84 • MSH CULTUEB. 



mere ring of small oily globules, while the whole 

 of the good one will be filled with a network of 

 globules.^ After a further period has elapsed, on 

 looking closer a small, thin, semi-opaque white line 

 of some quarter of an inch, or less, in length will 

 be visible on one side of the egg. This is the tail 

 of the fish, and is the earliest visiblfe formation of 

 the spinal column; on the opposite side of the 

 egg will be seen the head. This is shaped some- 

 what like the bowl of a tea-spoon or the head of a 

 snake. In time this line densities and grows distinct, 

 and about the fifth or sixth week (in water of 

 moderate temperature), two black specks will be' 

 observable. These are the eyes of the embryo, which 

 may now be discerned moving and often turning 

 round in the egg. The articulation of the veins 

 may be plainly traced. The pulsation of the heart 

 and the rapid flow of the circulation can all be' 

 distinctly seen through the outer shell, forming a 

 very wonderful and most interesting spectacle. 



I When an egg is visibly bad, it turns an opaque white. Dr. Davy 

 states tliat this is owing to the absorption of water. That he is right 

 we have only te break the shell of an egg in the water to prove. 

 The contents, previously a clear and glutinous fluid, at once become 

 turgid and solid ; though why these clear eggs resist the absorption 

 of water so long, while others absorb it instantaneously, has not yet 

 been discovered. 



