

 on the domestic fowl yielded results apparently at least opposed 

 to those obtained by Stockard and his co-workers with guinea 

 pigs. The alcohol was administered by the inhalation method. 

 The fowl subjected to alcohol weighed on an average less than 



