ITS EARLY DOMESTICATION. 181 
upon this point, and in his admirable work “ On the 
Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” 
he gives the following results :— 
“ The earliest record, as has been pointed out to me by 
Professor Lepsius, of pigeons in a domesticated condition, 
occurs in the fifth Egyptian dynasty, about 3000 B.C. ; but 
Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, informs me that the 
pigeon appears in a bill of fare in the previous dynasty.* 
Domestic pigeons are mentioned in Genesis, Leviticus, 
and Isaiah. In the time of the Romans, as we hear from 
Pliny, immense prices were given for pigeons ; ‘ nay, they 
are come to this pass, that they can reckon up their 
pedigree and race.’ In India, about the year 1600, 
pigeons were much valued by Akber Khan : 20,000 birds 
were carried about with the court, and the merchants 
brought valuable collections. ‘ The monarchs of Iran and 
Turan sent him some very rare breeds. His Majesty,’ 
says the courtly historian, ‘ by crossing the breeds, which 
method was never practised before, has improved them 
astonishingly. Akber Khan possessed seventeen distinct 
kinds, eight of which were valuable for beauty alone. At 
# In the ruined temple of Medineet Haboo is a representation of the coronation 
of the famous warrior, King Rameses III. (b.c. 1297). “The conquering hero, 
among the clamours of the populace, and shouts of his victorious army, is depicted 
proceeding to the temple to offer his grateful thanks to the gods ; and whilst 
certain priests in their gorgeous robes are casting incense about, and offering up 
sacrifices at many a smoking altar, others are employed in letting off carrier- 
pigeons to announce the glad tidings to every quarter of the globe.”— Leith 
Adams, Notes of a Naturalist in the Nile Valley and Malta , p. 27. 
