114 EGGS 



EGGS 



Food Value of Eggs. Eggs are a cheap food. They are 

 less costly than most meats. One dozen eggs will better 

 serve a family of six than \ l / 2 Ib. of meat. The average 

 value of these is about equal. 



Composition of Eggs. About 11% of hens' eggs consist 

 of shell, 32% of yolk, and 57% of white. The white and 

 yolk are made up of 72% of water. The table shown on 

 pages 116 and 117, adapted frcm a bulletin of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, gives the composition 

 and fuel value of eggs of the common domestic poultry, 

 and, for purpose of comparison, the composition and fuel 

 value of some of the more common foods other than these. 



Uses of Eggs. In addition to their use as food, eggs 

 are used to a limited extent for other purposes. The 

 white of an egg is a remedy for burns, and if taken in 

 time it is an effective antidote for poisoning by corrosive 

 sublimate. Food or bones lodged in the throat can some- 

 times be dislodged by swallowing a raw egg. The oil 

 extracted from the yolk has healing properties, and the 

 inner lining or membrane of the shell can be used as an 

 adhesive plaster. Eggshells, on account of the purity 

 of the carbonate lime of which they are largely com- 

 posed, are used in compounding medicine and for several 

 other purposes. 



There is a limited demand for rotten eggs for the 

 finishing of some kinds of leather. They may be used 

 as fertilizer, and in many instances they are used in 

 the manufacture of calico. The supply, however, is 

 much greater than the demand, and such eggs bring but 

 a few cents a dozen. Often the price paid for them 

 is not sufficient to cover the cost of transportation, which 

 in most cases is paid by the shipper. 



Color of Eggshells. Fowls of European origin lay 

 white-shelled eggs; those of Asiatic origin lay dark- 

 shelled eggs, as a rule. The eggs of different varieties 



