38 RALPH S. LILLIE 



In the series of June 30, and to a lesser degree of June 28, the 

 increase produced by anesthetics was relatively slight. These 

 eggs showed certain other abnormalities of behavior; they were 

 partly resistant to fertilization, and in many the post-matura- 

 tional cytolysis was delayed.^s They also showed exceptional 

 behavior in another respect; eggs treated in the above manner 

 two hours after maturation was complete gave a larger proportion 

 of larvae than those treated during the maturation period. Some 

 instances of similarly abnormal behavior were cited above in the 

 case of eggs treated with sodium chloride solution; in these cases 

 also the eggs responded less favorably to a parthenogenetic treat- 

 ment applied during the maturation-period than to one applied 

 later. An abnormally lowered responsiveness during the matura- 

 tion period seems thus often to be associated with an abnormally 

 increased responsiveness later. The presence of a considerable 

 proportion of abnormal eggs in the experiments of June 28 and 30 

 probably accounts for the relatively unfavorable character of 

 the result on those days. 



Effects of treatment with solutions of cyanide and anesthetics 

 without 'previous memhrane-formation. Experiments were per- 

 formed to determine what effect the above forms of after-treat- 

 ment, acting alone, have upon unfertilized starfish eggs. The 

 results of these experiments show clearly that the treatment with 

 these solutions must be superposed on the preliminary membrane- 

 forming treatment in order to produce their characteristic effects. 

 When acting alone they are almost or quite ineffective in induc- 

 ing development, or what effect they have is confined to a small 

 proportion of eggs, presmnably the abnormal minority almost 

 invariably present in lots of starfish eggs. The following ex- 

 periments will illustrate: in the series of June 25 part of the 

 eggs were exposed to hypertonic sea-water, cyanide and anes- 

 thetics at the same time as the others, but without having been 

 treated previousy with fatty acid. The results are summarized in 

 table 5. 



Several other similar series of experiments (June 20, 21, 23, 

 24) gave essentially the same results. Exposure to hypertonic 



" For an account of this condition, cf. Biological Bulletin, 1912, vol. 22, p. 328. 



