64 BULLETIN 51, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



All the samples examined show a high count of bacteria. One 

 sami^le (4269) has more than a billion organisms per gram and all 

 the samples but three have more than 100,000,000. On the score of 

 numbers of bacteria these eggs rank with black rots. The table 

 gives first a series of eggs in which the odor is but faint and which 

 might easily be j)assed by the careless or too rapid grader. Part II 

 gives another series in which the odor was distinct and Part III 

 gives three samples in which the odor was pronounced. It will be 

 noted that these last three samples are individual eggs, and that a 

 physical deterioration in two of the three has proceeded so far that 

 the vitelline membrane has ruptured. 



The bacterial content of the eggs with a faintly sour odor and those 

 with a distinctly sour odor is about the same, with the exception of 

 Sample 4256, in which the bacterial count agrees with the eggs in 

 Part III in having a decidedly sour odor. 



The great number of organisms invariably present is, however, 

 the noteworthy feature. Aside from the numbers of organisms, the 

 Bacillus colon was found in every sample examined, a condition 

 which, up to this time, has not been observed for any other single 

 type of deteriorated egg. !Not only are B. coli present, but the num- 

 ber, as determined by lactose bile fermentation, is usually at least 

 a million, and may be 10 million. In some 'of the samples listed as 

 showing a million, more may have been present, because the dilutions 

 were not made beyond this point. Had they been it is quite probable 

 that the coli organisms would have been found to be more numerous 

 than the analyses indicated. One sample (41016) was separated into 

 whites and yolks. The count in the whites is double that in the yolks, 

 which may indicate an infection from the exterior, though more 

 work must be done with the two portions of the egg before accepting 

 this suggestion as a fact. 



A^^iere organisms liquefjdng gelatin were sought they were found 

 and in comparatively large numbers. Hence, there is in these eggs 

 a condition very much like that noted in the eggs with a green white, 

 namely, a mixed infection aggregating large numbers of individual 

 organisms and characterized by the presence of one distinguishing 

 species. 



The amount of loosely bound nitrogen is higher than that com- 

 monly observed in seconds, which, on the average, is 0.0067 per cent 

 on the water-free basis. The range, omitting Sample 4256, which is 

 exceptionally high, is from 0.0102 to 0.0194 per cent, with an average 

 of 0.0134 per cent, all these values being on the water-free basis. 

 The water content of the samples varies from 69.52 to 75.48 per cent, 

 indicating a decided variation in the age of the eggs as measured by 

 shrinkage. 



