ARTIFICIAL HATCHING. 119 



generally spoil their eggs, as we have shown in the 

 last cliapter ; 2nd, in that the great pull of artificial 

 hatching is in making the birds lay double or treble the 

 number of eggs they otherwise would. Twelve to six- 

 teen is a full laying, if the eggs are left, but if they 

 are taken away as fast as laid, and only a couple of 

 dummies left in the nest, they will lay thirty or more 

 without stopping. No eggs are lost, and the birds do 

 not go out of condition, as they do if they sit a few 

 days. But it is in starting the eggs the first few days 

 that many of the incubators fail, and in which my 

 trebly patented machine is universally acknowledged to 

 beat all competitors that have sprung up. 



The great mistake which is made by most Avho have 

 assayed to bring out a machine, is not recognising the 

 first great provision of nature, that of the germ being 

 so suspended to the two ends of the egg, that no matter 

 how the egg is turned, the germ rises to the top. To 

 prove this, take a number of eggs and break them over 

 a dish, and in every case the vital spot will be observed 

 on the top of the yolk. It is one of those wonderful 

 provisions of nature that meet us at every turn, if we 

 could only observe them. The object is that the vital 

 spot should be brought into contact with the heated 

 body of the old bird, the heat being given to this part 

 of the egg only, the under side remaining quite cold till 



