612 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
in chicks as ever 1 hatched ; so much so, I have bred from 
them since, and they all breed true to feathers ; and I have 
two of them yet, on account of their beauty. This is farth- 
er proof to me, that two males cannot be the father of one 
offspring. I kept the Leghorn with them, and the next 
spring I got my cross. They were white, with a few scat- 
tering dark feathers, and you cannot take them wrong for 
anything. The small circular speck, Mr. Bieknell says, is 
the life principle of the egg. I will here say, the life prin- 
ciple is where the first formation of the chick takes place — 
this you will find is at the big end of the egg — the eyes first, 
and the beak and skull bone. The yolk is not made use of 
until the body is in shape; then this yellow circular that 
Mr. Bieknell speaks of, is drawn to the navel of the foetus, 
or chick ; through this circular speck is drawn a portion of 
nourishment, but not any great amount. The flesh and 
bone is made of the white of the egg. The yolk is appar- 
ently of its full size until the last twelve hours before hatch- 
ing, it is then drawn up into the belly by a small net-work 
of blood veins, entirely inclosing the yolk ; and those small 
veins are all attached to two larger ones. Put the ends of 
your fingers together, and imagine the yolk lying in your 
palms, you have the theory. Now, if an egg is lying near 
the outer edge of the nest, and is fixed to remain in that 
position for twelve hours, the chick is liable to die, because 
it receives too much air, or gets it so fast as to cause the 
navel to close before the yolk is entirely drawn in ; this you 
will see on breaking it open and examining, as nine out of 
ten will be dead. The yolk supports the chick the first 
twenty-four hours, as it will eat little or nothing before. 
Yours truly, Wm. J. Pyle. 
FAT BRAHMAS. 
Dear Wade: 
I notice in the Fanciers' Journal a letter signed E. L. W., 
who says he bought “ two very fine dark Brahma hens from 
Van Winkle’s stock that have become so enormously fat 
that they can hardly walk.” The wording of this note 
might lead to the impression that I had sent those birds in 
that fat condition, which I never do. The birds were pur- 
chased of me about one year ago, and I think have been 
overfed with corn. Sometimes the cock will break down 
birds so they cannot walk. I would feed them sparingly, 
and give them all the vermin they would take. 
I. Van Winkle. 
GAME STANDARD. 
I noticed in reading over the transactions of the Amer- 
ican Poultry Association, at the Metropolitan Hotel, 
in New York, that I have been added to the Game Com- 
mittee. I have no objections to contribute my aid toward 
perfecting this part of the standard, which I find on a close 
and critical examination very incomplete. Even in the 
Black-Breasted Beds, I find the color of the eyes and hackle 
inaccurate, and not sufficiently precise. I see they have 
omitted entirely from the standard, White, Black, and 
Cuckoo Guelders. It being easier for me to address the com- 
mittee through your paper, I shall write out a standard of 
Game, such as is adopted by the best judges in England. 
RED PILE. 
Pace, red ; eye, vermilion-red ; beak, greenish-yellow or 
white; legs and feet, light willow, yellow, or white; head, 
rich orange-red ; neck hackle, orange, or light chestnut- 
red, slightly striped with white at the bottom ; back or wing 
bow, rich, clear crimson-red, shading off to orange or chest- 
nut-red on the saddle ; throat, breast, bell} 7 , thighs, shoulders 
and tail creamy white ; wing-bars, white ; flights, clear, 
deep bay. 
HEN. 
Matches the cock in headgear, legs and feet; head and 
neck hackle, white, edged with gold; back wings and tail, 
creamy-white ; breast, rich deep salmon, the centre of each 
feather being lighter ; thighs and belly, white, slightly 
tinged with salmon. On the wing bow there is frequently 
a rich salmon shaft, and edged to each feather, this is called 
the “ rose,” and much admired by cultivated fanciers. 
There are many styles of pile-colored game ; the Cheshire 
Piles are a mixture of red and white; the Staffordshire of 
ginger and white ; the Worcestershire, a curious mixture of 
black feathers, but never raised in this country. 
Isaac Van Winkle, 
Greenville, N. J. 
LETTER TO DR. KERR IN 1850. 
My Hear Sir : 
I have several tolerable good reasons for not replying to 
you sooner — absence, business, felon on the finger, &c. 
You wish me to give my views on “ Henology,” and par- 
ticularly in relation to poultry-houses. On this latter sub- 
ject I do not feel prepared, either by practice or in theory, 
to give satisfactory or reliable information. 
In the country and in villages, where space is little worth, 
and there is not much necessity for restriction, fowls are 
generally allowed the “ largest amount of liberty.” And 
this, with reasonable limitations, in connection with plen- 
tiful and various food, is indispensable to perfect health, 
rapid growth, and a profitable yield of eggs. It is not pos- 
sible to compensate a laying hen for the want of liberty. 
Coop her up — give her grain, meat, vegetables, fruit, water, 
gravel, lime, every tiling that may be thought conducive to 
health and comfort, and though her yield of eggs will great- 
ly exceed that of a hen confined and kept in an ordinary 
way, it will by no means compare with that of a hen in a 
state of liberty, equally well kept, one that breathes the 
wholesome, free, circulating air, and picks grass, gravel, 
worms, and insects, to suit herself. The want of range has 
as much effect on the comparative barrenness of a hen in 
winter , as the cold. Liberty and varied abundance are the 
two greatest essentials for poultry, old and young, to pro- 
mote health, growth, beauty, and fertility. 
Lice have very justly been considered the greatest draw- 
back to the success and pleasure of the poultry-fancier 
and nothing short of unremitting vigilance will extermi- 
nate them, and keep them exterminated. To attain this, 
whitewash frequently all the parts adjacent to the roosting 
poles, take down these, and run them slowly through a fire 
made of wood shavings, dry weeds, or other light waste 
combustibles, until every adhering louse and lousette is de- 
molished. Flowers of sulphur (which costs five or six cents 
a pound) given to fowls with Indian meal, is highly re- 
commended ; about one ounce to a chicken, to be given in as 
short a time as they can be induced to eat it. This to be 
repeated, at discretion. I have tried these combined reme- 
dies, apparantly with good result. What share the sulphur 
had in it, I cannot positively say. It certainly never injured 
the chickens, and very probably improved their general 
health. In warm and moderate weather, the best place for 
poultry to roost is in the open air, where sunshine , and rain, 
and wind, tend equally to the destruction of parasites. 
