Abstract
1. Germinal vesicle breakdown in Nereis limbata eggs, brought about by heat, or addition of KCl or sodium citrate to the sea water, was inhibited by the addition of picric acid at about M/1000.2. After immersion for a few hours in M/1000 picric acid in sea water, germinal vesicle breakdown occurred upon application of subliminal doses of heat, KCl, or sodium citrate.3. After immersion for 6-70 hours, removal of the eggs from picric acid to ordinary sea water caused germinal vesicle breakdown.4. Activation by ultra-violet irradiation did not conform in these relations to picric acid, under the conditions of the experiments.5. These results are interpreted on the basis of a hypothetical activating substance produced within the egg, and inactivated or bound by picric acid.6. The relation of picric acid to the calcium ion and the combination of calcium with protoplasmic proteins is considered, in an alternative explanation of the results.
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