PRESERVATION OF THE LIFE OF THE EGG 283 
That the first eight flasks had been thoroughly sterilized 
was demonstrated by the fact that all the flasks remained per- 
fectly clear and unclouded throughout the whole experiment; 
and that three flasks which were not opened till the end of the 
experiment, i.e., after ten weeks, were quite clear and each single 
egg therein could be distinctly recognized. The flasks with 
unsterilized sea-water became cloudy after only twenty-four 
hours, and after two days the eggs had fallen a prey to bacteria 
and no egg was any longer recognizable. The sterilized flasks 
which were opened were always quite free from odor, while 
the unsterilized flasks already smelled unendurably putrid after 
one to two days. A microscopical examination of the sea-water 
for bacteria always remained absolutely negative in the steril- 
ized flasks, and was always quite positive in the other flasks. 
In the flasks to which 2 c.c. of the putrid culture of starfish 
eggs had been added, bacteria and infusoria were extremely 
numerous from the first. 
Six hours after the beginning of the experiment, one flask 
of each of the three series was opened, and the eggs examined 
with a microscope. The appearance was the same in all three 
flasks: practically all the eggs were ripe, and a small number 
were dark or black. What is of definite importance for us is 
the fact that the percentage of dark, dead eggs was quite as 
large in the sterile culture as in the unsterilized or befouled 
sea-water. 
Twelve hours later, and therefore eighteen hours after the 
experiment was started, another flask from each of the three 
cultures was opened. This time practically all the eggs in the 
sterile culture were dark or black, and a few already showed 
decomposition into globules. The same percentage of eggs 
in the two other cultures was also dark. Hence the eggs die 
just as quickly in the sterilized flasks, which are absolutely bacteria- 
free, as in the flasks which contain bacteria. Death takes place 
from intrinsic causes and so quickly that the scanty bacteria 
