228 
THE EGG-HATCHER. 
good effects of the forthcoming show of that of the 
State Society at Poughkeepsie, will convince the 
people here of the importance and utility of these 
institutions. 
THE EGG-HATCHER. 
Several months ago we informed our readers, 
that a machine called the Eccaleobion or Egg- 
Hatcher, was in operation in this city for the pur¬ 
pose of producing chickens by artificial means; we 
wished, however, to see it thoroughly tested be¬ 
fore drawing public attention to it, so as to avoid 
the too common imputation of hastily commending 
what might after all prove more curious than use¬ 
ful. The feasibility of hatching eggs by this ma¬ 
chine is no longer doubtful, and the operation is 
not only safely performed, but we are convinced 
that chickens can be produced and reared by ar¬ 
tificial means, with more certainty and cheaper 
than in the natural way; and that a wooden box 
not over 4 feet square, with a single person to at¬ 
tend it, and the expenditure of a shilling’s worth 
of charcoal per week, will hatch out more eggs in 
a year than an army of ONE THOUSAND old 
hens! If any of our readers are credulous now 
upon this subject, let them call at 285 Broadway, 
and Mr. Mickles, the gentlemanly and intelligent 
manager of the operation, will soon convince them 
that the half has not been told. We shall now 
proceed to a description which we make up al¬ 
most entirely from the pamphlet of Mr. Mick¬ 
les, and conversations that we had with him on the 
subject. 
Description of the Ec-caV-e-o-bi'-on .—The 
name or title of this machine, is derived from two 
Greek words, E^aXtw, «I bring forth,” and B 10? , 
“ life,”—forming the compound eccaleobion, signi¬ 
fying “ I bring f6rth life.” 
The eccaleobion or life-producing machine, 
forms, to outward appearance, an oblong box, 4 
feet 6 inches long, 3 feet 8 inches high, and 3 feet 
6 inches wide. It stands out from and is discon¬ 
nected with the walls of the room, and its efficient 
action and regulative powers are enclosed within 
the case. It contains nearly one thousand eggs, 
and is divided into eight compartments, or divis¬ 
ions, open to the sight, (the doors being glazed,) 
in which the eggs are deposited, spread promiscu¬ 
ously upon the floor of each division. The eggs 
lie uncovered, neither wrapped in flannel nor im¬ 
mersed in sand, as has usually been done, in order 
that they might retain their warmth when exposed 
to cold, or resist the effects of too great heat. 
For the first few hours after their liberation 
from the shell, they are left in the drawer where 
hatched till they become dry and gain strength 
enough to stand well, after which they are re¬ 
moved to another drawer where the temperature 
is a little lower. Here they are kept for a day or 
so, by which time being strong enough to run 
about, they are removed into the little box-yard 
surrounding the machine. Under this they find 
shelter any time they please, as warm and grate¬ 
ful as the covering of the wings of a hen. They 
mow require to be carefully fed and tended for two 
m three days, after which, revelling in the luxury 
of their new existence, they may be seen running 
about the floor of their apartment, and proper 
means being used, neither require nor feel the loss 
of that care which, in all other cases, a maternal 
parent only can bestow. 
Birds in a healthy condition require no aid to 
effect their escape from the shell ; accomplishing 
their freedom themselves in a remarkaly uniform, 
manner, making a circular fracture with their bill, 
and bursting the integuments of the shell by strong 
muscular exertion. 
Few eggs, except those of rare or foreign birds,, 
are worth the trial of hatching, if more than a 
month old: their condition, however, is greatly 
influenced by the weather—very hot weather de¬ 
stroying vitality in a few days. 
This machine does not, as is frequently the case 
with eggs set upon by the parent bird, ever addle 
them. This evil is occasioned by the alternation 
of heat and cold, arising from the hen’s unsteady 
sitting. The warmth imparted by the machine is 
uniform and continued. 
Failures, however, arise from the following 
causes, viz: want of impregnation in the egg; 
age, commonly called staleness, whereby life has 
become extinct; weakness of the vital energy of 
the egg, produced by old age, lowness of keep, or 
ill health of the parent; in these cases, the embryo 
partially developes itself, but dies before the full 
period of incubation. 
Eggs may be hatched by other means, but if the- 
process be not properly executed, the young birds 
are weakly and soon die. The operation, howev¬ 
er, by this machine is so certain, and so completely 
under control, that the birds produced by it come 
forth in the most healthy state, and live, flourish, 
and fatten, as well as any other of their species 
who owe their existence to a more natural and 
less extraordinary birth. 
There is no difficulty in teaching the young of 
the various tribes of gallinaceous fowl to eat and 
drink; they perform these operations spontaneous¬ 
ly, or from observation, as appetite prompts them, 
nor is food necessary till 12 or 20 hours after they 
are hatched. Sickly and badly-hatched birds gen¬ 
erally die from inanition. 
It is not necessary, in the eccaleobion, to move 
or turn the eggs for the purpose of subjecting each 
to its fair proportion of warmth, as the machine 
acts uniformly, not only with the same power 
upon the whole surface of each egg, but upon all 
alike, however great their number. But, to pre¬ 
vent the yolk of weak eggs from settling by its 
specific gravity, and adhering to the shell, it is 
useful to pass the hand over them, so as to change 
their position once in twenty-four hours. 
The egg of a strong, healthy bird, at the time 
of its protrusion from thie body, is completely filled 
with yolk and albumen. If examined a few days 
after, by holding it toward the light, a small blad¬ 
der of air will be discoverable at the larger end, 
which increases with the age of the egg. This 
waste of its internal substance is occasioned by 
absorption by the atmosphere, through the pores 
of the shell, of the more volatile part of its con¬ 
tents. When the bladder is large in any egg, it 
is unfit for incubation; nevertheless* in a good egg. 
