no FARMING FOR LADIES. [cHAP, iv. 



ciple of life imparted to it by the act of the 

 male — lies dormant until roused into action 

 by the hatching of the hen ; the gradual pro- 

 gress of which terminates in the development 

 of the chicken, and may be thus succinctly 

 stated from Haller, who has given a very par- 

 ticular account of the different changes in the 

 embryo during every twelve hours. 



The formation of the fcetus of the chick 

 commences in the albumen, or white portion 

 of the substance of the egg, not many hours 

 after the hen has begun to sit : the yolk be- 

 ing that of its nutriment, and enveloped in a 

 separate membrane, distinct from the future 

 chick which it is to nourish. On the second 

 day, traces are perceptible of the head and 

 spine ; the day following, a faint pulsation may 

 be observed in the situation of the heart, which, 

 towards the end of the fourth day, is more 

 completely, though not yet perfectly formed ; 

 and, in the course of the sixth, it is so far 

 developed as to contain blood and partial mo- 

 tion. From this time forward, the different 

 parts of the body are successively brought, 

 day by day, into those forms which are to be 

 severally characterized in their organization, 



