EFT. 



EGLANTINE. 



EFT, NEWT, or EVET (Salamandra). A 



small kind of lizard, that chiefly lives in the 

 water. As the newt is an amphibious animal, 

 it requires to ascend frequently to the surface 

 of the water, to take fresh air into its lungs. 



EGGS (Fr. asufs; Germ, ei; Lat. ova). The 

 ova of birds and oviparous animals. The 

 shell of the egg is lined throughout with a 

 thin but tough membrane, called pellicula ovi: 

 which, dividing at or near the obtuse end, 

 forms a small bag the air follicule. This 

 membrane weighs about 2-35 grains in an eg ' 

 of 1000 grains in weight. It contains what is 

 called the albumen or white, and the vitellus or 

 yellow. The white consists of two distinct 

 parts, one of which is a delicate membrane 

 forming a series of cells, which enclose the 

 other, or fluid part. It has the well-known 

 property of being coagulated by heat. It con- 

 sists of 12 parts of albumen, 2 : 7 of mucus, 0-3 

 of salts, and 85 of water, in a hundred parts. 

 The yolk consists of oil, suspended in water 

 by means of albumen, and held in a membra- 

 nous sac. the yolk-bag, each end of which is 

 twisted, to form what is called the chalaza, in- 

 tended to preserve the yolk in such a position 

 that the cicatricula, or rudimental embryo, shall 

 always be uppermost. The yolk consists of 

 28-75 of yellow oil and crystallizable fat, with 

 traces of sulphur; 17-47 of albumen, contain- 

 ing phosphorus, and 53-8 of water. The re- 

 lative weights of these parts, in an egg weigh- 

 ing 1000 grains, are, 106-9 shell and membrane, 

 604-2 albumen, and 288-9 yolk. The egg loses 

 2 or 3 per cent, of its weight when boiled in 

 water. The white is more easily digested than 

 the yolk ; and both are more digestible in the 

 soft than in the hard state. The changes 

 which the hen's egg undergoes during incuba- 

 tion have been described by Sir E. Home (Phil. 

 Trans. 1822, p. 339), and illustrated by a beau- 

 tiful series of plates, after drawings by Bauer. 

 The same volume also contains a valuable 

 paper, by Dr. Prout, on this subject, but chiefly 

 treating of the chemical changes of the egg 

 during that process. The egg does not receive 

 its outer coat, or pellicule, until it arrives at 

 that part of the oviduct which is called the 

 uterus; and not its shell until it has passed 

 through one half of the uterus. Eggs are 

 sometimes expelled without shells, and are 

 called oon-eggs. The specific gravity of new- 

 laid eggs at first rather exceeds that of water, 

 varying from 1-08 to 1-09 ; but they soon be- 

 come lighter, and swim on water, in conse- 

 quence of evaporation through the pores of 

 the shell. The mean weight of a hen's egg is 

 about 875 grains. 



Hen's eggs are decidedly wholesome ; and, 

 when new laid, are an agreeable and nourish- 

 ing food. Vast quantities of eggs are brought 

 from the country to London, and other great 

 towns. It is stated in the Quart. Journ. of dgr. 

 vol. iii. p. 1077, that, about 15 years ago, the 

 number of eggs exported from Berwick-upon- 

 Tweed to London amounted to 30,000f. worth 

 a year. 



The trade in eggs is of great value and im- 

 portance. It appears from official statements, 

 that the eggs imported into England from 

 France amounted to 60,000,000 a year; and 

 438 



presuming them to cost, on an average, 4rf.per 

 dozen, it follows that the English pay the 

 French above 83,000/. a year for eggs ; and 

 supposing that the freight, importer's and re- 

 tailer's profit, duty (IQcL per 120), &c. raise 

 their price to the consumer to 10r/. per dozen, 

 their total cost will be 213,000/. The number 

 of eggs imported into England from various 

 parts of the Continent, for the year ending 

 January 5, 1839, was 83,745,723; and the 

 gross amount of duty received for the same 

 was 29,1 ll/. The Netherlands and the Chan- 

 nel islands furnish a large quantity of the eggs 

 consumed in England. (M'Culloch's Com. Dirt.) 

 See FOWLS. 



A new method of preserving eggs, by pack- 

 ing them in salt with the small end downwards, 

 and by which they have been kept perfectly 

 good for eight or nine months, will, it is be- 

 lieved, enable the inhabitants of portions of 

 our country where these abound to make them 

 profitable. Thousands of bushels may be sent 

 off to the Atlantic markets. Great quantities 

 are used in France ; and as the duty on them 

 in England is so low, (not 2 cents per dozen,) 

 they might bear exportation. They have been 

 gathered and sold at the West 'as low as 90 

 cents per bushel; which, as a bushel contains 

 45 dozen, is but 2 cents per dozen. (Ellsworth's 

 Report, 1843.) 



EGG-PLANT (Solanum melongena). This is 

 a tender annual, a native of Africa. It loves 

 a light rich soil, and blows violet flowers in 

 June and July, which are succeeded by fruit, 

 shaped and coloured like an egg. The plant 

 is propagated by seed. In French and Italian 

 cookery it is used in soups, and for the same 

 purposes as the love-apple. 



Two varieties of this annual plant are com- 

 monly met with in the United States ; one of 

 these bears a very large purple oval-shaped 

 fruit, which is highly relished as a delicious and 

 rich tasted vegetable. It is cooked by frying 

 transverse sections or slices, and in other forms 

 and ways. In size and shape the fruit resembles 

 an ostrich egg, though it frequently attains a 

 size many times larger, even to that of a small 

 water-melon. The second variety is white, 

 and the shape bears a striking resemblance to 

 the eggs of the domestic fowl. To raise them 

 in the Middle and Northern States, the seed 

 must be sown in a hot-bed in March, and 

 transplanted into the open air as soon as there 

 is no danger from frost, placing them about 

 two feet apart. A pretty high degree of heat, 

 blended with a good supply of moisture, are 

 required to make the seeds germinate and 

 bring forward the young plants. 



The insane egg-plant (Solanum insanium). 

 Mad-apple, or purple egg-plant, called by the 

 French JIubergine rouge, is occasionally culti- 

 vated in the United States as a culinary vege- 

 table. The whole plant is coated with a downy 

 nap. The flowers are purplish and pubescent, 

 and the berries very large, ovoid-oblong, mostly 

 of a dark purple colour when mature, and 

 sometimes pale-green. (Flora Cestrica*') 



EGLANTINE (Rosa rubiginosa Fr. egfantin). 

 The old English name of the sweetbrier rose. 

 The odour which is so agreeable, is exhaled 

 from reddish, viscid glands, which cover the 



