opinion. The laminated structure of the hackle feathers, and those of the shoulders, is never seen in any of our domestic breeds; moreover, the female has the throat clothed with feathers, and only a space round the eye bare. Nevertheless, we will not deny that, in some of the domestic varieties there may have been a cross with this species at some period or other, of which the distinctive marks have gradually become obsolete.

This, then, is the sum and substance of our knowledge respecting the wild origin of the domestic fowl, of which various breeds are spread over the world. Still more are we in the dark as to the time and circumstances of its subjugation and dispersion. We have already advanced an opinion, from a casual and little-noticed expression in the first Book of Kings, that as early as the days of Solomon, the domestic fowl was kept in Judæa, and that it was perhaps in a state of tameness long antecedently among the Egyptians. At a late period in Judæa, the fowl, as numerous allusions prove, was common. The Saviour's words to Peter, and the lamentation over Jerusalem, so full of beauty and pathos, "How often would I have gathered thy chil

dren together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" are passages sufficiently corroborative. A few years, however, antecedently to the point of time to which these passages lead us, we find that, even in Britain, the domestic fowl was known. How it had reached this ultima thule, of which the Romans, previous to the invasion, or we might almost say, discovery by Julius Cæsar, were ignorant, it is difficult to determine. We cannot think that it was imported by the early tribes, Celtic or Belgic, who colonized our fertile land; they were nomadic people warriors, scarcely knowing whither they went; if, however, we might hazard an opinion, it is to the Phoenicians the merchants of Tyre, whose vessels brought the peacock to Solomon, and who were the great mariners of antiquity, that we owe the introduction of this valuable bird. A history of that wonderful people remains yet to be elaborated; but that they were familiar with our western and southern coasts, and also with "Erin's green isle," is, we believe, conceded by all antiquarians. Another inlet to the fowl. might have been by the way of Gallia, (where, as Cæsar informs us, three settled nations

dwelt, dividing the land, in his days,) and between which country and Britain, there was a perpetual intercourse. Be this as it may, Cæsar notices the fowl as established in our island, and informs that, though it was kept for pleasure, it was forbidden by the Druids to be used as food. The goose,* the hare, and the fish of rivers were also among the forbidden meats. That the Romans, during their long domination, introduced various breeds of fowls, and perhaps other poultry into our island, may be easily believed; nevertheless, the fowl and the goose were domesticated here, on their arrival. The gems and coins of ancient Greece prove the remoteness of time at which the domestic fowl was a familiar denizen in that country. The cock was dedicated to several of the Grecian gods, as Apollo, Mars, Mercury, Esculapius, etc., and our readers may remember that, in his dying hour, the great Socrates-perhaps in irony, perhaps from some feelings connected with early associations-reminded his friends that he owed a cock to Esculapius. The watchfulness, spirit, and prowess of the bird

We have here a proof that the goose was kept domesticated in England from a very early epoch.

The

were no doubt its recommendations. Greek names of the fowl are Alectryon, (ἀλεκτρυών,) and Alectoris, αλεκτορίς,) but it was also called the Persian bird, (Iepoikòs öpvis,) and Aristophanes (Birds) introduces one of his characters as showing how the cock had reigned in Persia before Darius and Megabyzus, a circumstance which goes some way to prove the westward radiation of the fowl from its Indian cradle. Various breeds for the combat were highly esteemed in Greece. Those of Tanagra Delos, and Rhodes, also of Chalcis, Media, Persia, and the neighbourhood of Alexandria, were in high repute. The Romans, who imitated the Greeks in so many points, adopted, among others, the savage amusement of cock-fighting, so consonant to the taste of a populace whose greatest delight was in the combats of a blood-stained arena, where men and beasts fell in mortal strife to gratify the lust of slaughter. But the delicacy of the flesh of these birds was by no means overlooked by the Romans in the days of their luxury, when exorbitant sums were lavished upon the pleasures of the table, and the nobles vied with each other in the senseless extravagance of their entertainments. In order to

improve the whiteness and delicacy of their flesh, fowls and capons were fed in the dark upon meal, for the gratification of the palate of the epicure. A "barn-door chuckie," we think, would have been ten times more preferable; however, on the score of fattening and cramming, and torturing poultry, neither we of England, nor our neighbours of France, have a syllable to utter against the ancient Romans.

If in ancient Greece and Rome cock-fighting were a favourite amusement, not less so has it been in England. The practice was not improbably introduced into our island by the Romans, when they established here their language and their customs. Be this as it may, it is only within this last few years that this barbarous sport has become neglected, and that the cockpits have been deserted. Not that the cruel practice is quite obsolete, for there are a few still who delight in the mortal combat of the feathered champions, and keep up the game breeds in their purity. In India, China, Malacca, and the Greek islands, this sport is carried on with the utmost ardour. In Sumatra, indeed, it is pursued with an excitement bordering upon