100 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
time when the rice is hot, while the women eat at the second 
table when the rice is cold, thus escaping the irritation produced 
by the hot rice. Cancer of the tongue is frequently found 
with bad teeth. The so-called black moles, when irritated, 
frequently give rise to a most vicious and destructive form 
of cancer. Dr. A. J. Ochsner, of Chicago, in an address be- 
fore the American Medical Association three years ago, made 
the interesting statement that there would be much less cancer 
of the stomach when Americans stopped eating so much man- 
ure with their food, referring more especially to the use of un- 
cooked vegetables that had been raised on ground fertilized 
from barn yards and privies. 
There is no reliable evidence that goes to show that cancer 
is in any measure contagious. The writer saw the late Dr. 
Senn, of Chicago, have a rather large piece of active cancer 
tissue, which he had just removed from the breast of one of 
his patients, transplanted under the skin of his own arm and 
sewed in, The whole mass gradually disappeared and the 
doctor died some fifteen years later from causes that in no way 
could be related to his courageous experiment. The question 
of heredity as related to the cancer question is still a mooted 
one. From statistics it would appear that those who have had 
cancer in their family stand a little better chance of not having 
it than those who have never had a case in the family. But 
statistics of families in this country are based on too meagre 
data and we would do well to question it when based on this 
kind of evidence. When we get to the point where we have 
vital statistics that cover the disease over a period of at least 
one hundred years, we shall be in a better position to draw con- 
clusions on the basis of heredity. 
This statement is more to the point when one is familiar 
with the unique scientific investigations of Miss Maud Slye of 
Chicago. This worker has made an exhaustive study of cancer 
as it affects mice. Her work in this connection would also seem 
to show that the disease is not transmitted by inheritance. Her 
investigations also certainly show—and she is authority for the 
statement—that in mice at least a predisposition to its develop- 
ment is positively inherited. Experimenting with thousands of 
mice, Miss Slye has succeeded many times in breeding in and 
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