WHAT A DOMESTIC EGG CONTAINS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 11 October 1913, Page 9

WHAT A DOMESTIC EGG CONTAINS.

Every element that is necessary to support the life of a. human being may be found within the limits of an egg. The nature of the food taken by the lien creates the flavor, the color of the shell having no bearing whatever in the matter. The relative weight of an egg is:—Shell and lining material, 106.9; albumen, 604.2; yolk, 288.9. One-half the egg is nutriment; the nutriment of meat is rated at best as only one-fourth, consequently lib of eggs, in nutriment value, is equal to two pounds of meat. The average weight of a dozen eggs ranges from loqz to 24-oz, but. single specimens sometimes weigh 4oz each. According to a Targe number of analyses made of domestic eggs, an egg weighing 2oz has the following percentage of composition: —Shell, 10.5; water, 6.8; fat, 9.3; and of ash, 0.9. . A .side of beef contains on an average about the same percentage of protein, but a larger percentage of fat. Eggs belong to the nitrogenous group of foods, and would naturally and properly be combined in the diet with material supplying carbohydrates (sugar and starch), such as cereals, potatoes, etc. There is 4 per cent less of protein and 6 percent less of fat in eggs than in sirloin steak; half as much protein and one-third as much fat as in cream cheese; twice as much protein and ten times as much fat as in oysters. It has often been claimed that the white of an egg is pure albumen, but that it also contains phosphoric acid and sodium chloride, or common salt, has been proved. The fatty part of the egg, also phosphorus,, calcium, magnei sium. potassium and iron are contained in the yolk. There is also sulphur in the eggs, which, no doubt, accounts for the darlc stain left by eggs on silver. j Medical science says that raw eggs are (more quickly digested than cooked ones. I Soft-boiled, roasted and poached eggs are more quickly and easily digested than when fried or hard-boiled. The stomach will digest a raw egg in from one and a half to two hours. Soft-boil-ed and roasted require from two and a half to three hours, while hard-boiled or fried eggs must be allowed from three and a half to four hours for digestion.