Some experiments on the changes which take place in the fixed principles of the egg during incubation.

  • Prout, William, 1785-1850.
Date:
1822
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some experiments on the changes which take place in the fixed principles of the egg during incubation. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    before the Royal Society, June 20,1822. Xn the year i8i6,.I was induced to commence a series of experiments on the egg during incubation, with the view of ascertaining the nature of the changes which take place du- ring that process. My inquiry was chiefly limited to the fixed principles, namely, the earthy and saline matters; but my attention was more particularly directed to the source whence the earthy matter, constituting the skeleton of the chick, W'as derived. With these views, the egg was analyzed in its recent and unaltered state, and at the end of the first, second, and third weeks of incubation. My experiments were chiefly confined to the eggs of the domestic fowl, but have been likewise par- tially extended to those of the duck and turkey. The in- vestigation has been renewed, and the experiments repeated at various intervals since the period above mentioned ; but the difficulty of the subject, and various accidents, have pre- vented me from completing them till the present time; and the results, which, after all, are much less perfect than I could wish, I have now the honour of submitting to the Society. B