SINGLE-COMB MINORCA AND WHITE-CRESTED POLISH. 7 



REMARKS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS. 



1 . COMB. The single comb of the Minorca (fig. 4) is derived from the primi- 

 tive wild ancestor, for all the four feral species of Gallus have a single comb. 

 What is remarkable about the comb of the Minorca is, however, its enormous 

 size, gaining in many fowls a length of 150 mm. and a height of 100 mm. 

 This seems to have been brought about by selection of extreme variants in 

 fluctuating variability ; at any rate, English breeders have gone further than 

 American breeders have thought wise in the production of enormous combs. 



The Polish comb (fig. 7, PI. II) is a remarkable structure and is a phylo- 

 genetically new form. Some breeders try to eliminate it altogether ; others 

 retain it as a pair of horns. I quote from some of the ' ' Standards ' ' and 

 descriptions of authors. Mr. P. Jones in Tegetmeier (1867, p. 176) says : 

 " There should be no appearance of comb." Darwin (1876, Chapter VII) 

 says : ' ' Comb absent or small and of crescentic shape. ' ' According to Wright 

 (1903, p. 443), " The comb should be practically absent, but on close inspec- 

 tion two very small horns can generally be discerned. " Baldamus (1896, 

 p. 149) states : " Kamm nicht oder kaum bemerklich, hochstens 2 kleine 

 Spitzen zulassig." The American Standard of Perfection (1905, p. 152) 

 announces : ' ' Comb V-shaped, of small size, the smaller the better ; set evenly 

 on head, retreating into crest ; natural absence of comb is preferred." My 

 parental stock (fig. 7) had two large papillae of irregular form and large 

 confluent base. Further discussion of this type of comb will be deferred to 

 page 65. 



2. NOSTRILS. In the Minorca, as in the Jungle fowl, each of the external 

 nares is a horizontal slit bounded above and laterally by a fold of cornified 

 skin (compare fig. 22). The slit leads into the outer ethmoid cavity. By 

 removing the membrane the outer fold of the ethmoid can be seen as a ridge 

 that extends well distad (Fig. A). In the Polish fowl the outer membrane 



i z 3 



FIG. A. i. Cross-section of beak of Polish fowl through wide nostril ; 

 o. e., outer ethmoidal fold. 2. Cross-section of beak of Minorca fowl through 

 narrow nostril ; p. m., premaxillary bone ; n, nasal bone. 3. Cross-section 

 of beak of fowl behind nostril ; o. e., outer ethmoidal fold. 



is so short that the narial aperture is very wide and the outer ethmoidal fold is 

 exposed to view. The nostril may be said to be wide or ' ' high ' ' (figs. 7, 12). 

 Sometimes the upper margin of the nostril may even be elevated above the 

 level of the culmen of the beak, and in this case a transverse fold crosses the 

 culmen from nostril to nostril. This I call the culminal fold. 



The morphology of the nostril of the Polish fowl seems to be little under- 

 stood. The term "cavernous" is applied to this form by the American 



