The hen should be of good constitution and temper, and, if required to sit, large in the body and wide in the wings, so as to cover many eggs and shelter many chickens, but short in the legs, or she could not sit well. M. Parmentier advises the rejection of savage, quarrelsome, or peevish hens, as such are seldom favourites with the cocks, scarcely ever lay, and do not hatch well; also all above four or five years of age, those that are too fat to lay, and those whose combs and claws are rough, which are signs that they have ceased to lay. Hens should not be kept over their third year unless very good or choice. Hens are not uncommon with the plumage and spurs of the cock, and which imitate, though badly, his full-toned crow. In such fowls the power of producing eggs is invariably lost from internal disease, as has been fully demonstrated by Mr. Yarrell in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1827, and in the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society" for 1831. Such birds should be fattened and killed as soon as observed. By careful study of the characteristics of the various breeds, breeding from select specimens, and judicious crossing, great size may be attained, maturity early developed, facility in putting on flesh encouraged, hardiness of constitution and strength gained, and the inclination to sit or the faculty of laying increased. Sir John Sebright, speaking of breeding cattle, says: "Animals may be said to be improved when any desired quality has been increased by art beyond what that quality was in the same breed in a state of nature. The swiftness of the racehorse, the propensity to fatten in cattle, and to produce fine wool in sheep, are improvements which have been made in particular varieties in the species to which these animals belong. What has been produced by art must be continued by the same means, for the most improved breeds will soon return to a state of nature, or perhaps defects will arise which did not exist when the breed was in its natural state, unless the greatest attention is paid to the selection of the individuals who are to breed together."