The Egg

The egg ([Fig. 1]) is a perfect ellipse, the relative lengths of whose axes vary considerably in the eggs of different nests and slightly in the eggs of the same nest. Of more than four hundred eggs measured, the longest was 85 mm.; the shortest 65 mm. Of the same eggs, the greatest short diameter was 50 mm.; the least short diameter was 38 mm. The average long diameter of these four hundred eggs was 73.74 mm.; the average short diameter was 42.59 mm. The average variation in the long axis of the eggs of any one nest was 11.32 mm., more than twice the average variation in the short axis, which was 5.14 mm. No relation was noticed between the size and the number of eggs in any one nest. Ten eggs of average size weighed 812 grams—about 81 grams each.

Voeltzkow ([78]) states that the form of the egg of the Madagascar crocodile is very variable. No two eggs in the same nest are exactly alike, some being elliptical, some “egg-shaped,” and some “cylindrical with rounded ends.” The average size is 68 mm. by 47 mm., shorter and thicker than the average alligator egg.

When first laid, the eggs are pure white, and are quite slimy for a few hours, but they generally become stained after a time by the damp and decaying vegetation composing the nest in which they are closely packed.

The shell is thicker and of a coarser texture than that of the hen’s egg. Being of a calcareous nature, it is easily dissolved in dilute acids.

The shell membrane is in two not very distinct layers, the fibers of which, according to S. F. Clarke, are spirally wound around the egg at right angles to each other. No air-chamber, such as is found in the hen’s egg, is found in any stage in the development.

In most—probably all normal—eggs a white band appears around the lesser circumference a short time after being laid. This chalky band, which is shown at about its maximum development in [Fig. 1a], is found, on removal of the shell, to be caused, not by a change in the shell, but by the appearance of an area of chalky substance in the shell membranes. Clarke thinks this change in the membrane is to aid in the passage of gases to and from the developing embryo. Generally this chalky area forms a distinct band entirely around the shorter circumference of the egg, but sometimes extends only partly around it. It varies in width from about 15 mm. to 35 mm., being narrowest at its first appearance. Sometimes its borders are quite sharp and even ([Fig. 1a]); in other cases they are very irregular. If the embryo dies the chalky band is likely to become spotted with dark areas.

The shell and shell membrane of the egg of the Madagascar crocodile are essentially the same as those just described, except that the shell is sometimes pierced by small pores that pass entirely through it. The same chalky band surrounds the median zone of the egg ([78]).

The white of the egg is chiefly remarkable for its unusual density, being so stiff that the entire egg may be emptied from the shell into the hand and passed from one hand to the other without danger of rupturing either the mass of albumen or the enclosed yolk. The albumen, especially in the immediate neighborhood of the yolk, seems to consist of a number of very thin concentric layers. It varies in color, in different eggs, from a pale yellowish white, its usual color, to a very decided green.

As might be expected, no chalazæ are present.

The yolk is a spherical mass, of a pale yellow color, lying in the center of the white. Its diameter is so great that it lies very close to the shell around the lesser circumference of the egg, so that it is there covered by only a thin layer of white, and care must be taken in removing the shell from this region in order not to rupture the yolk. The yolk substance is quite fluid and is contained in a rather delicate vitelline membrane.

The albumen and yolk of the crocodile’s egg, as described by Voeltzkow, differ from those of the alligator only in the color of the albumen, which in the crocodile is normally light green ([78]).

As pointed out by Clarke, the position of the embryo upon the yolk is subject to some variation. During the earliest stages it may occur at the pole of the yolk nearest the side of the egg; later it may generally be found toward the end of the egg; and still later it shifts its position to the side of the egg. It is probable, as Clarke says, that the position at the end of the egg secures better protection by the greater amount of white, at that point, between the yolk and the shell; while the later removal to the side of the egg, when the vascular area and the allantois begin to function, secures a better aëration of the blood of the embryo.

Around the embryo, during the stages that precede the formation of the vascular area, is seen an irregular area of a lighter color and a mottled appearance. This area is bounded by a distinct, narrow, white line, and varies in size from perhaps a square centimeter to one third the surface of the yolk.

During the earliest stages of development the embryo is very transparent; so that, as there is no fixed place upon the yolk at which it may be expected to occur, it is often very difficult to find. Owing to this transparency, to the extreme delicacy of the embryo, and to the character of the white, the removal of an early embryo from the egg of the alligator is a difficult operation and is accomplished only after some practice.