Poultry egg hatching process, 1749
The pretty little theatre attached to the building of theUnicorn Club had been hired for a certain January afternoon byMr. Herbert Loring, who wished to give therein a somewhat novelperformance, to which he had invited a small audience consistingentirely of friends and acquaintances.Loring was a handsome fellow about thirty years old, who hadtravelled far and studied much. He had recently made a longsojourn in the far East, and his friends had been invited to thetheatre to see some of the wonderful things he had brought fromthat country of wonders. As Loring was a club-man, and belongedto a family of good social standing, his circle of acquaintanceswas large, and in this circle a good many unpleasant remarks hadbeen made regarding the proposed entertainment--made, of course,by the people who had not been invited to be present. Some ofthe gossip on the subject had reached Loring, who did nothesitate to say that he could not talk to a crowd, and that hedid not care to show the curious things he had collected topeople who would not thoroughly appreciate them. He had beenvery particular in regard to his invitations.At three o'clock on the appointed afternoon nearly all thepeople who had been invited to the Unicorn Theatre were in theirseats. No one had stayed away except for some very good reason,for it was well known that if Herbert Loring offered to showanything it was worth seeing.About forty people were present, who sat talking to oneanother, or admiring the decoration of the theatre. As Loringstood upon the stage--where he was entirely alone, his exhibitionrequiring no assistants--he gazed through a loophole in thecurtain upon a very interesting array of faces. There were thefaces of many men and women of society, of students, of workersin various fields of thought, and even of idlers in all fields ofthought; but there was not one which indicated a frivolous orlistless disposition. The owners of those faces had come to seesomething, and they wished to see it.For a quarter of an hour after the time announced for theopening of the exhibition Loring peered through the hole in thecurtain, and then, although all the people he had expected hadnot arrived, he felt it would not do for him to wait any longer.The audience was composed of well-bred and courteous men andwomen, but despite their polite self-restraint Loring could seethat some of them were getting tired of waiting. So, veryreluctantly, and feeling that further delay was impossible, heraised the curtain and came forward on the stage.Briefly he announced that the exhibition would open with somefireworks he had brought from Corea. It was plain to see thatthe statement that fireworks were about to be set off on atheatre stage, by an amateur, had rather startled some of theaudience, and Loring hastened to explain that these were notreal fireworks, but that they were contrivances made of coloredglass, which were illuminated by the powerful lens of a lanternwhich was placed out of sight, and while the apparent pyrotechnicdisplay would resemble fireworks of strange and grotesquedesigns, it would be absolutely without danger. He brought outsome little bunches of bits of colored glass, hung them at somedistance apart on a wire which was stretched across the stagejust high enough for him to reach it, and then lighted hislantern, which he placed in one of the wings, lowered all thelights in the theatre, and began his exhibition.As Loring turned his lantern on one of the clusters of glasslenses, strips, and points, and, unseen himself, caused them tomove by means of long cords attached, the effects were beautifuland marvellous. Little wheels of colored fire rapidly revolved,miniature rockets appeared to rise a few feet and to explode inthe air, and while all the ordinary forms of fireworks wereproduced on a diminutive scale, there were some effects that wereentirely novel to the audience. As the light was turnedsuccessively upon one and another of the clusters of glass,sometimes it would flash along the whole line so rapidly that allthe various combinations of color and motion seemed to becombined in one, and then for a time each particular set offireworks would blaze, sparkle, and coruscate by itself,scattering particles of colored light as if they had been realsparks of fire.This curious and beautiful exhibition of miniaturepyrotechnics was extremely interesting to the audience, who gazedupward with rapt and eager attention at the line of wheels,stars, and revolving spheres. So far as interest gave evidenceof satisfaction, there was never a better satisfied audience. Atfirst there had been some hushed murmurs of pleasure, but verysoon the attention of every one seemed so completely engrossed bythe dazzling display that they simply gazed in silence.For twenty minutes or longer the glittering show went on, andnot a sign of weariness or inattention was made by any one of theassembled company. Then gradually the colors of the littlefireworks faded, the stars and wheels revolved more slowly, thelights in the body of the theatre were gradually raised, and thestage curtain went softly down.Anxiously, and a little pale, Herbert Loring peered throughthe loophole in the curtain. It was not easy to judge of theeffects of his exhibition, and he did not know whether or not ithad been a success. There was no applause, but, on the otherhand, there was no signs that any one resented the exhibition asa childish display of colored lights. It was impossible to lookupon that audience without believing that they had beenthoroughly interested in what they had seen, and that theyexpected to see more.For two or three minutes Loring gazed through his loophole,and then, still with some doubt in his heart, but with a littlemore color in his checks, he prepared for the second part of hisperformance.At this moment there entered the theatre, at the very back ofthe house, a young lady. She was handsome and well dressed, andas she opened the door--Loring had employed no ushers or otherassistants in this little social performance--she paused for amoment and looked into the theatre, and then noiselesslystepped to a chair in the back row and sat down.This was Edith Starr, who, a month before, had been betrothedto Herbert Loring. Edith and her mother had been invited to thisperformance, and front seats had been reserved for them, for eachguest had received a numbered card. But Mrs. Starr had aheadache, and could not go out that afternoon, and for a time herdaughter had thought that she, too, must give up the pleasureLoring had promised her, and stay with her mother. But when theelder lady dropped into a quiet sleep, Edith thought that, lateas it was, she would go by herself, and see what she could of theperformance.She was quite certain that if her presence were known toLoring he would stop whatever he was doing until she had beenprovided with a seat which he thought suitable for her, for hehad made a point of her being properly seated when he gave theinvitations. Therefore, being equally desirous of not disturbingthe performance and of not being herself conspicuous, she satbehind two rather large men, where she could see the stageperfectly well, but where she herself would not be likely to beseen.
In a few moments the curtain rose, and Loring came forward,carrying a small, light table, which he placed near the front ofthe stage, and for a moment stood quietly by it. Edith noticedupon his face the expression of uncertainty and anxiety which hadnot yet left it. Standing by the side of the table, and speakingvery slowly, but so clearly that his words could be hearddistinctly in all parts of the room, he began some introductoryremarks regarding the second part of his performance.
"The extraordinary, and I may say marvellous, thing which Iam about to show you," he said, "is known among East Indianmagicians as the magic egg. The exhibition is a very uncommonone, and has seldom been seen by Americans or Europeans, and itwas by a piece of rare good fortune that I became possessed ofthe appliances necessary for this exhibition. They are indeedvery few and simple, but never before, to the best of myknowledge and belief, have they been seen outside of India."I will now get the little box which contains the articlesnecessary for this magical performance, and I will say that if Ihad time to tell you of the strange and amazing adventure whichresulted in my possession of this box, I am sure you would be asmuch interested in that as I expect you to be in the contents ofthe box. But in order that none of you may think this is anordinary trick, executed by means of concealed traps or doors, Iwish you to take particular notice of this table, which is, asyou see, a plain, unpainted pine table, with nothing but a flattop, and four straight legs at the corners. You can see underand around it, and it gives no opportunity to conceal anything."Then, standing for a few moments as if he had something else tosay, he turned and stepped toward one of the wings.Edith was troubled as she looked at her lover during theseremarks. Her interest was great, greater, indeed, than that ofthe people about her, but it was not a pleasant interest. AsLoring stopped speaking, and looked about him, there was amomentary flush on his face. She knew this was caused byexcitement, and she was pale from the same cause.Very soon Loring came forward, and stood by the table."Here is the box," he said, "of which I spoke, and as I holdit up I think you all can see it. It is not large, beingcertainly not more than twelve inches in length and two deep, butit contains some very wonderful things. The outside of this boxis covered with delicate engraving and carving which you cannotsee, and these marks and lines have, I think, some magicalmeaning, but I do not know what it is. I will now open the boxand show you what is inside. The first thing I take out is thislittle stick, not thicker than a lead-pencil, but somewhatlonger, as you see. This is a magical wand, and is covered withinscriptions of the same character as those on the outside of thebox. The next thing is this little red bag, well filled, as yousee, which I shall put on the table, for I shall not yet need it."Now I take out a piece of cloth which is folded into a verysmall compass, but as I unfold it you will perceive that it ismore than a foot square, and is covered with embroidery. Allthose strange lines and figures in gold and red, which you canplainly see on the cloth as I hold it up, are also characters inthe same magic language as those on the box and wand. I will nowspread the cloth on the table, and then take out the onlyremaining thing in the box, and this is nothing in the world butan egg--a simple, ordinary hen's egg, as you all see as I hold itup. It may be a trifle larger than an ordinary egg, but then,after all, it is nothing but a common egg--that is, inappearance. In reality it is a good deal more."Now I will begin the performance." And as he stood by theback of the table, over which he had been slightly bending, andthrew his eyes over the audience, his voice was stronger, and hisface had lost all its pallor. He was evidently warming up withhis subject."I now take up this wand," he said, "which, while I hold it,gives me power to produce the phenomena which you are about tobehold. You may not all believe that there is any magic whateverabout this little performance, and that it is all a bit ofmachinery; but whatever you may think about it, you shall seewhat you shall see."Now with this wand I gently touch this egg which is lying onthe square of cloth. I do not believe you can see what hashappened to this egg, but I will tell you. There is a littleline, like a hair, entirely around it. Now that line has becomea crack. Now you can see it, I know. It grows wider and wider!Look! The shell of the egg is separating in the middle. Thewhole egg slightly moves. Do you notice that? Now you can seesomething yellow showing itself between the two parts of theshell. See! It is moving a good deal, and the two halves of theshell are separating more and more. And now out tumbles thisqueer little object. Do you see what it is? It is a poor, weak,little chick, not able to stand, but alive--alive! You can allperceive that it is alive. Now you can see that it is standingon its feet, feebly enough, but still standing."Behold, it takes a few steps! You cannot doubt that it isalive, and came out of that egg. It is beginning to walk aboutover the cloth. Do you notice that it is picking the embroidery?Now, little chick, I will give you something to eat. This littlered bag contains grain, a magical grain, with which I shall feedthe chicken. You must excuse my awkwardness in opening the bag,as I still hold the wand; but this little stick I must not drop.See, little chick, there are some grains! They look like rice,but, in fact, I have no idea what they are. But he knows, heknows! Look at him! See how he picks it up! There! He hasswallowed one, two, three. That will do, little chick, for afirst meal."The grain seems to have strengthened him already, for seehow lively he is, and how his yellow down stands out on him, sopuffy and warm! You are looking for some more grain, are you?Well, you cannot have it just yet, and keep away from thosepieces of eggshell, which, by the way, I will put back into thebox. Now, sir, try to avoid the edge of the table, and, to quietyou, I will give you a little tap on the back with my wand. Now,then, please observe closely. The down which just now coveredhim has almost gone. He is really a good deal bigger, and everso much uglier. See the little pin-feathers sticking out overhim! Some spots here and there are almost bare, but he is everso much more active. Ha! Listen to that! He is so strong thatyou can hear his beak as he pecks at the table. He is actuallygrowing bigger and bigger before our very eyes! See that funnylittle tail, how it begins to stick up, and quills are showing atthe end of his wings."Another tap, and a few more grains. Careful, sir! Don'ttear the cloth! See how rapidly he grows! He is fairly coveredwith feathers, red and black, with a tip of yellow in front. Youcould hardly get that fellow into an ostrich egg! Now, then,what do you think of him? He is big enough for a broiler, thoughI don't think any one would want to take him for that purpose.Some more grain, and another tap from my wand. See! He does notmind the little stick, for he has been used to it from his verybirth. Now, then, he is what you would call a good half-grownchick. Rather more than half grown, I should say. Do you noticehis tail? There is no mistaking him for a pullet. The longfeathers are beginning to curl over already. He must have alittle more grain. Look out, sir, or you will be off the table!Come back here! This table is too small for him, but if he wereon the floor you could not see him so well."Another tap. Now see that comb on the top of his head; youscarcely noticed it before, and now it is bright red. And seehis spurs beginning to show--on good thick legs, too. There is afine young fellow for you! Look how he jerks his head from sideto side, like the young prince of a poultry-yard, as he welldeserves to be!"The attentive interest which had at first characterized theaudience now changed to excited admiration and amazement. Someleaned forward with mouths wide open. Others stood up so thatthey could see better. Ejaculations of astonishment and wonderwere heard on every side, and a more thoroughly fascinated andabsorbed audience was never seen."Now, my friends," Loring continued, "I will give thishandsome fowl another tap. Behold the result--a noble, full-grown cock! Behold his spurs! They are nearly an inch long!See, there is a comb for you! And what a magnificent tail ofgreen and black, contrasting so finely with the deep red of therest of his body! Well, sir, you are truly too big for thistable. As I cannot give you more room, I will set you up higher.Move over a little, and I will set this chair on the table.There! Upon the seat! That's right, but don't stop. There isthe back, which is higher yet! Up with you! Ha! There, henearly upset the chair, but I will hold it. See! He has turnedaround. Now, then, look at him. See his wings as he flaps them!He could fly with such wings. Look at him! See that swellingbreast! Ha, ha! Listen! Did you ever hear a crow like that?It fairly rings through the house. Yes, I knew it! There isanother!"At this point the people in the house were in a state of wildexcitement. Nearly all of them were on their feet, and they werein such a condition of frantic enthusiasm that Loring was afraidsome of them might make a run for the stage."Come, sir," cried Loring, now almost shouting, "that willdo. You have shown us the strength of your lungs. Jump down onthe seat of the chair; now on the table. There, I will take awaythe chair, and you can stand for a moment on the table and letour friends look at you; but only for a moment. Take that tap onyour back. Now do you see any difference? Perhaps you may not,but I do. Yes, I believe you all do. He is not the big fellowhe was a minute ago. He is really smaller--only a finecockerel. A nice tail that, but with none of the noble sweepthat it had a minute ago. No, don't try to get off the table.You can't escape my wand. Another tap. Behold a half-grownchicken, good to eat, but with not a crow in him. Hungry, areyou? But you need not pick at the table that way. You get nomore grain, but only this little tap. Ha, ha! What are youcoming to? There is a chicken barely feathered enough for us totell what color he is going to be."Another tap will take still more of the conceit out of him.Look at him! There are his pin-feathers, and his bare spots.Don't try to get away; I can easily tap you again. Now then.Here is a lovely little chick, fluffy with yellow down. He isactive enough, but I shall quiet him. One tap, and now what doyou see? A poor, feeble chicken, scarcely able to stand, withhis down all packed close to him as if he had been out in therain. Ah, little chick, I will take the two halves of the egg-shell from which you came, and put them on each side of you.Come, now get in! I close them up. You are lost to view. Thereis nothing to be seen but a crack around the shell! Now it hasgone! There, my friends; as I hold it on high, behold the magicegg, exactly as it was when I first took it out of the box, intowhich I will place it again, with the cloth and the wand and thelittle red bag, and shut it up with a snap. I will let you takeone more look at this box before I put it away behind the scenes.Are you satisfied with what I have shown you? Do you think it isreally as wonderful as you supposed it would be?"At these words the whole audience burst into riotousapplause, during which Loring disappeared, but he was back in amoment."Thank you!" he cried, bowing low, and waving his arms beforehim in the manner of an Eastern magician making a salaam. Fromside to side he turned, bowing and thanking, and then, with ahearty "Good-by to you; good-by to you all!" he stepped back andlet down the curtain.For some moments the audience remained in their seats as ifthey were expecting something more, and then they rose quietlyand began to disperse. Most of them were acquainted with oneanother, and there was a good deal of greeting and talking asthey went out of the theatre.When Loring was sure the last person had departed, he turneddown the lights, locked the door, and gave the key to the stewardof the club.He walked to his home a happy man. His exhibition had been aperfect success, with not a break or a flaw in it from beginningto end."I feel," thought the young man, as he strode along, "as if Icould fly to the top of that steeple, and flap and crow until allthe world heard me."That evening, as was his daily custom, Herbert Loring calledupon Miss Starr. He found the young lady in the library."I came in here," she said, "because I have a good deal totalk to you about, and I do not want interruptions."With this arrangement the young man expressed his entiresatisfaction, and immediately began to inquire the cause of herabsence from his exhibition in the afternoon."But I was there," said Edith. "You did not see me, but Iwas there. Mother had a headache, and I went by myself.""You were there!" exclaimed Loring, almost starting from hischair. "I don't understand. You were not in your seat.""No," answered Edith. "I was on the very back row of seats.You could not see me, and I did not wish you to see me.""Edith!" exclaimed Loring, rising to his feet and leaningover the library table, which was between them. "When did youcome? How much of the performance did you see?""I was late," she said. "I did not arrive until after thefireworks, or whatever they were."For a moment Loring was silent, as if he did not understandthe situation."Fireworks!" he said. "How did you know there had beenfireworks?""I heard the people talking of them as they left thetheatre," she answered."And what did they say?" he inquired quickly."They seemed to like them very well," she replied, "but I donot think they were quite satisfied. From what I heard somepersons say, I inferred that they thought it was not very much ofa show to which you had invited them."Again Loring stood in thought, looking down at the table.But before he could speak again, Edith sprang to her feet."Herbert Loring," she cried, "what does all this mean? I wasthere during the whole of the exhibition of what you called themagic egg. I saw all those people wild with excitement atthe wonderful sight of the chicken that came out of the egg, andgrew to full size, and then dwindled down again, and went backinto the egg, and, Herbert, there was no egg, and there was nolittle box, and there was no wand, and no embroidered cloth, andthere was no red bag, nor any little chick, and there was nofull-grown fowl, and there was no chair that you put on thetable! There was nothing, absolutely nothing, but you and thattable! Even the table was not what you said it was. It was notan unpainted pine table with four straight legs. It was a tableof dark polished wood, and it stood on a single post with feet.There was nothing there that you said was there. Everything wasa sham and a delusion; every word you spoke was untrue. And yeteverybody in that theatre, excepting you and me, saw all thethings that you said were on the stage. I know they saw themall, for I was with the people, and heard them, and saw them, andat times I fairly felt the thrill of enthusiasm which possessedthem as they glared at the miracles and wonders you said werehappening."Loring smiled. "Sit down, my dear Edith," he said. "You areexcited, and there is not the slightest cause for it. I willexplain the whole affair to you. It is simple enough. You knowthat study is the great object of my life. I study all sorts ofthings; and just now I am greatly interested in hypnotism. Thesubject has become fascinating to me. I have made a great manysuccessful trials of my power, and the affair of this afternoonwas nothing but a trial of my powers on a more extensive scalethan anything I have yet attempted. I wanted to see if it werepossible for me to hypnotize a considerable number of peoplewithout any one suspecting what I intended to do. The result wasa success. I hypnotized all those people by means of the firstpart of my performance, which consisted of some combinations ofcolored glass with lights thrown upon them. They revolved, andlooked like fireworks, and were strung on a wire high up on thestage."I kept up the glittering and dazzling show--which was wellworth seeing, I can assure you--until the people had beenstraining their eyes upward for almost half an hour. And thissort of thing--I will tell you if you do not know it--is one ofthe methods of producing hypnotic sleep."There was no one present who was not an impressionablesubject, for I was very careful in sending out my invitations,and when I became almost certain that my audience was thoroughlyhypnotized, I stopped the show and began the real exhibition,which was not really for their benefit, but for mine."Of course, I was dreadfully anxious for fear I had notsucceeded entirely, and that there might be at least some oneperson who had not succumbed to the hypnotic influences, and so Itested the matter by bringing out that table and telling them itwas something it was not. If I had had any reason for supposingthat some of the audience saw the table as it really was, I hadan explanation ready, and I could have retired from my positionwithout any one supposing that I had intended making hypnoticexperiments. The rest of the exhibition would have been somethings that any one could see, and as soon as possible I wouldhave released from their spell those who were hypnotized. Butwhen I became positively assured that every one saw a light pinetable with four straight legs, I confidently went on with theperformances of the magic egg."Edith Starr was still standing by the library table. She hadnot heeded Loring's advice to sit down, and she was tremblingwith emotion."Herbert Loring," she said, "you invited my mother and me tothat exhibition. You gave us tickets for front seats, where wewould be certain to be hypnotized if your experiment succeeded,and you would have made us see that false show, which faded fromthose people's minds as soon as they recovered from the spell,for as they went away they were talking only of the fireworks,and not one of them mentioned a magic egg, or a chicken, oranything of the kind. Answer me this: did you not intend that Ishould come and be put under that spell?"Loring smiled. "Yes," he said, "of course I did. But thenyour case would have been different from that of the otherspectators: I should have explained the whole thing to you, and Iam sure we would have had a great deal of pleasure, and profittoo, in discussing your experiences. The subject is extremely--""Explain to me!" she cried. "You would not have dared to doit! I do not know how brave you may be, but I know you would nothave had the courage to come here and tell me that you had takenaway my reason and my judgment, as you took them away from allthose people, and that you had made me a mere tool of your will--glaring and panting with excitement at the wonderful things youtold me to see where nothing existed. I have nothing to sayabout the others. They can speak for themselves if they evercome to know what you did to them. I speak for myself. I stoodup with the rest of the people. I gazed with all my power, andover and over again I asked myself if it could be possible thatanything was the matter with my eyes or my brain, and if I couldbe the only person there who could not see the marvellousspectacle that you were describing. But now I know that nothingwas real, not even the little pine table--not even the man!""Not even me!" exclaimed Loring. "Surely I was real enough!""On that stage, yes," she said. "But you there proved youwere not the Herbert Loring to whom I promised myself. He was anunreal being. If he had existed he would not have been a man whowould have brought me to that public place, all ignorant of hisintentions, to cloud my perceptions, to subject my intellect tohis own, and make me believe a lie. If a man should treat me inthat way once he would treat me so at other times, and in otherways, if he had the chance. You have treated me in the past asto-day you treated those people who glared at the magic egg. Inthe days gone by you made me see an unreal man, but you willnever do it again! Good-by.""Edith," cried Loring, "you don't--"But she had disappeared through a side door, and he neverspoke to her again.Walking home through the dimly lighted streets, Loringinvoluntarily spoke aloud."And this," he said, "is what came out of the magic egg!"
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