HEALTHY EGGS 215 



power to destroy bacteria. But Poppe, after going 

 back to 1878, says that we have to thank Zimmer- 

 man for showing us that only fresh laid eggs derived 

 from virgin fowls are free from microbes, whereas 

 fertile eggs generally contain bacteria and therefore 

 spoil more frequently than fertile eggs. 



Another source of microbic invasion of the egg 

 and its contents is to be found in the external me- 

 dium. Poppe and Cao, as well as other investigators, 

 have demonstrated that microbes gain entrance to 

 the egg contents from dirty, moist surroundings. 

 Enough has been done in the way of investigation to 

 show that eggs while being kept for ordinary use 

 before hatching or marketing should be kept in a 

 clean, dry place. 



Clean eggs laid by clean hens, in clean nests, kept 

 clean and delivered clean to the consumer — surely, 

 that sounds well. It is not such an idealistic notion 

 as to be unattainable in ordinary practice. 



