240 BIOLOGY OF THE LABORATORY MOUSE 



W viable dominant spotting. — Allele of W. W-'w mice are similar to Ww 

 mice. W^W^ mice usually live to maturity. They are all white with black 

 eyes, usually sterile, but occasionally with a limited fertility. The eryth- 

 rocyte count is about one half normal. The W^ gene lightens sisi and makes 

 si partly dominant to Si. Little and Cloudman, 1937, Proc. Nat. Acad. 

 Sc. 23: 535-537. Griineberg, 1939, Genetics 24: 777-810. 



wa-i waved-i. — Hair wavy, vibrissae slightly curly. Recognizable in 

 mice at about 5 days of age because of curling of vibrissae. Quite pro- 

 nounced at 7 or 8 weeks, thereafter becomes less distinct and in older mice 

 remains only as a slight curling at the tip of the vibrissae and a tendency of 

 the hairs on the back to incline towards the mid-line of the body. Crew, 

 1933, J- Genet. 27: 95-96. 



wa-2 waved-2. — Chromosome 7 (see sh-2). Like iva-i but more pro- 

 nounced. Keeler, 1935, J. Hered. 26: 189-191. 



Characters Inherited in an Irregular 

 OR Undetermined Manner 



There are a number of structural and physiological characters in mice 

 which genetic tests have shown to be inherited, but the exact manner of 

 whose inheritance is not yet adequately determined. Most of them give 

 imperfect ratios so that they cannot be classed as simple recessive or domi- 

 nant factors due to a single gene. These characters are listed and briefly 

 described below and a reference given. 



Agglutinin absorption ability of blood corpuscles. — The blood corpuscles 

 of different strains of mice may be classified as strong or weak according to 

 their ability to absorb agglutinin. Strong ability may be inherited as a 

 simple dominant. Gorer, 1936, J. Genet. 32: 17-31. 



Anophthalmia. — An anophthalmic strain gives 90% complete eyeless- 

 ness on both sides and 10% of various degrees of smallness of the eyes. 

 Chase and Chase (in press). 



Cleft palate and harelip. — Usually recessive in Fi but occasionally domi- 

 nant. Ratios are imperfect, showing variable but usually large number of 

 normal overlaps. Reed, 1936, Genetics 21: 361-374. Steiniger, 1939, Z. 

 Menschliche Vereb. u. Konstitutionslehre 23: 425-462. 



Diaphragm imperfectly formed. — Causes death in newborn mice due to 

 leakage of air from ruptures in lungs. Wang, 1938, Anat. Rec. 71: 469- 

 476. 



