It was the belief of almost all the ancient nations, that the world was hatched from an egg made by the Creator(genetic engineering), over which the Spirit of God was represented as hovering in the same manner as a bird broods or flutters over her eggs. Faber, (Pag. Idol., i. 4,) who traced everything to the Arkite worship, says that this egg, which was a symbol of the resurrection, was no other than the ark; and as Dionysus was fabled in the Orphic hymns to be born from an egg, he and Noah were the same person; wherefore the birth of Dionysus or Brahma, or any other hero god from an egg, was nothing more than the egress of Noah from the ark. Be this as it may, the egg has been always deemed a symbol of the resurrection of our Lord. As this is the most universally diffused of all symbols, it is strange that it has found no place in the symbolism of Freemasonry, which deals so much with the doctrine of the resurrection, of which the egg was everywhere the recognized symbol. It was, however, used by the ancient architects, and from them was adopted by the Operative Masons of the Middle Ages, one of whose favorite ornaments was the ovolo, or egg-moulding.
Egg in physiology is a body formed in certain females, in which is contained an embryo, foetus of the same species, under a cortical surface or shell. The exterior part of an egg is the shell, which in a hen, for instance, is white, thin, and friable cortex, including all the other parts. The shell beomes more brittle by being exposed to a dry heat. It is lined everywhere with a very thin but pretty tough membrane, which dividing at, or very near, the obtuse end of the egg, forms a small bag, where only air is contained. In new laid eggs this folliculus appears very little, but becomes larges when the egg is kept.
Within this are contained the albumen or white, and the vitellus or yelk; each of which have their different virtues. The albumen is a cold, viscous, white liquor in the egg, different in consistence in its different parts. It is observed, that there are two distinct albumens, each of which are enclosed in its proper membrane; of these, one is very thin and liquid, and the other more dense and viscous, and of somewhat whiter color; but in old and stale eggs, after some days incubation, inclining to a yellow. As this second albumen cov.ers the yelk on all sides, so it is itself surrounded by the other external liquid. The albumen of a fecundated egg, is as sweet and free from corruption, during all the time of incubation, as it is in new laid eggs; as also the vitellus. As the eggs of hens consists of two liquors separated one from another, and distinguished by two branches of umbilical veins, one of which goes to the vitellus, and the other to the albumen; so it is very probable that are of different natures, and consequently appointed for different purposes.
When the vitellus grows warm with incubation, it becomes more humid, and like melting wax, or fat; whence it takes up more space; for as the foetus increases, the albumen insensibly wastes away, and condenses: the vitellus, on the contrary, seems to lose little or nothing of its bulk when the foetus is is oerfected, and only appears more liquid and humid when the abdomen of the foetus begins to be formed.
The chick in the egg is first nourished by the albumen; and when this is consumed, by the vitellus as with milk. If we compare the chalazze to the extremities of an axis passing through the vitelus, which is of a spherical form, this sphere will be composed of two unequal portions, its axis not passing through its center; consequently, since its heavier than the white, its smaller portion must always be uppermost in all positions of the egg.
The yellowish white round spot, called cicatricula, is placed on the middle of the smaller portion of the yelk; and therefore, from what has been said in the last paragraph, must always appear on the superior part of the vitellus.Not long before the exclusion of the chick, the whole yelk is taken into its abdomen; and the shell, at the obtuse end of the egg, frequently appears cracked some time before the exclusion of the chick. The chick is sometimes observed to perforate the shell with its beak. After exclusion, the the yolk is gradually wasted, being conveyed into the small guts by a small duct. Eggs differ very much according to the birds that lay they them, according to their color, form, bigness, age, and the different way of dressing them; those most used in food are hen eggs; of these, such are newlaid best. As to the preservation of eggs, it is observed that the egg is always quite full when it is first laid by the hen, but from that time it gradually becomes less and less so, to its decay; and however compact and close its shell may appear, it is never the less perforated with a multitude of small holes, though too minute for the discernment of our eyes, the effect of which is a daily decrease of matter within the eggs, from the time of its being laid; and the perspiration is much quicker in hot weather than in cold.
To preserve the egg fresh, there needs no more than to preserve it full, and stop its transpiration; the method of doing which is, by stopping up those pores with matter which is not soluble in watery fluids; and on this principle t is, that all kinds of varnish, prepared with spirit of wine, will preserve eggs fresh for a long time, if they are carefully rubbed all over the shell; tallow, or mutton fat, is also good for this purpose, for such as are rubbed over with this will keep as long as those coated over with varnish.
