or serving in
this way is to put them into boiling water, and boil or simmer until
they are considered sufficiently cooked. Albumen, of which the white of
the egg is composed, is easiest digested when simply coagulated. The
yolk, if cooked at all, is easiest digested when dry and mealy. Albumen
coagulates at 160 deg., and when the boiling point is reached, it becomes
hardened, tough, and leathery, and very difficult of digestion. If the
egg were all albumen, it might be easily and properly cooked by dropping
into boiling water, allowing it to remain for a few seconds, and
removing it, since the shell of the egg would prevent its becoming
sufficiently heated in so short a time as to become hardened; but the
time necessary to cook properly the white of the egg would be
insufficient for the heat to penetrate to and cook the yolk; and if it
is desirable to cook the yolk hard, the cooking process should be
carried on at a temperature below the boiling point, subjecting the egg
to a less degree of heat, but for a longer time. The most accurate
method is to put the eggs into water of a temperature of 160 deg., allowing
them to remain for twenty minutes and not permitting the temperature of
the water to go above 165 deg. Cooked in this way, the white will be of a
soft, jelly-like consistency throughout, while the yolks will be hard.
If it is desired to have the yolks dry and mealy, the temperature of the
water must be less, and the time of cooking lengthened. We have secured
the most perfect results with water at a temperature of 150 deg., and seven
hours' cooking. The temperature of the water can be easily tested by
keeping in it an ordinary thermometer, and if one possesses a kerosene
or gas stove, the heat can be easily regulated to maintain the required
temperature.

Another method, although less sure, is to pour boiling water into a
saucepan, draw it to one side of the range where it will keep hot, but
not boil, put in the eggs, cover, and let stand for twenty minutes. If
by either method it is desired to have the yolk soft-cooked, lessen the
time to ten minutes or so, according to the hardness desired. Eggs are
best served as soon as done, as the white becomes more solid by being
kept in a hot shell.

It should be remarked that the time necessary to cook eggs in the shell
will vary somewhat with the firmness of the shell, the size of the eggs,
and the number cooked together.

EGGS IN SUNSHINE.--Take an earthen-ware dis