Hen's eggs with retarded gas exchange. I. Chorioallantoic capillary growth.

The diffusing capacity of the hen's egg for carbon monoxide (D tau co) increases during incubation, reflecting the development of the chorioallantoic circulation. Previous work showed that the increase in D tau co could be diminished by incubating eggs in a 60% oxygen environment. The present work explored the effects of impeding gas exchange on the development of D tau co. Half the shell area was covered during incubation by a removable neoprene membrane which limited D tau co by approximately 20%. No difference could be detected between the D tau co values (measured with the membrane removed) of these eggs and control eggs incubated in the same 21% oxygen environment without a neoprene membrane. We conclude that the development of the chorioallantoic circulation is at its maximum under normal conditions of incubation and cannot be accelerated by restricting gas exchange.