UNCONSCIOUS SELECTION S3 



seventeen tail-feathers have been counted. Perhaps the first 

 pouter-pigeon did not inflate its crop much more than the 

 turbit now does the upper part of its oesophagus, — a habit 

 which is disregarded by all fanciers, as it is not one of the 

 points of the breed. 



Nor let it be thought that some great deviation of structure 

 would be necessary to catch the fancier's eye: he perceives 

 extremely small differences, and it is in human nature to 

 fancy any novelty, however slight, in one's own possession. 

 Nor must the value which would formerly have been set on 

 any slight differences in the individuals of the same species, 

 be judged of by the value which is now set on them, after 

 several breeds have fairly been established. It is known that 

 with pigeons many slight variations now occasionally appear, 

 but these are rejected as faults or deviations from the stand- 

 ard of perfection in each breed. The common goose has not 

 given rise to any marked varieties ; hence the Toulouse and 

 the common breed, which differ only in colour, that most 

 fleeting of characters, have lately been exhibited as distinct 

 at our poultry-shows. 



These views appear to explain what has sometimes been 

 noticed — namely, that we know hardly anything about the 

 origin or history of any of our domestic breeds. But, in 

 fact, a breed, like a dialect of a language, can hardly be said 

 to have a distinct origin. A man preserves and breeds from 

 an individual with some slight deviation of structure, or takes 

 more care than usual in matching his best animals, and thus 

 improves them, and the improved animals slowly spread in the 

 immediate neighbourhood. But they will as yet hardly have 

 a distinct name, and from being only slightly valued, their 

 history will have been disregarded. When further improved 

 by the same slow and gradual process, they will spread more 

 widely, and will be recognised as something distinct and valu- 

 able, and will then probably first receive a provincial name. 

 In semi-civilised countries, with little free comnnmication, 

 the spreading of a new sub-breed would be a slow process. 

 As soon as the points of value are once acknowledged, the 

 principle, as I have called it, of unconscious selection will 

 always tend, — perhaps more at one period than at another, as 

 the breed rises or falls in fashion, — perhaps more in one dis- 



