186 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



AMERICAN EGG-HATCHING MACHINE. 



in which this heat is conveyed to the egg to 

 vivify it. This he clearly proves is only by 

 contact on the top. The principle of vitality, 

 he contends, floats in the egg, and is constantly 

 on the top, thus presenting itself to the bird's 

 breast, leaving the other part exposed to the 

 ordinary heat of the surrounding atmosphere ; 

 and as the blood-vessels form, the heat is con- 

 ducted to every part of the egg. 



This hydro-incubator was in operation at 

 Mr. Cantelo's Model Farm, where he had more 

 than two thousand head of poultry running 

 about, from one day to three months old. 



AMERICAN EGG-HATCHING MACHINE. 



A few years since an apparatus, figured above, 

 for the purpose of hatching chickens by artificial 

 heat, invented by Mr. L. G. Hoffman, of the city 

 of Albany, was put in operation, and, as far as 

 the hatching of chickens was concerned, proved 

 equal to the task, producing from 70 to 75 chick- 

 ens from every 100 eggs. 



Mr. Hoffman's machine was constructed of 

 tin, with the hatching- chamber surrounded with 

 water, heated and kept at a proper temperature 

 by means of a lamp. 



The machine forms, to outward appearance, 

 an oblong box or chest, about two and a half 

 feet in length, and two feet in depth, and the 



same in width, and is stated to be capable of 

 hatching from 200 to 400 chickens at a time. It 

 stands upon a box, the top of which is warmed 

 also with hot water, where the chickens are 

 placed when removed from the hatching-cham- 

 ber above. On the left of the machine is a 

 small conical-shaped tank, or cistern of water, 

 connected at top and bottom to the water sur- 

 rounding the egg-chamber. By means of the 

 connections at top and bottom, a constant cir- 

 culation of the water is kept up. The cistern 

 of water, on the left, is heated by a spirit- 

 lamp, the heat passing up into the dark-colored 

 cone, reaching to near the top of the water- 

 cistern. 



The slanting, or desk-like board, represented 

 by a white mark near the bottom of the under 

 case, is lined with sheep-skin, dressed with the 

 wool on, raised or lowered by means of a small 

 cord to accommodate the size of chickens, and 

 by this means they can arrange themselves ac- 

 cording to their several sizes. This is called 

 the artificial mother. 



MINASl'S INCUBATOR. 



We notice in an English paper, that quite an 

 improvement on the old plans of chicken-hatch- 

 ing has been quite recently made by a Mr. Mi- 

 nasi, requiring much less attention to the ma- 



