The Physiology of Maturation and Fertilization inPomatoceros Triqueter(L.) I. The Nature of the Material

Abstract

The description of the material used in the present investigation does not conform with that of Horstadius. Attention is drawn to this lack of agreement. A hypothesis based on viscosity changes within the egg has been advanced to explain the rounding off of eggs in sea water.By means of what is called the transfer series the egg batch has been divided into a number of parts; the last liberated eggs being the ripest. The occurrence of large numbers of egg batches giving low maturity values has been attributed to maturity resulting from a series of changes whose rate after initiation gradually increases.Attention is drawn to seasonal changes in the reactions of the germinal products. No definite lunar periodicity is shown in the ripening of the eggs.