1872] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
293 
Asiatic Fowls. 
Were the " poultry fever " at the hight it at- 
tained not long ago, Mr. Conklin, the obliging 
gentleman in charge of the animals at Central 
Park, would no doubt be besieged for eggs of 
the Asiatic fowls he has in his collection. Mr. 
Forbes, the artist, has taken the portraits of 
these fowls as they appear In the aviary at the 
Park, and it will be seen that they do not ap- 
pear essentially dif- 
ferent from some 
breeds of game 
fowls. Those who 
have most carefully 
investigated the 
origiu of our breeds 
of domestic fowls 
all come to the 
conclusion that 
their parent is the 
Asiatic fowl, the 
Gallus Bankiva. It 
hardly seems pos- 
sible that the mi- 
nute and pompous 
Bantam, should 
have the same ori- 
gin with the portly 
and leisurely Brah- 
ma, but as different 
investigators have 
arrived at the lame 
determination, we 
accept it as a fact 
in natural history, 
and until testimony 
can be brought to show to the contrary we 
must admit that all, from the half-domesti- 
cated Leghorn to the dumpy Cochin, are from 
one original species. When we ask an old 
poultry-fancier, who has run through nil the 
breeds, " What is the best fowl, all things con- 
sidered?" he is quite sure to say the Game, 
as the best for the table, and the best in the 
long run for eggs. 
It is the close rela- 
tionship to the wild 
fowl that has made 
the breed of Leg- 
horns so popular. 
Of course, it is 
not possible t o 
trace the origin of 
our now popular 
breeds. Domestic 
fowls were kept be- 
fore the commence- 
ment of the Chris- 
tian era. The Ro- 
mans at that histor- 
ical epoch had six 
or seven named 
breeds, and paid as 
much attention to 
"toes" and "ears" 
as our breeders 
now do. It is a cu- 
rious fact that in 
many savage coun- 
tries, insular as 
well as continental, 
domestic fowls are kept, and even distinct 
breeds are known. While the fowls here 
figured are much like our Game birds, other 
specimens from Asia, also claiming to be native 
fowls, were very heavy, and more like the 
Cochins in their style and build. We have no 
doubt that a cross of either of these native birds 
upon our refined breeds would be attended with 
good results, as it would introduce new and 
vigorous blood into our yards. Those who 
would like to know the evidence brought for-' 
ward to support the statement that our domestic 
fowls are from one species, are referred to that 
remarkable work, "Darwin's Animals and 
Plants under Domestication." It is Mr. Dar- 
win's belief that all our breeds "have diverged 
by independent and different roads from a single 
A PAIR OF ASIATIC FOWLS. 
type," and he gives the characters and illustra- 
tions of several of the most distinct breeds. 
i I « n I « 
African Sheep. 
There are, or were a short time ago, in the 
collection at Central Park some "African sheep." 
Our artist has taken their portraits, and it.will 
AFRICAN SHEEP AT CENTRAL PAKK, N. 
be seen that they are as unlike our ideas of a 
fine sheep as a Western "landpike" is unlike a 
thorough-bred Berkshire or Essex. Animals of 
this kind are always interesting and instructive. 
These specimens are undoubtedly sheep, but 
how different from the South-Downs that are 
grazing upon the broad lawns of the Park ! The 
origin of our domestic breeds of sheep is very 
obscure. While some claim that they originated 
from six or more wild species, others regard 
them as having all descended from one. Where 
animals, as is the case of the sheep, have been 
under domestication from the earliest times, to 
trace their origin becomes almost an impossi- 
bility. There is good reason to believe that 
sheep were kept as domestic animals even in 
prehistoric times, as the remains of a peculiar 
breed have been 
found in the Swiss 
lake-dwellings. No 
domestic animal is 
more readily mod- 
ified by local influ- 
ences than the 
sheep. This i s 
shown by the pro- 
duction of particu- 
lar grades of wool 
i n the different 
sheep-growing dis- 
tricts of England, 
but in a more 
marked manner by 
the changes 
wrought upon 
sheep that are taken 
to peculiar climates. 
Thus, in certain 
countries, the sheep 
take on a remark- 
able development 
of tail, in others 
the horns attain an 
enormous size, and 
in others again the wool ceases to be wool, 
but becomes a coarse hair like that of the goat. 
The fat-tailed sheep have been often described; 
in these the tail takes on such an unusual enlarge- 
ment, and becomes so loaded with fat, that it 
is regarded as a great luxury, and a truck is 
provided for its support, which is dragged about 
by the animal. In other countries this deposit 
_ — j.i^ of fat is not made 
in the tail, but it 
accumulates in two 
large masses upon 
the rump, while the 
tail itself remains in 
a rudimentary state. 
In an Angola vari- 
ety of sheep there 
is a great accumu- 
lation of fat upon 
the back of the head 
and beneath the 
jaws. Besides these 
peculiarities of tak- 
ing on fat upon dif- 
ferent parts of the 
body, there is the 
greatest possible va- 
riety in the horns. 
One writer states 
that there is a con- 
stant relation be- 
tween the wool and 
the horns of the 
various breeds of 
sheep; that long 
and smooth wool is accompanied by long and 
smooth horns, and that breeds which bear close 
and curled wool have corrugated and twisted 
horns. To the breeder as well as to the nat- 
uralist every unusual form of domesticated an- 
imal is of interest, and these curious lank sheep 
will no doubt be more attractive to the wool- 
