EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON GERM CELLS OF FUNDULUS. 



397 



Two controls were operated in each case. One of these con- 

 sisted in normal eggs fertilized with untreated spermatozoa. In 

 the other the eggs were treated with an equal amount of alcohol 

 to that used in the other dishes of the experiment. They were 

 then washed and fertilized with untreated spermatozoa. Such 

 treatment as this should, for reasons mentioned above, quite 

 fully meet the requirements of a control. 



An attempt was made to alcoholize the males. Several of 

 these were placed in various concentrations of alcohol, but the 

 percentage in which they will live for any length of time is so 

 dilute that this method was soon abandoned. The difficulties 

 of acclimatization and of proper aeration seem to render this sort 

 of experiment an impractical one. 



(a) Effects of Twenty Per Cent. Alcohol in Distilled Water. 

 The spermatozoa treated with two tenths of a cubic centimeter of 

 this strength of alcohol became motionless in less than a minute. 

 They were allowed to remain in the solution for two and three 

 minutes. Then they were activated with a dilute solution of 

 sodium hydroxide. The lot of eggs were rather weak to start 

 with, as is indicated by the twenty per cent, sub-normal which 

 occurred in the control (see Table VI.). However, the number 



TABLE VI. 



EFFECTS OF TWENTY PER CENT. DISTILLED WATER SOLUTION OF ALCOHOL ON 



THE SPERM OF Fnndnlus. 



1 The strength alkali used for activating was six drops of N/io NaOH + 10 c.c. 

 sea water. 



