16 BULLETIN 471, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
eggs. In the case of hard-boiled eggs the yolks are probably as digesti- 
ble as those of less thoroughly cooked eggs. However, the whites are 
so firm in texture that, unless they are finely chopped or thoroughly 
masticated, the digestive juices will not be able to permeate them 
quickly, and so portions may escape digestion or remain in the di- 
gestive tract for several days and decompose. This explains why 
hard-boiled eggs are often excluded from the diet of little children 
and invalids and suggests that even healthy adults should be careful 
to masticate them thoroughly. 
From all the evidence it seems fair to conclude that eggs are very 
thoroughly digested and that the length of time of cooking has less 
effect upon this factor than upon the time required for digestion in 
the stomach. In a healthy man the latter consideration is probably 
not a matter of much importance, as digestion will continue in the 
intestine. In the diet of invalids it may be more important. How- 
ever, diet in such cases is a matter for the attention of skilled physi- 
cians, and one should be guided by their advice. 
Apparently there is no reason for believing that ordinary breakfast 
beverages (tea, coffee, or cocoa) have any marked effect upon the 
thoroughness of digestion of eggs, notwithstanding the popular 
statement sometimes made to this effect. 
WHOLESOMENESS OF EGGS. 
Eggs are wholesome as well as useful and nutritious food. Over- 
indulgence may lead to digestive disturbance, as it may with any 
food, but, on the whole, eggs can be eaten by most people in usual 
quantities without such results. Occasionally, however, a person is 
found who is habitually made ill by eating eggs, just as there are 
those who can not eat strawberries or other foods without distress. 
Such cases are due to some personal idiosyncrasy, showing that in 
reality " one man's meat is another man's poison." The physiologi- 
cal explanation for them is probably that these persons have become 
abnormally sensitized to a specific protein body in the egg which will 
then act as a poison when digested and taken into the circulation. 
Under certain conditions eggs, like other foods, may be accidental 
carriers of disease by conveying to the body harmful bacteria or 
parasites. It is possible for an egg to become infected with micro- 
organisms, either before it is laid or more especially after it is 
laid, since the porous shell offers no great resistance to microorgan- 
isms, including those which cause it to spoil or rot. If an egg is eaten 
raw or only slightly cooked, microorganisms, if present, can be com- 
municated to man and may cause disease if they are of the sort to do 
so. If an egg remains in a dirty nest, for example, defiled with the 
microorganisms which cause typhoid fever, carried there on the hen's 
feet or feathers, it is not strange if some of these bacteria occasionally 
