EGGS IN CHEMISTRY AND COMMERCE. 101 



end always uppermost, unless they have been shaken consider- 

 ably, when they will stand either end up. 



How to keep eggs is a problem that has attracted the atten- 

 tion of inquirers from the earliest times. Twenty or more pro- 

 cesses are generally known, all of which give unsatisfactory and 

 incomplete results — a circumstance scarcely to be wondered at 

 when the composition of an egg and the various changes to 

 which it is subjected by exposure to atmospheric influence are 

 taken into consideration. The egg-shell is furnished with numer- 

 ous pores, through which the water evaporates, the loss of aque- 

 ous contents thus sustained being scarcely perceptible in the first 

 week, more marked in the second, and of considerable interest in 

 the third. The surrounding atmospheric air takes the place of 

 the water that has evaporated, and oxygenates the contents of the 

 shell, which then commence to ferment and are speedily spoiled. 

 To hinder this evaporation, and so aid the preservation of eggs, 

 they are often steeped for twelve hours in lime-water, by which 

 means molecules of lime are deposited on the shell, and so ob- 

 struct the pores to some extent. 



To the solution of the problem of how to prevent the air from 

 penetrating the shell of the egg, the experiments of such eminent 

 savants as Musschenbroek, Reaumur, and Nollet have greatly 

 contributed. They all agree that the most practicable method is 

 to envelop the new-laid egg in a light coating of some imperme- 

 able substance, such as wax, tallow, oil, or a mixture of wax and 

 olive-oil, or of olive-oil and tallow. Reaumur suggested an alco- 

 holic solution of resin, or a thick solution of gelatin. Nollet 

 experimented successfully with India-rubber, collodion, and vari- 

 ous kinds of varnish. At the Dairy Products Show at the Agri- 

 cultural Hall in 1884, three prizes were awarded for eggs pre- 

 served in the following manner : 



1. Eggs which had been dipped twice in a solution of gum 

 arabic and then dried, enveloped in paper, and kept in bran. 



2. Eggs which had been rubbed with lard and then kept in 

 dry salt. 



3. Eggs coated with a composition of mutton and beef suet, 

 and then wiped with a dry cloth. 



With a view to utilizing in a more portable and consequently 

 cheaper form the large supply of eggs obtainable in Austria, 

 Messrs. Effner & Co. started a factory at Passau, in Bavaria, for 

 condensing them. The eggs are carefully selected and dried, 

 then reduced to a fine meal, and packed in tins ready for use. 

 Although it is scarcely probable that the condensed egg can ever 

 replace new-laid eggs for breakfast, it is asserted that a good 

 omelet, as also the finest pastry, may be prepared from the 

 product. 



