382 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



as " tlie Shangliae fever," most of the importations of the stock 

 having been derived from the city of Shanghae, in China. In- 

 dividuals desirous of turning this excitement to their pecuniary- 

 advantage, have endeavored to make certain accidental or 

 trifling differences in this variety, the basis for its division into 

 distinct breeds. Hence we hear of Cochin-China, Imperial 

 Chinese, Hong Kong, Hoang Ho, Brahma Pootra, &c., all de- 

 rived from importations from Shanghae. 



As showing the groundlessness of these attempted distinc- 

 tions, attention is invited to some extracts from a work just 

 issued in England, entitled " The Poultry Book : comprising 

 the Characteristics, Management, Breeding, and Medical Treat- 

 ment of Poultry; being the results of personal observation and 

 practice of the best breeders, including Captain W. W. Hornby, 

 R. N. ; Edward Bond, Esq. ; Thomas Sturgeon, Esq. ; and 

 Charles Punchard, Esq. By Rev. W. Wingfield, Honorary 

 Secretary of the Cornwall Poultry Society, and G. "VV. Johnson, 

 Esq., Honorary Secretary of the Winchester Society for the 

 Improvement of Poultry." 



The work commences with a chapter headed " History and 

 Description of the Shanghae Fowl," as follows : — 



" There is a doubt, which had better be removed from the 

 very threshold, usually conveyed in the question — ' Are Cochin- 

 China and Shanghae fowls the same ?' We have always enter- 

 tained the opinion that they are ; and as we have invariably 

 found that fowls imported from China into this country, whether 

 feathered-legged or plain-legged, whether dark-plumaged or 

 light-plumaged, came liither, directly or indirectly, either from 

 Shanghae or its vicinity, we have long since concluded that 

 ' Cochin-China ' is a name altogether misapplied to this variety. 

 This conclusion amounts to conviction, since we have received 

 a letter from Mr. Robert Fortune, who has passed so many 

 years in various parts of China, in which he says : ' The man 

 who first gave these fowls the name of Cochin-China has much 

 to answer for. I firmly believe that what are called Cochin- 

 Chinas and Shanghaes, are one and the same. One thing is 

 certain, — the breed you have in this country as Cochin-China, 

 are plentiful about Shanghae. They were discovered there 

 after the war, and were frequently brought to this country, and 



