December 11. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
189 I 
our varieties of fowls, none, it may be safely asserted, 
possesses a more decidedly merited specific character than 
the Malay, and none appears to have preserved a closer re¬ 
semblance to its original type, the “ Gallns gigantens ” of 
the Eastern Archi])elago. 
What shall bo said of Bantams'! Are they higher or 
lower on the scale of excellence than our older fanciers 
remember to have seen them? An impartial reply to this 
(jnery requires the subdivision of tliis family, for, while it 
must be admitted, that the Sebi’ights, Gold and Silver alike, 
are not what they were, the Black, the White, and the 
Game Bantams are, probably, fully equal, if not superior, to 
their progenitors. What has caused the deterioration in 
the first-named birds belongs not to the present enquiry; 
the mere fact is now stated, and few, it is believed, will 
dissent from the opinion. If it be said, indeed, that the 
appearance of Bantams at our general poultry exhibitions is 
no just criterion of their mei’it, as the owners of many spe¬ 
cimens of high excellence are unwilling to submit them to 
that competition, it can only be replied, that it may, indeed, 
be so. but that, on the other hand, it is at least strange, that 
the inducements to exhibit, which have acted so success¬ 
fully in the cases of all other fowls, should fail here alone, ' 
The “ miscellaneous ” class is now reached ; a portion of , 
the poultry show that has always especially attracted the 1 
attention of those who have looked to these institutions as 
tending to improve the breeds of the domestic fowl. New, 
distinct varieties, possessing an economical value, at least 
equal, if not superior to that of the breeds already known, 
were here desired, but this has, hitherto, not been accom¬ 
plished. ‘ 
Of novelties, indeed, we have had several instances ; 
among these, the “ Fowls of the Saltan," as they are 
termed, certainly deserve favourable mention as ornamental 
poultry, and other instances have occurred of meritorious 
character, but which, in strictness, should have appeared 
elsewhere; as, for an example, the Jartn/asiaas, which are 
simply a sub-variety of the Spanish fowl. Speaking of 
Spanish fowls, the oiDportunity may be taken to admit a 
decided inaccuracy in a former paper on this subject, where 
tho term Minorcus" was improperly applied to the red¬ 
faced Spanish. A just remonstrance was raised by a cor- 
I’espondent against this misnomer, and the excuse is in¬ 
sufficient, because the common application of a provincial 
term that one hears, day by day, in oixlinary use, cannot be 
held to warrant its employment. The Minorcasare Spanish, 
as also tbe Andalusians, and the White and Speckled va¬ 
rieties of the same race. Their characters and properties 
are, in many respects, identical, for even the White face is 
more or less shared by all, tliougli in many it extends little 
beyond the ear-lobe. 
Of all tho “ Ghondooks,” “ Ptarmigan,” “ Yarnas,” “ Cos¬ 
sacks,” “ Russians,” and “ Bengals,” which, with an host of 
others, have sought a judicial estimate of their position in 
the poultry catalogue, it may be justly said, we have better 
birds already on our list, whether “ feather,” or “ economical 
]ircperties,” bo the test applied. Dissimilarity with other 
members of the poultry-yard, is, fortunately, an inducement 
with many to become tlie owners of fowls of this description; 
and, so far from finding fault with their choice, it is matter 
of satisfaction, since not merely is the search thus continued i 
for an admitted desideratum, but breeds, certainly more or 
less distinct, whicli may gradually serve to elucidate the 
Natural History of the domestic “ Galli,” are thus pre¬ 
served to us. 
(reese are decidedly in advance of any former standard, 
and the introduction of the “ Toulouse ” breed is assuredly 
a boon of no little value. Hitherto, perhaps, exception may 
have been taken to the decisions of judges, who in this class 
liave been sometimes held to have been too greatly in- 
Jluenced by weight alone; but usually, it should be re¬ 
membered, form and feather presented little variation in the 
competing pens. Evidence of high breeding, manifested in 
fhe full development of the features of different varieties, 
js a point here, as elsewhere, to be held far in advance of 
the mere weight of a fatted bird. 
Bucks, likewise, may thank tlie energetic originators of 
poultry shows ; and, first and foremost of tliem, tlie Ayles¬ 
bury, which are now, beyond all comparison, superior to 
their former standard. The Rouens of tlie early Bir¬ 
mingham days were, however, in colour, not less than size, 
meritorious beyond the ]ions of subsequent years. The 
class for ducks of any other variety, is, year by year, de¬ 
creasing; and this, too, on good grounds, since it seems an 
established fact, that no real competition can e.xist between 
any that have appeared and the two varieties already 
named. The Black East Indian Duck appears to have 
been lately bred too much with a view to size, by which the 
remarkably elegant proportions of the bird, as well as its 
lustrous plumage, have decidedly suffered. The Musk or 
Brazilian Duck fails to acquire new admirers,—a position 
resting on just grounds. 
The progress efiected by the Tarkeij-hveeder has also 
been great. It may not, perhaps, be true, that heavier 
weights have been attained by individual specimens, than 
such as had been previously reached, but still the average 
meiit of pens has decidedly risen, while the intermixture 
of the American blood has conferred a brilliancy of feather 
which, taken in conjunction with other valuable qualities, 
fully merit tliese terms of commendation.—W. 
DISEASES OF FOWLS AND PIGEONS. 
BRIGHT'S DISEASE IN A HEN. 
At the time when Cochins were realising as many pounds 
as they now sell for shillings, a well-known exhibitor sent 
me a hamper 'of live pullets and cockerels, whose legs 
sprawled about on either side, and left their bodies to fall to 
the ground between them; the birds suffering from muscular 
debility, owing to being almost entirely fed on boiled rice, 
of which the per centage of flesh-forming food is very small. 
They all rapidly recovered under a treatment consisting of 
three grains of citrate of iron daily, and a more nutiitive 
food. One of the pullets, being an exceedingly well-formed 
fowl, I retained in my stock until the present season, during 
which she has hatched three broods of chicken. She 
moulted after the last late brood, and recovered her usual 
weight, being apparently well, tbe only symptoms to be 
observed being extreme thirst and very watery evacuations. 
One morning she was found dead in the hen-house. On 
opening the body there was evidence of chronic inflammation 
of the lining membrane of tha abdomen, and one of the 
kidneys was exceedingly small and wasted. I am in the 
habit of taking all my most useful specimens to the Museum I 
at tbe College of Surgeons, and availing myself of the aid ! 
of the greatest microscopic autliority of the day. On 
examining the kidneys, we found the tubular structure 
entirely obliterated in the wasted one, and the tubes were 
filled up with solid secretion in tho other ; both contained 
considerable quantities of oil, a liquid which is never found 
in a healthy kidney. As disease of the kidneys is very rare 
in fowls, and as the case is very interesting in a medical 
point of view, I have thought the account worth recording, 
although the symptoms are obscure during life, and the 
disease not amenable to medical remedies. 
SCROFULOUS TUBERCLES IN A PIGEON. 
I lately received, from a well-known breeder of Pouters, 
a magnificent old cock, seven inches in the limb, which was 
wasting gradually away without any other marked symptoms. 
Believing the disease to be owfing to scrofulous tubercles in 
the liver, or other glands, I killed the bird, and, on opening 
it, found that the liver contained a number of bard tubercles 
as large as small marbles, and that others existed in the 
lungs. In an advanced stage of the disease no remedies 
could prove efficacious, and in my own stock I should never 
bo desirous of preserving a bird tainted with scrofula. The 
ease is interesting, as proving that scrofula may sometimes 
exist in Pigeons which are reared and kept in the most 
advantageous manner, this bird having varied food of the 
best quality, unlimited in supply, a dry residence, out-of- 
door exei’cise during the whole day, baths, and lime-rubbish. 
I may mention, that the disease was so strongly marked 
that the liver is now being presented ns a specimen in the 
unrivalled Museum of tho College of Sui’geons.-—W. B. 
Teoetmeier. 
