302 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



difference in the egg and those newly laid. On the other hand, if 

 those eggs were left in the nest or in a hot room, they would de- 

 teriorate more in 48 hours than they would in a week under ordinary, 

 desirable cool conditions. 



A Member: How about it if they were put in liquid glass? 



PKOF. BICE : That seals the pores and they retain their quality 

 so far as evaporation is concerned all right but lose a little in flavor 

 if they are kept for many months, but they are all right for almost 

 all cooking purposes. 



A Member: What is the difference in quality between an egg 

 kept in cold storage and one kept in liquid glass, both for the 

 same period? 



PROF. RICE: The egg kept in cold storage frequently suffers 

 on account of fungii entering the shell. There are several fungii 

 the spores of which if the air is damp that can get through the shell 

 of an egg in cold storage especially that affect the flavor and appear- 

 ance of the egg but that cannot penetrate it at all in water glass. 

 Water glass simply preserves the egg in the condition it was by keep- 

 ing the germs from getting inside. 



A Member: What is the difference between an egg that is fertile, 

 and one that is unfertile, if any? 



PROF. RICE: I do not know what the actual difference would 

 be if a fertilized and unfertilized egg were immediately put under 

 the same cold temperature conditions. I do know that under ordi- 

 nary care, the germinal spot of an egg that has been fertilized 

 will begin to grow quickly, at a temperature of 70 degrees or about 

 that temperature — and that is pretty low temperature too. It is 

 living room temperature. When the chick begins to grow, the white 

 patch due to cell divisions shows very quickly, and of course if the 

 temperature is 90 degrees or near 100 degrees, as it is frequently 

 on a hot day in a nest or in a kitchen that egg within 48 hours, 

 would have a little white patch over the surface of it and might 

 have a little red streak that would show to such an extent the egg 

 would be unsalable, would disintegrate and go to pieces in cold stor- 

 age. That is why the cold storage people would prefer to have Febru- 

 ary, March and April eggs, and keep them two or three months longer, 

 than to put the eggs of June, July and August into cold storage. 

 The liquid glass would not affect that situation due to fertilization 

 at all; the liquid glass only affects the conditions that go through 

 the pores of the eggs; the fertilization is affected by the temperature. 



A Member: Exclusion of air has no effect on the progress of 

 fertilization ? 



PROF. RICE: No, not at all, as far as I know; but you must 

 get an egg cooled down quickly to at least 50 degrees or thereabouts 

 to stop development. 



A Member: Isn't it a fact that the Pennsylvania eggs which are 

 going into cold storage in this State, or in other words, the egg 

 that is going into cold storage in the State of Pennsylvania, is 

 not a Pennsylvania egg, for the simple reason that the western 



