Finally, we may conclude with respect to the various breeds of the fowl,
that the main bones of the wing have probably been shortened in a very
slight degree; that they have certainly become lighter relatively to the
leg-bones in all the breeds in which these latter bones are not unnaturally
short or delicate; and that the crest of the sternum, to which the pectoral
muscles are attached, has invariably become less prominent, the whole
sternum being also extremely liable to deformity. These results we may
attribute to the lessened use of the wings.
CORRELATION OF GROWTH.
I will here sum up the few facts which I have collected on this obscure,
but important, subject. In Cochin and Game fowls there is perhaps some
relation between the colour of the plumage and the darkness of the egg-
shell. In Sultans the additional sickle-feathers in the tail are apparently
related to the general redundancy of the plumage, as shown by the feathered
legs, large crest, and beard. In two tailless fowls which I examined the
oil-gland was aborted. A large crest of feathers, as Mr. Tegetmeier has
remarked, seems always accompanied by a great diminution or almost entire
absence of the comb. A large beard is similarly accompanied by diminished
or absent wattles. These latter cases apparently come under the law of
compensation or balancement of growth. A large beard beneath the lower jaw
and a large top-knot on the skull often go together. The comb when of any
peculiar shape, as with Horned, Spanish, and Hamburgh fowls, affects in a
corresponding manner the underlying skull; and we have seen how wonderfully
this is the case with Crested fowls when the crest is largely developed.
With the protuberance of the frontal bones the shape of the internal
surface of the skull and of the brain is greatly modified. The presence of
a crest influences in some unknown way the development of the ascending
branches of the premaxillary bone, and of the inner processes of the nasal
bones; and likewise the shape of the external orifice of the nostrils.
There is a plain and curious correlation between a crest of feathers and
the imperfectly ossified condition of the skull. Not only does this hold
good with nearly all crested fowls, but likewise with tufted ducks, and as
Dr. Gunther informs me with tufted geese in Germany.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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