THE EGG 23 



ferences, great as they may be, have to do with the 

 state of purity and degree of consistency. That 

 which building-stone contains in a state of impurity 

 from other ingredients is contained also in white 

 marble and chalk, but free from any admixture. 

 Thus in its nature the eggshell is identical with chalk 

 and marble, harder than the first, less hard than the 

 second, being between the two in an intermediate 

 state of pure lime. To clothe the egg, therefore, 

 with a solid envelope, the hen and all birds without 

 exception use the same material as the sculptor 

 works with in his studio and the scholar uses on the 

 blackboard. 



"Now, no animal creates matter; none makes its 

 body, with all that comes from it, out of nothing. 

 The bird does not find within itself the material for 

 the eggshell; it gets it from outside with its food. 

 Amid the grain that is thrown to her the hen finds lit- 

 tle bits of stone left there through imperfect clean- 

 ing; she swallows them without hesitation, knowing 

 full well, however, that they are little stones and not 

 kernels of wheat. That is not enough ; you will see 

 her all day long scratching and pecking here and 

 there in the poultry-yard. Now and then she digs up 

 some worm, her great delicacy, and from time to time 

 some fragment of limestone, which she turns to ac- 

 count with as much satisfaction as if she had found a 

 plump insect." 



"I have often seen hens swallowing little stones 

 like that," remarked Emile. "I thought it was all 

 their own carelessness or gluttonous haste, but now 



