POSITION IN THE SHELL. 45 



surrounded by a membrane of considerable strength, 

 and thickness, confining it in a position apparently 

 the most unfavom'able to the motions necessary to 

 its emancipation: nevertheless, without changing its 

 attitude, the chick performs this seemingly most dif- 

 ficult task ; repeated strokes with its little bill, which 

 may often be heard, break the shell of the egg, at the 

 same time tearing the solid membrane in which it is 

 enveloped, and which resists its struggles full as much 

 as the hard but brittle shell. 



Nor is the head at all at liberty, or released from 

 the wing, during the struggle ; the comparison in 

 that respect with a sleeping bird not coming up fully 

 to the point, since the head of the chicken in the 

 egg reaches farther under the wing, and the bill 

 protrudes towards the back. The head, although 

 in this confined state, by moving alternately back- 

 ward and forward, and the reverse, or more exactly 

 from the belly towards the back, and from the back 

 towards the belly, reaches and strikes the shell, 

 more or less roughly, according to the quickness of 

 its motion : whilst in action it is in some degree guided 

 by the wing and the body, which retain and prevent 

 it from leaving its place. The head is very heavy 

 and large, with respect to the bulk of the body, 

 making together with the neck a weight so consi- 

 derable, that the chicken is unable to support it for 

 some time after its birth. On the other hand, the 

 manner in which all the parts are disposed, whilst 

 yet in the egg, and in the form of a ball, renders the 

 support of that weight of the neck and head per- 

 fectly easy to the chicken ; for in whatever position 



