42 



of alcohol on the organisms subjected to its influence have 

 been so conclusively demonstrated, it seems desirable to 



in the subsequent generations are normal or show any 

 of the weaknesses* of their alcoholic ancestors. In other 

 words the problem is to find out whether the descendants 

 of alcoholic parents are in any way inferior to the normal 

 individuals of the species and. if so, for how many genera- 

 tions the weakness continues. 



That the parental use of alcohol in human beings affects 

 some of the offspring in the first filial generation is un- 

 doubted by many observers, yet Pearson and Khlerton 

 have recently shown that the school children of alcoholic 

 parents are as normal as the children of sober parents 

 in physique and intelligence. However, the results set 

 forth in this paper do not purport to have any relation- 

 ship with the effects of alcohol upon man and his descend- 

 ants. 



While working with the rotifer, Hydatiiut scuta, obser- 

 vations have been made which show that while alcohol 

 decreases the rate of reproduction and increases the sus- 

 ceptibility to copper sulphate, still these harmful effects 

 of alcohol disappear in the second generation after the 

 alcohol has been removed from the culture water. The 

 grandchildren show none of the alcoholic weaknessess of 

 the grandparent, but are as normal as the individuals 

 whose grandparents never were subjected to alcohol. 



Hydatina seuta can be readily reared and controlled in 

 the laboratory in the manner described in a former paper. 

 Alcohol can be added directly to the liquid medium in 

 which the animals live. A large amount of the liquid is 

 drawn through the mouth, indirectly by means of the pul- 

 sating bladder, into the alimentary canal, and the dialyz- 

 able parts pass through its walls into the body cavity and 

 then finally out through the excretory ducts to the exterior 

 of the body. In this way the animal is bathed both on the 

 outside and on the inside of the body by the solution in 

 which it is living. Consequently all internal parts and all 



