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yolk. The thin white portion acts as a pad or cushion, and the thick 

 white portion holds it steady. Those extended cords of the thick layer 

 of the white act as the axis of the yolk holding- it in position ; and, as 

 you turn the eg-g- around quickly, you twist the cords similar to twisting- 

 a string-, with the result that, as soon as the egg- is steady, these cords 

 unwind, and help to rig-ht the gferm spot, on the upper surface ag-ain. 



No doubt by this tmie you are wondering-, if this g-erm-spot and 

 the portion of the yolk under it are so lig-ht, why the yolk does not come 

 rig-ht up against the tissues lining the shell. But nature has guarded 

 against this by the thick layer of albumen, which always tends to hold 

 the yolk in position. Sometimes when the egg is left for weeks in the 

 one position, the thick layer is overpowered, and the yolk touches the 

 wall of the shell. If the yolk remains against the wall any length of 

 time, it appears to become fastened to it, after which you cannot success- 

 fully hatch a chicken from the egg- Being fastened in one position, 

 the germ cannot move properly in order to develop, the result being that 

 the germ dies. You may say a hen sitting on eggs never moves them, 

 but in this you are mistaken. The next hen )ou set, put a large pencil 

 mark on each of the eggs; and place the eggs under a hen with the 

 pencil marks uppermost. Next day lift the hen, and you will see that 

 she has altered the position of the eggs. 



We have to imitate the hen in running an incubator, in that we 

 turn the eggs twice a day. But some one asks, what is an incu- 

 bator ? Well, it is simply a well-built box, heated by a lamp, 

 and the heat evenly distributed over all parts of the interior, so as 

 to give the eggs the same temperature. This box is not exactly air- 

 tight ; for you know that if this little germ inside of the egg is going to 

 develop into a chicken at the end of 21 days, it must have air. This air, 

 you will remember, passes through those little holes in the shell, the good 

 air going in, and the foul air coming off in much the same manner as you 

 breathe. Now, you will see we have this incubator ventilated in order to 

 supply the little germ with pure air. There is another point we nearlv 

 overlooked, that is the temperature. 



If you will place a thermometer under a hen, you will notice that it 

 reads 103 degrees ; so we try to run the incubator at that temperature. 



If any of you would like to see that the germ spot always stays 

 next to the surface, you can readily do so by taking a lamp alter dark, 

 and going to a hen that has been sitting four or five days. Wrap a 

 black cloth around the lamp chimney, but first make a hole in the cloth, 

 much the same shape as an egg, and have the hole exactly opposite the 

 blaze of the lamp. Put the lamp on a little box, the hole facing you. 

 Now very carefully remove an egg from under the hen, taking great care 

 not to turn it over. Place your finger at the ends of the egg, and hold 

 the egg in front of the light coming from the hole in the cloth that is 

 around the chimney. If the egg' is fertile, you will see a dark spot, and 

 from this a number of little veins running in different directions. This is 

 the germ, and it has started to grow. Now turn the egg slowly around, 

 and you will observe that the germ moves as you turn the egg, always 

 resting near the surface. It is best to take a white egg to see this, as 



