ON EGGS: 101 



such another;" and it would be possible that she should go on 

 so throughout the whole flock of gcfilfry? Of course} the 

 greater the number kept, the greater' Incomes* the difficulty in 

 learning the precise marks of each./, Erorti'^asliefc of 'thirty 

 Eggs, gathered in a farm-yard 'as 'they'da'nie to "hand, eleven, 

 laid by one or two Hens, whose race we were desirous to con- 

 tinue, were selected in about two minutes by the friend who 

 supplied us with them. If four dozen Eggs, laid by no more 

 than four different Hens (especially if of different breeds), were 

 put at random on a table, the chances are that it would be as 

 easy to sort them as the four suits of a pack of cards. 



This fact might give rise to curious doubts in a court of 

 justice. When petty pilfering has been suspected about a farm, 

 Eggs have been minutely marked and returned to the places 

 whence they were taken \ and the parties, in whose possession 

 they were subsequently found, have been convicted of the theft. 

 And this if we shut our eyes to the crime (for it is a crime) 

 of laying traps and throwing temptation in the way of the 

 weak was satisfactory proof. But there are some cases in 

 which the identity of an Egg could be sworn to without any 

 marking whatsoever; where the person robbed could amrm 

 positively, " this Egg is my property, laid by such a Hen/' 

 could pick it out from a quantity laid by other Hens, and could 

 produce other Eggs to pattern it in proof of his assertion. Few 

 town-bred juries would believe this ; and yet it is quite as 

 possible as that a north-country shepherd should swear to the 

 countenance of a single sheep stolen from a flock of several 

 hundreds after the death of the animal too which has been 

 done. 



A more practical and agreeable application of our remarks 

 may be made in the choice of Eggs for hatching. It has been 

 copied and re-copied from quarto to octavo, through duodecimo 

 and pamphlet, that small round Eggs produce female, and long 

 pointed ones male chicks. Now I assert that the Hen who 



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