THE COiUION FOWL. 65 



from time to time her fostering warmth, and 

 huddle together under the shelter of her wings. 

 Reaumur, while piirsuing his experiments 

 on the artificial hatching of eggs, found it 

 necessary to have recourse to some means of 

 supplying the deficiency in this respect, and 

 thereby atone for the want of maternal care. 

 While crouching under the hen, the backs of 

 the chickens are necessarily more warmed than 

 the under parts ; and he found, by experience, 

 that in his contrivances, this principle must 

 be always kept in view, and after several trials 

 adopted a sort of box lined with sheep-skin, 

 dressed with the wool on it. The top of this 

 box sloped like a writing desk, and it was 

 attached to, or rather inclosed within, a sort 

 of large cage made of willow-grating, or net 

 work, in which the chickens fed and played. 

 At both ends, the box was open, allowing the 

 chickens to enter, and its sloping top rendered 

 it commodious for chickens of different sizes. 

 In this simple apparatus, which Reaumur 

 designated an artificial mother, the chickens 

 slept at night ; and they often resorted to it 

 during the day, and as the smallest could 

 easily escape at the lowest end, they were in 

 no danger of being squeezed or crushed by 



