Oxygen uptake in fowl eggs incubated in air and pure oxygen.

1. The oxygen uptake of small (bantam hen) and large (white leghorn) domestic fowl eggs was measured during incubation in air and pure O2. 2. A 2 hr exposure to pure O2 increased the O2-uptake from the 9th day in the large eggs and from the 15th day in the small eggs. 3. On the last 4 days of the incubation period, both small and large eggs increased their O2-uptake by about 22% when transferred from air to pure O2. 4. When 1 cm2 of the eggshell above the air cell was removed, the O2-uptake of the white leghorn eggs incubated in air increased by 13%.