No. 610] ALCOHOL AND WHITE MICE 597 



All the animals were fed the same food, consisting of 

 wheat and kaffir corn with hread and milk once a day. 



Every day except Sunday the double alcohol line, par- 

 ents and young, the males of the male alcohol line, the 

 females and young of the female alcohol line and the sec- 

 ond generation of alcohol mice with their young were 

 placed in a galvanized tank 26 inches long, 20 inches wide 

 and 14 inches deep. Alcohol had been poured on to cotton 

 which was placed under a wire mesh situated about 2 

 inches from the bottom of the tank, so the mice had to 

 breathe the fumes. The mice were kept in the tank each 

 day until they became intoxicated, as shown by their stag- 

 gering gait or inability to stand up. At the beginning of 

 the experiment the time necessary to intoxicate them was 

 about one hour. Later they would often be kept in the 

 tank for two hours. This shows that the mice acquired a 

 tolerance for alcohol. This tolerance was shown after they 

 had been treated about a month. To make sure that the 

 mice were being heavily alcoholized, a few times they 

 were left in the tank so long that they would not recover 

 from the effects for three or more hours, and in some 

 cases they did not recover from the intoxication, but died. 



At the beginning of the experiment when the mice were 

 placed in the alcohol tank they would sneeze, their eyes 

 water and they would rush about in their cages, showing 

 great uneasiness. Later they ceased to be so much dis- 

 turbed, yet during the course of the experiment there was 

 no indication that the mice liked the alcohol fumes. 



The Weight of the Adult Mice 

 The adult mice were weighed at the beginning of the 

 experiment and once each month thereafter, to get an in- 

 dication as to their health. Since they were nearly the 

 same age and closely related, their average weights would 

 be expected to be about the same unless the alcohol treat- 

 ment had an injurious effect on them. By referring to 

 Table X, it will be seen that there is only a slight dif- 

 ference between the various lines. The average weight 



