COMMERCIAL EGGS IN THE CENTRAL WEST. 73 
Table 30. — Variation in amount of ammoniacal nitrogen in 11 types of eggs. 
Kind of I 
Number 
of 
samples. 
Per cent of ammoniacal nitro- 
gen, Folin method. 
Wet basis 
Drv basis. 
Fresh eggs 
July and August firsts 
Grocer J" eggs 
Stale eggs 
Seconds 
Cracked eggs 
Cracked eggs with moldj^ shells 
Dirty eggs 
Eggs with yolk partially mixed with while 
Small blood rings 
Large blood rings 
Eggs with yolk slightly adherent to shell. . 
Eggs with yolk heavily adherent to shell. . 
White rots 
Eggs with green whites 
Sour eggs 
Black rots 
Total 
0.0011-0. 
.0019- . 
.0010- . 
.001&- . 
,0015- . 
.0014- . 
.0013- . 
.001.3- . 
.0017- . 
.0018- . 
.0014- . 
.0022- . 
.0031- . 
.0019- . 
.0016- . 
.0029- . 
0015 
0022 
0022 
0018 
0026 
0024 
0025 
0024 
0023 
0024 
0022 
0024 
0049 
0061 
0071 
0098 
0229 
0.0040-0.0054 
.0065- .0074 
.0061- .0069 
.0048- .0095 
.0046- .0033 
.0043- .0088 
. 0061- . 0084 
.0062- .0078 
.0063- .0077 
.0052- .0077 
. 0077- . 0088 
.0108- .0179 
.0072- .0211 
.0056- .0264 
.0102- .0323 
.0800 
A COMPARISON OF BACTERIAL CONTENTS OF INDIVIDUAL EGGS 
OPENED ASEPTICALLY WITH THOSE OF EGGS OPENED COMMER- 
CIALLY. 
A comparison of the results of individual eggs opened aseptically 
with the results of composite samples of eggs opened under clean 
commercial conditions shows some apparent discrepancies. For in- 
stance, only 4, or 7.1 per cent, of the 56 individual cracked eggs 
opened aseptically contained over 1,000 organisms per gram, whereas 
14, or 87.5 per cent, of the 16 composite samples, representing 2,924 
" checks," opened commercially contained more than this number per 
gram. 
It will be observed that the numbers of the latter are far in excess 
of the former; it will be remembered, also, that eggs vary greatly 
among themselves. It is possible, therefore, that the differences 
between the bacterial findings of individual eggs and composite 
samples are due, in large" part, to the relative difficulty in detecting 
early stages of infected eggs. 
It was possible, for instance, to detect by the senses'^ but two of 
the four individual cracked eggs which were infected. It has been 
shown in Tables 26 and 27 that incipient sour eggs, which are de- 
tected only by the sense of smell, and eggs with albumen just begin- 
ning to turn green, which are recognized only by the sense of sight, 
1 To determine definitely to what extent it is possible to detect infected eggs by means 
of the senses, and to what extent the bacterial content of a product consisting of large 
numbers of eggs of unknown history can be minimized by grading, it is necessary to make 
detailed descriptions of the characteristics of many individual eggs, to open each aseptic- 
ally and to determine their bacterial content singly and in combination. To find, also, the 
amount of bacterial contamination acquired during the preparation, studies must be made 
of the routine methods in use in egg-packing houses to determine the part which each step 
in the process of preparation plays in the final condition of the product. This subject 
will be presented as the second report of this series. 
