84f De Reaumur, 



was made on a considerable scale, under 

 the royal patronage, and M. De Reaumur, 

 a name well known in the annals of science, 

 did not think it beneath the dignity of his 

 name and acquirements, to undertake the 

 practical and superintending part, pcrform- 

 insf it with a minuteness of attention, which 

 may well excite jealousy in the breasts of 

 the most thorough-paced housewives in 

 Christendom. He afterwards presented to 

 his country, and to the world at large, the 

 successful and important results, in a come- 

 ly octavo, adorned with fourteen explana- 

 tory and useful folding plates, and contain- 

 ing nearly five hundred closely printed 

 pages. This curious work was tran< lated 

 into English, with greater fidelity than ele- 

 gance, in the year 1750. Nor was the 

 attempt of De Reaumur at the multiplica- 

 tion of chickens, the only one in France ; 

 ladies of high quality, and reverend in- 

 mates of the convent, patriotically bestow- 

 ed their industry and attention on the same 

 pursuit with considerable success. Not 

 «nly in France, but at Florence, and even 



