An egg which is more than doubtful will float in cold water and should be thrown away without further test. An egg that is not perfectly fresh will have a smooth shell, a newly laid egg a rough. Within three days from the time of laying, the lime of the shell begins to disintegrate in the air. Within ten days the meat of the egg begins to evaporate through the shell; the latter loses its pearly whiteness and becomes glossy.

To prevent disintegration and evaporation, the egg may be dipped in melted fat, or varnished, or coated with beeswax. Eggs packed down in melted lard will keep for weeks. Pack them in a jar, the small end downward, pour the melted (not warm) fat about them until all are covered. They may also be packed in dry salt, or covered with a solution of saltpetre and lime in hot water, which should cool before it is poured over the eggs.

Boiled Eggs

There are three things which the Average Cook holds and believes for certain that anybody can do without being taught, yea, four which are too easy to learn. The three are : Tea-Making, Dish-Washing, and Toasting Bread. The fourth is Boiling an Egg.

"They are as easy as breathing," she says, disdainfully.

Perhaps so. Not one human creature in a thousand knows how to draw his breath properly.

"There's wit goes to the boiling of eggs," is a pithy old proverb that rings sadly in the ear of her who must herself see to the cooking of every egg every morning in the year if she would have them "just right."

The best way of all, to the present writer's way of thinking, and tasting, is to lay the eggs in lukewarm water for a few minutes to take off the chill, then to put them into a saucepan of water which is at a positive and furious boil, and as soon as they are in, to draw the saucepan out of the way of possible reboil, cover it closely and leave the eggs in it for six minutes. A woollen cap, like a tea-cosey, is a good thing to have for such a purpose. Cover the saucepan with a closed lid, envelop it in the cap, and let it alone until the time is up.

The white and yolk will be of custard-like consistency, and so much more digestible than when cooked by actual boiling, that it is strange the mode is not more generally adopted.

Another Way.

Be sure that the water boils. It is not enough that it simmers. There must be violent ebullition. Put in the eggs (always with a spoon, never drop them in); cover and cook for three minutes and a half, take them up and serve immediately, wrapped in a warmed napkin.

Still Another.

Cover the eggs with cold water ; put them directly over a hot fire, and as soon as the water boils take them out.