240 



SKETCHES OP RURAL AFFAIRS. 



as they naturally do when at rest, they stood upright, with 

 their backs or sides pressing against the warmest part 

 of the oven. Reaumur then made his artificial mother, 

 which was a box lined with sheep-skin, with the wool 

 on it, the bottom being of a square form, and the upper 

 part sloping like a writing-desk, and open at the ends, 

 or only covered with network. The slope of the cover 

 allowed the chickens to arrange themselves according 

 to their sizes, and the open ends prevented their being 

 suffocated. The box was placed at the end of a sort of 

 cage, covered with willow or wire, which served as a 

 feeding-place for the young brood. The inventor speaks 

 thus warmly in praise of this arrangement, and of the 



ARTIFICIAL MOTHEH. (Improved Form.) 



satisfaction shown by the chickens : " They soon showed, 

 me how sensible they were of the advantage of my arti- 

 ficial mother, by their delight in remaining under it, 

 and pressing closely to it. When they had taken their 

 little meals they jumped and capered about until they 

 had tired themselves, and then hastened to the mother, 

 going so deeply into it that they were obliged to squat. 

 There is, indeed, no natural mother that can be so good 

 for the chickens as the artificial one ; and they are not 



