Eggnog

“ One pint of coarse salt, and one pint of unslacked lime, to a pailful of water. If there be too much lime, it will eat the shells from the eggs; and if there be a single egg cracked, it will spoil the whole. They should be covered with lime-water, and kept in a cold place. The yolk becomes slightly red; but I have seen eggs, thus kept, perfectly sweet and fresh at the end of three years. The cheapest time to lay down eggs, is early in spring, and the middle and last of September. It is bad economy to buy eggs by the dozen, as you want them. ”

“ Eggs, when not fresh, are more or less liable to disease. I might even say more. When not fresh, they are diseased. On this point we have the testimony of Drs. Willich and Dunglison. The truth is, that the yolk of the egg has a strong tendency to decomposition, and this decomposing or putrefying process begins long before it is perceived, or even suspected, by most people. There is much reason for believing that a large proportion of the eggs eaten in civic life,—except when we keep the poultry ourselves,—are, when used, more or less in a state of decomposition. ”

“ Some of them on the face of the rock, or in a shallow fissure, and which have been occupied for years, are piled up to the height of from three to five feet, but in this case they always lean against the rock. The egg, which is solitary, and presents nothing remarkable in its position, is of an elongated oval form, bluish-white, dull, with a chalky surface, usually patched with yellowish-brown dirt. It is subjected to what might appear rough usage, for the bird in alighting, flying off, or when disturbed by the intrusion of human visitors, tosses it about, and often stands upon it. ”

“ On warm days, the female may be seen depositing eggs on the body of the animal, especially in the region of the heels. This seems to greatly annoy the animal, and it is not uncommon for cattle to become stampeded. The egg reaches the mouth through the animal licking the part. The saliva dissolves the shell of the egg and the larva is freed. It then migrates from the gullet, wanders about in the tissue until finally it may reach a point beneath the skin of the back. Here the larva matures and forms the well-known swelling or warble. In the spring of the year it works out through the skin. ”

“ All day long folks is dropping in to sample the available refreshments and most of 'em likes the sample so well they camps right there till far into the night. I mingles up a big glass reservoir full of egg-nog, which it seems to give 'special satisfaction to one and all. The way these here guests of ours bails it up you'd think they was in a sinking skiff half a mile from shore. As he ladles out the first batch Mr. Dallas states that this here egg-nog is made according to a recipe which has been handed down in his family since right after the Revolutionizing War. ”

“ It is difficult to fix the exact term during which the vitality of an egg remains unextinguished; as it, unquestionably, varies from the very first, according to the vigor of the parents of the inclosed germ, and fades away gradually till the final moment of non-existence. The chickens in stale eggs have not sufficient strength to extricate themselves from the shell; if assisted, the yolk is found to be partially absorbed into the abdomen, or not at all; they are too faint to stand; the muscles of the neck are unable to lift their heads, much less to peck ”

“ The King shuddered as he said "eggs," and Kaliko also shuddered, and so did the Long-Eared Hearer; for eggs are the only things that the nomes greatly dread. The reason for this is that eggs belong on the earth's surface, where birds and fowl of all sorts live, and there is something about a hen's egg, especially, that fills a nome with horror. If by chance the inside of an egg touches one of these underground people, he withers up and blows away and that is the end of him—unless he manages quickly to speak a magical word which only a few of the nomes know. ”

“ In some forms, such as the white ants, the process of egg-formation (oogenesis) attains a rapidity that is almost incredible, and is continued, it is said, for periods of many months. There is no point in which Insects differ more than in that of the number of eggs produced by one {139}female. The egg-tubes are connected with a duct for the conveyance of the eggs to the exterior, and the arrangements of the tubes with regard to the oviduct also vary much. ”

“ Particles of sharp rock from the nest cavity may adhere to the shell, and result in rupturing, perhaps at weak spots where prolonged contact with the soil has caused deterioration. The female tends to keep her eggs in a compact cluster, shifting their position frequently so that no part of an eggshell adheres to its surroundings long enough for rotting to occur, and most of the surface of each egg is exposed to the air.
Another important function of the brooding female seems to be that of altering the nest burrow and shifting the eggs so that the effects of unfavorable weather are minimized. ”

“ Eggs of other individuals of the species, and even the eggs of Eumeces laticeps were accepted as part of the brood. Any of the experimental females would quickly retrieve one of her eggs moved a short distance outside the nest cavity. Even if the whole clutch of eggs were scattered about, the female would, over a period of hours, gather the eggs and return them to the nest cavity. This movement of the eggs is accomplished by rolling or pushing them in a loop of the body or tail, or, less frequently, by grasping an egg in the jaws, lifting it, and gently placing it in a new position. ”

“ The eggshell will now be beyond the reach of corruption; the membrane for ever retains its pristine whiteness, and no insect, for the time to come, will ever venture to prey upon it. If you wish your egg to appear extremely brilliant, give it a coat of mastic varnish, put on very sparingly with a camel-hair pencil: green or blue eggs must be done with gum arabic, as the mastic varnish is apt to injure the colour.
2342. Fishes
Large fishes should be opened in the belly, the entrails taken out, and the inside well rubbed with pepper, and stuffed with oakum. ”

“ The egg is pure white when first deposited, but soon becomes soiled by the earth, as no nest is formed for its reception. It generally measures two and a half inches by one and three-fourths, but varies in size according to the age of the bird, as well as in shape, some being considerably more rounded at the smaller end than others. When boiled, the white is of a livid-blue colour. The captain and myself were the only persons of our party who tried to eat some. The eggs are certainly very bad, and are never collected by “The Eggers.” ”

“ The male grasps his mate below the waist; the eggs are combined into one thick string, which is about 18 inches long, and is wound round and between the leaves and stalks of water-plants. The eggs measure 2-2.5 mm., and are very numerous, a large string containing several thousands. The larvae are hatched on the fifth or sixth day in a very unripe condition. They are only 4 mm. long, quite black, and still devoid of gills and tail. They attach themselves to the empty gelatinous egg-membranes, which they possibly live upon. On the following day the tail begins to grow ”

“ The adults rarely pay any attention to the eggs, which are hatched directly by the heat of the sun or by heat absorbed from the water. The length of incubation varies much. When the young fish leaves the egg-shell it carries, in the case of most species, a part of the yolk still hanging to its body. Its eyes are very large, and its fins are represented by thin strips of membrane. It usually undergoes no great changes in development from the first, resembling the adult except in size. ”

“ Within a few hours after, the female, thus impregnated, begins to lay her eggs in the following manner. She singles out a leaf, grass, or some such matter, that is floating just below the surface of the water, in some pond, and, hovering in the air about a foot above this spot, on a sudden she descends, and dips the extremity of her tail in the water, at which instant she discharges an egg, that at the moment of its emission is inveloped in a glutinous liquid, sufficiently tenacious to enable it to adhere firmly on the floating substance above-mentioned without sinking. ”

“ Almost every hen-wife has her own special way of preserving her surplus eggs. For my own part I have tried several, but always found that the most simple was the best. Here are one or two sent me from an egg and poultry district:—Make a pickle of 1 bushel of stone lime, 4 lbs. of coarse salt, and about 60 gals, of water. Slake the lime first with a little of the water, and when all is mixed leave it till the lime has settled and the solution is clear. Draw off the water very carefully into a cask, or whatever you mean to put the eggs in. ”

“ To sum up the available information on clutch size, the number of eggs is most typically 9, 10, or 11 and is more in large old females, than in small, newly matured females. In natural nests, even in those that are successful, there is often some loss of eggs, which are eaten by predators, or by the female herself, with the [62] result that the egg counts made by various observers average somewhat lower than the numbers actually produced. The loss during incubation cannot be measured readily since it is almost certainly sharply increased by the disturbance entailed in observing nests. ”

“ Many seem equally efficacious if the covering is complete, with one exception—fat, which becomes rancid, and imparts its own flavour through the pores of the shell. Gum, the white of an egg, collodion, or gelatine have all been used with success, but paraffin wax has often failed. Anything that the eggs are packed in gives its own flavour to their contents; therefore bran, chaff, and straw are to be avoided as being likely to become musty. It is far better to set the eggs on end, the larger ends upwards, in a wire or wooden rack, and to allow free passage of air between. ”

“ In Moina, for instance, forty large food-cells are necessary for the formation of a resting egg, while a summer-egg only requires three. And Düsing is aware of these facts, and quotes them. How can the formation of resting eggs depend upon the effects of poor nutrition when food is most abundant at the very time of their formation? In all those species which inhabit lakes, sexual reproduction occurs towards the autumn, and in such cases the resting eggs are true winter-eggs, destined to preserve the species during the winter. ”

“ A week after this a friend found another Thrush's egg on the ground in a field, and I myself found a new-laid Sparrow's egg in the middle of a tennis-court. It seems to me that the most probable reason for eggs being laid on the ground is either that the bird has been disturbed while in the act of laying, and has been obliged to lay the egg before it was able to get back to the nest, or that the bird has deserted its nest when it has only laid, say, two eggs, and has been obliged to lay the remaining three (in the case of its laying five) somewhere outside the nest. ”

“ They are also given as little offerings of goodwill by one person to another. I believe their use chiefly prevails throughout countries in communion with the Eastern church. The egg is an obvious symbol of the resurrection of life in apparent death. Throughout Yorkshire it is customary to hide the coloured eggs in little nests out of doors, and set the children to hunt after them, and see what eggs the “hares” have been laying. Another Eastern custom, and one, perhaps, better honoured in the breach than the observance, still lingers in Durham. ”

“ The slight puncture is scarcely felt by the grub, which continues to eat and grow; the inserted egg, however, presently hatches, and produces the ichneumon-grub, which begins to feed on the fat of the wasp-grub, instinctively avoiding the vital parts, until the latter has attained nearly its full size, and is ready to pass into the pupa state; when, its vigour being gone, it fails to accomplish the metamorphosis, the insidious intruder, now also full grown, taking its place, and by and by issuing from the hole a perfect Ichneumon. ”

“ The eggs of this species, which appear disproportionately large, measure two inches and three eighths in length, by an inch and five-eighths in breadth. Their form is regular; they are rather rough to the touch, although not granulated; their ground colour an earthy white, thickly 151 blotched with very dark purplish-black, the markings larger and closer towards the great end, which, however, is generally left free of them. The shell is much thinner than that of the egg of the Foolish Guillemot or Razor-billed Auk. As an article of food they are excellent, being delicate and nutritious. ”

“ Eggs, indeed! Eggs—on credit! No, as long as we can get what’s barely needful. Why....”
But Egholm, with great ends in view, wasted little time in talk. He went out himself, and returned [227] five minutes later with a bag of eggs and a lump of sausage, which he set down triumphantly on the kitchen table. Thus supper was provided of a kind to exceed Karlsen’s expectations, and set him in good humour.
Both laughed, Karlsen, however, the louder, when the host’s egg was found to be bad. As for the clove tea, Karlsen, like Hedvig, did not find it to his taste. ”

“ In opening cells whose lid is still moist, we end by discovering one in which the egg, recently laid, supports a young Sitaris. This egg is intact and in irreproachable condition. But now the work of devastation begins: the larva, a tiny black speck which we see running over the white surface of the egg, at last stops and balances itself firmly on its six legs; then, seizing the delicate skin of the egg with the sharp hooks of its mandibles, it tugs at it violently until it breaks, spilling its contents, which the larva eagerly drinks up. ”