62 



ADAPTATION AND DISEASE 



acts directly on the nervous system of the adult, producing 

 lead encephalopathy, retinal disturbances, etc. 



Next we have Lize's parallel observations upon the workers 

 exposed to the fumes of nitrate of mercury in the manufacture 

 of looking-glasses, 1 etc. : 12 pregnancies in which the father alone 

 was exposed, resulting in 4 abortions and 8 children born alive, 

 of whom 3 died before the fourth year and 1 alone was vigorous. 

 What can these figures mean other than that the metallic salts 

 absorbed into the system have affected the germ cells of the 

 father ? 



Carriere 2 inoculated a series of guinea-pigs, male and female, 

 with the soluble products of the tubercle bacillus. I have placed 

 his results in a tabular form : they are very instructive. 



Effect of Inoculation of Parental Guinea-Pigs with 

 Tuberculin — Carriere 



Births 



The results here are of the same order as those obtained by 

 Paul and Lize : there is the heaviest mortality, the greatest 

 number of still-births, the smallest number of those surviving 

 infancy where both parents have been subjected to the particular 

 soluble poison prior to conception. Next in order is the morbidity 

 and mortality when the mother alone is inoculated, but where 

 the father alone has been inoculated there is still evidence that 

 a high percentage — over 25 per cent — of the offspring are affected. 

 Nor do these observations by Carriere stand alone : Lustig, 8 



1 Union medicale, 1862, 106. 



8 Arch, de mid. expir. xii., 1900, 782. 



3 Centralblattf. Pathologie, xv., 1904, 210 and 756. 



