COMMERCIAL EGGS IN THE CENTRAL WEST. 9 



A detailed study of the organisms isolated is now in progress in 

 this laboratory. A special report will be issued dealing with this 

 phase of the work. 



EXAMINATION OF EGGS OPENED ASEPTICALLY IN THE LABORATORY. 



Because of the great diversity of conditions to which an egg in 

 the shell may be subjected, the corresponding variety in the results 

 which may follow, and because each individual egg must be considered 

 as an individual by the candler and the egg breaker, even though its 

 individuality is finally lost in the mixing, drying, or freezing of the 

 commercial product, the study to be reported here had to deal first 

 with single eggs of the various types found in commerce and which 

 may or may not be used by the breaker in his output intended for 

 food. 



Tables 4 to 13 give the bacterial content of 300 individual eggs 

 and 26 small samples, aggregating 981 eggs, classified in accordance 

 jvith their most important or striking characteristic or the one prob- 

 ably responsible for the condition of the egg when it was examined. 

 For example, an egg might show a heavy, settled yolk in a sound, 

 clean shell, in which case it would be found in Table 5, under the 

 heading of " Individual eggs with settled yolks." But if that egg, 

 in addition to the settled yolk, had a dirty or cracked shell, it would 

 be classed in Table 7 or Table 8, devoted to dirty-shell eggs and 

 cracked-shell eggs, respectively. 



The eggs were examined by means of a candle and their appear- 

 ance described before the contents of the shell were studied bacte- 

 riologically. The classification of the eggs was made on these ob- 

 served characteristics, and on others noticed when the shell was 

 broken, rather than on the bacterial condition revealed by the labora- 

 tory work. The history of these eggs was known only in a very few 

 instances. None of them were " market firsts," or high-class eggs, 

 when they were received. 



The stud}^ of the individual egg is logically followed by a study 

 of a number of eggs which are similar when graded by means of 

 the candle and by the characteristics observed on opening. Such 

 samples of like eggs, aseptically opened, follow the report of the 

 individual eggs in a number of the tables. The technique used is 

 described on page 74. The samples were analyzed for the amount of 

 loosely bound nitrogen they contained, as well as for the number 

 of organisms. 



STALE EGGS. 



A very large proportion oi the eggs going to the breakers are 

 simply stale; that is, the shell shows an enlarged air space, the yolk 

 has gained in opacity and definiteness of outline, and it is com- 



