July 15,1925 Effect of Dehydration upon Bacterial Flora of Eggs 
163 
The results reported in Tables III, IV, and V show that the number 
of viable organisms generally decreases as a result of storage. The 
extent of tins decrease was studied in relation to the quality of the 
egg, the length of time in storage, and the temperature of storage. 
Good egg shows a much smaller decrease than poor material. Egg 
stored at a high temperature, or for a long time, loses a larger per¬ 
centage of viable organisms than egg stored at a lower temperature 
or for a shorter time. 
There was no visible deterioration in the product, but a distinct 
odor suggesting rancidity developed in all samples. This odor was 
most pronounced in the product made from low-grade eggs and held 
at the highest temperature. 
The total colony count of the product made from good eggs re¬ 
mained practically stationary over a period of 10 months. The 
reason for this result is evident when the type of surviving organism 
is considered. The greater number of organisms which survived the 
heating process were spore formers. Furthermore, the spores did 
not germinate during the storage period, probably because the water 
content was too low, but they did not die during that period. Con¬ 
sequently, the count was an enumeration of the viable spores at each 
examination. In the samples of breaking stock having a high total 
count, however, many more of the nonsporulating organisms sur¬ 
vived the heating process. These samples, therefore, showed a re¬ 
duction in the total bacterial count, as these forms died during 
storage. 
The effect of storage on the specific counts was marked. Samples 
which showed organisms of the colon group at the time of drying did 
not show them at the end of three months. All these results on the 
colon group were based on 1 c. c. of the 1:10 dilution. The same 
results were obtained with the acid formers. These also were absent 
in 1 c. c. of the 1:10 dilutions at the end of three months. At the 
end of 10 months, counts of the acid formers were made on plates 
held at 37° C. instead of 20°. Evidently the change in the tem¬ 
perature of incubation was all that was necessary for a different 
group of lactose fermenters to develop. These figures, therefore, 
lose any comparative significance with the preceding determination. 
CONCLUSIONS 
The count of viable bacteria in freshly prepared dehydrated egg 
vanes, in general, with the quality of the raw product and the 
method of dehydration. The counts in the product prepared from 
whole eggs by the spray process varied from 350 in the good egg to 
1,160,000 in the spots. In the product prepared by the vacuum- 
drum process from whole egg the counts varied from 45,000 in the 
good egg to 2,400,000 in the rots. In general, the yolk showed a 
higher number than the whites from the same whole egg. 
The plate count of spray-process dehydrated egg held in storage 
depends on the initial count, the length of time in storage, and the 
temperature of storage. An initial count of 350 in good egg decreased 
to 300 in 10 months when held at 37° C. and at 20°, while a count of 
235,000 in rotten eggs decreased to 1,350 when held at 37°. In one 
sample of the rotten eggs held at 20° the count increased from 
