^:vr 





'It 



l$i 





•reed 



me 

 nate 



•ic 



Oi 



cwl 



T1 



aces 



here 

 Mr. 



ron 



Hi 



[res 



ne- 



nee 



.of 



-rs 



u 



[)rB 



rv 



} 



iij 



II 



a 





XXXVI 



289 



have been produced from some ancient bulky race tbrouo-L. 



the unconscious selection, carried on during many generations 



in Flanders and England, of the most powerful and heaviest 



horses, without the least intention or expectation of creating 



our present elephant-like breed * After the introduction 



into England of some Arab horses, the methodical selection 



of the swiftest individuals gradually produced the English 



race-horse. But even this change has been partly effected 



unconsciously, by the general wish to breed as fine horses as 



possible, without any intention to give to them their present 

 character. 



/ 



)/ the domesticated -pigeon of 



generic value. — Domestic pigeons afford a most strikino- iUus- 



om f 

 man 



time 



domesticated 



thousands of years in Egypt and India, and they afford 

 remarkable facilities for the production of distinct breeds as 

 the male and female birds can be easily mated for life, nnd 

 the different varieties kept together in the 

 More than 150 distinct races have received names 

 ing true ; and at least a score of these, savs 



same aviary 



Mr 



m 



was told 



, „^ ^,, ^-i ixx uiiuiug IS L, una ne 



they were wild birds, would be ranked by him as 



some 



short-faced tumbler, pouter and fan-tail, would not even be 

 placed in the same genus. From historical details which 

 have come down to us of the principal races of the pigeon 

 as they were known in India before the year 1600, it appears 

 that these races, although they might have been classed in 



same 



wild rock pigeon. 



from their aboriginal common 



e 



formin 



attention to external characters-such as the length of the 

 beak, the n.mher or length of the tail feathers, th! coloar of 

 the plumage, and the general shape of the body yet th^y 



VOL. II. 



* Darwin^' Oa Variation,' chap. 



P-21^ J 



U 



1 - 



