Formation of the Chalazae in the Hen’s Egg

IT HAS been stated by Lillie (1919) that the chalazae appear to be opalescent cords twisted in opposite directions. Hansen (1933) and Asmundson and Burmester (1936) have made further observations on the formation of the chalazae particularly in regard to that portion of the oviduct (isthmus and uterus) in which they become differentiated from other physical divisions of the albumen. In a study of 520 White Leghorn eggs, I have noted that when both chalazae are normal, i.e., of average size and attached both to the yolk and to the firm albumen, the chalaza at the large end of the egg invariably has a clockwise twist, while that at the small end invariably has a counter-clockwise twist. When only one chalaza is normal its direction of twist conforms to the above statement. Abnormal chalazae are usually detached from the firm albumen layer and slightly twisted in the usual direction or . . .