The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1909-10-01
THE HISTORY OF
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.
Practice Was In Operation in Early
Days Of Humanity.

Like the history OF many other i'm.
portant inventions. artificial incuba-
ton. although only brought into prof
table practice in civilized countries
within recent years. was in operation
In the early days of humanity.
In Egypt. before even the Pyramids
were built, the inhabitants OF the Del
IA Of the Nile employed rude but ef
hcient structures In Matching eggs.
The incubators were huge ovens OF
earth or clay termed manuals. heated
by dried cowdung. etc. To these
places the Egyptian peasants brought
their eggs where they were Matched
for a small fee Mechanical contriy-
ances for measuring temperatures
were then unknown, the heat being
completely under the control Of the
dusky operator. who by thrusting his
bare hand into the egg chamber was
able 10 determine the heat, and IL is
said that an underheated or over
heated egg was unknown The in.
cubators were institutions for the
general public, and the success was
such that IL was nothing unusual for
a chicken TO be delivered for every egg
received
Sir John Vaudeville. an old English
traveller OF over 500 years ago. in his
writings gave an account OF the Egyp-
tan incubators at that time as fol.
lows
And there is a common house in
that city that Is full OF small furnaces.
and hither bring women Of the town
their eyren-eggs-of hens. Of geese.
and OF ducks for to be put into those
furnaces
And they that keep that house
cover them with heat Of horse-dung
without heat Of hen. goose. or duck.
or any other fowl.
And at the end OF three weeks or
Of a month they come again and take
their chicks and nourish them and
bring them forth. so that all the coun.
try Is full OF them. And so do men
there. both winter and summer"
China, however. appears TO be the
mother OF most all inventions. and
here too. artificial incubation seems 10
be old as the history OF that country
itself. The methods there. while crude
are sufficient
Straw baskets are ranged along the
ends and one side Of a straw-thatched
cottage. These baskets are plastered
with clay TO make them incomb
tible, and tile forms the bottom. be
meath which a small fire burns. A
straw cover is placed over each basket
during the process. In the center are
wide shelves over each other. to re-
ceive the eggs. at a certain stage Of
the operation. These being placed in
cot e. frL
steady heat between IS and 1902 de.
grees, but regulated by no better
thermometer than the sensations OF
the attendant, is kept up. About the
sixteenth day the fertile eggs are re
moved from the baskets and spread
on shelves covered up with cotton or
some similar substance. but without
fire underneath. And thus they re-
main until the chicks burst forth from
their shells and in two days after.
wards they are sold and carried off
Those who have seen these crude
operations all agree as to their ef-
fectiveness. The old time operators
claimed immunity from failure. but
whether this is so. the fact remains
that without modern mechanical de.
vices. excellent results have been AZ.
tanned and in comparison with the
modern machine the old-time methods
do not suffer in the least. Excellent
and very poor results have been OBJ
tained with the modern incubator.
which seems TO prove that after all
II Is not the machine which brings
forth the good matches in itself. but
the operator must employ some intel.
hgence and extreme care.-G. +. NJ.
In the American Cultivator.