357 
laid subsequently to the death of the Male Bird. 
ly three weeks after the death of the cock. These also succeed- 
ed. The third nine eggs were destroyed by some beast, after 
she had been set for a fortnight ; one egg which was preserved 
I caused to be broken, when the first stage of the bird was dis- 
tinctly seen. 
These results justify me in recommending to those breeding 
poultry the Norfolk system. A male turkey is a troublesome 
bird, and very expensive to keep in condition ; to get rid of him 
is very desirable, and it would appear that a week or ten days 
of his presence is all the time required for stock. 
Though this fact is not new, it is by no means generally 
known, and when any poultry breeder has been told of it, he 
laughs at its absurdity. Some of my neighbours are so obsti- 
nate in their adherence to the idea of distinct impregnation of 
every egg previous to protrusion, that though shewn the birds 
produced by the eggs laid after the cock's death , they said it was 
only a trick. So blinded are we by custom. 
Art. XVIII.— Ow the Ancient History of Leguminous Fruits. 
By Professor Link *. 
The name Leguminous Plants denotes sufficiently the fruits 
of which we are now to treat. The legume is a two-valved cap- 
sule, on the internal margin of which the seeds are placed 
alternately on the one and on the other valve. The plants 
which carry such legumes, form a natural order, so plain and 
distinct, that there can be no doubt among botanists as to its 
place. The leaf of this sort of plant has only mild properties ; 
the seed contains much starch in its lobes ; and hence plants of 
this order afford a useful nourishment for men and cattle. It 
is only in some of them that bitter matter is found, and but in a 
few that it becomes poisonous. 
We have not yet escaped from the mysterious circle within 
which we have long found ourselves in all our speculations re- 
specting the edible plants. Of none of those plants, which are 
every where cultivated, and in such great quantities, do we yet 
* Read at a Public Sitting of the Royal Academy of Science at Berlin, on the 
29th October J818, 
