LAYING. 215 



M. Gagne says, that a very excellent method of preserving 

 eggs is, to mix a bushel of quick-lime, two pounds of salt, and 

 eight ounces of cream of tartar together, adding a sufficient 

 quantity of water, so that an egg may be plunged in to the 

 point. When a paste has been made of this consistence, the 

 eggs are put into it, and may be kept fresh, it is said, for two 

 years. 



It ought not to be overlooked, with respect to the preserva- 

 tion of eggs, that they not only spoil by the transpiration of 

 their moisture and the putrid fermentation of their contents, in 

 consequence of air penetrating through the pores of the shell, 

 but also by being moved about, and jostled when carried to a 

 distance by sea or land. Any sort of rough motion, indeed, 

 ruptures the membranes which keep the white, the yolk, and 

 the germ of the chick, in their appropriate places, and, upon 

 these becoming mixed, putrefaction is promoted. Dickson. 



Eggs may be preserved, for hatching, for weeks, and even 

 months, if kept in a cool, dry place. 



WEIGHT AND VALUE OF EGGS. 



It is most extraordinary that the varieties in weight and value 

 in eggs, as an article of merchandise, should have been so uni- 

 versally overlooked, both by buyers and sellers. So far as 

 known, it has always been the custom everywhere to sell eggs 

 by number, without respect to size, weight, or peculiar quality. 

 Yet no absurdity can be greater, as the following facts will 

 show. 



It has been ascertained, by careful experiment recently made 

 by the author, that the fair average weight for a dozen of eggs 

 is twenty-two and a half ounces. Recently, on application to 

 a provision dealer, he made answer to the inquiry addressed to 

 him, that he made no difference in the price of his eggs. ; On 



