166. - [Assembly 



a wild state, were nearly all black, some, perhaps, a shade lighter 

 than others. Hence the designation of them by all travellers and 

 writers as black cattle, and this, whether tame or wild, blaels or 

 white, no matter what theit color ;. and they are so designated by 

 many writers of the present day. Color, too, is often caused or 

 changed by the food of the animal ; some vegetables, by under- 

 going a certain process, will make red or black ; it is a part ol the 

 organism of some plants to make or give, in the hands of the 

 chemist, these colors bright and durable. So the change which 

 plants undergo by the process of mastication and digestion in the 

 stomachs of animals will throw open the pores and blood vessels, 

 produce a chaiige of color on the surface of the body, whether 

 this be covered with hair or feathers. It is well known that cat- 

 tle feeding on madder, a plant from which the most beautiful red 

 or scarlet is made, will, after a little while, change color; even 

 the horns and hoofs will turn red. This is continually shown 

 now in countries where they raise madder, as cattle, in a certain 

 stage of its growth, eat it freely. It will also discolor the milk of 

 cows. 



The turkies above mentioned, found at the present day in the 

 mountains, and woods adjacent to them, of some parts of Penn- 

 sylvania and New Jersey, are, we should think, not the pure wild 

 turkey, although they are called so; they are more probably a 

 cross between the wild and tame. As the settlements advanced 

 South and west, the wild turkey fled from the Middle States, and 

 migrated to the wilderness of the southern and western portion 

 of tho United States. A few, no doubt, were left behind, and 

 tliese would associate clandestinely more or less with the tame 

 turkies, on the farms in the neighborhood of the mountains and 

 f )rests where these wild ones resorted or lived. Hence the jne- 

 sent mongrel race of turkies, w'hich inhabit certain parts of Penn- 

 sylvania and New-Jersey, mostly sprung ; they are very tew com- 

 }iaiative!y,and are yearly diminishing, and will in time probably 

 disappear altogether. The vigilant and incessant pursuit ol' t! em 

 by the numerous hunters, will, we believe, ultimately ext( rniiiuife 

 them. • They are considered, and no doubt are, superior to the 

 tame one for the table, and will command in our markets a hi: I er 

 price, and sell much more readily. This of course btimulai. ^ the 



