94 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



all the hardiness of oui native domestic fowl, with the gigantic 

 size of the foreign stock," 



The Spanish Fowl. — This fowl is frequently, but errone- 

 ously, called the Italian fowl. Mr. Richardson says : — " I re- 

 gard these birds as the result of the highest possible artificial 

 culture, and adduce, in support of my opinion, their unusually 

 large comb and wattles, characteristics not commonly to be 

 met with among primitive varieties. The color of the Spanish 

 fowl is black, and the feathers of the legs, thighs and belly, are 

 particularly decided in their hue, and of a velvetty aspect. One 

 of the most striking characteristics of this fowl, is a white check, 

 and the comb and wattles are singularly large, simple, and of a 

 very high color ; the feet and legs are of a leaden color, except 

 the soles of the feet, which are of a dirty flesh hue. This is 

 a fowl well deserving the attention of the breeder. As table 

 birds, they hold a place in the very first rank, their flesh 

 being particularly white, tender and juicy. The hens are like- 

 wise layers of the first order." 



The Dorking Fowl. — In his article on this fowl, Mr. Rich- 

 ardson says : — 



" The Dorking would appear to owe its name to its having 

 been chiefly bred in a town of Surry, of the same appella- 

 tion. That the peculiarity of five toes, or in other words, 

 two hind toes instead of one, is to be regarded as a distinc- 

 tive character, is by some writers questioned, and by others 

 wholly denied. For my part, I should say, whenever this 

 characteristic is absent, a cross has been at work. The color 

 of the Dorking is generally pure white, spotted or spangled 

 with black ; these colors will sometimes merge into a gray, or 

 grizzle. These birds have been long prized, and it is now 

 many years since their superiority over our ordinary domestic 

 varieties was originally discovered and appreciated." 



The author of an article (which appeared in April, 1849, in 

 that excellent periodical, the Albany Cultivator,) on "the 

 Dorking fowl," says of the fifth toe : — " The writer has, in 

 several instances, seen it in the Polish and the Bantam breeds. 

 There is no doubt that it is a mere freak of nature, similar to 



