from them, frequently appearing in the offspring of two breeds when crossed,
which peculiarities never appear, or appear with extreme rarity, in these same
breeds, as long as they are precluded from crossing. As this conclusion seems
to me highly curious and novel, I will give the evidence in detail.

[My attention was first called to this subject, and I was led to make numerous
experiments, by MM. Boitard and Corbie having stated that, when they crossed
certain breeds of pigeons, birds coloured like the wild C. livia, or the
common dovecote--namely, slaty-blue, with double black wing-bars, sometimes
chequered with black, white loins, the tail barred with black, with the outer
feathers edged with white,--were almost invariably produced. The breeds which
I crossed, and the remarkable results attained, have been fully described in
the sixth chapter. I selected pigeons belonging to true and ancient breeds,
which had not a trace of blue or any of the above specified marks; but when
crossed, and their mongrels recrossed, young birds were often produced, more
or less plainly coloured slaty-blue, with some or all of the proper
characteristic marks. I may recall to the reader's memory one case, namely,
that of a pigeon, hardly distinguishable from the wild Shetland species, the
grandchild of a red-spot, white fantail, and two black barbs, from any of
which, when purely-bred, the production of a pigeon coloured like the wild C.
livia would have been almost a prodigy.

I was thus led to make the experiments, recorded in the seventh chapter, on
fowls. I selected long-established pure breeds, in which there was not a trace
of red, yet in several of the mongrels feathers of this colour appeared; and
one magnificent bird, the offspring of a black Spanish cock and white Silk
hen, was coloured almost exactly like the wild Gallus bankiva. All who know
anything of the breeding of poultry will admit that tens of thousands of pure
Spanish and of pure white Silk fowls might have been reared without the
appearance of a red feather. The fact, given on the authority of Mr.