ALCOHOL AND THE OTHER GERM POISONS ALCOHOL AND THE OTHER GERM POISONS BY Dr. G. P. FRETS PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMIST OF THE HOSPITALFORMENTAL AND NERVOUS DISEASES AT ROTTERDAM SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. 1931 Copyright by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1931 Originally published by Martinus Nijhoff the Hague in 1931 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1931 ISBN 978-94-017-6698-2 ISBN 978-94-017-6760-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-6760-6 CONTENTS Preface .... VII Introduction A.ALCOHOL. I. Data about the use of alcohol by man. lntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . The amount of alcohol in the blood 3; in the Cerebra Spinal fluid 5; in the mother's milk 5; in the sperm 6. a. P a t h o 1 o g i c a I a n a t o m i c a 1 a 1 t e r a t i o n s o f t h e g e r m-g 1 a n d s . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 b. C 1 i n i c a 1 a n d s t a t i s t i c a 1 d a t a . . . . . 9 I. Natality and inf. mortality, body weight 10; 2. Epi lepsy 18; 3. Feeblemindedness 36; 4. Malformations 42; 5. Insanity and neuropathy 43; 6. Alcoholism and abuse of alcohol by the parents 47; 7. Tuberculosis 55; 8. The capacity of the mother to feed her child 56, 9. Paren tal alcoholism and crime 57; 10. Acute parental alco holism 58; 11. Family investigations 61 ; 12. The influence of parental abuse of alcohol in the successive genera tions 64; 13. The progeny of alcoholics 66; 14. The part heredity, germ injury and effects of environ ment have in the significance of parental alcoholism 73. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 II. Ex p er im e n t a I in v es t i g a t i o n s 77 Summary and conclusions . . 104 General conclusion . . . . . . . . . . 110 B. THE OTHER GERM POISONS ..... . 112 1. Lead 112; 2. Mercury 118; 3. Thallium 119; 4. Arsenic and Antimony 120; 5. Phosphor 121; 6. Iodine 121; 7. Nico tine 122; 8. Caffeine 128; 9. Morphine, opium, codeine, co- VI CONTENTS caine, hydras chlorali 129; 10. Alcohols (except aethyl alcohol), glycerine, dextrine, chloroform, aether and ace tone 131 ; II. Quinine, strychnine, terpentine, essence, papaine, hydrocyanide, carbolic, hydroquinone, phenyl urethane, peptone, creatine 134; 12. Methylene blue 137; 13. Alkalis, acids, salts 140. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. . . . . . 145 LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 A. Alcohol !51; B. The other germ poisons 167. INDEX OF AUTHORS 175 ADDENDA . . . . . . . 179 TABLES: Tab. I, after LAITINEN p. II ; tab. 2, N atality a. o. p. 14; tab. 3, Epilepsy p. 32; tab. 4, Imbecility p. 40; tab. 5, In sanity p. 48; tab. 6, Alcoholism p. 52; tab. 7, after VON BUNGE, p. 56; tab. 8, after LUNDBORG p. 60; tab. 9, after FERE p. 81; tab. I 0, after STüCKARD p. 87; tab. II, after PEARL p. 90; tab. 12, after FERE p. !29. PREFACE A critical review from a scientific and a practical point of view is required of the significance of parental alcoholism and of the other germ poisons. The literatme on the subject is very extensive, but the problern has not been solved. The opinions on the different investigations are divided. The publications on the other germ poisons we find spread about in the literature. In the handbooks of toxicology very littleis found about them. As to the scientific need of a study like the present, the light has repeatedly fallen on germ poisoning, especially that through alcohol by the mendelian investigations on heredity, and the question has arisen as to its value, and on the ground of thosc investigations the importance is sometimes doubted. Where the problern is in discus sion in this way, a critical and extensive treatise of the whole liter atme is required. In making this study I have adopted the critical standpoint. I have treated the subject analytically and systematically, so that in many chapters the different parts of the subject have their turn. In this way the reader can easily locate himself, and it is also shown where the weak places in om knowledge of the subject are present. And as the literatme is treated extensively, the value of the histo rical method appears, which somewhat enhances here theimportance of earlier investigations. Besides experimental research a large space has been devoted to medical statistical investigations. The tables will demonstrate the value of the results. The literatme has not been fully treated in this study, especially with regard to the earliest investigations nor all the parts of the problern equally extensively. In some of the publications that are dealt with here, the missing literatme is mentioned. VIII PREFACE The discussion of the other gerrn poisons offers the possibility of cornparing the different gerrn poisons. Finally, the increase of our knowledge of gerrn injuries by ray treat rnent forces us also to a cornparison of its significance with that of the gerrn poisons. The problern of parental alcoholisrn and the other gerrn poisons has a rnedical, a statistical, a biological and a sociological side. By collaboration of investigators in these different fields of work the problern will be best considered. The rnedical point of view will be the rnost irnportant. This is especially applicable for the practical or eugenic significance of the problem. In the various countries where an eugenic rnovernent is developing, with the renewed appearance of alcoholisrn after the great war, with the increasing urgency of the problern of population, the need of engenie reforrn arises and then the attention is also drawn to the alcohol problern. The question is, how far is our knowledge suf ficient for practical purposes. The author is indebted to the Dutch Physicians' Union of Total Abstainers for contributing towards the expenses incurred for the translation of the rnanuscript into English. INTRODUCTION Injuries to the germ (blastophthory) are brought about by chronic poisoning (mercury, lead, alcohol), by infection (syphilis, tubercu losis), by constitutional diseases (diseases of metabolism), by chronic underfeeding and by local diseases of the sexual glands. It may also be caused by subjection to experiments and further byray treatment. These injuries we know through pathologic-anatomical examina tions of the sex glands of the parents, and we also conclude from examples of defective offspring that such injuries to the germ sub stance exist. vVe consider these changes to the germ plasm tobe very indefinite and they must be strictly distinguished from hereditary modifica tions. The question in how far acquired characters are hereditary, or may become so, will not be discussed here. FoREL ( 1911) classified blastophthorical injuries to the germ as "any influence, except those of heredity, which directly and immedi ately disturb or destroy the structure of the cell, so that the pro ductions of such germs, which otherwise were good in themselves, would turn outtobe inferior in their further development, in conse quence of a disturbance of their latent determiners (predetermined energies). If the respective determiners of the germ cells are perma nently injured, this injury will without a doubt be transferred to the predisposition of the offspringandin this manner it may also happen that it will further establish itself hereditarily in their germ cells. The blastophthorical disturbances then become hereditary. Alcoholic poisoning of the germ constitutes the prototype of blastophthory." FoREL recognises here a certain theory of heredity, which we, following our own definition, do not accept. In connection with the possibility that mutations may arise, that is thus new hereditary variations (NILSSON-EHLE,BAUR,T.TAM MES; H. J. MüLLER 1927, R. GoLDSCHMIDT 1929), we must bear in Frets, Alcohol 2 INTRODUCTION mind that when these might arise from the action of chemical sub stances (alcohol, lead) such mutations or hereditary deviations would only be seen in later generations. These changes are namely mostly recessive; if they arise as modified germ-cells then they, when fused with normal germ cells, will cause phaenotypical normal individuals tobe created. Only in the folloVIring generations when two individ uals which are heterozygotes for the modification mate, will the modification appear. Of the several germ injuries named in this work only such as are caused by poisoning aredealt with. Chemical substances, as germ poisons, may injure the new indi vidual in three ways.The poison may affect either the male orfemale germ cells or the germplasm, namely before conception, or the devel oping germ in the various stages of development, namely after con ception. Strictly speaking we discriminate between germ-cell poison ing and germ poisoning. In the case of lead poisoning e.g., we are informed by CoNSTANTIN PAUL that saturnismus of the father leads to abortion. By allowing any deleterious substance to influence the spermatozoids and the egg cells before conception, it is possible to get some idea of the difference in sensitivity of the egg-cells and spermatozoids. 0. HERTWIG is of the opinion that the egg-cell is more sensitive. By influencing the fertilised egg in different ways, DARESTE ob tained many monstrosities with fowls. FERE obtained similar results by injecting all kinds of chemical substances. In the case of man, all three effects of the germ poisons have presented themselves.