THE PEOPLE'S PRACTICAL POULTRY BOOK. 151 



animal mucus. When burned, the animal matter and the carbonic acid 

 gas of the carbonate of lime are separated ; the first being reduced to ashes, 

 or animal charcoal, while the second is dissipated, leaving the decarbonized 

 lime mixed with a little phosphate of lime. 



THE WHITE OF THE EGG. 



The white of the egg is without taste or smell, of a viscid, glairy con- 

 sistence, readily dissolving in water, coagulable by acids, by spirits of wine, 

 and by a temperature of one hundred and sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit. If 

 it has once been coagulated, it is no longer soluble in either cold or hot 

 water, and acquires a slight insipid taste. It is composed of eighty parts of 

 water, fifteen and a half parts albumen, and four and a half parts mucus ; 

 besides giving traces of soda, benzoic acid, and sulphureted hydrogen gas. 

 The latter, on an egg being eaten from a silver spoon, stains the spoon a 

 blackish purple, by combining with the silver, and forming sulphuret of 

 silver. The white of the egg is a very feeble conductor of heat, retarding 

 its escape, and preventing its entrance to the yolk; a providential con- 

 trivance not merely to prevent speedy fermentation and corruption, but to 

 arrest the fatal chills, which might occur in hatching, when the mother 

 hen leaves her eggs, from time to time, in search of food. Eels and other 

 fish which can live long out of water, secrete a similar viscid substance on 

 the surface of their bodies, furnished to them, doubtless, for the same 

 purpose. 



THE YOLK OP THE EGG. 



The yolk has an insipid, bland, oily taste ; and, when agitated with water, 

 forms a milky emulsion. If it is long boiled it becomes a granular, friablo 

 solid, yielding, upon expression, a yellow, insipid, fixed oil. It consists, 

 chemically, of water, oil, albumen and gelatine. In proportion to the 

 quantity of albumen, the egg boils hard. 



THE WEIGHT OP EGGS. 



The weight of the eggs of the domestic fowl varies materially; in 

 some breeds averaging thirty-three ounces per dozen, while in others, but 

 fourteen and a-half ounces. A fair average weight for a dozen is twenty-two 

 and a-half ounces. Yellow, mahogany and salmon-colored eggs are generally 

 richer than white ones, containing, as they do, a large quantity of yolk. 

 These are generally preferred for culinary purposes ; while the latter, con- 

 taining an excess of albumen, are preferred for boiling, etc., for the table. 



FACTS ABOUT INCUBATION. 



We are informed by M. TEGETMEIER that, in breaking a number of eggs 

 into a basin, a small circular speck may be observed upon each yolk. This 

 speck is the rudiment of the young chick, and the construction of the egg is 

 such that, on whatever side it is turned, the rudimentary germ is always 



