TURKEY-FOWL AND GUINEA-FOWL. 179 



Meleagris, I find it translated ' a Guinny or Turkey 

 Hen : ' Gallince Africans seu Numidiaz, Var. ' sine quas 

 vulgo Indicae' (Coq d'fnde of the French, corrupted into 

 Dinde and Dindon!). Again, Numidica guttata of Martial 

 is rendered ' a Ginny or Turkey Hen.' Looking also 

 into an English and Spanish Dictionary of so late a 

 date as 1740, I find Gallipavo rendered 'a Turkey or 

 Guinea Cock or Hen.' Well, it is known that our British 

 forefathers originally derived the domestic turkey from 

 Spain, and meanwhile they are likely to have obtained 

 a knowledge of the true habitat of the guinea-fowl, and 

 therefore may very probably have supposed the former 

 to be the real turkey-fowl, as distinguished from the 

 guinea-fowl ; and if the word ' fowl ' be dropped in the 

 one instance and not in the other, be it remembered 

 that there was another special meaning for the word 

 Guinea, having reference to the Gold Coast, otherwise 

 the bird might have come to be known as the ' guinea,' 

 as the bantam-fowl is now currently designated the 

 ' bantam,' and the canary-bird as the ' canary,' or the 

 turkey-fowl the ' turkey.' The Latin - sounding name 

 Gallipavo seems to be of Spanish origin, and obtains 

 among the Spaniards to this day ; but their earliest name 

 for it was ' Pavon de las Indias,' ' c'est-a-dire,' as Buffon 

 remarks, ' Paon des hides Occidentals ;' which explains the 

 reference to India perpetuated in 'Dindon' " 



The turkey is again mentioned by Shakespeare in 



