Playing chicken!

In my gloss of book I, chapter 28, I discussed the old riddle of the chicken and the egg, concluding that the chicken, as the perfected form of the egg, has a metaphysical, if not a chronological, priority. Coincidentally, there was also some dispute about the topic at Dr Feser's blog, which eventually led me to the following MSNBC story: "Which came first, the chicken or the egg? British scientists claim to have solved the mystery". The key point is this:

The scientists found that a protein found only in a chicken's ovaries is necessary for the formation of the egg, according to the paper Wednesday. The egg can therefore only exist if it has been created inside a chicken.

The protein speeds up the development of the hard shell, which is essential in protecting the delicate yolk and fluids while the chick grows inside the egg, the report said.

"It had long been suspected that the egg came first but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first," said Dr. Colin Freeman, from Sheffield University's Department of Engineering Materials, according to the Mail.

So, there you have it: the chicken wins and science was lucky enough to catch up with sound metaphysics.