COMMERCIAL EGGS IN THE CENTRAL WEST. 33 



Nine of the 42 eggs — or 21 per cent — show very high counts, the 

 maximum being 320,000,000 bacteria per gram in the white of Sam- 

 ple 4049. The lowest count in these infected eggs is 150,000 per 

 gram in the white and 94,000 in the yolk. Then there is a sudden 

 drop to 1,800 per gram in Sample 3014-5, and the 18 remaining 

 samples — or 43 per cent — which show bacteria present have so few 

 that they may be neglected for practical purposes. Fourteen sam- 

 ples — or 33 per cent — were sterile in both yolk and white. The 

 organisms in Sample 3012-1 were probably from the dirt spot on the 

 shell against which the yolk had lain. Sample 3017-1 had a sour 

 odor which indicates bacterial contamination in quantity ; 3017-2 had 

 a dirty shell; 4030, 4049, and 4157 had objectionable odors on open- 

 ing ; 4141 had a stained shell. Samples 3017-2 and 4021 had no 

 distinctive feature except the adherent yolk. 



MOLDY EGGS. 



Damp cellars, wet nests, stolen nests, etc., are responsible for the 

 condition of eggs which show, on candling, dense black areas of vary- 

 ing sizes inside the shell. When the eggs are opened these areas are 

 found to be infected with a mold, usually a common green mold, of 

 the Penicillium family (see PL VI). Such eggs almost invariably 

 have a moldy odor. If the mold spot is small it may not affect the 

 integrity of the egg structure; on the other hand, it may grow to 

 such dimensions that no distinction between yolk and white can be 

 seen. 



The products of the growth of the mold may gelatinize the white 

 or liquefy it and may coagulate the yolk into a cheesy mass or render 

 it watery. It is, however, but seldom that a mold in pure culture is 

 found inside an egg', generally bacteria are also present, and some- 

 times in large numbers. Both the white and the yolk of moldy eggs 

 are apt to be discolored, usually becoming brownish. This color is 

 not always confined to the area of visible mold, but may be diffused 

 throughout, as shown by cultures made from white and yolk remote 

 from the visible infection. These and other characteristics are noted 

 in Table 12, where the results of the examination of 45 individual 

 eggs showing mold visible to the eye are recorded. 

 17625°— 14 3 



