16 BULLETIN 846, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In yolk.—For total solids, 43.87 per cent; for ether extract, 22.74 
per cent; for ammonia nitrogen, 6.4 milligrams per 100 grams; for 
acidity of fat, 1.78 ec. N/20 sodium ethylate required per gram; for 
reducing sugar, 0.29 per cent. No bacteria were found in the one 
sample examined. 
In white-—¥or total solids, 15.54 per cent; for ether extract, 0. 03 
per cent; for ammonia nitrogen, 0.4 millions per 100 grams; for 
reducing sugar, 0.55 per cent. No bacteria were found in the one 
sample examined. | 
7. A comparison of the chemical results obtained from fresh eggs 
(Tables 1, 3, and 4) with those obtained from eggs which had been 
held in cold storage (Tables 5, 6, and 7), in which there was a progres- 
sive deterioration as the length of time in storage increased, justifies 
the statement that cold storage does not preserve eggs in the condition 
'n which they were when placed in storage, but merely retards decom- 
position and deterioration and keeps them in a marketable condition 
for several months. 
8. In sample 541%, ammonia nitrogen of 7 milligrams per 100 
grams in the case of the yolk (Table 3) and of 1.6 milligrams per 100 
grams in the case of white (Table 4), together with acidity of the fat 
in the case of yolk of 2.63 cc. of N/20 sodium ethylate required per 
gram, when compared with the results already cited for fresh eggs 
(Tables 3 and 4), are of interest as showing how very perishable the 
eog is and what great changes in composition take place, even while 
the eggs are still in the shell, when held for as short a period as 10 days 
without refrigeration. 
9. In the case of the whole egg samples (Table 2) prepared com- 
mercially during the month of May from firsts, seconds, cracks, and 
dirties, which, it should be remembered, had been transported over 
long distances, the average total solids determination of 27.59 per 
cent and the average ether extract determination of 10.28 are higher 
than the corresponding average figures of 26.54 and 10 in the case of 
the strictly fresh egg samples (Table 1), indicating either a shrinkage 
due to evaporation or the mechanical loss of some of the more watery 
white. The average ammonia content figure of 2 milligrams per 100 
grams and the average acidity of fat figure of 1.80 cc. N/20 sodium 
ethylate required per gram are higher than the corresponding average 
fioures of 1.5 and 1.49 in the case e fresh eges, as would be expected, 
and indicate clearly incipient decomposition. The average figure 
of 1,500,000 bacteria per gram in these commercial samples, as com- 
pared with the lack of bacteria in the fresh whole egg samples pre- 
pared aseptically, results from the fact that the eggs composing these 
samples were taken from commercial breaking stock and were opened 
under commercial conditions. 
