ALCOHOL, DISEASE, AND HEREDITARY DEFECTS 271 
Much of our data on this problem is derived from observations 
on the supposed effect of alcohol and other injurious substances 
on the offspring of animals or human beings subjected to these 
influences. In the experiments of Hodge and of Pférringer on 
dogs, and of Laitenen on rabbits and guinea pigs the animals were 
given alcohol during pregnancy and the number of stillborn or 
imperfect young was unusually high. Of the three dogs used in 
the experiments of Hodge one died during parturition. After the 
two others had produced several stillborn or abnormal young the 
alcohol was discontinued. In both cases the litters which were 
born after alcohol was no longer given were mostly dead. Where 
there is an opportunity for the foetus to be affected directly by 
alcohol in the mother’s blood there is no evidence of any truly 
hereditary effect. If alcoholized mothers continued to produce 
defective young after the use of alcohol is withdrawn, the result 
may still be due to the direct effect of the injury sustained by 
the mother. 
There have been some experiments on the direct effect of 
alcohol on the germ cells. Miss Torelle has studied the influence 
of alcohol on the sperm cells of the starfish. She found that 
small amounts of alcohol added to a sea water containing the 
sperm cells did not diminish their vitality and when eggs were 
fertilized by these sperms they developed rather better than the 
controls. Ivanow treated the sperms of the rat, sheep, dog, 
rabbit and guinea pig with alcohol up to as high as seven per cent. 
The females artificially impregnated with these sperm cells 
brought forth a normal and vigorous progeny. In the mature 
condition Ivanow infers that sperm cells are quite resistant to 
alcohol. This should render us rather skeptical about the sad 
havoc alleged to be produced in human offspring by paternal 
drunkenness at the time of conception. The sperms already 
isolated from any organic connection with the rest of the body, 
and relatively resistant, would probably be less affected than 
at any previous time. The experiments of Gee showed that 
spermatozoa of fishes were relatively uninjured by alcohol up to 
strengths which were nearly fatal to them. However, with 
