Z THE POULTRY-BOOK. 



It is, perhaps, impossible to pronounce with certainty as to 

 the precise origin of the domestic cock. It is impossible pos- 

 itively to say to what species of the wild cock, known at pres- 

 ent, we are to look for the primitive type. The date of the 

 original domestication of the fowl is so remote that the most 

 curious antiquary must despair of gratification, if he seeks to 

 fix it. It is necessary, therefore, to turn attention to those 

 races of poultry which manifest a truly feral type, and in them 

 seek for the evidence of originality, and rest content in such 

 approximate knowledge as we may obtain. 



Many authors of respectability and learning have made the 

 attempt to show that all the varieties of the domestic fowl, of 

 which we now have knowledge, are derived from a single prim- 

 itive stock. This is, perhaps, the general opinion ; and it is not 

 surprising that it should obtain currency, when fortified by the 

 support of so many distinguished names. In fact, naturalists, 

 in their desire for generalization, have always endeavored to 

 refer all races of animals to the fewest possible primitive 

 types. But there are facts in regard to poultry which seem 

 to render such a course in relation to them impracticable. 

 Dampier saw wild hens at Puloncondar, Timor, and St. Jago. 

 Sonnini describes wild cocks which he saw in the forests of 

 South America. M. Temminck procured wild cocks from 

 Java, Sumatra, and Ceylon. All these birds are affirmed to 

 differ essentially, in character and appearance, from those 

 found by Sonnerat in the Indies, from each other, and from 

 all the then known domestic races. More recent investigations, 

 based on a comparison of large collections of facts, are said to 

 confirm these statements. 



ft has been confidently asserted that the domestic cock owes 

 his origin to the Jungle fowl of India, but there seems to be but 

 little evidence to justify this supposition. The difference be- 

 tween them is too great to allow their common descent. The 



