EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON GERM CELLS OF FUNDULUS. 405 



water acting for short lengths of time prior to fertilization reduce 

 to a marked degree the number of eggs which develop. 



3. Such treatment of the eggs of Fundulus produce a number 

 of aberrant cleavages. These seem to be due in part to an effect 

 upon the chromatin of the egg. 



4. A large proportion of the individuals which develop from 

 eggs treated with alcohol prior to fertilization are markedly 

 defective. 



5. Twenty minutes after fertilization the eggs are much more 

 sensitive to injury with alcohol than at one hour after fertiliza- 

 tion and in the early cleavages. 



6. The types of defects produced by these acute treatments 

 were of all grades from aberrant cleavages to marked monsters 

 of specific types, and others which were merely slow in their 

 rate of development and small in size. 



7. Dilute solutions of sodium hydroxide acting prior to fertili- 

 zation produced in some eggs much the same effects as secured 

 from treatments with alcohol. 



8. The spermatozoa of Fundulus usually continue active for 

 less than a minute after being stripped in one tenth of a cubic 

 centimeter of distilled water, and in solutions of alcohol in 

 distilled water. After complete cessation of movement in these 

 solutions, some of the spermatozoa may be activated with a 

 dilute sodium hydroxide solution sufficiently to fertilize an egg. 



9. In one tenth of a cubic centimeter of sea water and in the 

 weaker concentrations of alcohol in sea water, the spermatozoa 

 live for several minutes after being stripped. After cessation of 

 movement in these solutions the spermatozoa very rarely activate 

 upon the addition of an alkali solution. 



10. The higher concentrations of alcohol acting for short 

 periods on the spermatozoa seem to injure many of them without 

 depriving them of their fertilizing power. When acting for 

 longer periods, these same concentrations, in some instances, 

 clearly eliminate the weaker spermatozoa and the resistant ones 

 which survive are often capable of producing normal fertilization 

 and development. 



