st likely to have proceeded from _G. bankiva_, such as Polish fowls,
with their protuberant and little ossified skulls, and Cochins, with their
imperfect tail and small wings, bear in these characters the plain marks of
their artificial origin. We know well that of late years methodical
selection has greatly improved and fixed many characters; and we have every
reason to believe that unconscious selection, carried on for many
generations, will have steadily augmented each new peculiarity and thus
have given rise to new breeds. As soon as two or three breeds had once been
formed, crossing would come into play in changing their character and in
increasing their number. Brahma Pootras, according to an account lately
published in America, offer a good instance of a breed, lately formed by a
cross, which can be truly propagated. The well-known Sebright Bantams offer
another and similar instance. Hence it may be concluded that not only the
Game-breed but that all our breeds are probably the descendants of the
{246} Malayan or Indian variety of _G. bankiva_. If so, this species has
varied greatly since it was first domesticated; but there has been ample
time, as we shall now show.

_History of the Fowl._--Ruetimeyer found no remains of the fowl in the
ancient Swiss lake-dwellings. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament; nor
is it figured on the ancient Egyptian monuments.[393] It is not referred to
by Homer or Hesiod (about 900 B.C.); but is mentioned by Theognis and
Aristophanes between 400 and 500 B.C. It is figured on some of the
Babylonian cylinders, of which Mr. Layard sent me an impression, between
the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.; and on the Harpy Tomb in Lycia, about
600 B.C.: so that we may feel pretty confident that the fowl reached Europe
somewhere near the sixth century B.C. It had travelled still farther
westward by the time of the Christian era, for it was found in Britain by
Julius Caesar. In India it must have been domesticated when the Institutes
of Manu were written, that is, according to Sir W. Jones, 1200 B.C., but,
according to the later authority of Mr. H. Wilson, only 800 B.C., for the
domestic fowl is forbidden, whilst the wild is permitted to be eaten. If,
as before remarked, we may trust the old Chinese Encyclopaedia, the fowl
must have been domesticated several centuries earlier, as it is said to
have been introduced from the West into China 1400 B.C.

Sufficient materials do not exist for traci