dbrnaramtal anfr Domestic 



CHAPTER. I. 



THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



PRELIMINARY to a description of the different breeds and 

 varieties of fowls, some general account of them, and their man- 

 agement, will be appropriate; and I know of nothing better 

 than the following, which I quote from Mr. Dixon. He says, in 

 answer to the question, What is the earliest dcate of poultry 

 keeping ? Nobody knows. My own belief is, that it is coeval 

 with the keeping of sheep by Abel, and the tilling of the ground 

 by Cain a supposition which cannot be far from probability if 

 there is any foundation for the legend that Gomer, the eldest 

 son of Japhet, took a surname from the Cock. Indeed, it 

 would be to him that Western Europe stands indebted for a 

 stock of Fowls from the Ark itself. For, it is supposed by the 

 erudite, and shown by at least probable arguments, that the 

 descendants of G-oiner settled in the northern parts of* Asia 

 Minor, and then spread into the Cimmerian Bosphorus and the 

 adjacent regions, and that from them the numerous tribes of 

 the Gauls, Germans, Celts, and Cimbrians descended. It is 

 true that there is no mention of Fowls by name in the Old 



