726 EGGS. 



estimate the number of eggs laid yearly in the United States at about 

 fourteen billion (14,000,000,000) . 



Danger in Eggs. Eggs may become a source of considerable 

 danger to the health of persons eating them either in the natural 

 state or mixed in with other foods. In the latter, especially, the dan- 

 ger is an insidious one, as the cause of the troubles which follow is 

 wholly unsuspected. When the yolk of the egg begins to decay it 

 generates a poisonous gas which, if taken into the system, causes dis- 

 turbances that may not be noticed at the time, but which subsequently 

 cause serious gastric complaints. The only safe way is to dispose of 

 eggs that lack the requisite freshness to the canning or fertilizer fac- 

 tory or throw them away. 



How to Tell Fresh Eggs. Fresh eggs are not necessarily 

 fresh laid eggs. It is possible to keep eggs four or five months or 

 longer, so that at the end of that period they are fresher than some 

 eggs only four or five days old. If an egg is taken from the nest immedi- 

 ately or very soon after it is laid and is kept in a cold place in an upright 

 position it will remain fresh and perfectly good for a long time. In 

 testing an egg various processes may be used, the most common being 

 that of "candling." This requires simply a long paper funnel just 

 large enough at the small end to admit an egg, and large enough at the 

 other end to cover the face. When so held that the egg is between the 

 eye and the bright light of a candle, or lamp, or electric light, the egg 

 in which decay has begun, ever so little, will show a dark spot ; the 

 fresh egg will be perfectly clear. Other methods of proving whether 

 an egg is fresh or stale may be found on page 281. In buying eggs 

 avoid the washed egg, for washing opens the pores and lets the air in 

 which tends to spoil the egg. Avoid also the shiny egg. This has 

 either been set on by the hen, or has been kept too long in a warm place. 

 A fresh egg is never glossy, but is a dull white or brown. Dirt on the 

 outside of the shell does not hurt the egg; washing hurts it very much 

 more. 



How to Preserve Eggs (Government's Process). The old- 

 fashioned method of pickling them in lime-water is fairly effective, but 

 spoils the flavor. Some coat them with vaseline or olive oil. The 

 Department of Agriculture at Washington says that the best preserva- 

 tive is water glass or sodium silicate, one part to ten parts of water, 

 the mixture to be poured over the fresh eggs in jars, which should then 

 be covered over and set in a cellar or other cool, dry place. The best 

 way to keep a quantity is in a cold storage room, where the tempera- 

 ture is kept at about 31 to 33 degrees Fahrenheit by means of ice and 

 salt or by means of refrigerating machinery. 



Flavor of Eggs. Most people think an egg is an egg and all 

 are alike if fresh. This is a great mistake, as anyone who has hens 

 can easily prove. The North Carolina experiment station of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture fed a number of hens with their regu- 

 lar feed one-half ounce of chopped onion tops daily. At the end of 

 the fifteenth day the eggs had a distinct flavor of onions. When the 



