Improvements in or relating to the Preservation of Eggs."
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 18th Dec., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
"Improvements in or relating to the Preservation of Eggs."
I, FRIEDRICH HERMANN MARTIN RÖVER of 39 Böhmkenstrasse, Hamburg, in
the German Empire, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to a process for the preservation of eggs by means of lime
from which substance has been removed by means of various re-agents the property
which it possesses when used in the manner hitherto adopted for preserving eggs,
namely, in the form of milk of lime, of influencing unfavourably the taste, and the
applicability of the eggs.
My process consists essentially in the application of a solution of saccharate of
lime which may be prepared by the admixture of lime water with a solution of
sugar, and to which there is added a proportion of salt or other suitable preserva-
tive, as for instance boracic acid or the salts thereof, or sulphite of calcium, or the
like. By way of example for the preparation of a suitable preservative fluid,
20 litres of slaked lime may be stirred up in one cubic meter of water, and the
clear solution after settling may be treated with the following admixture:-
3 litres of dark syrup, or 6 litres of clear syrup, and mixed with 2 to 3 pounds of
common salt, and 30 grammes of gelatine or glue in warm water, and well stirred up,
then allowed to stand for two or three days, and the clear solution added to the
previously prepared lime water. The mixture of the two fluids is thoroughly
stirred and the eggs placed in the same and forwarded completely covered thereby.
It is advisable to have a depth of fluid above the eggs of about 20 cm.
In the method of preservation of eggs by means of milk of lime as hitherto
carried out this substance penetrated through the pores of the shell into the
interior of the egg, causing the shells to become brittle, and combining partially
with the albumen. The eggs consequently were affected in taste and in their
usefulness and rendered quite unsuitable for confectioners' purposes.
By the above described process the lime water is completely deprived of its
caustic qualities through the formation of saccharate of lime, and instead of com-
bining with the albumen the lime which is present in excess combines with the
added glue or gelatine and forms therewith a combination which floats upon the
top of the preparation as a white scum and preserves the same on the one hand
from contact with the air, whilst on the other hand it also hinders the preservative
fluid from penetrating into the interior of the eggs. Eggs so treated after being
kept for months may be boiled like fresh eggs without bursting, because the
preservative fluid in the pores thereof has not combined with the lime compound
of the shell, and is easily dissolved out again by boiling water, so that the egg
again returns to its natural condition. Moreover, the saccharate does not prevent
the albumen from being beaten into foam so that the egg thus treated remains
quite as suitable for all purposes of the cook and the confectioner, a result which
as is well known was not obtainable by the previous process.
The preservative fluid is very suitable for protecting eggs during transport to

page_text: considerable distances, as for instance in the case of railway transport, the supply
of ships, as also for commercial and household purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
The improved process for preserving eggs characterized by the immersion of
the eggs in a solution of saccharate of lime with addition of glue or gelatine, and of
salt or boracic acid or borates or of sulphite of lime in the place of salt, whereby
the drawbacks incidental to the preservation of eggs in lime water are obviated,
and the preserved eggs after removal from the preserving fluid are applicable in
the same manner as fresh eggs.
Dal 15
1007
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
322, High Holborn, London, W.C. Patent Agents for the Applicant.