60 BULLETIX 51, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
The samples given in Part 1 of Table 26 were opened aseptically. 
The organisms found are, therefore, referable strictly to the egg. 
The other samples were obtained in packing houses and were opened 
into sterile cups. It is possible that a few extraneous organisms 
may, therefore, be included in these bacterial counts, but the error 
is small. There is a close agreement between maximum and mini- 
mum counts in the samples obtained by the two methods. Wliile but 
31 individual commercial samples were examined, many of them rep- 
resent a large number of eggs and a few approximate 5 pounds each. 
Twenty-six of the 31 samples, or 83.9 per cent, show counts of over 
10.000,000 per gram. 
The predominating organism has been found to be Pseudoinonas 
syncyanea {MigidaY and the color of the egg white is due to the 
ability of this form to produce a diffuse, green fluorescence in the 
medium in which it grows. TTlien jDure cultures of this pseudo- 
monas were injected into a fresh egg the white assumed the char- 
acteristic color in a few days and later developed a fetid odor. 
The pseudomonas is not. however, in pure culture when occurring 
in eggs with a green white. B. colu as well as other organisms, are 
generally found with it. The numbers of B, colu as determined by 
lactose bile fermentation, varied from 10 to 1,000,000 per gram. 
The eggs which were physically in good condition and odorless, 
and some of which were separated into white and yolk, are listed 
in Table 26, Part III. Others, having an odor but not sufficient to 
preclude use according to old methods of grading, are given in 
Part lY. It will be observed that the white of the egg has a much 
greater number of organisms than the yolk, though the infection 
in the latter is also extensive. A further indication of a mixed in- 
fection is the fact that organisms which liquefy gelatin are com- 
monly present in numbers. The pseudomonas isolated does not 
liquefy gelatin. It does not grow to any extent at 37° C. ; yet the 
counts at this temperature are frequently decidedly higher than the 
sum of the number of liquefiers and the organisms developing in lac- 
tose bile with gas production. Apparently, therefore, these eggs with 
green-colored whites are recognized by the characteristic color pro- 
duced by one species, though they are the harbingers of a number 
of species as well as of great numbers of organisms. 
This argument is reenforced by the amount of loosely bound 
nitrogen found. Wlien the egg is not separable into white and yolk 
the amount of nitrogen is uniformly high — much higher than in 
eggs commonly used for food. "Wlien the degeneration of the egg 
is not sufficient to interfere with its physical integrity the amount 
of loosely bound nitrogen is not materially increased. It might 
1 This organism was identified by Evelyn Witmer, of the staff of the Food Research 
Laboratory. 
