POULTRY NOTES — 1909. I23 



days indicates that the whole reproductive mechanism was not 

 functioning in a normal, orderly and regular manner at that 

 time. The egg record at the time of laying of the triple yolked 

 egg indicates the reason of its formation. From the 24th to 

 the 27th inclusive the bird laid an egg each day. The egg of 

 the 27tli has three yolks. On the 28th and 29th no eggs were 

 laid, but one was on the 30th. There should appear to be Httle 

 doubt that one of the extra yolks in the triple yolked egg should 

 normally have been laid in an egg of the 28th, and the other in 

 an egg of the 29th. Instead of this, however, the three yolks 

 which normally should have been laid on the 27th, 28th and 

 29th were all discharged from the ovary at so nearly the same 

 time as to pass down the oviduct in one group. The case sim- 

 ply indicates that perfect regularity in rate of ovulation had 

 not become firmly established at this time. 



Bird No. 318 belongs to a family of relatively high fecundity. 

 Her mother laid 177 eggs between November 16 and July 31 

 inclusive of her pullet year. This is a record well above the 

 average for the general flock of that year 1908-09. The rec- 

 ords show no abnormal eggs as having been produced by either 

 the mother or the grandmother or sisters of bird No. 318 ex- 

 cept for an occasional "soft shelled" specimen. There is thus 

 no evidence of an inheritance of the tendency to lay multiple 

 yolked eggs in this family. Experience in this laboratory where 

 detailed records of large numbers of birds are kept shows that 

 any individual is liable to produce at some time in her laying 

 career an abnormal egg. If even mother and daughter should 

 both chance to do this in one or two isolated instances it is no 

 proof of inheritance. 



The rarity of the occurrence of triple yolked eggs is indi- 

 cated by the statement of a French scientist, Valenciennes, to 

 the effect that the marketmen of Paris estimated that such eggs 

 were found not more than 5 or 6 times in a year, at a time when 

 the annual official receipts of eggs amounted to over 141 mil- 

 lions. 



The disposition of the three yolks in this egg is clearly shown 

 in Fig. 82. Each yolk was enclosed in a separate yolk mem- 

 brane. While the three yolks were in contact with each other, 

 the}' were in no way fastened together. All of the yolks were 

 of normal size, and of approximately the same size. Unfor- 

 tunately no measurement of the yolks are available. Each yolk 



