124 EGGS: THEIR PRESERVATION 



Egg containing another entire one within it." Other in- 

 stances, however, are known. A gentleman in my neighbour- 

 hood possesses one, if not two Hen's Eggs, each of which 

 contains within itself another smaller Egg with a perfect and 

 complete shell; confirming the statement that twins, in the 

 case of Eggs, are enclosed in one common envelope, and not 

 produced one immediately after the other, as in mammalia. 



Mr. Alfred Whitaker says, "I find no room for criticism 

 in your manuscript. Every fact asserted is borne out by my 

 own experience, with the exception that I never saw an in- 

 stance of one Egg containing another entire Egg within it. 

 Double Eggs I have frequently seen. Their size, and fre- 

 quently a sort of suture across and around the centre of the 

 Egg, sufficiently indicate their twin nature. Many years ago 

 (in my boyhood) I placed one of these double Eggs among a 

 sitting of Eggs under a Hen. Two live chickens were brought 

 up to the hatching point, but that labour appeared to be too 

 much for their somewhat divided strength, and they were not 

 actually born alive. The fact, however, shows that the Egg 

 in question was a perfect twin Egg." This is a very remarka- 

 ble case, and deserved preservation in a museum. 



"The umbilical part of Eggs is within them from the top, 

 as it were a drop projecting inside the shell." Pliny, lib. x., 

 c. 74. This evidently has reference to the air-bubble. But 

 I am in possession of an Egg of more than ordinary size, laid 

 by a Buenos Ayres Duck, which has one end enclosed, termi- 

 nating in a sort of membranous funnel, or a continuation of 

 the lining membrane of the shell, giving the appearance of a 

 divided, umbilical cord.* An instance which is not unique. 

 "On the day after my return from London, I was looking 



* " The stalks of Eggs, whereby they grow to the ovarium, are not 

 solid after the manner of the footstalks of fruits, but hollow and 

 fistulous." Willoughby. 



