36 ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 



to make a fantail, till he saw a pigeon with a tail 

 developed in some slight degree in an unusual manner, 

 or a pouter till he saw a pigeon with a crop of somewhat 

 unusual size ; and the more abnormal or unusual any 

 character was when it first appeared, the more likely it 

 would be to catch his attention. But to use such an 

 expression as trying to make a fantail, is, I have no 

 doubt, in most cases, utterly incorrect. The man who 

 first selected a pigeon with a slightly larger tail, never 

 dreamed what the descendants of that pigeon would 

 become through long-continued, partly unconscious 

 and partly methodical selection. Perhaps the parent 

 bird of all fantails had only fourteen tail-feathers some- 

 what expanded, like the present Java fantail, or like 

 individuals of other and distinct breeds, in which as 

 many as seventeen tail-feathers have been counted. 

 Perhaps the first pouter-pigeon did not inflate its crop 

 much more than the turbit now does the upper part of 

 its oesophagus, — a habit which is disregarded by all 

 fanciers, as it is not one of the points of the breed. 



Nor let it be thought that some great deviation of 

 structure would be necessary to catch the fancier's eye: 

 he perceives extremely small differences, and it is in 

 human nature to value any novelty, however slight, in 

 one's own possession. Nor must the value which would 

 formerly be set on any slight differences in the indi- 

 viduals of the same species, be judged of by the value 

 which would now be set on them, after several breeds 

 have once fairly been established. Many slight differ- 

 ences might, and indeed do now, arise amongst pigeons, 

 which are rejected as faults or deviations from the 

 standard of perfection of each breed. The common 

 goose has not given rise to any marked varieties ; 

 hence the Thoulouse and the common breed, which 

 differ only in colour, that most fleeting of characters, 

 have lately been exhibited as distinct at our poultry- 

 shows. 



I think these views further explain what has some- 

 times been noticed — namely, that we know nothing 

 about the origin or history of any of our domestic 



