^3,,. SOME NEW BOOKS. 223 



eighty figures, of which the great majority have previously appeared 

 in other pubHcations. A striking feature in the work is the small 

 extent to which technical terms are employed, even when structures 

 of considerable complexity are treated ; and this absence, together 

 with the general interest of the subjects, ought to ensure for it an 

 extensive circulation among that section of the public for whom it is 

 primarily intended. 



Table and Market Poultry versus Fancy Fowls. By W. B. Tegetmeier. 

 8vo. Pp. III. London: Horace Cox, Field Ofi&ce, 1892. 



In the little work which bears the above title, written though it is 

 with a pre-eminently practical object, Mr. Tegetmeier has made a 

 most interesting contribution to Zoology. During the time that 

 has elapsed since he published his well-known work on Poultry, 

 the fanciers have not stood still ; but the result of their labours in 

 selective breeding has been, as Mr. Tegetmeier conclusively proves, 

 a continuous degradation of the breeds they have taken in hand, 

 regarded as profitable stock. 



This is very strongly insisted upon in the introductory chapter 

 of the work, and attention is drawn to the similarly bad effects of 

 competitive shows on the practical qualities of other animals, such 

 as dogs and pigs. To show what the farm-yard fowl was before 

 corrupted by admixture with various artificial breeds, we are 

 presented with a reproduction of Bewick's figure, representing "a 

 short-legged, strong-winged, full-chested bird of great value as 

 a table-fowl — one that is in strong contrast to the coarse-boned, 

 narrow-chested, feather-legged mongrels" that have been the result 

 of crossing with the Cochin and Brahma. 



The next nine chapters deal with the several breeds separately 

 or in groups, the game fowl, in which the change has been especially 

 conspicuous, being taken first. This unfortunate variety has been, 

 in the pursuit of what is known as " reachiness," elongated out of all 

 knowledge, so that it reminds one of a wading bird, hens having 

 sometimes the keel of the breast-bone raised, when in the standing 

 position, 12 inches off the ground. The practice of cock-fighting, 

 however morally reprehensible, certainly tended to the production, 

 by survival of the fittest, of compact, vigorous, and meaty birds, 

 superior in every way to their present representatives ; and, to show 

 the contrast, the frontispiece gives portraits of a young game-cock 

 of the modern type, and one of the old fighting strain, represented 

 as trimmed and " heeled " for the pit, its more full-bodied character 

 being thus rendered apparent. It may be of interest to note here 

 that a recent writer on the old fighting game, Mr. Fletcher Moss, 

 states that in the examination of twenty-nine fighting specimens he 

 found that the general plumage was either the black red (the colour 

 of Gallus bankiva) or some approximation to it. As the " cockers " 

 cared nothing for colour, this must mean either that the absence of 

 selection for this point allowed of reversion, or that the natural colora- 

 tion was correlated with a stronger constitution and a higher courage, 

 though it must be noted that in the celebrated Lord Derby strain the 

 legs were white, unlike those of the wild bird. 



Dorkings are next treated — a breed whose original usefulness 

 as table-fowl has been sadly impaired by the encouragement of 

 coarse-boned specimens, the defect having originated through a 

 cross with the Malay, resorted to in order to gain increase of size. 



