30 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



as tame as a spaniel.* On such a notion comment is now su- 

 pererogatory. For a difficulty which speaks volumes, is, that 

 those birds which have been pointed out as the most probable 

 ancestors of the Domestic Fowl, do not appear to be more tame- 

 able than the Partridge or the Golden Pheasant; moreover, so 

 remarkable an appendage as the horny expansion of the feather- 

 stem, as seen in Sonnerat's Cock, would, according to what is 

 generally supposed to take place, be increased rather than di- 

 minished and obliterated by domestication; and even if got rid 

 of by any course of breeding for a few generations, would be 

 sure, ultimately, to reappear. Now, in some races of Fowls 

 known only to the moderns, or at least not recorded, we ob- 

 serve feathered crests showing an affinity with the Lophophori, 

 the Pea Fowl, and perhaps distantly with the Curassows; in 

 others, certain Bantams, for instance, we find the feet and 

 legs covered with feathers, indicating some approach to Ptar- 

 migan and Grouse; the Silky Fowl has a plumage akin to that 

 of the Apteryx and the Cassowary ; but in none do we see any 

 thing like the bony plates in the plumage of Sonnerat's Cock. 

 A bird with this peculiarity, either in the hackle, or in the 

 wing, after the fashion of the Bohemian Chatterer, would be 

 the greatest curiosity that a London dealer could produce. 



.* The Mute Swan is thus made to be descended from the Hooper. 



"It has always had more attention paid it than its fellow subjects ; 

 it has never been kept captive (?) ; it has been destined to adorn the 

 pieces of water in our gardens, and there permitted to enjoy all the 

 sweets of liberty. The abundance and the choice of food have aug- 

 mented the bulk of the Tame Swan; but its form has lost none of its 

 elegance ; it has preserved the same graces and the same freedom in 

 all its motions ; its majestic port is ever admired : / doubt even whe- 

 ther all these qualities are found to equal extent in the wild bird." M. Bail- 

 Ion, quoted by Buffon. Just so we may manufacture Donkeys from 

 Wild Asses, Pigs from Peccaries, Dunghill Cocks from Jungle Fowl, 

 nay, why not Men from Monkeys ? See the " Vestiges of Creation." 



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