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THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



THE POLAND, OR POLISH FOWL. 



STNONYMES. Gallus giganteus (var. ?), of Temminck, Paduan Fowl, of 

 Aldrovandi ; Copplecrowns, in Norfolk, England r Polish fbwl, Polan. 

 den, Slack Polish Fowl, Golden Polands, Silver Polands, White Polish 

 Fowl, Spangled Polish Fowl, Poland Topknots, of the English and An- 

 glo-Americans. 



Certain fowls, with topknots, are called by the names 

 indicated above. Whence the cognomen of " Polands" 

 was derived, it is difficult to trace. Those who doubt 

 the likelihood of any new breed of poultry coming from 

 Poland, are inclined to think the word a corruption of 

 some term derived from the poll, or head ; the word 

 " polled," which we now apply to cattle without horns, 

 would be more suitable to fowls with topknots. Or, it 

 might possibly be given in allusion to the plica polonica, 

 or Polish disease, in which the hair in the human subject 

 grows into an immense matted mass. Whether the 

 climate of Northern Europe has any tendency to de- 

 velop the growth of crests, " muffs," &c., (as in what are 

 called Siberian fowls, or muffed Dorkings,) on the heads 



