What is another word for "hotbed"?

Roget's Thesaurus (1911) lists these synonyms for "hotbed": alembic, alveary, armory, atelier, axial, axis, azygous, backbone, beauty, beehive, bindery, branch, bring, buoyancy, bureau, business, cabinet, caldron, cannery, center, central, centrality, centralization, centralize, centrally, centrical, column, concentrate, concentration, concentric, converge, convergence, core, crucible, dock, dockyard, eye, factory, focal, focus.