174 ANCESTRY OF DOMESTIC COCK. 



cocker chewed ground ivy, and applied the juice to the 

 wound."* 



Whether the various breeds of domestic fowls have 

 diverged by independent and different roads from a single 

 type, which is most probable, or whether they have de- 

 scended from several distinct wild species, as some natu- 

 ralists maintain, is a question which can scarcely be 

 answered in the present treatise. A separate volume 

 might be written on the subject. Nevertheless, the general 

 opinion is that all the various breeds have descended from 

 a common wild ancestor — the Gallits bankiva of India. 

 This species has a wide geographical range. It inhabits 

 Northern India as far west as Scinde, and ascends the 

 Himalaya to a height of 4,000 feet. It is found in 

 Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, the Indo-Chinese countries, 

 the Philippine Islands, and the Malayan Archipelago, as far 

 eastward as Timor. Mr. Darwin has shown f that it varies 

 considerably in the wild state, and observes % that " from 

 the extremely close resemblance in colour, general struc- 

 ture, and especially in voice, between Gallus bankiva and 

 the game-fowl ; from their fertility, as far as this has been 

 ascertained, when crossed ; from the possibility of the wild 

 species being tamed, and from its varying in the wild 

 state, we may confidently look at it as the parent of the 



* ' ' The Compleat Gamester, " 1709. 



t "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," i. 235. 



% Id. i. 236, 237. 



