The Nutrient Content of High and Low Quality Fresh Eggs.

THE apparent difference in quality of the albumen of freshly laid eggs is yet not adequately explained. Cole (1938) reported that this difference in quality is related to the size of the goblet cells of the magnum of the oviduct. Conrad and Scott (1942), however, were unable to confirm this finding; they pointed out that their observations were statistically non-significant although based on a larger number of birds (24 and 26, whereas Cole had used only seven in each group). It appears likely that the ability of a hen or pullet to lay eggs of a given albumen quality is an inherent characteristic. In any case a promising approach to the problem of egg quality would seem to be a study of the egg itself, aimed at the determination of chemical or physicochemical differences existing between eggs of high and low albumen quality. It has been generally accepted that the . . .