238 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



the warmth to be diffused in the room below. When 

 the tires have been continued for eight, ten, or twelve 

 days, according to the weather, they are discontinued, 

 the heat acquired by the ovens being then sufficient to 

 finish the hatching, which requires in all twenty-one 

 days. At the latter part of the time some of the eggs 

 from the lower room are removed into the upper, in 

 order that the chickens may escape more easily from 

 the shell than they would do if they had a number of 

 eggs piled up above them. 



The process of artificial hatching has been carried on 

 in some other countries, but never to the same extent 

 as in Egypt. Some years since an exhibition was open 

 in London, affording the curious sight of hatching eggs 

 by steam. But uniformity of heat was not preserved, 

 and the experiment was therefore not fully successful. 

 A second attempt, and the application of machinery 

 invented by Mr. Bucknell, were the means of hatching 

 many thousand chickens, which were afterwards reared 

 without difficulty. In a treatise on the subject, the 

 inventor asserted, that by his machinery, called JEcca- 

 leolian, a perfect and absolute command over tempera- 

 ture was obtained, from 300 degrees Fahrenheit to 

 that of cold water; and that by this means the im- 

 pregnated egg of any bird, not stale, placed within its 

 influence at the proper degree of warmth, is, at the ex- 

 piration of the natural time, brought into life, " with- 

 out the possibility of failure, which is sometimes the 

 case with eggs subjected to the caprice of their natural 

 parent." 



This machine, however, was far less certain in its ope- 

 rations than might have been expected. A more perfect 

 method has since been found, and this is now in suc- 

 cessful operation at Heathfield, Sussex. The order of 

 nature is followed, by applying "top contact heat ;" that 

 is, an equal wai-mth pressing on the eggs from above. 

 This warmth is supplied by a reservoir of water kept 

 at an equal temperature, and contained in a waterproof 



