AVIDIN, a toxic glycoprotein, occurs mainly in the egg white of birds (Hertz and Sebrell, 1942; Jones and Briggs, 1962), the jelly of frogs’ eggs (Hertz and Sebrell, 1942), the albumen-secreting oviduct tissues of hens (Fraps el al., 1943) and certain sperm cell preparation (Jones and Briggs, 1962). Since avidin is present only in the reproductive organ, it has been suggested that the glycoprotein may play some fundamental role in the physiology of reproduction (Jones and Briggs, 1962; Hertz et al., 1949). There is little information on the quantitative aspect of avidin in the biological preparations. In the study of hens’ eggs we found that the avidin content of egg whites differ from egg to egg. We now report a relationship between the order of laying and avidin content of hens’ eggs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty White Leghorns of 19-weeks-old were maintained in separate cages in an air-conditioned room, and. . .
