48 



BULLETTX 51, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



TAr.LE in. — t<))iall samples of eggs uiih the yolks beginning to seep into the 



whites. 



Sample 

 No. 



Source. 



Date of 

 collec- 

 tion. 



Total number of bac- 

 teria per {Tram on 

 plain agar incuba- 

 ted at— 



Number 



of gas- 

 producing 

 bacteria 



Gelatin 

 liquefy- 

 ing organ- 

 isms per 

 gram. 



Percentage of 

 ammoniacal 

 nitrogen, Fo- 

 lin method. 



Per- 

 cent- 

 age of 

 mois- 

 ture. 



Size of 

 sam- 

 ple. 





20-0. 



37° C. 



in lactose 

 bile. 



Wet 

 basis. 



Dry 

 basis. 



4194 



E 1 

 D 1 

 Dl 

 Di 

 E2 

 D2 

 D2 

 Do 

 D6 

 D6 



1912 

 Apr. 25 

 Mav (3 

 May 7 

 May 9 

 May 17 

 Mav 27 

 May 28 

 Ang. 2 

 Aug. 19 

 Aug. 21 



2,000 



67,000 



100 



22, 000, 000 



100,000 



44,000 



300 



3,900,000 



Oin 10,000 



17,000 



3,900 



21,000 



400 



21,000,000 



21,000 



5,000 



100 



3,500,000 



Oil 10,000 



7,500 







100 











10 











Oin 100 



in 100 



10 



in 10, 000 

 in 10, 000 









Eggs. 

 3 



f251 

 4266 



0.0017 



0. 0062 



72.61 



8 

 1 



4290 

 4357 



Oin 10, 000 



900, 000 



Oin 10, 000 



.0021 



.0077 



72.58 



5 

 2 



4406 

 4428 



.0020 



.0076 



73.76 



5 

 2 



489c 





.0023 



.0078 



70.54 



5 



41001 





1 



41032 





.0018 



.0072 



74.98 



4 









Table 19 shows that the number of bacteria varied from 100 per 

 gram at 20° C. to 100,000 in eight samples and from 3,900,000 to 

 22,000,000 in the other two. No explanation can be given of the 

 cause of the last two counts other than that they may represent 

 transitional stages between yolks beginning to mix and those entirely 

 mixed with white. It was shown on page 30 that the latter are 

 heavil3^ infected with, organisms. There were no B. coli in one-half 

 of the specimens and only a 'few in the remaining half. The amount 

 of protein deterioration was no greater, than that found in seconds 

 and cracked eggs. 



Only three samples were taken of eggs with the yolk entering the 

 white through small apertures in the vitelline membrane. The speci- 

 mens consisted of individual eggs and were practically sterile. 



During the latter part of July two samples were taken, consisting, 

 in one case, of 30 dozen eggs, and in the other of 11 dozen, which, 

 before the candle, appeared to have broken yolks but were other- 

 wise normal. On opening the eggs it was found that the grading 

 by the candle was not accurate, because among them was a large 

 number of eggs which were approaching the stage of white rots. The 

 large sample was opened without much care in grading; the smaller 

 one was broken, and every Qgg which appeared to have passed the 

 fir.st stage of physical degeneration was eliminated. The difference 

 between the laboratory results of the two samples was striking. The 

 poorly graded sample contained 8,300,000 bacteria per gram, 1,000,000 

 B. coli per gram, and 0.0028 per cent of ammoniacal nitrogen on 

 the wet basis; the well graded one, 5,500 organisms per gram, '10 

 B. coli., and 0.0021 per cent of loosely boimd nitrogen. This experi- 

 ment is a good example of the effect of careful and intelligent grad- 

 ing on a product prepared from doubtful eggs. 



These preliminaiy studies indicate that eggs with yolks showing 

 the first signs of deterioration are suitable for food purposes, if 



