COMMEECIAL EGGS IN" THE CENTRAL WEST. 7 



absolutely fresh eggs, as well as with the eggs put up for bakers' 

 use. Accordingly, ten open-market purchases were made of eggs as 

 they went to the consumer, and analytical data and candling records 

 obtained, using the same method as in the case of the fresh eggs. 

 The results are given in Table 3. 



Table 3. — Eggs from grocery store. 



Sample 

 No. 



Date of 

 collec- 

 tion. 



Cost per 

 dozen. 



Sold for— 



Ammoni- 



acal 



nitrogen 



(Folin 



method), 



wet 



basis. 



Size of 

 sample. 



Description of sample un- 

 der candle. 



589 

 590 



1911. 

 Aug. 25 . 



...do.... 

 ...do.... 

 ...do.... 



Sept. 5. . 



...do.... 

 ...do.... 

 ...do.... 



...do.... 



1912. 

 June 19 . 



$0.25 



.20 

 .20 

 .20 



.25 



.20 

 .20 

 .15 



.20 

 .175 



"Strictly fresh eggs" car- 

 ton packed. 

 "Good eggs" 



Per cent. 

 0.0011 



.0018 

 .0014 

 .0014 



.0010 



.0014 

 .0022 

 .0021 



.0013 

 .0010 



Eggs. 

 24 



24 

 24 

 24 



24 



24 

 24 

 12 



S 



Fresh. 

 Seconds. 



691 



do 



Mixed firsts and seconds. 



592 



do 



4 shrunken eggs, 5 very stale 

 eggs, 1 blood ring. 



636 



637 



"Strictly fresh eggs" car- 

 ton paclced. 

 "Good eggs" 



638 



..do 



22 stale eggs. 



9 stale eggs, 1 hatch-spot egg, 



1 blood ring. 

 5 slightly heated. 



Fresh. 



639 





640 



"Fresh eggs".. 





Dirty eggs 









Bacterially these eggs did not differ from the strictly fresh eggs. 

 According to the content of ammoniacal nitrogen they varied from 

 absolutely fresh to the usual stale, but not rotten, eggs. The price 

 usually, but not invariably, was in accord with the quality. The 

 carton-packed eggs were individually marked with the sign, of the 

 producer, who had a reputation for quality to maintain. 



RELATION BETWEEN BACTERIAL MULTIPLICATION AND CHEMICAL 



CHANGES. 



Experiments have shown that evidences of bacterial decomposition 

 can not be recognized by the sense of sight and smell until the organ- 

 isms have increased enormously in the food substance. 



There is an interesting problem involved in the study of the rela- 

 tion between bacterial multiplication and chemical evidences of the 

 metabolic and catabolic changes that must accompany life processes. 

 Bacteria to the number of millions per gram have been considered 

 evidences of an altered chemical composition. Yet more recent obser- 

 vations would indicate that, for certain substances at least, the number 

 of organisms must approach the lOQ million per gram mark before 

 the analytical methods for the detection of substances indicative of 

 bacterial life can be applied satisfactorily. Such, for example, has 

 been the finding of Hastings, Evans, and Hart,^ who have studied 



^ Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station Research Bui. 25. 



