No. 590] TRANSMISSION OF DEGENERACY 75 



the treatment on the oocytes or the unfertilized ova- 

 rian egg, a direct effect on the germ cells comparable 

 to the injury of the germ cells in the case of the treated 

 males considered above. While in the second place, 

 the developing embryo in the uterus of an alcoholized 

 female may be directly affected by the strange sub- 

 stances contained in the blood and body fluids of the 

 mother. Thus a defective individual may be produced 

 as a result of development in an unfavorable environment 

 or as a result of being derived from an injured or de- 

 fective egg cell. 



Thirty-three matings of alcoholized females with nor- 

 mal males have in seven cases, 21 per cent., given nega- 

 tive results or early abortions ; this compares very favor- 

 ably with the records of the control animals. Four 

 stillborn litters consisting of three individuals each were 

 produced. This is a record of 12 per cent, stillborn lit- 

 ters against only 2 per cent, from normal matings. The 

 alcoholized females gave birth to 22 living litters con- 

 taining 11 young, and 2:->, or 52 per cent., of these died, 

 only 48 per cent, surviving against 84 per cent, survivals 

 among the young of similar control litters. The records 

 of the matings of alcoholized females compare very unfa- 

 vorably with the record of the control matings. Yet the 

 behavior of the alcoholized females is very little, if any, 

 worse than the records shown by the alcoholized males in 

 spite of the double chance the female has to injure her 

 young. 



The third horizontal line of the table indicates the re- 

 sults obtained when alcoholized males are paired with 

 alcoholized females. Here there is every chance for the 

 treatment to show its effect. The percentage of early 

 abortions or negative results is very high, about 50 per 

 cent, more than double that of the control matings. Ten 

 Per cent, of the matings produced stillborn litters each 

 consisting of two young. Only 17 living litters were born 

 out of 41 matings, about 41 per cent., against 73 per cent. 

 Jiving litters from 90 control matings. The 17 living lit- 



