764 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



ming work the maximum amount of cotton-seed meal was slightly in excess of 

 2 oz. a day. It was noted that birds of weak constitution and delicate appetite 

 are the first to become affected. 



"All through this set of preliminary tests it was noted that as soon as the 

 quantity of cotton-seed meal consumed reached about 1 oz. or more per day 

 they may become sick. A bird sick of cotton-seed meal will usually eat grain 

 such as corn, wheat, or oats unless the effect be so aggravated that the food 

 remains in the crop." 



Bacterial infection of fresh eggs, Dorothy W. Caldwell {Abs. in Science, 

 n. ser., 42 {1915), No. 1079, p. 322).— The results of a bacteriological study of 

 fresh eggs conducted at the Rhode Island Experiment Station are given as 

 follows : 



" Of 2,510 fresh eggs from 65 hens, examined by the indirect method, 8.8 per 

 cent showed infection in the yolk. None of 111 whites examinetl showed in- 

 fection, while the yolks of the same eggs gave a percentage of infection (4.5) 

 less than the average for the series (8.8). The percentages of infection obtained 

 for individual hens per year varied between 2.8 and 15, the average being 8 

 per cent per year. No hen laid sterile eggs during a whole year. No correla- 

 tion was observed between the percentage of infection for any individual and 

 the degree of fecundity of that individual. Approximately the same amount of 

 infection was found among fertile eggs (6.9 per cent infected out of 422 eggs 

 examined) as among infertile (8.9 per cent infected out of 315 eggs). The 

 infection of eggs in the degree made apparent by the present studies seemed 

 to have no unfavorable effect upon their hatchability. Practically no difference 

 between the percentages of infection of eggs from pullets and from hens in their 

 second laying year was found. No definite seasonal variation was observetl in 

 the bacterial content of the eggs examined. 



" No definite conclusions can be drawn from these .studies regarding the in- 

 fluence of temperature upon the detection of infection in fresh eggs. From 57 

 Infected eggs out of 737 examined in one of the series, 37 bacterial types were 

 isolated, among which were 7 cocci, 11 motile rods, 18 nonmotile rods, and 1 

 spirillum. Control plates exposed under the hood in which the examinations 

 were made yielded a variety of organisms, largely chromogens. This series, as 

 a whole, did not resemble the series of egg organisms." 



The study " indicated that the penetration of the shell after the egg had been 

 laid, or infections during the passage of the egg through the cloaca, or during 

 fertilization or while the albumin or the shell were being deposited, are un- 

 common. It seems more likely that infection of fresh eggs is largely due to 

 occasional chance infections with harmless organisms taking place within the 

 ovary of the fowl." 



Bacteria in preserved eggs, Maud M. Obst (Abs. in Science, n. ser., 42 

 (1915), No. 1079, p. 320). — Commercial and strictly fresh June eggs packed in 

 solutions of 1:5, 1 : 10, 1 : 15, and 1 : 20 parts of commercial watergla.ss, and 

 in saturated lime solutions were stored in the laboratory, barn, cellar, and at 

 34° F. 



The temperature of 80° in the laboratory permitted rapid multiplication of 

 bacteria in eggs. Of the eggs frozen in solutions some later thawed without 

 breaking and at the end of the experiment showed no effects attributable to 

 freezing. The bacterial content was uniform and fairly low. 



The bacterial increase in commercial eggs in 1 : 10 waterglass was rapid, 

 especially in the albumin, during the first two months of storage. The eggs 

 stored in the cellar held a uniformly low bacterial content throughout the ex- 

 periment. At 34° the eggs showed exceptionally low counts. Waterglass solu- 

 tions contained practically no bacteria after five months of storage. The aver- 



