104 PRACTICAL PHEASANT REARING. 



which must present to her olfactory nerves very much 

 the disagreeable sensations of the traveller in the 

 desert overtaken by the " hamseen," or south wind 

 sand cloud, and causes her to stamp and jump reck- 

 lessly about the coop, greatly to the detriment of her 

 defenceless and tender charges. In the name of 

 humanity, if you must blow in these powders, remove 

 the old hen first. Verb. sap. 



Did I but believe in the efficacy of any of these 

 much vaunted pulverisations for the cure of gapes, I 

 should have much pleasure in suggesting certain 

 common sense improvements in the construction of 

 the various bellows, syringes, and other wondrously 

 designated machines which are advertised for their 

 application ; the introduction of the nozzle thereof 

 underneath the coop, thereby letting in the fresh air, 

 which it is always distinctly stated is detrimental 

 to the salutary effect of the powder application, being 

 a great objection to their employment, as well as 

 the lifting the coop off the ground, thereby allowing 

 a chance for a chick to escape, or poke his head out, 

 to be crushed upon the readjustment of the coop. 

 And also I might easily suggest an improvement in 

 those which, blowing the powder out through a fine 

 wire sieve at the extremity of the muzzle, cause on a 

 damp night a caky substance to be formed out of the 

 powder, thereby retarding the action of the machine 

 when next used, not to mention the hard work 

 imposed upon the operator, which, to quote an old 



