156 ARTIFICIAL PARTHENOGENESIS AND FERTILIZATION 
We intend to investigate whether these effects of bases upon 
the rate of oxidations in the unfertilized eggs are irreversible, 
i.e., will continue if the eggs are put into normal sea-water after 
the treatment with alkali. But we have an experiment which 
possibly serves the same purpose. We measured the amount 
of oxygen consumed in one hour in the eggs mentioned in 
Table XXX in the same solution sixteen and twenty-four hours 
TABLE XXX 
CONSUMPTION OF OXYGEN BY UNFERTILIZED Ecos at 18° rn 50 c.c. 
NorMaL SEA-WaAtTER+0.8 c.c. N/10 NH,OH 
Oxygen Coefficient 
Consumed jof Oxidation 
mgm. 
Normal:sea=watenrs sacs cere ae 0.15 
50 ¢.c. sea-water+0.8 c.c. N/10 NH,OH; Ist hr. 0.99 
50 c.c. sea-water+0.8 c.c. N/10 NH,OH; 2d hr.. 1.03 
50 c.c. sea-water+0.8 c.c. N/10 NH,OH; 3d hr.. 0.87 
50 c.c. sea-water+0.8 c.c. N/10 NH,OH; 4th hr. 0.86 
50 c.c. sea-water+0.8 c.c. N/10 NH,OH; 5th hr.| 0.83 
Crt Or GG 
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after the experiment. In the meantime the eggs had been kept 
at a low temperature in normal sea-water. The rate of oxida- 
tions after sixteen or twenty-four hours was practically the 
same as in the second hour. This agrees with the assumption 
that these bases bring about the modification of the cortical 
layer of the egg, after which the rate of oxidation in the egg is 
raised permanently. 
These experiments prove two facts, first, that the weaker 
bases increase the rate of oxidations in the unfertilized egg more 
than the stronger bases; and, second, that this difference is due 
to the fact that the weaker bases diffuse more rapidly into the 
egg than the strong bases. 
The connection between the oxidative action of bases and 
artificial parthenogenesis lies in the fact that the essential 
factor in artificial parthenogenesis is an alteration of the 
surface or cortical layer of the egg which results ina membrane . 
