118 ARTIFICIAL PARTHENOGENESIS AND FERTILIZATION 



oxygen or if the oxidations in the egg are retarded through the 

 presence of KCN (see chap. x). This difficulty is, however, not 

 real, if we assume that the corrective effect of the hypertonic 

 solution consists in the production of a substance or a condition 

 in the egg which cures it from the threatening disintegration 

 or in the destruction of a substance or a condition which causes 

 this disintegration. Such effects might be produced by a 

 slight modification of the character of the processes of oxidation 

 without its being necessary that the rate of oxidation be altered. 



TABLE XIII 



Meyerhof raised the objection that the ratio between the con- 

 sumption of oxygen and the production of heat was the same in 

 eggs in hypertonic solutions as in normal sea-water. But I 

 do not think that this objection speaks against my hypothesis, 

 since it is only necessary that the hypertonic solution lead to the 

 formation of a by-product in a very minute quantity, while this 

 by-product is not formed when the eggs develop in normal sea- 

 water. Such a slight qualitative modification of the oxidations 

 could very well exist without resulting in a noticeable alteration 

 of the ratio between oxidations and heat production in the egg. 

 It is also possible that the effects of the products of oxidation 

 are different in hypertonic and normal sea-water, and that this 

 determines the corrective effect of the hypertonic solution. 



Such an assumption would also enable us to understand why 

 the withdrawal of oxygen for a longer period of time, namely, 



