COMMERCIAL EGGS IN" THE CENTRAL WEST. 73 



["ABLE 30. — Variation in amount of ammoniacal nitrogen in 11 types of eggs. 



Kind of eggs. 



Number 



of 

 samples. 



Per cent of ammoniacal nitro- 

 gen, Folin method. 



"Wet basis. 



Dry basis. 



Fresh eggs 



July and August firsts 



Grocery eggs 



Stale eggs . •. 



Seconds 



Cracked eggs 



Cracked eggs with moldy shells 



Dirty eggs 



Eggs with yolk partially mixed with white 



Small blood rings : . . . 



Large blood rings 



Eggs with yolk slightly adherent to shell . . 

 Eggs with yolk heavily adherent to shell. . 



White rots 



Eggs with green whites 



Sour eggs 



Black rots 



Total 



0.0011-0.0015 

 .0019- .0022 

 . 0010- . 0022 

 .0016- .0018 

 .0015- .0026 

 .0014- .0024 

 .0013- .0025 

 . 0013- . 0024 

 . 0017- . 0023 

 .0018- .0024 

 .0014- .0022 

 .0022- .0024 

 .0031- .0049 

 .0019- .0061 

 .0016- .0071 

 .0029- .0098 

 .0229 



0. 0040-0. 0054 

 .0065- .0074 



.0061- .0069 

 .0048- .0095 

 .0046- .0083 

 .0043- .0088 

 .0061- .0084 

 .0062- .0078 

 .0063- .0077 

 .0052- .0077 

 .0077- .0088 

 .0108- .0179 

 .0072- .0211 

 .0056- .0264 

 .0102- .0323 

 .0800 



A COMPARISON OF BACTERIAL CONTENTS OF INDIVIDUAL EGGS 

 OPENED ASEPTICALLY WITH THOSE OF EGGS OPENED COMMER- 

 CIALLY. 



A comparison of the results of individual eggs opened aseptically 

 with the results of composite samples of eggs opened under clean 

 commercial conditions shows some apparent discrepancies. For in- 

 stance, only 4, or 7.1 per cent, of the 56 individual cracked eggs 

 opened aseptically contained over 1,000 organisms per gram, whereas 

 14, or 87.5 per cent, of the 16 composite samples, representing 2,924 

 " checks," opened commercially contained more than this number per 

 gram. 



It will be observed that the numbers of the latter are far in excess 

 of the former; it will be remembered, also, that eggs vary greatly 

 among themselves. It is possible, therefore, that the differences 

 between the bacterial findings of individual eggs and composite 

 samples are due, in large part, to the relative difficulty in detecting 

 early stages of infected eggs. 



It was possible, for instance, to detect by the senses^ but two of 

 the four individual cracked eggs which were infected. It has been 

 shown in Tables 26 and 27 that incipient sour eggs, which are de- 

 tected only by the sense of smell, and eggs with albumen just begin- 

 ning to turn green, which are recognized only by the sense of sight, 



1 To determine definitely to what extent It is possible to detect infected eggs by means 

 of the senses, and to what extent the bacterial content of a product consisting of large 

 numbers of eggs of unknown history can be minimized by grading, it is necessary to make 

 detailed descriptions of the characteristics of many individual eggs, to open each aseptic- 

 ally and to determine their bacterial content singly and in combination. To find, also, the 

 amount of bacterial contamination acquired during the preparation, studies must be made 

 of the routine methods in use in egg-packing houses to determine the part which each step 

 in the process of preparation plays in the final condition of the product. This subject 

 will be presented as the seCond report of this series. 



