Cole and Steele : A Waltzing Rabbit 



293 



second, that if the other grandparents 

 are related as beheved, there has been 

 a considerable amount of inbreeding. 

 The only record of any nervous defect 

 in his pedigree is that of his maternal 

 grandfather as noted. 



A search of the records for other 

 cases of possible nervous abnormality 

 has revealed three such, and it would 

 seem more than coincidence that they 

 should all show relationship to the 

 pedigree already given. This fact is 

 emphasized when it is recalled that 

 the records include hundreds of ani- 

 mals, many of which are related in 

 one way or another to the descend- 

 ents of 14.1 and 15.1, but many others 

 v.^hich are in no way related to them. 



An albino, own son ( $ 327.4) of 

 Waltzcr, produced by breeding him to 

 his full sister ( 9 307.7) from a subse- 

 cjuent litter, exhibited a behavior 

 somewhat similar to that of his father, 

 but in a much less degree. This male 

 was one of a litter of five born Feb- 

 ruary 9, 1917, and the records contain 

 the following note made February 26, 

 1918, when he was a year old. "When 

 excited this animal shows a tendency 

 to waltz similar to that of its father 

 5301.3, though never makes but a 

 turn and a half at one time. He 

 makes a noise like that of 301.3." 

 This male had two litters of young 

 by related females and one by a fe- 

 male apparently unrelated, but no de- 

 fects are recorded among the off- 

 spring. 



Another of the individuals referred 

 to was also a son of WaUzcr, as 

 shown in Chart II. This was a male 

 in a litter (328) of six young, con- 

 sisting of three males and three fe- 

 males, and was recorded as killed 

 when about seven months of age be- 

 cause paralyzed. He is the only one 



in the litter mentioned as being in 

 any way abnormal. The inbreeding 

 in this case is again very pronounced ; 

 IValtscr was mated to his cousin, 

 mate of Waltser's father, and whose 

 father was also Waltzcr's maternal 

 grandfather. 



The third individual, which was 

 likewise killed at about seven months 

 of age because paralyzed in the hind 

 parts, is shown in Chart III. Here 

 again the same blood is found, the 

 affected individual ( $ Z7A-7) being a 

 grandson of 3A (296.1). 



If we were to speculate on the basis 

 of the charts here presented we might 

 be tempted to conclude that the evi- 

 dence points to the production of a 

 germinal nervous defect of at least 

 some general sort as a result of the 

 treatment of males 14.1 and 20.2, 

 either one or both. Further, that this 

 inducted trait tends to be recessive, 

 and as such traits do, to reappear as 

 a result of inbreeding. And finally, 

 v.e might go so far even as to sug- 

 gest that since the nervous defect has 

 shown itself only in males (the af- 

 fected individuals are indicated in the 

 charts by black face type), it is the sex 

 chromosome which has been aft'ected 

 and the character is of the nature of 

 a &ex-linked recessive. 



There are other facts, however, 

 which would make such conclusions 

 from the present data hazardous, to 

 say the least. For one thing, it is 

 by no means certain that the circus 

 movements of Waltser and his son 

 327.4, and the various degrees of 

 paralysis of the others are to be re- 

 ferred to the same germinal cause, 

 nor indeed, for that matter that they 

 are necessarily germinal in origin. In ^ 

 the second place, the number of indi- 

 viduals which showed any sort of 



Chart III. Pedigree of Paralyzed Rabbit 374.7 



5 374.7— killed at about 7 months of age be- 

 cause paralyzed in hind parts 



r s. 



'■74-3 



6 3A (296.1) 



$2A (297.1) 



52A (297.1) 



