214 CLASS AVES. 



kindled in the former, and they receive the heat only by the 

 lateral windows, which are in the upper chambers of the 

 ovens, and always remain open. 



The second hatching being thus arranged, one half of the 

 eggs in the lower chambers of the first four ovens which have 

 been employed, are removed, and extended on the floor of 

 the upper chambers. This change is made because the eggs 

 require so much more care as they approach the term in 

 which the chickens should come forth. They may be visited, 

 turned, &c. with more facility. 



When the twentieth day of incubation has arrived, some 

 chickens are already seen to break their shells ; but the great 

 majority are disclosed the following day, with or without 

 assistance. A few, however, do not make their appearance 

 until the twenty-second day. 



The strongest chickens are then carried into the chamber 

 destined to receive them, and are distributed to the persons 

 who have furnished the eggs, and who receive two chickens 

 for three eggs. The weakest are kept for some days longer 

 in the corridor. 



When this first hatching is finished, they proceed to a 

 third, dealing with the second in the manner we have just 

 described fot/lbe first ; and they continue the same system 

 with all the successive incubations which take place during 

 the season. 



In Egypt, it is not the Bermeans who regulate the ovens, 

 that undertake the care of the chickens. Almost as soon as 

 they have issued from their shells, they are delivered, in bands, 

 of four or five hundred, to those who have furnished the eggs, 

 and the women in each house charge themselves with the care 

 of them. In this country, where it seldom or never rains, 

 the houses, instead of slanting roofs, have flat terraces, 

 bounded by little walls four or five feet high. It is in these 

 enclosures, on the ground of which a bed of fine earth is 



