THE INHERITANCE OF DISEASE 115 



poison is circulating through the maternal and infantile 

 system at the same time, its deleterious influence, so visible 

 in the mother, must also make itself felt on the child. 

 Furthermore, the germ-cells themselves of drunken parents, 

 being chronically soaked with alcohol, must be poisoned 

 just as much as all the other organs of the parental body. 

 This must necessarily lead to a pathological disturbance of 

 the germ, and result in abnormal development of the 

 offspring. Now, the children of inebriate parents by no 

 means exactly repeat the morbid conditions of their 

 parents. All we find is abnormal development, chiefly 

 applying to the most sensitive structure of man, the nervous 

 system. We see a host of nervous disorders, a certain 

 nervous instability expressed in lack of control, over- 

 excitability, epilepsy, dementia, etc. We note general 

 effects of the influence of alcoholism rather than particulate 

 inheritance. 



If, nevertheless, the progeny of such parents contribute 

 largely to the number of drunkards — drunkenness running 

 in families — this is due to two factors. In the first instance, 

 persons of weak, unstable, nervous equilibrium will easily 

 yield to temptation, especially if they happen at the same 

 time to be burdened, as is only too likely, with an additional 

 inborn disposition towards the taking of stimulants. 

 Further, these very individuals, ready to fall a prey any 

 moment, are, as regards drink, in the worst possible sur- 

 rounding. They have not only the example from their 

 parents and comrades, but mostly active inducement to 

 take intoxicants. A ready disposition, nervous instability, 

 and an unpropitious milieu, all conspire to make the 

 children of drunkards drunkards again. 



(d) Immunity. 



Immunity is the reverse condition of disease. It is a 

 bodily state which insures the individual against the 

 attacks of certain infectious diseases. The immunity is 



