DOMESTIC FOWL 67 



chrysanthemums, others with cauliflower combs, 

 silky hackles, bright colorings, feathered legs, 

 and hairy or curly feathers. 



So great was the depth of variation in this do- 

 mestic species that the fanciers obtained almost 

 any form they desired. Almost any weird com- 

 bination of external characters could be found 

 and " fixed" by selective breeding. Davenport 

 states that " there have been reared chicks with 

 toes grown together by the web, without toenails, 

 or with two toenails xm one toe; but with two 

 pairs of spurs; without oil-gland or tail (though 

 from tailed ancestry) ; and with neck nearly de- 

 void of feathers. . . . " 



Included in his description are fowls with a 

 swelling on the top of the skull which causes 

 large crests of feathers to grow on the head; ill- 

 formed feathers which cover the body like tangled 

 hair; and feathers which grow forward along the 

 body instead of backward. Of the comb he has 

 secured "a score of forms: single, double, triple, 

 quintuple and walnut, V-shaped, club-shaped, 

 comprising two horns, or four or six, absent pos- 

 teriorly, absent anteriorly, and absent alto- 

 gether. " These are but a few of the possibilities 

 which confront the breeder of grotesque types. 

 Therefore it is not difficult to see why, before the 

 cry for more eggs and more poultry was raised by 

 the rapidly increasing city populations, the 



