LETTER XIV. 



To the same. 



SELBORNE, March 26(6, 1773. 



:AR SIR, The more I reflect on the aropyv of 

 animals, the more I am astonished at its effects. 

 Nor is the violence of this affection more wonder- 

 ful than the shortness of its duration. Thus 

 every hen is in her turn the virago of the yard, in 

 proportion to the helplessness of her brood ; and 

 will fly in the face of a dog or a sow in defence 



of those chickens, which in a few weeks she will drive before her 



with relentless cruelty. 



This affection sublimes the passions, quickens the invention, and 



sharpens the sagacity of the brute creation. Thus an hen, just 



