400 Junior Naturalist Monthly. 



it an egg. If you break the yolk, you may be unable to see the ham- 

 mock strings. The transparent part of the hammock surrounds the yolk, 

 and if it is broken, the yellow fluid will run out. With a splinter of wood 

 you can stretch out the hammock cords and swing the yolk around. Now 

 boil an egg without breaking the shell, and see whether you can find the 

 little white ropes. You may have to search a long time, but they are 

 there imbedded in the white of the egg, near the yolk, toward the large 

 and the small end of the egg. You can find them if you try real hard. To 

 do this, break open the egg carefully by chipping away the shell and then 

 see wdiether you can peel ofif the white in layers. There should be three 

 layers. Some of the layers are thick and some of them are thin. The 

 thin layer next to the yolk is the chick hammock. Why do we call it 

 a chick hammock when there is no chick in it? Look again at the egg 



Looking for ihe chick hammock. 



which you left in the saucer, and see whether you can find a little white 

 spot on the yolk of the egg. This while spot is where the little chick 

 will grow. 



I know you are wondering why an egg should contain a hammock. 

 If you will hold a fresh egg up to a bright light in a dark room, you may 

 be able to see for yourself the yolk floating inside. Hold the egg in the 

 position in which it would naturally lie. Closely envelop it with your 

 hands. You will notice that whichever way you turn the egg. the yolk 

 will always float toward the upper side, and will not float readily toward 

 either end of the egg. This is because the hammock ropes keep it in 

 position. They do so in order that the little white spot on the yolk where 

 the baby chick grows, will ahva>s be up close to the top surface of the 

 egg. In this position, the egg comes in contact with the warm body of 



