The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-09-17
ABOUT EGGS.
Some Curious Facts and Experiments
What they Are and All About
Them.

The ability with which the late PrOfes-
sor AgassiZ argued that the egg is the Or
igin OF all animal life and the wonderful
array offacts and collateral evidence which
he marshaled to the support of his favor
lite theory, VIII long constitute notable
chapter in modern scientific history.
Passing, however, from this incidental
reference TO a discussion so reconcile and
controversial, as not within the scope or
intention of this article, the interesting
and. we believe, unchallenged assertion of
DIR. Liebig, that the eggs of birds furnish
the most complete nutriment with which
TO sustain life, has a practical bearing of
more importance to the wants and welfare
of men than any scholastic hypothesis,
however profound and ingenious. The
reason why the egg presents such remark
able alimentary adaptiveness is easily I'M
derstood. The yelk and white consist
chiefly Ofalbuminous matters-the yelk of
casein and albumen, the white of soluble
albumen, containing more sulphur than
the ambiguous compound of the blood
and of an albuminOus body containing a
large quantity Of sulphur scantily soluble
and forming cellules in the shape of small
membranes, which include the soluble al
bumen. The white of egg contains more
water than the yelk; somewhat more than
one half of the latter and some fOur-fifths
of the former, consisting of water. The
yelk is also, in nearly similar proportion,
richer than the white in fat and albumi-
nous substances, and the yellow oil of the
yelk contains a large quantity of oleine,
with little margarine, less phosphorus
fat, and still less gall fat. For the egg to
represent a really complete nutriment
there is nothing more needed, in addition
to the properties or elements above named,
but the salts and chlorine compounds OF
the blood, and all these are found in them
organic constituents both of the white and
yelk.
1t appears to have been reliably ascer-
tanned, and the fact is important, that the
albumen of the egg of the common fowl,
newly laid, has properties differing in
some particulars from those of the albu-
men of the stale egg. One of these, and
that which is best known, is the milkiness
which ii exhibits when dressed for the Ia
bic, provided the egg be not put into wa
ter of too high a temperature and kept
there unduly long; another is seen in the
manner of coagulating. Experiments
show that the white of the newly-laid egg
is more readily affected by heat of a GER
tain temperature than that of an egg eX-
posed some time to the air-as indicated
by the appearance of milkiness it presents
and yet that, within a certain range OF
temperature, the amount of cOagulatiOn
or the degree of firmness is less. That a
difference in qualities should result from
exposure TO and the action of atmospheric
air can hardly be doubted. The newly
laid e@g contains, of course, little or no
air and if atmospheric air be excluded
and its absorption prevented, as by lubri-
eating the shell with oil or any Oleaginous
matter, the albumen retains for a consid-
cradle time the qualities of the newly-laid
egg.
The fact just stated is familiar to all ex-
perienced and observing egg-dealers.
The exact time, however, for tie change
to take place, is believed to vary liz some
measure, according to the season, a short
er time in winter being required than in
summer, the egg in the former season,
owing to lower atmospheric temperature.
contracting more in bulk as regards its
substance than in the latter. A very few
days, five or six at the furthest, seem to be
sufficient. 1t is also ascertained that,
with the absorption of oxygen, in the in
stance of the stale egg, carboGic acid is
formed, and ammonia, and the color of the
albumen is darkened, it becoming of a
light brownish yellow, and at the same
time acquiring an unpleasant smell and
taste. But the putrefactivc process does
not take place, however long the egg may
be kept, unless there be some admiXture
of the yelk and white.
A curious point of inquiry among Zoolo-
gists has been, for long time, how many
eggs there are in the Ovary of hen. To
determine this, a German naturalist a
short time since instituted some careful in
vestigations, the result of which showed
the Ovary of hen to contain about 600
embryo eggs. He also found that some
twenty of these are matured the first year,
about 100 during the second year, l35 dur
ing the third, ia during the fourth. and
during the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth
years, the number decreases by twenty an
nually, it consequently following that af-
ter the fourth or at most the fifth year,
hens are no longer profitable as layers,
unless il may be in exceptional instances.
Some interesting experiments were also
made short time since in Germany. to de-
termine the comparative fecundity OF
ducks and hens-that is. from which of the
two the largest number of eggs can be OBJ
tanned in the same time. For this purpose
three hens and three ducks were selected.
all Matched in February and nOurished
with suitable food. In the following au-
tumn the ducks laid 225 eggs, while the
hens laid none. In the next February the
laying season began again with the ducks
and continued uninterruptedly till August.
They showed no inclination to set but be-
came very thin, although they afterward
fattened up somewhat. The total num-
Der of eggs laid by the hens amounted to
257, or Sc eggs each; and 392 or l3l each
for the ducks. Although the eggs of the
ducks were rather smaller than those OF
the hens, yet they proved to be decidedly
superiority in prOductiveness was decided
ly with the ducks.
In regard to the me ms or possibility OF
deciding the sex of eggs, much difference
of opinion exists. But NJ. GeRth, in a
communication to the French Academy of
Sciences on this subject, states that he is
now able, after having investigated the
matter carefully for several years, to state
with assurance that all eggs containing the
germ of males have wrinkles on their
smaller ends, while female eggs are smooth
at the eXtremities.
Reference may here be made to the in
teresting discovery i'm Madagascar, a few
years ago, by NJ. Abadie, of some eggs of
prOdigiOus size, and which have proved a
real puzzle to naturalists. 1t appears that
during a stay at Madagascar, he one day
observed in the hands of native gigantic
egg WlllCu ildu Dtcil ptIlOIdleu at one Oh us
eXtremities and used for domestic purpo-
ses. The accounts which he received con-
corning it soon led to the discovery of a
second egg of nearly the same size, which
was found perfectly entire in the bed of a
torrent among the debris of landslip
which had taken place a short time previ-
Ously. Not long afterward was discovered
in alluvia of recent formation a third egg
and some bones no less gigantic. These
eggs differ from each other in form, one
having its two ends very unequal, the 9TH
er approaching nearly to the form of an
ellipsoid. The dimensions ofthe latter are
given as follows Largest diameter thir-
teen and one-half inches, and smallest di-
ameter eight and one-half: largest circum-
ference, thirty-three and one-half inches
smallest circumference, twenty-eight and
three-fourths; and the thickness of the
shell about one-eighth of an inch. Thus,
this most marvellous egg would contain
about seventeen pints, its gross volume
being some sixteen times that of an Os-
trich egg, and equal to about one hundred
and fifty ordinary hens eggs-or, to carry