SECTION III. 



CHAPTER I. 

 WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS 



THE ORIGIN AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT 



FROM the first, White Plymouth Rocks came as white chicks 

 from Barred Plymouth Rock parents. This departure from 

 the general appearance, expected according to the laws of 

 heredity, has been variously explained. 



THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS 



Atavism. One claim is that it is due to a phenomenon known 

 as "atavism." This phenomenon consists in the recurrence in a 

 descendant of characters that were possessed by a remote ances- 

 tor, instead of characters found in an immediate or near ancestor. 

 The word is derived from the Latin atavus, which originally 

 meant the father of a great-great-grandfather, but which was 

 later applied to any remote ancestor. This tendency of ancestral 

 characters to reappear in offspring, either immediately or after 

 laying dormant for several generations, is due to a mysterious 

 vital principle known as heredity. If the qualities appear after 

 a long dormancy, the heredity is atavistic. Atavism implies that 

 the recurring characteristics were actually found in a remote 

 ancestor or in several of them ; otherwise, their appearance 

 would not be a manifestation of heredity, but of an effort with- 

 out a cause an ''absolute commencement." 



Possible Influence of Black Fowls. However, in the at- 

 tempts to account for white chicks from Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks, other theories have been propounded. It was even sug- 

 gested that they resulted from the influence of Black Java or 

 Black Cochin whichever may have been ancestors. This theory, 

 however, is in contravention of the well known laws of heredity ; 

 unless, indeed, it is a case of atavism from a white ancestor far 

 back along the line of descent of the Black Javas or Cochins. 



The Influence of White Fowls. Another explanation is that 

 white fowls known as Birminghams were the determining factor, 



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