20 VERNON L. KELLOGG. 



only two or three are collapsed Of the sixty or more 

 yellow eggs, only six or seven are collapsed. * 

 March 5 (1907), four live gray eggs ; all others dead. 



The treatment with glacial phosphoric acid seems to have the 

 curious effect of prolonging the life of all the eggs whether they 

 begin actual development or not, and of slowly initiating develop- 

 ment in a considerable fraction of them, a proportion distinctly 

 above the average number that would begin development with- 

 out artificial stimulus. 



Treatment by Sulphuric Acid. — Sixteen lots of unfertilized 

 eggs and two of fertilized (as controls to indicate possible injury 

 by the reagent) were treated with concentrated sulphuric acid for 

 periods varying from one fourth of a minute to two minutes, and 

 then washed with water. This acid is, of course, a strong dehy- 

 drator. In several cases only part of a lot would be treated, the 

 other part left untreated as a check lot. The fertilized eggs 

 developed normally and hatched, showing that the concentrated 

 acid applied for two minutes does not injure the eggs. In all the 

 treated unfertilized lots the proportion, above the normal average, 

 of developing eggs was materially increased. This is also true of 

 the treated parts of lots as compared with the untreated. 



For example, in lot 2, a large lot of four hundred and fifty 

 eggs, one hundred and fifty were treated and three hundred left 

 untreated. In seven days ninety of the treated eggs were gray, 

 while only five of the untreated eggs were gray. In lot 3, one 

 hundred and forty eggs, one hundred were treated and forty left 

 untreated. In ten days more than half the treated eggs were 

 gray and alive, while none was gray in the untreated part. On 

 the average from thirty to fifty per centum of the eggs in treated 

 lots or fractions of lots began to develop, while in untreated parts 

 of lots the per centum of developing eggs was less than ten. 



Treatment by Hydrochloric Acid. — Twenty-four lots of unferti- 

 lized eggs treated with concentrated hydrochloric acid or with ten 

 per centum hydrochloric acid, for periods of from one fourth 

 minute to two minutes, then washed with water. The acid has 

 but little dehydrating effect. On the whole the results show the 

 distinctly stimulating effect of the acid, but some lots behaved 

 aberrantly and the proportion of developing eggs did not go 



