The San Francisco call., 1904-06-06

the other, but this offspring of the fowl
family may be said to be between 1,OOO,-
COO and 2,OO0,O 600 years of age.
The conjectures over the years OF
the egg are contained in a bulletin
tust issued at the university by Pro-
fessor William Conger Morgan and
Miss Marion Glover Tallmon, his as
sistant. There are some interesting
data in the bulletin, and they concern
the antiquity of the egg. Their value
is also important as a determining fac
tor in proving the origin Of bituminous
substances, which this inquiry proves
to be organic.
PROSPECTOR FINDS EGG.
This egg was found by prospector
seeking for gold on the banks of the
ella River in Arizona The prospector
more, mining man of San
Francisco, and Mr.. Helmore has loaned
it to the university for study
and description. Other prehis-
toric eggs have been found, but none
SC valuable as this. Those found in
New Zealand are of birds that laid eggs
of unusual thickness and strength The
eggs of the tertiary period from Au-
vergne, France, are mere shells filled
with hardened mud.
When found the Tallmon egg was
enclosed in a matrix of solid rock. in
removing which the specimen was
broken. The shell has retained it's
original composition and microscopic
nature. The chemical analysis shows
that it does not differ from the shell of
a wild goose egg, and thin section de-
velops that it Is of the same structure
as that exhibited by similar section
from a hens egg. 1t is the opinion of
the investigators that the specimen be-
Icnged to an aquatic bird, probably one
of the cormorant type.
MARKINGS ARE PRESERVED.
The minutest markings Of the shell
are preserved in the matrix. Upon re-
moving the capsule 1t was found that
it's inner surface was marked with pc
cuIiar pits and to be covered with a
thin layer of tarry material, which
usually fills the pits completely. The
number Of pits in any piece of the mat
rix corresponds with the number OF Wis
ible pores in that part Of the shell from
which II was removed. OF the contents
Of the egg the authors of the bulletin
say:
with the exception of small space near
the periphery the interior is filled solidly with
a beautifully crystalline mass of the mineral
colemanite. In several places next the shell
material resembling asphalt. When cold 1t is
brittle, but as the temperature rises 1t grows
softer until at 100 degrees Centigrade 1t be-
comes a fluid. Its specific gravity is trihe
less than that of boiling water.
These facts tell something OF the history
Of the egg fossil during the period In which II
Law buried. and also show the relation of the
tar II contains to other bituminous matter.
Since the tar is completely soluble in petro-
leum ether without residue Of any kind. while
the heated product is largely insoluble in the
same menstruum. ii is evident that the fossil
has never been subjected to temperature as
high as $50 degrees Centigrade. The tar as 1t
exists in the egg requires simply this slight
elevation of temperature to make 1t indistin-
gushable from a natural asphalt.
The authors find that it is greatly
improbable that the tar found in the
egg is of external origin. All the re-
suits point to it's having been derived
from the material present in the egg.
Though absolute proof cannot be given
the evidence amounts to almost DEM
onstration that the bituminous SUBJ
stance now present in the egg repre-
sents a part of it's original organic con-
tents. In the absence of any evidence
to the contrary the origin to which this
evidence points is accepted. This spec
linen presents, the authors conclude,
possibly the only one instance in which
conclusive evidence is at hand to con-
meet the bituminous matter with the
original material from which 1t has
been derived by a natural process with
out abnormal conditions