Problems Involved in Full-Color Reproduction of Growing Chick Embryo

Attempts to record on 16-mm. color-film the structural changes taking place during the 21-day incubation period of the hen's egg present problems varying with each day's growth. Because the authors were working with living subjects that required strict adherence to narrow tolerances in order to maintain normal embryological development and even life itself, it was necessary to adapt photography to the problem—not the reverse, as is often possible. — Development of the embryo is shown in three different ways, i. e., by transmitted light, with shell entire; removal of part of the shell and subsequent photography by reflected light; removing the entire shell and placing the embryo in a watch crystal, thus showing all parts in relative sizes. — In all three methods, temperature, humidity, and light control constituted the major problems. Special equipment devised to meet the requirements of both normal incubation and photography had to be built, and the use of mineral oil to obtain a transparent plane surface over the opaque, irregular, inner membrane of the egg's air-cell was evolved. — Color motion pictures have provided a distinct contribution in reproducing accurately the structural changes occurring during the incubation period.

Print ISSN

0097-5834

Published

1938-07

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J14656