Colchicine in a concentration of 10-3 in sea water does not appreciably alter the viscosity of the unfertilized Arbacia egg. The increase in viscosity which normally follows fertilization is inhibited by colchicine in a concentration of 0.5 × 10-3. Fusion of the pronuclei and nuclear breakdown are delayed in colchicine-treated eggs. Colchicine in concentrations of 10-4 to 10-10 does not initiate mitosis in the Nereis egg.
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Karl M. Wilbur (1940) studied this question.