The splicing activity of T4 phage td intron RNA has been examined with various Mg$^{2+}$ ions such as MGCl$_{2}$, MgS $O_{4}$ and magnesium acetate using various splicing conditions such as different incubation time and temperature. The maximum splicing of td intron RNA occurred at the concentration of 5 mM MgCl$_{2}$. Raising the Mg$^{2+}$ concentration up to 15 mM appeared to promote P2 delection mutant to overcome the loss of some splicing activity. In both wild type and mutant, a complete hydrolysis of RNA occurred at 30 mM MgCI$_{2}$ MgS $O_{4}$ and magnesium acetate exhibited the rate and pattern of RNA splicing identical to MGCI$_{2}$. The optimal splicing conditions involve the incubation of RNA with 5 mM MgCI$_{2}$ at 58 .deg.C for 15 min. The results suggest that Mg$^{2+}$ may play a key role in the catalytic mechanism of td intron RNA.n RNA.