COMMERCIAL EGGS IN THE CENTRAL WEST. 47 



On one occasion a few cases of checks, a large percentage of 

 which had moldy shells, were received at D house. The eggs for 

 breaking were separated into two parts, one consisting of about 13 

 dozen moldy eggs and the other of about 60 dozen nonmoldy eggs. 

 Every effort was made to eliminate all eggs abnormal in appear- 

 ance or odor. On. account of the number of times that it was neces- 

 sary to wash hands and to change apparatus after bad eggs, it was 

 a laborious task to separate the good from the bad. For example^ 

 there were 3 eggs with a bad odor, 4 rots, 5 sour eggs, and 14 eggs 

 with a green white that were eliminated from the moldy lot. There 

 were, as given in Table 18, 2,700,000 organisms in the nonmoldy and 

 22,000,000 in the moldy eggs. The quantity of ammoniacal nitrogen 

 was practically the same in the two specimens, and was no higher 

 than that found in some samples of summer firsts, seconds, and 

 dirties. These results show that either the bacteria had not been 

 present long enough or had not multiplied to a sufficient extent to 

 materially change the composition of the egg substance. 



The laboratory data from both the large and small samples show 

 that for the preparation of a food product with a low bacterial 

 content cracked eggs with moldy shells should be omitted. 



EGGS HAVING THE YOLKS PARTIALLY MIXED WITH THE WHITES. 



The class of eggs having the yolks partially mixed with the 

 whites consists of three forms: One in which the yolk has seeped 

 through the vitelline membrane in sufficient quantity to give a 

 yellow tinge to the thick portion of the albumen; the second in 

 which the yolk streams through small openings in the membrane 

 into the white; and the third in which the yolk membrane breaks 

 and allows the yolk to flow into the albumen. The first form can 

 not be detected by the candling process; the second and third in 

 many cases can be recognized by this method. During warm 

 weather the vitelline membrane becomes thin and the white less 

 viscous, which condition, accompanied by the jars occurring during 

 transportation, causes the membrane to break and the contents of 

 the yolk to escape. The cause of the seeping yolk in eggs is not 

 understood. The three forms are the predecessors of the class of 

 eggs called white rots, or eggs with white and yolk entirely mixed. 



During the season of 1912, 10 samples, consisting of from 1 to 8 

 eggs, with yolks seeping into white were taken. The odor and tast© 

 of each were good. The results are shown in Table 19. 



