THE EGG 29 



method is to keep them in water in which a little lime 

 has been dissolved. This dissolved lime deposits it- 

 self on the shell and closes the openings. These pre- 

 cautions taken, the air can no longer find a passage to 

 penetrate into the interior and the eggs are pre- 

 served in good condition much longer than they 

 would be without this preparation. Nevertheless 

 they always spoil in the long run." 



t i If I have properly understood what you have just 

 told us about the need of air for the awakening of 

 life," remarked Jules, "eggs thus coated with var- 

 nish or lime will not hatch when under the brooding 

 hen?" 



1 'Evidently not. Eendered impervious to air by 

 the varnish, lime, grease, or what not, the eggs might 

 remain indefinitely under the brooding hen without 

 ever coming to life ; for want of the quickening action 

 of the air, life would no more awaken in them than 

 in simple stones. You understand, then, that the 

 method of preservation by means of a coating that 

 closes the orifices of the shell must only be employed 

 for eggs destined for food, and that care must be 

 taken not to make use of it in those destined for 

 hatching. 



"But this is enough about the outside of the egg. 

 Now let us break the shell. What do we find within? 

 We find a delicate membrane, a supple skin which 

 lines the whole of the shell and forms a kind of bag, 

 without any opening, filled with the white and yolk. 

 When by some accident the limy coating is lacking, 

 this membrane constitutes the sole covering of the 



