6 



BULLETIN 51, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUKE. 



and 0.0015 per cent nitrogen, respectively. The analyses of summer 



eggs made in the western egg-producing district are comparatively 



few, but since their composition proved to be like that of the eggs 



studied in the general egg-handling investigation it was not deemed 



necessary to multiply them beyond the number needed to confirm 



existing data. 



The moisture content of the summer egg is of interest. It may be 



that there is a relation between the amount of water present in the 



egg and its resistance to decay. A study, in another connection, of 



perfectly fresli eggs from a well-cared-for flock during different 



seasons, when the fowls showed physiological variations, is given in 



Table 2. 



Table 2. — Water content of fresh eggs. 



Date. 



Number 



of 

 samples. 



Indi- ■ 

 vidua! 

 eggs. 



Moisture. 



White. 



Yolk. 



Feb. 18 to Mar. 16 



7 

 /8 whites. . . 

 \7 yolks.... 



4 



181 

 1 183 



54 



Per cent. 

 87.90 



88,19 



87.99 



Per cent. 

 47.44 



Aug. 5 to Sept. 17 . . 



47.96 



Oct. 5 to Nov. 2 



47.54 







It will be seen that in August and September, when the industry 

 considers the quality of the eggs lowest, the maximum quantity of 

 water is found in both white and yolk. In the early spring, when 

 eggs are undoubtedly of highest quality, the water content is lowest, 

 and in the cool days of autumn it occupies a medium position. The 

 statement of the increased water content of summer eggs is not made 

 authoritatively, but only as a promising line of investigation on this 

 subject. It can be emphatically stated, however, that analytical dif- 

 ferences in tenths of per cent may, in so specialized a tissue as an 

 egg, carry with them marked variations in physiologic functions and 

 chemical stability. 



The fat of an egg is almost exclusively in the yolk. According to 

 Pennington ^ the ether extract of the yolk varies from 33.33 to 31.44 

 per cent* the average for 236 eggs examined being 32.68 per cent. 



"MARKET FRESH" EGGS. 



The eggs from which the preceding information was obtained can 

 not be accepted as either a standard or an index of the eggs supplied 

 to the people for food, because modern conditions of living and 

 sources of food supplies make it impossible to furnish the market 

 with eggs of uniform quality and minimum age. It is necessary, 

 therefore, as already stated, to study the common market grades 

 of shell eggs accepted by the housewife and compare these with the 



^ Loc. cit. 



