Do Albino Rats Having Ten Generations of Alcoholic Ancestry Inherit Resistance to Alcohol Fumes?

1 January 1927

journal article
research article
Published by University of Chicago Press in The American Naturalist

Vol. 61 (672) , 43-53
https://doi.org/10.1086/280131

Abstract

For this experiment 60 rats of the 13th generation were available, 30 of nonalcoholic ancestry, 30 of alcoholic ancestry. Five controls and 5 treated (of the same age and weight) were treated simultaneously in the same fume tank. The length of time it took each rat to reach the condition of complete narcotization was the indicator of its power of resistance. The data are treated biometrically and show that no increased resistance to alcohol acquired by individuals during their lifetime is in any degree passed on to their progeny. The slight differences observed between the 2 groups are for the most part in favor of the controls, but the differences are not statistically significant. The relation of these negative results to the theory of the inheritance of acquired characters is pointed out.

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