Of _Dorkings_ I have examined three skulls, one belonging to the
white-sub-breed; the one character deserving notice is the breadth of
the frontal bones, which are moderately furrowed in the middle; thus in
a skull which was less than once and a half the length of that of _G.
bankiva,_ the breadth between the orbits was exactly double. Of
_Hamburghs_ I have examined four skulls (male and female) of the
pencilled sub-breed, and one (male) of the spangled sub-breed; the
nasal bones stand remarkably wide apart, but in a variable degree;
consequently narrow membrane-covered spaces are left between the tips
of the two ascending branches of the pre-maxillary bones, which are
rather short, and between these branches and the nasal bones. The
surface of the frontal bone, on which the branches of the premaxillary
rest, is very little depressed. These peculiarities no doubt stand in
close relation with the broad, flattened rose-comb characteristic of
the Hamburgh breed.
Illustration: Fig. 35—Longitudinal sections of Skulls of Fowls
I have examined fourteen skulls of _ Polish and other crested breeds._
Their differences are extraordinary. First for nine skulls of different
sub-breeds of English Polish fowls. The hemispherical protuberance of
the frontal bones[68] may be seen in fig. 34, in which (B) the skull of
a white-crested Polish fowl is shown obliquely from above, with the
skull (A) of _G. bankiva_ in the same position. In fig. 35 longitudinal
sections are given of the skull of a Polish fowl, and, for comparison,
of a Cochin of the same size. The protuberance in all Polish fowls
occupies the same position but differs much in size. In one of my nine
specimens it was extremely slight. The degree to which the protuberance
is ossified varies greatly, larger or smaller portions of bone being
replaced by membrane. In one specimen there was only a single open
pore; generally, there are many variously shaped open spaces, the bone
forming an irregular reticulation. A medial, longitudinal, arched
ribbon of bone is generally retained, but in one specimen there was no
bone whatever over the whole protuberance, and the skull, when cleaned
and viewed from above, presented the appearance of an open basin. The
change in the whole internal form of the skull is surprisingly great.
The brain is modified in a corresponding manner, as is shown in the two
longitudinal sections, which deserve attentive consideration. The upper
and anterior cavity of the three into which the skull may be divided,
is the one which is so greatly modified; it is evidently much larger
than in the Cochin skull of the same size, and extends much further
beyond the interorbital septum, but laterally is less deep. This
cavity, as I hear from Mr. Tegetmeier, is entirely filled with brain.
In the skull of the Cochin and of all ordinary fowls a strong internal
ridge of bone separates the anterior from the central cavity; but this
ridge is quite absent in the Polish skull here figured. The shape of
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