282' RAYMOND PEARL 



We may evaluate our results in general terms as follows: 



1. There is no evidence that specific gemiinal changes have- 

 been induced by the alcoholic treatment, at least in those germ 

 cells which produced zygotes. 



2. There is no evidence that the germ cells which produced 

 zygotes have in any respect been injured or adversely affected. 



3. The results with poultry are in apparent contradiction to 

 the results of Stockard, Cole and some others with mammals.^ 

 I believe, for reasons which will presently appear, that this con- 

 tradiction is only apparent and not real, paradoxical as such a 

 statement may seem. 



4. The results with poultry are in a number of important 

 respects in essentially complete agreement with those of Elder- 

 ton and Pearson (7) on parental alcoholism in man, of Nice 

 (16) with mice and of Ivanov (12) with rabbits, guinea pigs, 

 dogs and sheep. Elderton and Pearson (p. 32) summarize their 

 investigation in the following words: 



To sum up then, no marked relation has been found between the 

 intelligence, physique or disease of the offspring and parental alco- 

 holism in any of the categories investigated. On the whole the bal- 

 ance turns as often in favour of the alcoholic as of the non-alcoholic 

 parentage. 



" I make no mention of the results of Ceni (2) with fowls simply for the reason 

 that his work on this question seems to me so uncritical that I am unable to con- 

 sider it seriously. His method of administration of the alcohol, the very small 

 number of animals dealt with, the absence of any quantitative data regarding 

 the progeny, the total absence of controls, and the obviously pathological ele- 

 ment in the stock and the experiment generally, are sufficient grounds, it seems 

 to me, for regarding Ceni's contribution as of no significance, either one way or 

 the other, in the discussion of this problem. If it were worth the space in this 

 journal I could show point by point in detail wherein Ceni's paper is without 

 real meaning. Furthermore after a careful study of this and other papers by the 

 same author I am confident that I could repeat his alcohol experiments with 

 poultry and get the same results. If one applies some deleterious agent plenti- 

 fully, and then so manages the environmental conditions that the birds have not 

 even a fighting chance for normal, healthy life it is easy to produce a very sorry 

 lot of chickens. Ceni's investigation obviously started from the point of view 

 that alcohol was going to harm his chickens. From the account given it is diffi- 

 cult to conceive how that happy consummation could have been avoided under 

 the conditions. 



