BAD RESULTS OF DRUNKEN COPULATION—REDISCOVERED?
The lession taught by the study is of much practical interest in demonstrating that drugs, particularly of the ethereal alcohol series, may exert an undoubtedly deleterious influence upon the embryo during the period of gestation—an influence that in the human being should be carefully shunned if the future of the race is to be regarded. The influences of alcohol upon the normal development of the foetus has been recognised and commented upon in various classic works (Plutarch et al). "A drunkard is unprofitable for any kind of good service," says Plato—and least of all in the begetting of children. Intemperance in pronounced degree on one side of the family usually results in mental feebleness of the children. When both parents are equally at fault, the progeny usually show well-defined brand-marks. It is a well-recognized fact that drunkenness at the moment of copulation is frequently responsible for the lowest forms of congenital idiocy.