CiiAr. I. UNCONSCIOUS SELECTION. 47 



veloped in some slis^lit degree in an unusual manner, or a 

 pouter till lie saw a pi<j^eon -with a crop of somewhat unusual 

 size ; and the more abnormal or unusual any character was 

 when it first appeared, the more likely it would be to catch his 

 attention. But to use such an expression as trying to make 

 a fantail, is, I have no doubt, in most cases, utterly incorrect. 

 The man Avho first selected a pigeon with a slightly-larger 

 tail, never dreamed what the descendants of that pigeon would 

 ht'come through long-continued, partly-unconscious and parti y- 

 nicthodical selection. Perhaps the parent-bird of all fantails 

 had only fourteen tail-feathers somewhat expanded, like the 

 jircsent Java fantail, or like individuals of other and distinct 

 breeds, in which as many as seventeen tail-feathers have been 

 counted. Perhaps tlie first pouter-pigeon did not inflate its 

 crop much more than the turbit now does the upper part of its 

 ccsojihagus-^a habit which is disregarded by aU fanciers, as it 

 is not one of the points of the breed. 



Nor let it be thought that some great de\'iation of struc- 

 ture would be necessary to catch the fancier's eye : he per- 

 ceives extremely-small differences, and it is in human nature to 

 value any novelty, however slight, in one's own possession. 

 Nor must the value which would formerly be set on any slight 

 differences in the individuals of the same species, be judged of 

 by the value which would now be set on them, after several 

 ])reeds have once fairly been established. Many slight differ- 

 ences might, and indeed do now, arise among pigeons, which 

 are rejected as faults or deviations from the standard of per- 

 fection of each breed. The common goose has not given rise 

 to any marked varieties; hence the Toulouse and the common 

 breed, Avhich differ only in color, that most fleeting of char- 

 acters, have lately been exhibited as distinct at our poultry- 

 shows. 



I think those views explain what has sometimes been 

 noticed — namely, that we know nothing about the origin or 

 history of any of our domestic breeds. But, in fact, a breed, 

 like a dialect of a language, can hardly be said to have a dis- 

 tinct origin. A man preserves and breeds from an individual 

 with some slight deviation of structure, or takes more care than 

 usual in matching his best animals, and thus imjiroves them, 

 and the improved animals slowly spread in the immediate 

 neighborhood. But as yet they will hardly have a distinct 

 name, and, from being only slightly valued, their history will 

 be disregardt>d, ^^''hen further improved by the same slow 



