80 AMERICAN POrLTRY ASSOCIATION 



December, 1891, in which he makes the following statements 

 concerning the relation of Cochins, Javas and Shanghaes in 

 general : 



''In 1852 the first heavy black fowls of an Asiatic type ap- 

 peared in Massachusetts as Black Javas. The females were 

 black ; some of the males were wholly black, others had mahog- 

 any-streaked necks with red mahogany round spots on the wing 

 coverts. The Cochin Chinas, or Shanghae they were called by 

 both names came to us in buff, grouse color, black-reds, the 

 black now and then appearing. From the first trio I owned, a 

 male, then called Black-Red, identical with Partridge Cochin 

 male of today, a buff colored pullet, and hen buff in ground color, 

 minutely penciled with dark brown, came black chicks, as well 

 as some the color of Partridge, Buff, and White Cochins, which 

 bred true to color. The first Black Cochins were a dull black. 

 When the first American standard was made, all these Shang- 

 haes were christened Cochins, and the Black put in the list ; this 

 ignored the Black Javas and forced them into the Cochin class. 

 Many breeders were striving to breed them to smooth shanks, 

 and birds were becoming more plentiful with the smooth shank. 

 The action of the fanciers was somewhat censured for thus ignor- 

 ing a breed which some claimed were older residents of the 

 country than the Cochin. But the act pressed all the Black 

 Asiatic blood into the class ; the result was that for a while, 

 although the Blacks were less pure in Cochin type, they were 

 the most prolific in that they laid more and larger eggs." 



From the above it appears that Black Javas were Black 

 Cochins, according to the "Standard of Excellence," at least. 

 It would further be a fair inference that two sorts of Black 

 Asiatics were being developed, one with heavy leg feathering 

 and another with less and with much lighter bodies. That those 

 who favored no leg feathering did not perfect their ideals is ap- 

 parent from the foregoing. 



Several of the citations previously quoted agree upon the 

 number of different varieties of Shanghaes or Cochins, also upon 

 the character of each of these varieties, showing thereby that a 

 distinct breed with many different varieties in conformity with 

 the modern understanding of the terms "breed" and "variety" 

 and our conception of the distinction between the two terms 

 existed in those days. On the other hand, we hear of only one 

 variety of Java in those days, the Black. Even the Mottled is 

 not mentioned. Otherwise than through faulty nomenclature, 



