Chap. VII. OSTEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES. 283 



Finally, I have not examined a sufficient number of skele- 

 tons to say whether any of the foregoing differences, except 

 in the skull, are characteristic of the several breeds. Appa- 

 rently some differences are more common in certain breeds 

 than in others, — as an additional rib to the fourteenth, cervical 

 vertebra in Hamburghs and Games, and the breadth of the 

 end of the pubic bone in Cochins. Both skeletons of the 

 Sultan fowl had eight dorsal vertebra}, and the end of the 

 scapula in both was somewhat attenuated. In the skull, the 

 deep medial furrow in the frontal bones and the vertically 

 elongated occipital foramen seem to be characteristic of 

 Cochins; as is the great breadth of the frontal bones in 

 Dorkings ; the separation and open spaces between the tips of 

 the ascending branches of the premaxillaries and nasal bones, 

 as well as the front part of the skull being but little depressed, 

 characterise Hamburghs ; the globular shape of the posterior 

 part of the skull seems to be characteristic of laced Bantams ; 

 and lastly, the protuberance of the skull with the ascending- 

 branches of the premaxillaries partially aborted, together 

 with the other differences before specified, are eminently 

 characteristic of Polish and other Crested fowls. 



But the most striking result of my examination of the 

 skeleton is the great variability of all the bones except those 

 of the extremities. To a certain extent we can understand 

 why the skeleton fluctuates so much in structure ; fowls have 

 been exposed to unnatural conditions of life, and their whole 

 organization has thus been rendered variable ; but the breeder 

 is quite indifferent to, and never intentionally selects, any 

 modification in the skeleton. External characters, if not 

 attended to by man, — such as the number of the tail and 

 wing feathers and their relative lengths, which in wild birds 

 are generally constant, — fluctuate in our domestic fowls in 

 the same manner as the several parts of the skeleton. An 

 additional toe is a " point " in Dorkings, and has become a 

 fixed character, but is variable in Cochins and Silk fowls. 

 The colour of the plumage and the form of the comb are in 

 most breeds, or even sub-breeds, eminently fixed characters ; 

 but in Dorkings these points have not been attended to, and 

 are variable. When any modification in the skeleton is 



