POULTRY. 



chickens to run undor. from which 

 they soon learn to ini;^h outward and 

 inward. These mothers, with the 

 wicker baskets over tliinn, are to be 

 placed against a hot wall, at the back 

 of the kitchen fire, or in any other 

 warm situation where the heat shall 

 not exceed 80 degrees of Fahrenheit. 



" ' When the chickens are a week 

 old, they are to be carried, with the 

 mother, to a grass-plat, for feeding, 

 and kept warm by a tin tube filled 

 with hot water, which will continue 

 sufliciently warm for about three 

 hours, when the hot water is to be 

 renewed. Towards the evening the 

 mothers are to be again placed 

 against the hot wall.' 



"The artificial mother, however, 

 is only a mechanical house for chicks 

 already hatched ; but the process of 

 bringing the embryo of organized life 

 in the egg through all the stages of 

 the vital principle, until it becomes 

 matured, by means of heated ovens, 

 has been long and successfully prac- 

 tised in Egypt. 



" These ovens, which are con- 

 structed with bricks, are about nine 

 feet high, with galleries extending 

 through the whole length, and con- 

 taining chambers into which a man 

 can creep, through a very contracted 

 orifice, for the purpose of deposit- 

 ing the eggs, which are laid, to the 

 amount of several thousands, on 

 mats or beds of flax over the brick 

 floors. The heat is conveyed through 

 fire-places ; and the material of the 

 slow fires, which are most effective, 

 is the dung of cows or camels com- 

 bined with straw. The fires are kept 

 up for as many days (according to 

 the temperature of the weather) as 

 are suthcient to impart such a degree 

 of heat as will continue to the expi- 

 ration of the 21 days required for 

 the hatching of chickens, care being 

 taken to confine the warmth by clo- 

 sing up all the orifices communica- 

 ting with the external air. One hun- 

 dred millions of chickens are said to 

 be thus annually produced in Egypt. 



" M. Reaumur made various ex- 

 periments in hatching with ferment- 

 ed dung in hot-beds, but unsuccess- 

 624 



I fully ; life was developed, but never 

 matured ; the chicks were in some 

 : cases even feathered, but long be- 

 fore the full time they lost vitality. 

 He succeeded at length, 'after trials 

 enough to wear out the most endu- 

 ring patience,' with an oven free 

 from the influence of the vapour ex- 

 haled from the dung, which in the 

 previous experiments had been de- 

 structive of the embryo. He after- 

 ward succeeded, to a great degree, 

 by using a box or shelves over an 

 oven, with due regard to uniformity 

 of temperature. Several of the eggs 

 in this latter case were hatched on 

 the twentieth day, by which the usu- 

 al course of nature was anticipated 

 by one day. But though artificial 

 hatching has long been practised 

 with success in Egypt, it has not 

 been foimd worth the expense and 

 trouble in France, from the variable- 

 ness of temperature there compared 

 with that in the Delta, where, in the 

 autumnal season, when the mammals 

 (hatching-ovens) are used, it is re- 

 markably steady and extremely 

 warm. 



" Since the attempt to pursue the 

 Oriental system has failed in France, 

 there is no probability of its succeed 

 ing in the climate of Great Britain ; 

 but it by no means follows that suc- 

 cess may not attend such manage- 

 ment as will obviate the obstructions 

 which arise from irregularities of 

 temperature. The object was par- 

 tially attained some years ago by 

 means of steam, but uniformity of 

 heat was not preserved, and, conse- 

 quently, that experiment failed. It 

 would appear, however, that the ap- 

 plication of the Eccaleobion* ma- 

 chinery, exhibited in London by Mr. 

 Bucknell, the inventor and proprie- 

 tor, may be successful. Mr. Buck- 

 nell asserts that his eccaleobion pos- 

 sesses a perfect and absolute com- 

 mand over temperature from 300 

 degrees of Fahrenheit to that of cold 

 water ; so that any substance sub- 

 mitted to its influence shall uniform- 

 ly be acted upon over its whole sur- 



* From fK/cuAtw, / call forth, and /Ji'oj, 



