48 The Third and Fourth Generation 



have no record of his real origin. While we 

 think the chickens of today are probably 

 derived from the jungle fowl of India, the many 

 sorts of pigeons from the common rock pigeon, 

 European cattle from the wild cattle that stiU 

 inhabit some of the game preserves of England 

 and Germany, yet it is a matter of probability, 

 not of certainty. 



'Fortunately the incidents regarding the or- 

 igin of certain breeds and varieties are known, 

 and such are illuminating. In the first place 

 many of the valued domesticated plants and 

 animals have been transplanted from the wild 

 quite recently. The turkey, for instance, is an 

 American bird, the wild turkey stiU roaming the 

 forests in some of the wilder sections. It has 

 suffered little change apparently in the process 

 of domestication. The same may be said of 

 the duck (the common sort being an almost 

 unmodified wild mallard), of some pheasants, 

 and of the ruffed grouse, lately added to the hst 

 of domesticated animals. Recently the blue- 

 berty has passed under cultivation. The culti- 

 vated sort is much larger, juicier, and more 



