Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1906-07-31
Hatching the Chicks.

- GOWN 10 Jne present time,
science has gradually solved the
problem Of the growth of life in the
e gg, of which, briefly the following
data is given.
An infertile egg, or rather one
without germ, is termed clear. "
A fertile egg becomes added or
rotten" when the germ dies before
the chick is formed.
In about day after incubation
begins, life is perceptible. Toward
the close of the second day, the first
appearance Of red blood is found on
the yolk bag, On the third day the
heart appears. On the fourth day,
the pupil Of the eye can be distin-
guished. On the fifth day, the lungs
begin to be formed. On the sixth
day, the gall bladder is first percep-
tible. On the seventh day, the bill
can be seen. On the eighth day, the
brain, wings, thighs and legs are
formed. On the ninth day the bones
are shaped. On the tenth day, the
muscles of the wings are completely
formed. On the eleventh day, the
arteries begin to be distinct.
ION the twelfth or thirteenth days
if the membrane enveloping thewhite
of the egg be examined very eau
tiously by opening the shell, it will
present, Blumenbach says, without
any artificial injection, one of the
most splendid spectacles that occurs
in the whole organic creation the
most simple yet the most perfect
substitute for the lungs. 1t exhibits
surface covered with countless
blood vessels, venous and arterial,
branching through its texture. The
veins are of bright scarlet color, car
rying oxygenated blood to the chick;
while the arteries, on the other hand,
are of deep crimson or livid red,
bringing the carbonated blood from
the body embryo. The functions of
the two are thus the reverse of those
they perform after the chick re-
spires.
There used to be a theory that the
mother hen broke the shell to fire
the chick. This, however, was ex-
ploded when incubators were in
vented. Yet, Notwithstanding the
long existence of the theory, Albert
Magnus, as early as the thirteenth
century, held that the chicken, and
and not the mother, performed that
work.
The present day poultry science
mas brought this development of the
chick down to the following fact:
Twelve hours after incubation has
begun, the lineaments of the head
and body are discovered. Close OBJ
servation has found the heart to
beat by the close of the day. At the
end of forty-eight hours two vesicles
Of blood are distinguished, and pull
sation of which are visible. At the
fittieth hour an auricle of the heart
appears. At the end of seventy
hours, undistinguished wings, and
on the head two bubbles for the
brain, one for the bill and two others
for the forepart and hind part of the
head. The liver appears toward the
fifth at the end of one hundred and
thirtv-one hours, the first voluntary
motion is observed. Seven hours
later the lungs and stomach become
visible, and the intestines. the loins,
and the upper jaw are seen at the
end of one hundred and forty-two
hours. The seventh day, the brain,
which is Shiny begins to have some
sonsistence. At the one hundred and
ninetieth hour of incubation the bill
opens and the flesh appears in the
breast. Four hours after that the
sternum is seen; that is to say, the
breast bone. At the two hundred
and tenth hour, the ribs come out of
the back, the bill is very visible, as
well as the gall bladder. The bill
becomes green at the end of two
hundred and thirty-six hours. About
four hours later the feathers begin
to shoot out, and the skull becomes
gristly. The eyes appear at the two
and sixty-fourth hour; and
at the two hundred and eighty