112 OSTRICH-FAKMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



exposed to the rajs of the sun, a coating of vegetable 

 matter being placed round the egg only, and this pro- 

 bably acts as a non-conductor to save the eggs from 

 the excessive heat of the sand by day, whilst retaining 

 enough at night. 



The artificial hatching of fowls' eggs is supposed 

 to have been practised in Egypt for many centuries. 

 Most books on this country profess to give us descrip- 

 tions of how it is done, though some say the art is 

 known only to one small section of the people, and is 

 handed down by them as a close secret; which, taken 

 in conjunction with a letter from Colonel Gordon, the 

 then Pacha of Soudan, asking us about two years ago 

 for particulars of our incubator, and how to work one, 

 as he was anxious to introduce Ostrich-farming there — 

 eggs from the w ild birds being easil}^ procurable — makes 

 us think all published statements about it should be 

 taken with caution. The following is Lane's description, 

 as given in his *^ Modern Egyptians": — 



" The Egyptians have long been famous for the art of 

 hatching fowls' eggs by artificial heat. This practice, though 

 obscurely described by ancient authors, appears to have been 

 common in Egypt in very remote times. The building in which 

 the process is performed is called, in Lower Egypt, ' Maamal 

 el-firakh/ and in Upi^er Egypt ' Maamal el-farraag.' In the 

 former division of the country there are more than a hundred 

 such establishments, and in the latter more than half that 



