726 STUDIES IN GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY 
TABLE XVI 
Percentage of 
Solution Eges Yielding 
Embryos 
| eer 100 c.c. 5 m MgCl, 0 
ye ee 100 a *“ "+ lec. 24m NH,Cl 16 
eee ree 100 e “ + 2 66 “ 99 
ee 100 - 6 + 4 “ “ 34 
SD ecatetaia tine 100 i Ke + 8 “ “ 9 
oe ee 100 i ee +16 “ “ 3 
ieee 100 - “« + lee ¥ m SrCl, 25 
Bus gsemmas 100 i “ +9 “ “ 22 
Deve cisereGicens 100 Be ee + 4 “ “ 9 
TOS sdetscaveys 100 . “ 48 “ “ 0 
Ds cca etal 100 is « 116 “ “ 0 
rays, but not with anode rays. Another possibility may be 
thought of. The egg—and all protoplaam—is a system 
with various phases; we have solid parts (membranes), and 
liquid parts which are either rich or poor in colloids. It is 
conceivable that the coefficient of distribution for the posi- 
tive and negative ions is unequal in the various phases, and 
that this fact leads to the toxic effects of the negative ions 
which can be annihilated by the addition of a small number 
of positive ions holding a double or triple charge. 
I was long inclined to look upon the sodium ions as the 
toxic ions in a pure sodium-chloride solution, and I have 
upheld this view in my preliminary communication concern- 
ing these experiments. What led me to this conclusion was 
the following experiment: I tested the relative toxicity of H 
and OH ions for the eggs of Fundulus. As was to be 
expected, it came to light that the hydrogen and hydroxyl 
ions differ in their toxicity. In a,”, KOH solution the 
eggs developed and formed embryos, while a ;”,; HCl solu- 
tion killed the eggs almost immediately. The hydrogen 
ions are therefore at least as much as five times as poisonous 
as the hydroxyl ions. But I do not believe that we are 
forced to conclude from this that the poisonous effects of a 
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