The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1880-02-26

There are many things the existence
OF which the majority Of us live and die
in ignorance Of Only by close obser'
vation do we acquaihs ourselves with
some interesting facts. We know thst
a hen sets three weeks before bringing
out her voting, turkey sets four weeks,
OF about twenty-six days; The common
duck nearly the same length OF time,
while the robin brings out her fedgling
in about eleven days. The young OF
the latter bird Is hUt fully formed when
it comes from the shell. The eyes, beaEi
and feathers grow afterward, and the
body grows into shape, requiring fully
eleven days more before the young bird
can help itself, and indeed for many
days after leaving the nest it is fed and
cared for by the parents.
The Peoples Practical Poultry
Book says of incubation! "The hen
has scarcely set on her egg. twelve hours
hc o'n some lineaments Of the head and
hu.y If the ch cken appear The heart
MA. he seen to beat nj the end of the
s,c,ud day of incubation. 1t has at
tbs time somewhat the form of horse
shoe; but no blood appears. At the
end Of two days two vessels of blood are
to be distinguished, the pulsGtion of
WhicA is very visible. One of these is
the lett vcntricle, and the other is the
root Of the great artery. AT the fftieth
hour one auricle Of the heart appears,
resembling q moose folded down upon
itself The beating of the heart is first
observed in the auriCie, and atterward
in the ventricle. At the end Of seventy
hours the wings are disiingUi.hable;
and on the head two bubbles are seen
for the brain, one for the bill, and two
for the fore and hind part Of the head
Toward the end of the fourth day tho
two aurlcIes already visible draw nearer
to the heart than before. The liver ap.
pears toward the end Of the fifth day.
Al the end OF one hundred and thirty,
one hours the first voluntary motion is
observed. At the end OF seven hours
more the lungs and stomach become
visible; and, four hours afterward, the
inle>tnes, lons, and upper-iaw. At
the one-hundred- and. .lOrty-iourlh hour
the ventriclcs are visible, and lwo drops
Of blood, instead Of the single one that
was seen before. On the seventh day
the brain begins to have some consist
enCy. AT the MISUNDERSTANDING
tcenth hour the bill opens, and the flesh
appears on the breast. In four hours
more he breast bone is seen. In six
hours after this the ribs appear, (form-
ing 'rom the back and the bill is clearly
visible, rs well as the gall-bladder. The
bill becomes green at the end of two
hundred and thiry-siX hours: and, if
the chicken be taken out Of its covering
at thi; period 1t evidently moves itself.
The fcalhcrG begin to shoot out toward
the two huudred.and-forieth hour, and
the skull becomes gristIy. At the two
hundred daudeighty-cighth hour the ribs
are perfect. At the three-hundred and
tIirty-hrst hour the spleen draws near
the stomach, and the lungs 10 the chest.
At the end of three hundred and fifty
five hours the bill frequently opens and
shuts, and at the end Of the eighteenth
day the first cry OF the chicken is heard.
1t afterward gets more strength, and
grows continually, till al length it is
enabled to set itself free from its con-
finement." In the whole process, we
must remark that every part appears in
its proper time. If, for example, the
liver is formed on the fifth day, it is
founded on the preceding situation of |
the chicken, and on the changes that are
to follow. No part Of the body could |
possibly appear sooner or later without |
the whole embryo suffering.