174 
THE GIGANTIC COCK. 
country. The other two varieties are more frequently 
seen, and are known as the Silky Cock (G. lanatus), 
and the Friesland Cock (G. crispus). The first, Tern* 
minck is inclined to consider distinct. It is found 
in Japan and China, and is sold to Europeans as a 
rarity. In this country it crosses easily with the 
white domestic poultry, and a breed having the 
feathers less disunited and silky is the consequence. 
It is a curious fact, that the periosteum and skin of 
this bird are of the same dark colour with those of 
the G. morio, while the flesh is remarkably white. The 
size is rather small, the plumage of the purest white, 
the feathers having the webs disunited are of a silky 
appearance and feel, and the comb and wattles are 
of a laky purple. The Friesland or Crested Cock 
has all the feathers as it were turned the wrong way ; 
they stand nearly at right angles with the body. 
The general colour of the plumage is white, but it is 
often seen varied like the other domestic races. It 
also occurs in a domesticated state in Java and Su- 
matra, but Temminck thinks it a distinct species, 
and peculiar to some parts of the Indian islands 
yet unexplored. We, however, think this less pro- 
bable, than that the two previously mentioned are 
separate in their origin, as we meet with analogous 
variations in the hair of animals, which we know to 
belong to one race. 
It is from a better known species that the race of 
Bantams appears to have sprung ; the G. Bankiva 
of Temminck, which we have represented in the vig- 
