290 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol.LVI 



favorable results in the offspring; Pearl reported gener- 

 ally favorable results in the offspring of treated fowl; 

 Arlitt reported unfavorable results from mild doses on 

 rats, while Nice, also with mild doses, found his test mice 

 slightly better in growth and fertility but less active, as 

 measured by the revolutions of the revolving cages in 

 which they were placed, than the controls. Earlier, Hod- 

 ges ('03) had found the viability of puppies reduced by 

 the treatment of their parents; the treated dogs were 

 less active and more susceptible to distemper; Laitinen 

 ('08) reported high rates of death at or soon after birth 

 of guinea pigs and rabbits from treated parents. 



Accepting these general statements as correct, there 

 appears to be no obvious uniformity in the results ob- 

 tained by different investigators. But this lack of uni- 

 formity may be only apparent; it is possible that not all 

 the results as presented will be confirmed by subsequent 

 investigations since none of the experiments reported 

 have escaped unfavorable criticism from some stand- 

 point. Alcoholism has such a multiplicity of aspects that 

 it is a matter of great difficulty to arrange experiments 

 concerning its effect on the offspring of treated animals 

 that will be beyond criticism. For technique satisfac- 

 tory to a physiologist may involve serious errors in the 

 eyes of a psychologist, while the experiments of both 

 may, to a geneticist, seem to have weak points. Until 

 alcohol studies meet the requirements of all critics no 

 final conclusions can be reached. In problems invohdng 

 comparisons between experimental and control individu- 

 als the nature of the controls is no less important than 

 the comparison itself. However true this appears to be 

 for all experimental work, it is surprising to note that 

 the main adverse criticisms of the exx>erimental studies 

 of the influence of alcohol upon the offspring have been 

 aimed at the controls. 



In spite of the general lack of uniformity in the results 

 as they stand, at least one criterion appears to show con- 

 sistency. This is the reproductive capacity of the treated 



