An experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump | Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768

An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768. Original in the en:National Gallery, London.

“... the Bird for a while appear'd lively enough; but upon a greater Exsuction of the Air, she began manifestly to droop and appear sick, and very soon after was taken with as violent and irregular Convulsions, as are wont to be observ'd in Poultry, when their heads are wrung off: For the Bird threw her self over and over two or three times, and dyed with her Breast upward, her Head downwards, and her Neck awry.”

Robert Boyle