Illustrated Natural History For Young People Classic Reprint

Author : J. G. Wood
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781332816552
Total Pages : 796 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (165 download)

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Download or read book Illustrated Natural History written by J. G. Wood and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-06-28 with total page 796 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Illustrated Natural History: Birds The fuller and more technical description of the Birds runs as follows. They are vertebrate animals, but do not suckle their young, nourishing them in most instances with food which has been partially macerated in their own digestive organs, and which they are able to disgorge at will, after a manner somewhat similar to that of the ruminating quadrupeds. The young are not produced in an actively animated state, but inclosed in the egg, from which they do not emerge until they have been warmed into independent life by the effects of constant warmth. Generally, the eggs are hatched by means of the natural warmth which proceeds from the mother bird but in some instances, such as that of the tallegalla of Australia, the eggs are placed in a vast heap of dead leaves and grass, and developed by means of the heat which is exhaled from decaying vegetable substances, and which is generated to such an extent that in some cases, such as a wet haystack, it actually sets the seething mass on fire. Urged by alike instinct, our common English snake deposits its eggs in secret spots, such as dunghills and hotbeds, and there leaves them to be hatched by the constantly generated warmth. An analogous process has long been in vogue among the Egyptians for the hatching of young poultry by artificial heat, and has been, in comparatively recent years, introduced into this country. When the egg is first produced, the future chicken is merely indicated by a little germ-spot, barely the size of a single oat-grain, and does not attain the power of breathing atmospheric air, and receiving nourishment into its mouth, until a period of many days has elapsed. To watch the gradual development of the young chick is a most interesting experiment, and one which is full of suggestive instruction. There is but little difficulty in the matter, even in the very earliest stages of incubation, for the structure of the egg is so wonderfully balanced, that in order to view the little germ-spot it is only necessary to lay the egg on its side and remove a portion of the shell, when the germ will be seen lying immediately under the aperture. In whatever way an egg may be turned, the germ-spot invariably presents itself at the highest point, provided only that the egg be laid on its side, and that the living principle has not been extinguished, for life, however undeveloped, seems always to aspire. As the chick increases in size, the manipulation becomes easier, but it is always better to immerse the egg in water or other transparent liquid before removing the shell, and to keep it submerged during examination. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.