POULTRY. 



grcssive stagrs thronj,'li which life is 

 developed and matured in the egg is 

 higlily interesting. The contents of 

 the shells, of the species under im- 

 mediate consideration, taken out and 

 placed on a plate or a saucer on Mr. 

 Bucknell's table, present the follow- 

 ing appearances, according to the re- 

 spective periods : 



" On the third day, the embryo or- 

 ganization of the skull, brain, heart, 

 and blood, is perceptible by the aid 

 of a magnifying glass. 



" Fourth day. The pulsation of 

 the heart is distinguishable by the 

 naked eye. 



" Sixth day. The chief vessels and 

 organs rudimentally formed ; the pul- 

 sation and circulation of blood appa- 

 rent. 



" Ninth day. Intestines and veins 

 formed, and the deposition of flesh 

 and bony substance commenced ; the 

 beak for the first time open. 



" Twelfth day. The feathers have 

 protruded, the skull has become car- 

 tilaginous, and the fust voluntary 

 movement of the chick is made. 



" Fifteenth day. Organs, vessels, 

 bones, feathers, closely approaching, 

 in appearance, to the natural state. 



" Eighteenth day. Vital mecha- 

 nism nearly developed, and the first 

 sign of life heard from the piping 

 chick. 



"Twenty-first day. The chick 

 breaks the shell, and in two or three 

 hours is quite active and lively. 



"The exit of the chick from the 

 shell is assuredly one of the most 

 interesting processes of animated na- 

 ture ever investigated by naturalists. 

 It was supposed that the mother bird 

 broke the shell ; but M. Ileautnur has 

 long since detailed the processesj and 

 we ourselves have witnessed the ev- 

 olution of the chick in the eccaleo- 

 bion, by its own unassisted efforts, 

 The French naturalist to whom we 

 have just now referred thus explains 

 some interesting facts : ' I have seen 

 chicks continue at work for two days 

 together. Some, again, work inces- 

 santly ; others take rest at intervals, 

 according to their physical strength. 

 I have observed sonie, in consequence 

 626 



of their impatience to see the light, 

 begin to break the shell a great deal 

 too soon ; for they ought, before they 

 make their exit, to have within them 

 provision enough to serve for twenty- 

 four hours without taking food, and 

 for this purpose the unconsumed por- 

 tion of the yolk enters through tlie 

 navel. The chick, indeed, which 

 comes out of the shell before taking 

 up all the yolk, is certain to droop 

 and die a few days after it is hatched. 

 The help which I have occasionally 

 tried to give to several of them to- 

 wards their deliverance has afforded 

 me an opportunity of observing those 

 which had begun to break their shells 

 before this was accomplished ; and I 

 have opened many eggs much frac- 

 tured, in each of which the chick had 

 as yet much of the yolk not absorbed. 

 Besides, some chicks have greater 

 obstacles to overcome than others, 

 since all shells are not of an equal 

 thickness nor of an equal consist- 

 ence ; and I think it probable that the 

 same inequality takes place in the li- 

 ning membrane. The shells of the 

 eggs of birds of various species are 

 of a thickness proportional to the 

 strength of the chick that is obliged 

 to break through them.'* 



" If the chick should be glued to 

 the shell, as sometimes occurs, and 

 is indicated by the faintness of its 

 chip and the non-enlargement of the 

 fracture for some hours, it must be 

 assisted (but not until the necessity 

 is fully ascertained) in its liberation 

 ' with a key, or some such instru- 

 ment, and by cutting the membrane 

 with the points of a pair of scissors. 

 The operation, though painful to the 

 chick, does not prove mortal ; for it 

 is no sooner freed than it exhibits as 

 much vigour as any other chick of its 

 age.'t But unless the chick, after a 

 full day's effort, is found unable to 

 chip the shell, from weakness or ad- 

 hesion to its envelope, it is better not 

 to assist it in its extrication ; for in 

 ninety-nine cases out of a hundred 

 aid proves ineffectual, through the 

 injury inflicted upon the delicate or- 



* " Domestic Habits of Birds," Library of 

 Entiriaining Knowledge. t Ibid. 



