EGGS OF VARIOUS KINDS AS FOOD. 185 



commerce. The eggs of' the goose, duck and turkey, 

 when not employed for setting, are usually locally con- 

 sumed. Turkeys' eggs are very good in pastry, and when 

 mixed with hens' eggs they improve omelets. There is 

 no egg of a bird which is not useful for food, or which 

 could not be eaten by an hungry man. 



Eggs are an article of cheap and nutritious food 

 which we do not find on our tables in the quantity 

 economy demands. Persons probably do not fully com- 

 prehend how valuable eggs are as food ; like milk, an 

 egg is a complete food in itself, containing everything 

 necessary for the development of a perfect animal, as is 

 manifest from the fact that a chick is formed from it. 

 It seems a mystery how muscles, bones, feathers, and 

 every thing that a chicken requires for its perfect 

 development are made from the yolk and white of an 

 egg ; but such is the fact, and it shows how complete a 

 food an egg is. It is also easily digested, if not damaged 

 in cooking. A raw or soft boiled egg is always as easily 

 assimilated as is milk, and can be eaten with impunity 

 by children and invalids. The average egg weighing 

 a thousand grains is worth more as food than so 

 much beefsteak. Indeed, there is no more concentrated 

 and nourishing food than eggs. The albumen, oil, and 

 saline matter are, as in milk, in the right proportion for 

 sustaining animal life. Two or three boiled eggs, with 

 the addition of a slice or two of toast, will make a 

 breakfast sufficient for a man, and good enough for a 

 king. 



The weight of an ordinary fowl's egg is one and 

 a-half to two ounces, whilst that of the duck is two 

 to three ounces; of the sea-gull and turkey, three to 

 four ounces; and of the goose, four to six ounces. 

 One reason why the eggs of wild birds are so highly 

 esteemed is owing to the flavour acquired by the food 

 consumed. Another is that the proportion of yellow 

 in the eggs of wild birds is considerably larger than in 

 those of domesticated ones, and this adds to the ratio 

 of nutritive elements. The ' solid matter and the oil 



