THE relationship between the iris color of the dam and mortality of her progeny is of considerable interest to the poultry breeder. This interest is prompted by the fact that an association of abnormal iris color of the dam and a high rate of mortality of the progeny would offer an immediate, practical means of reducing mortality. One of the most comprehensive studies of the subject has been that of Lee and Wilcke (1941). They demonstrated that females with pearl-gray irises which were irregular at the pupillary border gave progeny which developed symptoms of fowl paralysis more frequently than did the dams with normal eyes. This suggested that such females were transmitting the causative agent of lymphomatosis through the egg to the chick.Earlier, McClary and Upp (1939) had found that dams which were affected with iritis had a greater proportion of daughters with iritis than did dams with unaffected .