Payen’s analysis differs from the above, in giving a larger proportion of nitrogenous matter, and a still greater quantity of fat.
The native inhabitants of New Zealand and kindred races suffer largely from scrofula, the prevalence of which disease amongst them has been attributed to their partaking so largely of eel as a common article of diet.
EFFERVES′CENCE. The rapid escape of gas in small bubbles from a liquid. See Draught, Powder, &c.
EFFLORES′CENCE. The spontaneous conversion of a crystalline solid into a dry pulverulent form. Crystals which in a dry atmosphere lose their water of crystallisation, and become crusted over with a mealy powder, are said to be EFFLORESCENT.
EGG. Syn. Ovum, L. A body produced in the females of birds and certain other animals, containing an ′embryo’ of the same species, or body, from which a similar animal may ultimately be produced. The eggs of the common domestic fowl are nutritious and easily digestible; and when lightly cooked by boiling and eaten with a little salt, are admirably adapted as an aliment for the sick and delicate. When boiled hard or fried, they are rendered less digestible, and possess no advantage in this respect over butcher’s meat. A new-laid egg, beaten up in a cup of tea, coffee, or chocolate is an excellent ingredient in the breakfast of a person with a poor appetite, and is very supporting. A glass of wine, beer, or porter, similarly treated, along with a biscuit, has been recommended as a light and nutritious luncheon or supper, well suited to the debilitated and dyspeptic. Raw eggs may be advantageously substituted for cod-liver oil in all the cases in which this last is ordered, occurring in persons with delicate or irritable stomachs. The addition of fresh salad oil vastly increases their medicinal virtues. A fresh egg is said to contain about the same amount of nourishment as 11⁄2 oz. of fresh meat and 1 oz. of wheaten bread, but in a more digestible form.
| Composition of the contents of the egg. | |
| Water | 74·02 |
| Albumen | 14·08 |
| Oil and fat | 10·25 |
| Mineral matter | 1·65 |
| ——— | |
| 100·00 |
| Composition of the white of egg. (Thompson.) | |
| Nitrogenous matter | 20·40 |
| Fatty matter | |
| Saline matter | 1·60 |
| Water | 78·00 |
| ——— | |
| 100·00 |
| Composition of the yolk. (Thompson.) | |
| Nitrogenous matter | 16·00 |
| Fatty matter | 30·70 |
| Saline matter | 1·30 |
| Water | 52·00 |
| ——— | |
| 100·00 |
Egg, White of (ALBUMEN OVI), is officinal in the B. P. Yelk of egg (vitellus ovi) is an ingredient in the BRANDY MIXTURE (MISTURA SPIRITUS VINI GALLICI) of the London College. It is also a popular application to chaps, cracked nipples, abrasions, &c., and is largely used to render oleaginous substances miscible with water, in the preparation of emulsions.
The average weight of the new-laid egg of a hen is about 21⁄2 oz., and its sp. gr. is 1·080 to 1·090; the white generally weighs about 11⁄2 oz.; the yolk, a little under 3⁄4 oz.; and the shell and skin, 1⁄4 oz. Dr Prout found that an egg, on being kept for 2 years in a dry situation, lost 5443⁄10 gr., from the evaporation of a portion of its water through the shell. By boiling in water an egg loses from 2% to 3% of its weight.