448 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



METHOD OF DISTINGUISHING IMPREGNATED EGGS. 



A method of distinguishing impregnated eggs from those 

 that are unfertile consists, according to M. Sauvadon, in the 

 use of a tube of pasteboard or of rubber, eight to twelve 

 inches long, and of the diameter of the eggs, through which 

 these are to be examined on the third or fourth day of incu- 

 bation. They are to be taken, one by one, between the finger 

 and thumb, and held in one end of the tube, which is direct- 

 ed toward the sun, while the eye is applied to the other end. 

 In this way any bad eggs can be easily detected. The good 

 eggs are to be restored to the nest, and at the end of five 

 days, if development is taking place, the fibres of the chicken 

 can easily be perceived through the illuminated shell, and, 

 indeed, the process of development readily followed. This 

 method is, of course, extremely difficult, if not impossible, 

 "with eggs that have a colored shell, like those of the pheas- 

 ant, etc. 3 B, October 15, 1874, 243. 



THE SMOKING AND KEEPING OF SMOKED MEAT. 



The following suggestions are among those made by Pro- 

 fessor Nessler in regard to the preservation of meat. The 

 keeping qualities of smoked meat do not depend upon the 

 amount of smoking, but upon the uniform and proper dry- 

 ing of the meat. Smoke of high temperature, moisture, and 

 the condensation of water upon the meat are all injurious in 

 smoking meat. With hot, dry smoke the surface is dried too 

 rapidly ; a crust, filled with cracks, is formed, and the fat 

 may partially liquefy, and the drying of the interior of the 

 meat be hindered. Bacon is often met with that is brown 

 to the depth of an inch, or even more, simply because it was 

 too warm, or at times moist (sweat), either during the smok- 

 ing or the subsequent storing. It is doubtless of considerable 

 advantage to roll the meat, on its removal from the salt, be- 

 fore smoking, in sawdust or bran, or to strew it with them, 

 since the crust formed in smoking will not be so thick, and 

 if moisture condenses upon the meat (sweating) it remains in 

 the bran or sawdust, and the brown coloring matter of the 

 smoke does not penetrate the meat. The bran, etc., can 

 easily be removed before using the meat. Warmth, of it- 

 self, is not regarded as injurious to smoked meat if moisture 



