130 EGGS 



plained by the simple process of osmosis. The yolk, 

 which contains a very high percentage of solids, is 

 surrounded by a membraneous tissue called the vitelline 

 membrane, which, in turn, is surrounded by the egg 

 white, a liquid much more dilute than the yolk. By 

 osmosis, the water passes through the membrane from 

 the more dilute to the more concentrated solution until 

 a constant equilibrium is obtained. This process con- 

 tinues until the vitelline membrane becomes so weak 

 that it breaks, when the white and the yolk begin to 

 lose their identity. 



Professor Lamson writes that the egg is complex 

 chemically, and, like milk, it is one of the best places 

 for bacteria to multiply. The work of these organisms 

 is to simplify or decompose the white and the yolk until 

 the egg is seemingly worse than useless; though even 

 rotten eggs find a place in the market for polishing 

 leather, and are sold by the large packing houses for 

 that purpose. 



Fresh-laid eggs will be contaminated if left even for 

 a short time under unfavorable conditions. A case of 

 eggs that are perfectly good may be taken from cold 

 storage on a hot day in summer, hauled from the storage 

 house in a wagon to the retail store, be opened imme- 

 diately and the eggs placed in baskets for sale. The 

 exposure of the eggs so quickly to a heated temperature 

 causes moisture to gather on the surface of the shell. 

 This is called sweating. The moisture that gathers on 

 the egg- dissolves the coating of albumen that partly 

 fills the pores of the egg; thus, the heated atmosphere 

 works through into the interior of the shell and in a 

 very few hours the eggs begin to change in quality. By 

 the time they are carried home and prepared for the 

 table, they are not nearly so good as they would have 

 been if they had been properly cared for. 



When the eggs are taken from cold storage or from 

 a refrigerator car they should be kept in the store or 

 the storehouse away from the cold-storage room for from 

 12 to 24 hr. without opening the case. This will temper 



