CHAPTER XII. 



BRAHMAS. 



IT is unnecessary to say much at this date about the origin 

 of Brahmas. Exhaustive investigation of a large amount of 

 original material, both in early manuscript and early print, 

 for which we were chiefly indebted to Miss Watts, and 

 which was not accessible to previous writers, enabled us to 

 show beyond doubt that the fowl, as imported into 

 America, had an Indian and not Chinese origin, as alleged 

 by Mr. Burnham for reasons of his own. Burnham states 

 that he got even his own birds from Dr. Kerr ; and Dr. 

 Kerr himself stated in print that these came from Calcutta, 

 though it suited Burnham to change this into Shanghai. 

 On the other hand, there are too many marks of the same 

 great race as the preceding about them for there to be any 

 mistake on that score. That they are closely allied to 

 Cochins is as clear as that there are many well-established 

 differences both in make and disposition. The one thing 

 certain is, that the fowl immediately sprang originally from 

 the comparatively coarse and unformed " Chittagong " fowl 

 still found about the Brahmapootra river, and which some 

 think was a kind of amalgamation of Cochin, Malay, and 

 Dorking. However this may be, some very fine specimens 

 appear to have reached America in at least two importa- 

 tions, one to Dr. Kerr and another to a Mr. Cornish ; and 

 either from Mr. Cornish's alone, or from both, the Brahma 

 has undoubtedly been bred, somewhat modified by selection, 

 as with all our other races of fowls. 



The most visible peculiarity is in the comb, which is 

 totally different from that of any other variety, except one 

 or two which also hail from India or the Indian archipelago. 

 It resembles three combs pressed into one. In a first-class 



