HATCHING. 61 



the inmates left in peace, till the return of 

 another day calls for a similar routine of duty 

 and pleasure. So on, until the 21st day, when 

 the hen is released from her prison-house, and 

 walks forth the proud and devoted mother of a 

 brood of chickens. 



The necessity of damping eggs was not at all 

 understood by the old school, and yet it must 

 be done, if success in hatching is desired. Many 

 complaints are made of eggs not hatching though 

 there have been birds in each. This is entirely 

 caused by the neglect of this precaution. Unless 

 moistened, the inner membrane of the egg be- 

 comes so hard and dry, that the poor little chick 

 cannot break through, and so perishes miserably. 

 Before dying, its cry, (like that of the starling of 

 Sterne), probably has been, "I can't get out, I 

 can't get out" Has slavery a more bitter 

 draught than this? 



When a hen steals her nest in a hedge or 

 clump of evergreens, she sits on the damp 

 ground. She goes in search of food early in the 

 day before the dew is off the grass, and returns 

 to her nest with saturated feathers. To this fact 



