ECCALEOBION. 265 



maintained unaltered without trouble or difficulty 

 for any length of time. And the somewhat confi- 

 dent inventor asserted, that by means of this abso- 

 lute and complete command over the temperature 

 obtained by this machine, the impregnated egg of 

 any bird, not too stale, placed within its influence 

 at the proper degree of warmth, is at the expira- 

 tion of its natural time elicited into life, without 

 the possibility of failure (!), which is sometimes 

 the case with eggs subjected to the caprice of their 

 natural parent. It is not stated in what way 

 the temperature was obtained, but it may be con- 

 fidently asserted that such a result as that just 

 described is altogether incorrect. An air of mys- 

 tery was pretended to be thrown over the machine 

 with a view of enhancing its attractiveness ; there 

 can, however, be little question that it consisted 

 simply of a charcoal stove with either hot water or 

 steam pipes attached to it. In so far as it pretends 

 to a success superior to that of the natural process, 

 all statements respecting its operations must be 

 considered as highly questionable. A large num- 

 ber of chickens were, however, hatched, it is said, 

 by its means, which were ultimately successfully 

 reared, as much so as if they had been hatched in 





