wallacegardens:

Microscopical:  Plate L
1.   and 3. Scales of various butterflies
2.   Eye of Hemerobius
4.   Wing of Peacock Butterfly
5.   Poppy Seeds
6.   Wing-case of Green Weevil 
7.   Egg of Red Underwing Moth
8.   Egg of Small White Butterfly
9.   Egg of Tortoiseshell Butterfly
10. Egg of Lathonia Butterfly  

Common Objects of the Country (1894) by Rev. J. G. Wood, illustrations by W. S. Coleman.

Embryo of Chick in Shell

Shell removed and amniotic sac dessicated after 19 days incubation. Note the air sac on the left of the egg; without that, the chick would suffocate. The in the air sac oxygen is replenished through micropores in the shell. These micropores are also why if you have a particularly smelly fish, for example, in the same refrigerator as your eggs, the eggs will taste like fish even long after the fish has been removed.

Handbook of Photomicography. H. Lloyd Hind and W. Brough Randles, 1913.

Development of Charadrius pluvialis [now dominicus] from laying to hatching

The development of the American Golden Plover is typical of many sea birds and waders.

As migratory birds, golden plovers arrive at their northern nesting grounds in the mid-spring, and lay 4-5 eggs shortly after arriving. Both parents are highly protective of the nest and chicks, which are born precocious (they can already see, walk, and find food at birth) after about 25 days of incubation. Though able to find their own food at birth, the parents protect the well-camouflaged young for the first 30 days, until they’re able to fly (fledgelings). By mid-August, most plovers and lapwings have begun to head south to their wintering grounds.

La Monde de la Mer. Alfred Fredol, 1866.

Alligator and Crocodile Embryos.

Can I just say how adorable these are?

Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, Volume XI. 1885.