The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-08-09
USE OF EGGS AS FOOD.
EXPERIMENTS MADE BY THE DE-
PARrMeNr OF AGRICULTURE.

feet for Infants-slructurai Formation.
Exhaustive experiments have been
made, under the superintendent Of
Mr.. A. 9. True. director of the bureau
OF experiments, and as authorized by
secretary Wilson OF the department
OF agriculture, regarding the value of
eggs and their use as food The re-
port made Of these experiments states
that perhaps no article of diet of ami.
mai origin is more commonly eaten
In all countries or served In a greater
variety Of ways than are eggs. Hens
eggs are most common, although the
eggs OF ducks, geese and guinea fowls
are used to greater or less extent
More rarely turkeys eggs are eaten,
but they are generally Of greater
value for Matching"
The eggs Of some wild birds. MIR.
True ascertained are esteemed a deli
eacy. Ployer eggs are priced in Eng
land and Germany, while in this coun-
try the eggs Of sea birds have long
been gathered for food. On the east
ern shore of Virginia eggs of the
laughing gull are frequently eaten,
and those Of gull, terms and herons
were few years ago gathered in
great quantities along the coast of
Texas. Thousands Of eggs Of gulls
and INJURIES have been gathered an
nually on the Farallone Islands, off
the coast of California. Eggs besides
those of birds are sometimes eaten.
Turtle eggs are highly priced in most
countries where they are abundant.
They were once more commonly eaten
IN America than they are now, posi-
bly, owing to the more abundant sup
ply in former times The eggs Of the
terrapin are usually served with the
flesh in some Of the ways of preparing
1t for the table. Fish eggs, especially
those of the sturgeon, are eaten in
large quantities, preserved with salt,
under the name of caviar. Shad roe
is also familiar example Of the use
of fish eggs as food. Mention may
be also made of the use of the eggs
OF alligators, lizards, serpents and Of
some insects, by races who lack the
prejudices of western nations. How
ever, in general, the term eggs, when
used in connection with food topics,
refers to the eggs Of birds, usually
domestic poultry.
The appearance of an egg-the shell
with it's lining of membrane inclosing
the white and yolk-is too familiar to
need any discussion. The physiologi-
cal structure Of the egg Is perhaps
less familiar. A fertile egg contains
an embryo and is at the same time
storehouse OF material for the devel-
opment and growth of the young indi-
yidual from the embryo, until it has
reached such stage that life is pos
sible outside the narrow limits of the
she'll The embryo is situated quite
close to the yolk, which furnishes the
nutritive material for it's early devel-
opment the white being used later.
For convenience birds may be divid-
ed into two groups-those in which
the young are Matched full fledged and
ready, in a great measure, to care for
themselves, and those in which the
young are Matched unfedged and en-
tirely dependent upon the parents.
Domestic poultry are familiar ex-
amples of the first group; robins and
sparrows of the second. The eggs of
the two classes differ materially in
4 composition. It seems evident that
more nutritive material is needed pro.
portionally in the first case than in
the second, since the growth is con
tinued in the shell until the bird
reaches a more advanced stage Of de-
velopment. The quite marked differ
ences in composition of the two sorts
Of eggs have been shown by chemical
studies.
Since in all cases the egg is de
signed to furnish the sole source Of
material for growth and development
of the young individual for consider
able time, it is evident that it mus
contain all the elements required
that is, that it must be a perfect foo(
for the young.
Milk is another familiar example o
animal food containing all the ele
ments of complete food for thu
young and growing Individual Mil
and eggs are frequently spoken of al
perfect foods on this account Thu
designation is, however, misleading
for although it is true that they con
tain all the required elements for tn
growth and maintenance of the youni
bird or the young mammal, as tn
nase nav he the clements are not i