INCUBATE, v.i. To lie, sit or press upon. In popular usage, to hatch young fowls out of eggs, even by artificial means; though Professor George Bayley prefers to call this latter process “machining ’em out.”
Said a hen to a wit: “You can’t deny
We’re very similar, you and I
In one, at least, of our useful labors.”
“The devil we are!” replied the wit.
“O yes: we’re both accustomed to sit —
I on my eggs and you on your neighbors.”