Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-30
WOMAN PROFESSOR
SAYS THEORY MAY
PREDETERMTlNE SEX
DR.. Helen d. King Declares Her
Experiments With Rats
Have Bearing on HUI
man Problem
NOT AFRAID OF "HEREsY"
She Finds Her Theories Are Cor
roborated by Breeders of Horses.
Has $4,000 Rodents
By M,LISs

By M'LISS
The only woman In America TO hold a
professorshlp in research work has star
tied not only the scientific world, but
the general public by the results Of a
series of experiments extending over a
period of six years, that she made with
white rats, the mammal, whose develop
ment corresponds with mans more nearly
than any other.
Dr. Helen ID. King, embryoioglst OF the
Wstar Institute at the University OF
Pennsylvania. deplores the fact that ac-
counts OF her discoveries are apt to be
regarded by the lay mind as little
yellow" particularly when they appear
in print; yet she does not minimize what
she believes to be their tremendous i'm
portance.
Briefly. as the result Of six years un-
ceaslng labor, In which she has not left
tht city for n period longer than 10 days,
Doctor King has first attacked the CEN
tury-old theory that inbreeding results
in deterioration Of offspring, and sec
ondly has pursued investigations far
enough TO make her reasonably sure that
the question of sex determination is not
the unsolvable problem most people, In
cluding scientists, think It,
PERFECT RAT BRED.
Doctor King prefers not to draw an
analogy between rats and the human
race. but IL you press the point she will
tell you that she sees no reasons why
the theories that are applicable to the
rodents she has experimental with would
not be applicable TO men and women
also, and that since she obtained a per-
feet rat from 20 to 25 per cent. bigger than
the average rat, after breeding two rats
from the same litter, or a brother and
sister rat, there Is reason to suppose
that the same sort of mating of the
human race would result in higher type
of offspring.
'I realize perfectly the cry of 'heresy'
that will arise on all sides as a result
OF the publicity OF my research, but al
though l should prefer not to say that
what Is true of n rat is true Of man,
theoretically 1 see no reason why II
should not work out the same. | feel
as the result of my experiments that II
a brother and sister of good stock were
to marry, the children would be of a
higher type than the ordinary, because
the good points would all be accentuated.
after ALL" she continued earnestly,
"our repugnance to marriage with close
blood relatives is only matter of ira
dition and training. We have been
taught by man that this is immoral, but
there is nothing in Nature to teach us so,
or in sciepce, either
"But let us get away from the human
race. Suppose that by the process of
inbreeding we could produce cattle from
20 to 30 per. cent. larger than the cattle
We now have. Think what that would
mean. 1t might even help solve the high
cost of living"
OLD THEORY UNFOUNDED.
"I found this old theory to be abso-
lutely without foundation" she said en-
phatically. mot only did l get larger
litters from the inbreeding of brother
and sister rats, but they are of health.
Ter and better type. Moreover. since
have been engaged In these experiments
I have received letters from a famous
horse breeder in Kentucky who confirms
my beliefs and declares EhNt his best
thoroughbred was the resul; of this close
inbreeding. These men don't usually tell
their secrets, and this was interesting
But what / regard as even more i'm
portant than all this is some discoveries
have made along the line of sex de.
termination I find that II l take two
rats from two litters In which females
predominate, the litters from those will
have females predominant. This simpli'
fies the matter Of sex determination and
/ think 1t would not be at all unlikely
TO the human race"
After talking with Doctor King in her
office, she took me down to what, for
want of a better name. / shall call the
rattery. Here thousands OF rats, down
TO the 21st generation, are running around
in little cages. To the number of 2,OCl
they are quartered here, and among them
is Goliath, the largest white rat in the
world-his size the result of Doctor Kings
revolutionary theories about inbreeding.
No stone has been left unturned tc
standardize her experimental. and in an
endeavor to discover II the nervous system
OF the rodents and their mentality Qf a
rat may be said TO have any have been
affected by the inbreeding, 200 of them
have been shipped TO DR.. Robert Yerkes,
psychologist, of Harvard. He will eX-
anime their gray matter and their nervous
systems, and thus perhaps clear up the
last doubt which the most querulous
scientist could entertain.
"It is tremendous thing" Doctor
King said, with awe, that makes every
body gasp. 1t made even me gasp"
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