b2 OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS. 



each of these ovens, six or eight broods arc 

 annually hatched, and each brood consists 

 of from forty thousand to eighty thousand 

 chickens. The Bcrmean guarantees two-thirds 

 of the eggs with which he is entrusted by the 

 pi'oprietor, who speculates in fowls ; and if 

 any overplus eggs are hatched, the chickens 

 are the perquisite of the Bermean, who, be- 

 sides, receives his board, and thirty or forty 

 crowns for about six months' service. 



The Egyptian egg-ovens are made of brick, 

 and may be described as follows : — Let us 

 suppose a passage or gallery, about three feet 

 wide, and nine feet high, with a round hole 

 for an entrance instead of a door, running 

 through the centre of a low building ; on each 

 side of this gallery are the chambers, arranged 

 in two rows, a lower and an upper one, all of 

 the same size, namely, four or five feet in 

 breadth, twelve or fifteen in length, and three 

 in height ; each of these chambers is entered 

 from the central gallery by means of a circular 

 hole, just capable of admitting a man to creep 

 through ; consequently there are two rows of 

 holes along the gallery. Each pair of rooms, 

 namely, the under and upper, communicate by 

 means of a similar hole in the centre of the 



