The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-25
EXPERIMENTS With eggs
Official Studies of Their Value as
Food Products.
Under the Auspices of
the Agricultural Department-An-
tiIuity of Their Use-NOne So NJ
tritious ms Generally Supposed.
Enormous Numbers Are Consumed.

| Eggs is eggs, runs the old prOverb
and with this platitude our ancestors seen
to have been content regarding their
knowledge of one of the most universal oil
| foods
| In this age of scientific investigation
! however, eggs have come under the scru-
| tiny Of systematic observation and the De-
partment of Agriculture is now engaged
| in a series Of interesting experiments to
determine the food value Of these products
OF the fowl ttoo often, alas! foul products)
| The records of the Department of Agri-
culture show that the consumption OF eggs
is by no means confined to the product of
domestic fowls. DR.. T. s. Palmer, Assis-
tant Chief of the Biological Survey, in
his official review of economic ornitholo-
gy in the United States, says that large
colonies of water birds. such as INJURIES,
peiicans, gulls, terms, and herons, may be
found along our coast at certain
points during the breeding season.
and the eggs of some of these sre-
cies are highly esteemed as food, and
find ready market. DR.. Palmer cspec-
tally refers to the laughing gull Harus
articilla) on the eastern shore Of Virginia
the eggs of which are considered Il great
delicacy, and are gathered in large num-
bers for sale to hotels and private indi-
yiduals.
But in the qualification OF this taste"
he adds, there is the same tendency to-
ward determination which is manifested
in the case of feather collecting. The
determination of gulls and terms near the
mouth Of Tampa Bay, Fa., was brought
about in part by the operation of the mar
ket egg hunters in the early eighties
he CT ~ fra iy,l1
tants regularly devote several days each
year TO what they term ''cgging." All
eggs from an inch in diameter upward are
taken, excepting perhaps those of the
pelican, whose eggs are too fishy for any
stomach. Boats often come distance of
100 miles to gather these eggs, cruising
from reef to reef until they secure a good
load.
The eggs of the "arrie" or "pallas''
murre (uria lomvia ARA are collected for
food on the Pribilof Islands, in Behr;ng
Sea, and on the occasion of the visit OF
an American ornithologist in 1872 to Wal
rus Island, he observed six men in less
than three hours load badarrah carry
ing four tons with eggs to the waters
edge.
On I.aysan, one of the northwestern
Hawaiian Islands, the "gooney," or alba
tross Domedea immutabilis) fairly
swarms. Immense quantities of it's eggs
are gathered for the use of the employees
OF The guano company, and some are
shipped to the Honolulu markets. Photo
graphs show that these eggs are gathered
not only by the wheelbarrow load, but BY
the car load. Formerly these birds were
accorded rigid protection, but, the Agri-
cultural Department authorities say, how
long they can survive the recent whole
nj ic in,tIf 10
surmise. Congress at its approaching ses-
sion may be urged to enact legislation
FOR the protection of the albatross similar
to that in the seal fisheries act
still more striking example Of
wholesale egg collecting" said Dir. Pal
mer land probably the most important
one in the United States from financial
standpoint. is that of the Faralltn s
These islands. or rather rocks. situated
off the coast of California, thirty miles
west of the Golden Gate. are the breeding
ground of myrlads of sea birds, chief;
western gulls 0arus occidentais) and |
murrcs, or California guillemots Uria |
troile californica). For nearly fifty years |
murrc eggs were collected here and |
shipped to the San Francisco market. |
where they found ready sale at from |
II to 20 cents per Dozen a price slightly |
less than that of hens eggs. The bird |
lays only one egg, which is deposited on |
the bare rock. When the season opens.
about the middle of May, the egg gath
erers would go over the ground and break
all the eggs in sight. so as to avoid TAX
ing any that are not perfectly fresh. Tn, !
ground was then gone over every second |
day and the eggs Systematically picked (
up and shipped to market.
The Farallones being a Government :
lighthouse reservation, and the attention /
IF the Lighthouse Board having been called
% the decreasing number of birds, due to
the wholesale collection of eggs, princi-
paily by Italians and Greeks. Instructions
were issued putting an end TO the business
for the present.
The Americans are an egg eating peo-
Die. but as yet the statisticians OF the De- :
)artment OF Agriculture have been unable |
10 devise any scheme whereby they can
AXE the annual egg census. That the num- !
Der consumed annually will lun into the
billions they freely concede. The original
nan ate his eggs ri';. but since Pr0metheus
stole fire from heaven they have been
served in many delightful styles of the
culinary art.
The great American hen. whose egg
product is staple commodity in cur mar
Sets. is n direct descendant of the Jungle
fowl or wild chicken. These birds from
which the entire domestic chicken family
descended. are indigenous to the jun
giles of northeastern and central India
md range thence TO the Indo- Malayan re-
sion. including Cochin China and the Phil
ppine Islands. There are eight wild spe-
lies recognized in the genus and their do
mestication dates back several hundred
years. The domestic varieties known as
Leghorns, Brahmas, bantams. Plymouth
Rocks, ard others have been developed by
.rossiIg, raising. and careful selection
Wild chickens are still plentiful in the
ungles of northeastern india. and are held
n great reverence by the natives. who re
;ard them with superstitious awe. They
'efrain from eating the flesh of the jun