TwoyoungcocksfrommywhiteGamehenwereatfirstsnowwhite;ofthese，onesubsequentlyassumedmaleorange—colouredhackles，chieflyontheloins，andtheotheranabundanceoffineorange—redhacklesontheneck，loins，andupperwing—coverts。Hereagainwehaveamoredecided，thoughpartial，reversiontothecoloursofG。bankiva。Thissecondcockwasinfactcolouredlikeaninferior"pileCamecock;"——nowthissub—breedcanbeproduced，asIaminformedbyMr。Tegetmeier，bycrossingablack—breastedredGamecockwithawhiteGamehen，andthe"pile"sub—breedthusproducedcanafterwardsbetrulypropagated。Sothatwehavethecuriousfactoftheglossy—blackSpanishcockandtheblack—breastedredGamecockwhencrossedwithwhiteGamehensproducingoffspringofnearlythesamecolours。
IrearedseveralbirdsfromthewhiteSilkhenbytheSpanishcock:allwerecoal—black，andallplainlyshowedtheirparentageinhavingblackishcombsandbones;noneinheritedtheso—calledsilkyfeathers，andthenon—
inheritanceofthischaracterhasbeenobservedbyothers。Thehensnevervariedintheirplumage。Astheyoungcocksgrewold，oneofthemassumedyellowish—whitehackles，andthusresembledinaconsiderabledegreethecrossfromtheHamburghhen;theotherbecameagorgeousbird，somuchsothatanacquaintancehaditpreservedandstuffedsimplyfromitsbeauty。
WhenstalkingaboutitcloselyresembledthewildGallusbankiva，butwiththeredfeathersratherdarker。Onclosecomparisononeconsiderabledifferencepresenteditself，namely，thattheprimaryandsecondarywing—
featherswereedgedwithgreenish—black，insteadofbeingedged，asinG。
bankiva，withfulvousandredtints。Thespace，also，acrosstheback，whichbearsdark—greenfeathers，wasbroader，andthecombwasblackish。Inallotherrespects，evenintriflingdetailsofplumage，therewastheclosestaccordance。AltogetheritwasamarvelloussighttocomparethisbirdfirstwithG。bankiva，andthenwithitsfather，theglossygreen—
blackSpanishcock，andwithitsdiminutivemother，thewhiteSilkhen。
ThiscaseofreversionisthemoreextraordinaryastheSpanishbreedhaslongbeenknowntobreedtrue，andnoinstanceisonrecordofitsthrowingasingleredfeather。TheSilkhenlikewisebreedstrue，andisbelievedtobeancient，forAldrovandi，before1600，alludesprobablytothisbreed，anddescribeditascoveredwithwool。Itissopeculiarinmanycharactersthatsomewritershaveconsidereditasspecificallydistinct;yet，aswenowsee，whencrossedwiththeSpanishfowl，ityieldsoffspringcloselyresemblingthewildG。bankiva。
Mr。Tegetmeierhasbeensokindastorepeat，atmyrequest，thecrossbetweenaSpanishcockandSilkhen，andheobtainedsimilarresults;forhethusraised，besidesablackhen，sevencocks，allofwhichweredark—
bodiedwithmoreorlessorange—redhackles。Intheensuingyearhepairedtheblackhenwithoneofherbrothers，andraisedthreeyoungcocks，allcolouredliketheirfather，andablackhenmottledwithwhite。
Thehensfromthesixabove—describedcrossesshowedhardlyanytendencytoreverttothemottled—brownplumageofthefemaleG。bankiva:onehen，however，fromthewhiteCochin，whichwasatfirstcoal—black，becameslightlybrownorsooty。Severalhens，whichwereforalongtimesnow—
white，acquiredastheygrewoldafewblackfeathers。AhenfromthewhiteGame，whichwasforalongtimeentirelyblackglossedwithgreen，whentwoyearsoldhadsomeoftheprimarywingfeathersgreyish—white，andamultitudeoffeathersoverherbodynarrowlyandsymmetricallytippedorlacedwithwhite。Ihadexpectedthatsomeofthechickenswhilstcoveredwithdownwouldhaveassumedthelongitudinalstripessogeneralwithgallinaceousbirds;butthisdidnotoccurinasingleinstance。Twoorthreealonewerereddish—brownabouttheirheads。Iwasunfortunateinlosingnearlyallthewhitechickensfromthefirstcrosses;sothatblackprevailedwiththegrandchildren;buttheyweremuchdiversifiedincolour，somebeingsooty，othersmottled，andoneblackishchickenhaditsfeathersoddlytippedandbarredwithbrown。
Iwillhereaddafewmiscellaneousfactsconnectedwithreversion，andwiththelawofanalogousvariation。Thislawimplies，asstatedinapreviouschapter，thatthevarietiesofonespeciesfrequentlymockdistinctbutalliedspecies;andthisfactisexplained，accordingtotheviewswhichImaintain，ontheprincipleofalliedspecieshavingdescendedfromoneprimitiveform。ThewhiteSilkfowlwithblackskinandbonesdegenerates，ashasbeenobservedbyMr。HewittandMr。R。Orton，inourclimate;thatis，itrevertstotheordinarycolourofthecommonfowlinitsskinandbones，duecarehavingbeentakentopreventanycross。InGermany（7/30。’DieHuhner—undPfauenzucht’Ulm1827s。17。ForMr。
Hewitt’sstatementwithrespecttothewhiteSilkfowlseethe’PoultryBook’byW。B。Tegetmeier1866page222。IamindebtedtoMr。Ortonforaletteronthesamesubject。）adistinctbreedwithblackbones，andwithblack，notsilkyplumage，haslikewisebeenobservedtodegenerate。
Mr。Tegetmeierinformsmethat，whendistinctbreedsarecrossed，fowlsarefrequentlyproducedwiththeirfeathersmarkedorpencilledbynarrowtransverselinesofadarkercolour。Thismaybeinpartexplainedbydirectreversiontotheparent—form，theBankivahen;forthisbirdhasallitsupperplumagefinelymottledwithdarkandrufousbrown，withthemottlingpartiallyandobscurelyarrangedintransverselines。Butthetendencytopencillingisprobablymuchstrengthenedbythelawofanalogousvariation，forthehensofsomeotherspeciesofGallusaremoreplainlypencilled，andthehensofmanygallinaceousbirdsbelongingtoothergenera，asthepartridge，havepencilledfeathers。Mr。Tegetmeierhasalsoremarkedtomethat，althoughwithdomesticpigeonswehavesogreatadiversityofcolouring，weneverseeeitherpencilledorspangledfeathers;
andthisfactisintelligibleonthelawofanalogousvariation，asneitherthewildrockpigeonnoranycloselyalliedspecieshassuchfeathers。Thefrequentappearanceofpencillingincrossedbirdsprobablyaccountsfortheexistenceof"cuckoo"sub—breedsintheGame，Polish，Dorking，Cochin，Andalusian，andBantambreeds。Theplumageofthesebirdsisslaty—blueorgrey，witheachfeathertransverselybarredwithdarkerlines，soastoresembleinsomedegreetheplumageofthecuckoo。Itisasingularfact，consideringthatthemaleofnospeciesofGallusisintheleastbarred，thatthecuckoo—likeplumagehasoftenbeentransferredtothemale，moreespeciallyinthecuckooDorking;andthefactisallthemoresingular，asingold—andsilver—pencilledHamburghs，inwhichpencillingischaracteristicofthebreed，themaleishardlyatallpencilled，thiskindofplumagebeingconfinedtothefemale。
Anothercaseofanalogousvariationistheoccurrenceofspangledsub—
breedsofHamburgh，Polish，Malay，andBantamfowls。Spangledfeathershaveadarkmark，properlycrescent—shaped，ontheirtips;whilstpencilledfeathershaveseveraltransversebars。ThespanglingcannotbeduetoreversiontoG。bankiva;nordoesitoftenfollow，asIhearfromMr。
Tegetmeier，fromcrossingdistinctbreeds;butitisacaseofanalogousvariation，formanygallinaceousbirdshavespangledfeathers，——forinstance，thecommonpheasant。Hencespangledbreedsareoftencalled"pheasant"—fowls。Anothercaseofanalogousvariationinseveraldomesticbreedsisinexplicable;itis，thatthechickens，whilstcoveredwithdown，oftheblackSpanish，blackGame，blackPolish，andblackBantam，allhavewhitethroatsandbreasts，andoftenhavesomewhiteontheirwings。（7/31。
Dixon’OrnamentalandDomesticPoultry’pages253，324，335。ForgamefowlsseeFergusonon’PrizePoultry’page260。）Theeditorofthe’PoultryChronicle’（7/32。’PoultryChronicle’volume271。）remarksthatallthebreedswhichproperlyhaveredear—lappetsoccasionallyproducebirdswithwhiteear—Tappets。ThisremarkmoreespeciallyappliestotheGamebreed，whichofallcomesnearesttotheG。bankiva;andwehaveseenthatwiththisspecieslivinginastateofnature，theear—lappetsvaryincolour，beingredintheMalayancountries，andgenerally，butnotinvariably，whiteinIndia。
Inconcludingthispartofmysubject，Imayrepeatthatthereexistsonewidely—ranging，varying，andcommonspeciesofGallus，namely，G。bankiva，whichcanbetamed，producesfertileoffspringwhencrossedwithcommonfowls，andcloselyresemblesinitswholestructure，plumage，andvoicetheGamebreed;henceitmaybesafelyrankedastheparentofthis，themosttypicaldomesticatedbreed。Wehaveseenthatthereismuchdifficultyinbelievingthatother，nowunknown，specieshavebeentheparentsoftheotherdomesticbreeds。Weknowthatallthebreedsaremostcloselyallied，asshownbytheirsimilarityinmostpointsofstructureandinhabits，andbytheanalogousmannerinwhichtheyvary。WehavealsoseenthatseveralofthemostdistinctbreedsoccasionallyorhabituallycloselyresembleinplumageG。bankiva，andthatthecrossedoffspringofotherbreeds，whicharenotthuscoloured，showastrongerorweakertendencytoreverttothissameplumage。Someofthebreeds，whichappearthemostdistinctandtheleastlikelytohaveproceededfromG。bankiva，suchasPolishfowls，withtheirprotuberantandlittleossifiedskulls，andCochins，withtheirimperfecttailandsmallwings，bearinthesecharacterstheplainmarksoftheirartificialorigin。Weknowwellthatoflateyearsmethodicalselectionhasgreatlyimprovedandfixedmanycharacters;andwehaveeveryreasontobelievethatunconsciousselection，carriedonformanygenerations，willhavesteadilyaugmentedeachnewpeculiarity，andthushavegivenrisetonewbreeds。Assoonastwoorthreebreedswereonceformed，crossingwouldcomeintoplayinchangingtheircharacterandinincreasingtheirnumber。BrahmaPootras，accordingtoanaccountlatelypublishedinAmerica，offeragoodinstanceofabreed，latelyformedbyacross，whichcanbetrulypropagated。Thewell—knownSebrightBantamsofferanotherandsimilarinstance。HenceitmaybeconcludedthatnotonlytheGame—breedbutthatallourbreedsareprobablythedescendantsoftheMalayanorIndianvarietyofG。bankiva。Ifso，thisspecieshasvariedgreatlysinceitwasfirstdomesticated;buttherehasbeenampletime，asweshallnowshow。
HISTORYOFTHEFOWL。
RutimeyerfoundnoremainsofthefowlintheancientSwisslake—dwellings;
but，accordingtoJeitteles（7/33。’DievorgeschichtlichenAlterthumer’II。
Theil1872page5。Dr。Pickeringinhis’RacesofMan’1850page374saysthattheheadandneckofafowliscarriedinaTribute—processiontoThoutmousisIII。（1445B。C。）;butMr。BirchoftheBritishMuseumdoubtswhetherthefigurecanbeidentifiedastheheadofafowl。SomecautionisnecessarywithreferencetotheabsenceoffiguresofthefowlontheancientEgyptianmonuments，onaccountofthestrongandwidelyprevalentprejudiceagainstthisbird。IaminformedbytheRev。S。ErhardtthatontheeastcoastofAfrica，from4to6degsouthoftheequator，mostofthepagantribesatthepresentdayholdthefowlinaversion。ThenativesofthePellewIslandswouldnoteatthefowlnorwilltheIndiansinsomepartsofS。America。FortheancienthistoryofthefowlseealsoVolz’BeitragezurCulturgeschichte’1852s。77;andIsid。GeoffroySt。—Hilaire’Hist。Nat。Gen。’tome3page61。Mr。Crawfurdhasgivenanadmirablehistoryofthefowlinhispaper’OntheRelationofDomesticatedAnimalstoCivilisation’readbeforetheBrit。Assoc。atOxfordin1860andsinceprintedseparately。IquotefromhimontheGreekpoetTheognis，andontheHarpyTombdescribedbySirC。Fellowes。IquotefromaletterofMr。
Blyth’swithrespecttotheInstitutesofManu。），suchhavecertainlysincebeenfoundassociatedwithextinctanimalsandprehistoricremains。Itis，thereforeastrangefactthatthefowlisnotmentionedintheOldTestament，norfiguredontheancientEgyptianmonuments。ItisnotreferredtobyHomerorHesiod（about900B。C。）;butismentionedbyTheognisandAristophanesbetween400and500B。C。ItisfiguredonsomeoftheBabyloniancylinders，betweenthesixthandseventhcenturiesB。C。，ofwhichMr。Layardsentmeanimpression;andontheHarpyTombinLycia，about600B。C。:sothatthefowlapparentlyreachedEuropeinadomesticatedconditionsomewhereaboutthesixthcenturyB。C。IthadtravelledstillfartherwestwardbythetimeoftheChristianera，foritwasfoundinBritainbyJuliusCaesar。InIndiaitmusthavebeendomesticatedwhentheInstitutesofManuwerewritten，thatis，accordingtoSirW。Jones，1200B。C。，but，accordingtothelaterauthorityofMr。H。
Wilson，only800B。C。，forthedomesticfowlisforbidden，whilstthewildispermittedtobeeaten。If，asbeforeremarked，wemaytrusttheoldChineseEncyclopaedia，thefowlmusthavebeendomesticatedseveralcenturiesearlier，asitissaidtohavebeenintroducedfromtheWestintoChina1400B。C。
Sufficientmaterialsdonotexistfortracingthehistoryoftheseparatebreeds。AboutthecommencementoftheChristianera，Columellamentionsafive—toedfightingbreed，andsomeprovincialbreeds;butweknownothingaboutthem。Healsoalludestodwarffowls;butthesecannothavebeenthesamewithourBantams，which，asMr。Crawfurdhasshown，wereimportedfromJapanintoBantaminJava。Adwarffowl，probablythetrueBantam，isreferredtoinanoldJapaneseEncyclopaedia，asIaminformedbyMr。
Birch。IntheChineseEncyclopaediapublishedin1596，butcompiledfromvarioussources，someofhighantiquity，sevenbreedsarementioned，includingwhatweshouldnowcallJumpersorCreepers，andlikewisefowlswithblackfeathers，bones，andflesh。In1600Aldrovandidescribessevenoreightbreedsoffowls，andthisisthemostancientrecordfromwhichtheageofourEuropeanbreedscanbeinferred。TheGallusturcicuscertainlyseemstobeapencilledHamburgh;butMr。Brent，amostcapablejudge，thinksthatAldrovandi"evidentlyfiguredwhathehappenedtosee，andnotthebestofthebreed。"Mr。Brent，indeed，considersallAldrovandi’sfowlsasofimpurebreed;butitisafarmoreprobableviewthatallourbreedshavebeenmuchimprovedandmodifiedsincehistime;
for，ashewenttotheexpenseofsomanyfigures，heprobablywouldhavesecuredcharacteristicspecimens。TheSilkfowl，however，probablythenexistedinitspresentstate，asdidalmostcertainlythefowlwithfrizzledorreversedfeathers。Mr。Dixon（7/34。’OrnamentalandDomesticPoultry’1847page185;forpassagestranslatedfromColumellaseepage312。ForGoldenHamburghsseeAlbin’NaturalHistoryofBirds’3volumeswithplates1731—38。）considersAldrovandi’sPaduanfowlas"avarietyofthePolish，"whereasMr。BrentbelievesittohavebeenmorenearlyalliedtotheMalay。TheanatomicalpeculiaritiesoftheskullofthePolishbreedwerenoticedbyP。Borelliin1656。Imayaddthatin1737onePolishsub—
breed，viz。，theGolden—spangled，wasknown;butjudgingfromAlbin’sdescription，thecombwasthenlarger，thecrestoffeathersmuchsmaller，thebreastmorecoarselyspotted，andthestomachandthighsmuchblacker:
aGolden—spangledPolishfowlin...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：