382 WILSON GEE. 



material used was Kahlbaum's; the other was Eimer and 

 Amend's absolute alcohol. The experiments show no differences 

 between the effects of the two grades. The sodium hydroxide 

 solutions used for activating the spermatozoa and for treating the 

 eggs were dilutions of carefully titrated normal solutions. 



In treating the eggs prior to fertilization, they were stripped 

 and placed immediately in Syracuse watch glasses filled with the 

 strengths of alcohol to be used. At the end of the period of 

 treatment, they were washed out into finger bowls to which a 

 quantity of sea water was twice added and decanted. Then 

 the eggs were removed to a clean watch glass and fertilized with 

 fresh spermatozoa, the mixture being allowed to stand for about 

 fifteen minutes. They were then returned to a clean finger bowl 

 of sea water. The washing lasted for a period of about five 

 minutes, since in each series a number of lots of eggs was involved. 

 With each experiment a control was operated, this being fertilized 

 at the same time as the treated eggs. 



In the experiments on the sperm, one tenth of a cubic centi- 

 meter of the grade of alcohol used was measured from a pipette 

 into a Syracuse watch glass. A male Fundulus which had been 

 carefully dried in a towel to remove all water from the surface 

 of the body, was stripped and the drop of milt pressed into the 

 fluid in the dish. The suspension was then stirred so as to render 

 the distribution of the spermatozoa uniform. At the end of the 

 period of treatment, the eggs to be fertilized were poured over the 

 treated mass of spermatozoa. It was found that a high per- 

 centage of fertilizations always results in the control by leaving 

 the eggs for five minutes in the drop of milt; so, in these experi- 

 ments on the treatment of the spermatozoa, the whole series, with 

 few exceptions, were allowed five minutes' contact with the mass 

 of sperm cell for fertilization. In each experiment the influence 

 of the alcohol on the egg alone was controlled by a lot of eggs 

 treated with the same strength prior to fertilization. 



TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE GERM CELLS. 

 I. Prior to Fertilization. 



(a) Condition of the Egg at this Period. -At the time of laying, 

 the egg of Fundulus is in many ways in a critical period of its 



