CHEMISTRY OF A HEN'S EGG. 27 



may be usually eaten by invalids without inconven- 

 ience. The composition of a fresh egg, exclusive of 

 the shell, may be presented as follows : 



Water 74 parts. 



Albumen . . . . ' . 14 " 



Oil or fat 10.5 " 



Mineral salts . . . . 1.5 " 



100~ 



The whole usually weighs about a thousand grains, 

 of which the shell makes a tenth part. The chick- 

 making materials, exclusive of water, form only 

 one quarter of the weight of theliquid contents, or 

 only about 200 grains. This seems to be a small 

 beginning upon which to rear the full-grown 

 rooster. The bulk or quantity, as found in hens' 

 eggs, and indeed in the eggs of all birds, is wonder- 

 fully disproportionate to the size of the mother bird. 

 The laying of eggs must be regarded as a particu- 

 larly exhausting process, and yet fowls will keep it 

 up for a long time and not lose much in flesh. We 

 have a hen of the game variety, which has re- 

 cently laid 22 eggs in 22 consecutive days, and they 

 average in weight 1,000 grains each. This gives in 

 amount 22,000 grains, or rather more than three 

 pounds avoirdupois, of which about two and a quar- 

 ter pounds are water. The dozen or more ounces of 

 rich nutritive material, parted with in 22 days, 

 would seem to be a prodigious draught upon the 



