IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HATCHING EGGS, AND FOR RAISING OR REARING THE YOUNG WHEN FIRST PRODUCED
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carlo Minasi, of Brecknock Place, Camden Town,
in the County of Middlesex, Professor of Music, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HATCHING EGGS, AND FOR RAISING OR
REARING THE YOUNG WHEN FIRST PRODUCED."
Sealed the 20th October 1854, and dated the 2nd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carlo Minasi at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd May
1854.
I, CARLO MINAS, of Brecknock Place, Camden Town, in the County of
Middlesex, Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HATCHING EGGS, AND FOR RAISING
OR REARING THE YOUNG WHEN FIRST PRODUCED," to be as follows:-
These improvements embrace, firstly, the application of heat to eggs, for the
purposes of my Invention, by the contact of their under surfaces against any
suitably heated surface, substance, or material, instead of the heat being applied
downwards or laterally..
Secondly, the use of sand for applying contact heat to eggs, for the purposes
of my Invention.
Thirdly, the use of a boiler or vessel containing water kept boiling under

page_text: atmospheric pressure only, and consequently at an uniform temperature, as
a means of heating by radiation, and thereby maintaining at an uniform or
nearly uniform temperature the sand bath or other vessel, surface, substance,
or material in, on, or against which the eggs are placed.
Fourthly, the application of a supply cistern or reservoir to boilers or vessels
containing water, to be heated for the purposes of my Invention in such manner
as to compensate for evaporation or waste.
Fifthly, the barometrical regulation of the temperature of vessels or boilers
to be used for the purposes of my Invention, by means of an air chamber or
vessel, the air in which, on expanding or diminishing, acts on a column of
mercury, and thereby by means of a float or otherwise on a damper or valve,
which regulates the escape of the heat which is generated.
Sixthly, the use of surfaces warmed by heated water or steam or otherwise,
so supported and arranged as to allow the young to stand or crouch beneath
or under and near to them, for the purpose of keeping them sufficiently
warm.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Carlo Minasi in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CARLO
MINASI, of Camden Town, in the County of Middlesex, Professor of Music,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Carlo Minasi,. Her special licence that I, the said Carlo Minasi, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Carlo
Minasi, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time-agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
HATCHING EGGS, AND FOR RAISING OR REARING THE YOUNG WHEN FIRST PRODUCED,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Carlo Minasi, by an

page_text: instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Carlo Minasi, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof (that is to say):-
.
My Invention has reference to apparatus for hatching eggs by the applica-
tion of heat to their under surfaces, by contact against the surface of some
substance or material heated for the purpose, and consists,-
Firstly, in constructing such apparatus of a covered box, tray, or vessel for
containing water, and of a boiler or heater in connection therewith, and in
arranging or disposing the said box or vessel in a slanting position to keep up
the circulation of the water, the upper side or surface of the box or vessel
being furnished with a rim, wall, or other contrivance, so as to make it into a
receptacle in or upon which (or upon sand or other material placed in or upon
it) the eggs to be hatched may rest.
Secondly, in constructing apparatus, as above set forth, with a conical bottom
to the boiler or heater employed, or with a spiral or winding flue passing
through the water space; or with both a conical bottom (to the heater) and a
spiral or winding flue, in either case for the purpose of economising the heat
applied by a lamp or other means:
Thirdly, in constructing apparatus, as firstly and secondly set forth, with
air tubes or passages extending completely through the water space of the box
or vessel aforesaid, from the lower side or bottom to the upper side or top of
the said box or vessel.
My Invention also has reference to apparatus for raising or rearing the
young when first produced by means of warmed or heated surfaces, arranged
so as to allow the young to stand or crouch bencath, under, or near them, so as
to keep themselves warm, and consists, fourthly, in constructing such apparatus
of a box, tray, or vessel for containing water to be heated in any convenient
manner, whether such box or vessel be covered or not covered, and in making
the under side or surface or bottom of such box or vessel of a corrugated form,
so as to afford the desired surface or surfaces for warming the young, whether
it be or be not arranged or disposed in a slanting position to keep up the
circulation of the water.

page_text: Fifthly, my Invention consists in constructing my improved apparatus for
raising or rearing the young (as fourthly above set forth) in combination with
either one or more of my improved apparatus for hatching eggs (as firstly,
secondly, and thirdly above set forth).
Sixthly and lastly, my Invention consists in constructing apparatus for
hatching eggs, with a boiler or vessel for containing water, to be kept boiling
under atmospheric pressure only, as a means of heating without contact, but:
by direct radiation, and, thereby maintaining at an uniform or nearly uniform
temperature the sand bath or other vessel, surface, substance, or material in, on,
or against which the eggs are placed and heated by contact.
.
And having thus, set forth the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner in which the same is to be and may be performed,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, for the purpose of such reference.
(I., II., III., IV., V.) For the convenience of illustration, I have made
the Drawing to represent my fifth improvement as embodying the first four
improvements in one and the same machine or apparatus, such being the.
form in which it is expected the machines or apparatus will be generally i
manufactured.
"
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the apparatus through the line Z, Z, in s
the plan view Figure 2; Figure 3 is a front or end view, shewing the door of
the lamp cupboard standing open obliquely; and Figure 4 is a transverse
section through the line Y, Y, in the plan view. Similar letters of reference
are employed to denote the same or corresponding parts in all the Figures.
a is a frame or stand on which the wooden box 6 rests, which carries or holds 2
the box, tray, or vessel c, d. I make this latter box of zinc or other suitable
metal, and construct it in one with, or I connect with it, the boiler or heater e;
which also I make of zinc or other suitable material, and I place or arrange
the box c, d, in a slanting position, (as shewn in the Figure 1,) so as to cause a
good circulation of the water contained in the box and in the boiler. I con- 3
struct the upper side or surface c of the box with a rim or wall all round it,
so as to-form-it-into-a tray or receptacle for the eggs to be hatched, and I
construct the under side or surface or bottom d of a piece of the zinc (or other
metal employed), which has been bent or shaped into a corrugated form (as
shewn in the Figure 4), so as to afford a number of channels or places in or 3
underneath which the young may nestle or crouch for warmth. (This part of
the apparatus I denominate an "artificial mother;") and, further, I construct
the said box with a number of tubes m, m, passing completely through it

page_text: from the lower surface d up to, and through, and a little above the upper
surface c, so that a degree of ventilation may take place, and that atmo-
spheric or other moisture may pass up from beneath and distribute itself over
the surfaces of the eggs, which are distributed about on a layer of sand placed
in the tray formed by the upper surface c, and its side walls. And, lastly, I
construct the boiler or heater e with a conical bottom ex, and with a spiral or
winding flue or chimney e, (as shewn in the Figure 1,) in order to economize
heat by affording an increased surface in contact with the water to be
heated.
The requisite amount of heat is communicated and kept up by means of a
lamp f, which may be an ordinary Holliday's naptha lamp, or a Holliday's
naptha lamp in which the conducting wick or strand is made of asbestos mixed
with cotton, in the use of which latter lamp I have found that a more steady
and uniform degree of heat is inaintained, and a less degree of attention is
required.
To shield the lamp from currents of air, it is enclosed in a cupboard or
chamber, (as shewn in the Figures 1 and 3,) and the door of this chamber is
furnished with a glass panel, so that the lamp may be inspected without opening
the door to see whether it requires trimming or attention. The regulation of
the heat is effected by the ordinary regulation of the flame, also by the damper
on the top of the flue e², and also and principally by the distance at which the
lamp is placed from the heater e. A convenient method of effecting this last
mode of adjustment is shewn in the Figures 1 and 3, where the lamp is
represented as resting on an improved stool or stand, consisting of two boards
g, g, two legs or rods h, h, hinged to the upper board, and two other legs or
rods i, i, hinged to the lower board, (the legs h and i being connected by joints
where they cross each other as shewn,) and of a screw k, by turning which the
inclination of the legs or rods may be altered, and consequently the upper
board or platform on which the lamp rests may be raised or lowered. It is to
be noted that this stool or stand constitutes no part of the present Invention.
The tray in which the eggs are placed has perforations in its sides or walls for
the purpose of ventilation, and is covered over partly by glass plates n, n,
mounted in frames, and removeable when desired, and partly by hinged
covers n*, n*, one being of glass, as before, and the other of perforated zinc,
to allow more circulation of air, as these latter covers are placed over a
portion of the tray divided off from the remainder and intended for the eggs,
which are all but at maturity, and for the young immediately they are produced
from the eggs, and before they are sufficiently strong to be placed in the
:

page_text: wooden box b in company with others a little older. It will be observed, on
reference to the Figure 1, that the floor of this box not being quite parallel to
the bottom of the box c, d, will allow the young of varying sizes to find a
corresponding suitable position to warm themselves under or in between the
corrugations, in accordance with their respective heights. o, o, are troughs
for food for the young; p is a thermometer for indicating the temperature of
the water.
The manner of using my improved apparatus is the same with that of other
artificial incubators, but it may be well to observe that I have found it neces-
sary to keep a blanket covered over the apparatus when in use, and that it is
adviseable to maintain the temperature of the water at from 103 to 105
degrees of Fahrenheit, and to turn each egg once in twenty-four hours. On
the last day before the period of incubation is expired, the eggs which have
arrived at such period of maturity should be removed from the larger into the
smaller partition of the tray on the upper surface of the box or vessel c, d,
in which a blanket may be used instead of sand, as represented in the
Drawing.
I wish it to be understood that my improved "artificial mothers," con-
structed as distinct or separate apparatus from egg hatching machines, as set
forth in my fourth improvement, may be made either with or without a top or
cover to the box, tray, or vessel, and either with or without the conical bottom
to the heater, and either with or without the spiral or winding flue; and also
that any other convenient mode of heating the water may be substituted for
that represented and described, as, for instance, heated pipes in the water or
steam blowing off through pipes into the water, or in such situations as supply
a quantity of warm water running to waste by simply causing it to flow away
over the corrugated surfaces. These lastly-mentioned modes of heating will
apply whether the "artificial mothers" be disposed in a slanting position
or not.
(VI.) I effect my sixth improvement by means of a flat, shallow, covered
boiler, constructed of zinc or iron, and heated by gas or by a small furnace, so
as to keep the water constantly boiling, and I convey away, the steam by a
waste pipe to any convenient discharge, and above this boiler, and perfectly
distinct and separate from it, and at a short distance from it, I place a shallow
tray of zinc or other suitable metal containing sand, on which the eggs to be
hatched are to be placed, and I cover the tray over with glass plates or covers,
and with a blanket, as before described, and I furnish the tray with any con-
venient means of raising or depressing it bodily, for the purpose of regulating

page_text: the temperature derived by direct radiation from the boiler beneath. The
exact distance is a matter of experiment, determinable by the result which
gives the temperature desired, and which is to be ascertained by means of a
thermometer immersed in the sand.
In witness whereof, I, the said Carlo Minasi, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
CARLO MINASI. (L.S.)