No. 631] CONGENITAL PALSY IN GUINEA-PIGS 145 



pigs described by Stockard and ascribed to the inherited 

 effects of alcohol treatment of the original parents, have 

 symptoms somewhat resembling those of congenital 

 palsy. His descriptions of the symptoms and behavior of 

 his animals are, unfortunately, inadequate for detailed 

 comparison of our cases with his. One point seems cer- 

 tain, however, namely, that while the symptoms exhibited 

 by our animals are relatively constant, he has obtained 

 in his affected lines a great variety of nervous defects and 

 anatomical abnormalities, all of which he attributes to 

 degeneration caused by the alcohol. To mention those 

 relating to nervous disorders, he speaks of the defective 

 animals as being "very shy and excitable" (1912, p. 22), 

 and says further: "it is a point of some interest that all 

 of the young animals that died showed various nervous 

 disturbances, having epileptic-like seizures, and in every 

 case died in a state of convulsion." Again (1913, p. 663) 

 he speaks of an animal which died when one day old, 

 "having been in a constant tremor since its birth; an- 

 other lived for nine days but whenever it attempted to 

 walk it ivas seized with spasmodic contractions; the third 

 specimen exhibited the same nervous manifestation and 

 was completely eyeless." In a later paper (1916, p. 15) 

 he says that paralysis agitans is very common among the 

 F x , F 2 , and F 3 animals, apparently applying this term to 

 some of the symptoms mentioned in earlier papers, and 

 adds that "paralyzed limbs are often observed, the ani- 

 mals being unable to stand or walk." 



While some of the above symptoms approximate those 

 of congenital palsy, they seem to partake for the most 

 part either of a general nervous irritability or else of a 

 definite paralysis. Furthermore, while Stockard bases 

 his conclusion that the general defect that produces these 

 various conditions is hereditary on the fact that they con- 

 tinue to appear in his treated lines, but not in the parallel 

 control lines, he has not so far as we are aware, found any 

 tendency for the condition to be inherited in any definite 

 manner or proportions conformable with Mendelian rules. 



