454 



of preservation. This is not improbable, for the acid 

 would dissolve a little of the calcareous matter of the shell, 

 forming with it a sulphate of lime, which would be depo- 

 sited and fill up the pores. 



Another mode of preserving eggs is to plunge them for 

 five minutes in water heated to 140 Q ; they are then taken 

 out, oiled or rubbed with suet, and packed in sawdust or 

 charcoal powder ; they will keep thus for a year or two. 

 Some boil them for one minute, which preserves them a 

 long time, probably by coagulating the portion of the al- 

 bumen next to the shell. If boiled hard they will keep 

 many weeks without other preparation. 



Eggs are very liable to absorb the flavor of any sub- 

 stance they are kept in contact with, and therefore care 

 should be taken not to pack them in anything that might 

 communicate a flavor ; mahogany shavings will impart 

 to them a peculiarly disagreeable taste; and musty straw 

 will likewise give them an unpleasant flavor. 



PRESERVATION OF MILK. 



It is well known that it will not remain fresh for many 

 hours in warm weather ; the principal care must there- 

 fore be to keep it in as cool a place as possible ; stone 

 shelves are preferable to wood ; and a room connected 

 with an ice-house is particularly convenient. The milk- 

 men of Paris, to prevent their milk from turning sour, 

 sometimes use a little sub-carbonate of soda, which 

 unites with the acid as it forms ; provided too much soda 

 is not employed, this will have no injurious effect ; a little 

 calcined magnesia will answer the same purpose. 



Milk boiled with sugar will keep some time. 



PRESERVING ROOTS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 



It had been long a desideratum to preserve fruits by 

 some cheap method, yet such as would keep them fit for 



