To ascertain whether eggs are fresh, some persons hold them up against a strong light, to see that the white has not lost its transparency; others put their tongue to the large end, and if this feel warm they are considered to be good. If, on shaking them, they are heard to rattle, they are bad. It is said that eggs may be preserved, for many months, by being covered with a thin coat of mutton suet, or other fat substance; but perhaps a better mode than this would be to cover them with a cheap varnish, by which, as well as by the fat, the air would be prevented from penetrating the shells, and thereby rendering the eggs putrid.
Eggs are an agreeable and nourishing food, and are used in various ways in cookery. The whites are of use in medicine. They have been employed with advantage in burns, and have been recommended as a specific for the cure of jaundice. They are likewise used by gilders and artisans. The yolks are employed in medicine in several different ways, but most frequently in emulsions. The shells of eggs serve for various purposes, but chiefly as a white colour, in painting, which is considered preferable to that called flake white.
The feathers of poultry are used, to considerable extent, for making beds, pillows, and bolsters; but they are by no means so excellent as those of geese.
162. The GUINEA-FOWL, GALLINA, or PINTADO (Numidia meleagris), is an African bird, which is now domesticated in most parts of Europe, and is known by the red or bluish wattles, under the throat, a naked protuberance on the head, their slender neck, and beautifully spotted plumage.
The flesh of Guinea fowls is tender and sweet, and, by some persons, is thought to resemble that of the pheasant. In Guinea and the adjacent parts of Africa, their native country, where they are not unfrequently seen in flocks of two or three hundred together, they are hunted and caught by dogs. These birds chiefly delight in marshy and morassy places, and subsist on insects, worms, and different kinds of seeds. Their eggs are a very delicate food.
Guinea fowls were originally introduced into England somewhat earlier than the year 1260, and they are now common in our poultry yards, the females always endeavour to lay their eggs in some concealed situation; and the chicks, when hatched, require warmth and quiet, and should, for some time, be fed on rice swelled with milk, or with bread soaked in milk.
These are restless and clamorous birds, and have a harsh and, to some persons, an unpleasant cry, which consists of two notes, sounding like "camac, camac, camac," frequently repeated.
163. The RED GROUS, or RED GAME (Tetrao scoticus, Fig. 36), is a species of feathered game from fifteen to nineteen ounces in weight, which has its plumage beautifully mottled with deep red and black, and the six outer tail feathers blackish.
Over each eye is an arched and naked scarlet spot, and the feet are feathered to the claws.
This bird inhabits the mountainous heaths of Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Wales, and Scotland.