Congenital malformations induced by ethyl-urethan in mouse embryos.

Among the various exogenous agents inducing developmental anomalies in higher mammals, administration of chemicals to pregnant animals may be a suitable means for the detection of the mechanism of teratogenesis. Sinclair ('50) recognized an abnormality of the nervous system of embryos after treatment of pregnant mice of an albino stock for several days from 7-8th day of gestation, with ethyl-urethan, but a further detailed study on the teratogenic effect of this chemical remained to be performed. Hence, our study to be reported here was undertaken to observe the relation between the period of application of this chemical and. its teratogenic effects on the embryos of the pregnant mice.