Despite the unsatisfactory nature of much of the alleged evidence, we must conclude that alcohol, when given in large enough doses, may sometimes affect the germ-plasm of some lower animals in such a way as to deteriorate the quality of their offspring. This effect is probably an "induction," which does not produce a permanent change in the bases of heredity, but will wear away in a generation or two of good surroundings. It must be remembered that although the second-generation treated males of Dr. Stockard's experiment produced defective offspring when mated with females from similarly treated stock, they produced normal offspring when mated with normal females. The significance of this fact has been too little emphasized in writings on "racial poisons." If a normal mate will counteract the influence of a "poisoned" one, it is obvious that the probabilities of danger to any race from this source are much decreased, while if only a small part of the race is affected, and mates at random, the racial damage might be so small that it could hardly be detected. There are several possible explanations of the fact that injury is found in some experiments but not in others. It may be, as Dr. Pearl thinks, that only weak germs are killed by moderate treatment, and the strong ones are uninjured. And it is probable (this applies more particularly to man) that the body can take care of a certain amount of alcohol without receiving any injury therefrom; it is only when the dosage passes the "danger point" that the possibility of injury appears. As to the location of this limit, which varies with the species, little is known. Much more work is needed before the problem will be fully cleared up. Alcohol has been in use in parts of the world for many centuries; it was common in the Orient before the beginning of historical knowledge. Now if its use by man impairs the germ-plasm, then it seems obvious that the child of one who uses alcohol to a degree sufficient to impair his germ-plasm will tend to be born inferior to his parent. If that child himself is alcoholic, his own offspring will suffer still more, since they must carry the burden of two generations of impairment. Continuing this line of reasoning over a number of generations, in a race where alcohol is freely used by most of the population, one seems unable to escape from the conclusion that the effects of this racial poison, if it be such, must necessarily be cumulative. The damage done to the race must increase in each generation. If the deterioration of the race could be measured, it might even be found to grow in a series of figures representing arithmetical progression.