greyhound, the bloodhound, the bull-dog, or Blenheim spaniel, etc. so
unlike all wild Canid ever existed freely in a state of nature? It has
often been loosely said that all our races of dogs have been produced
by the crossing of a few aboriginal species; but by crossing we can get
only forms in some degree intermediate between their parents; and if we
account for our several domestic races by this process, we must admit
the former existence of the most extreme forms, as the Italian
greyhound, bloodhound, bull-dog, etc., in the wild state. Moreover, the
possibility of making distinct races by crossing has been greatly
exaggerated. There can be no doubt that a race may be modified by
occasional crosses, if aided by the careful selection of those
individual mongrels, which present any desired character; but that a
race could be obtained nearly intermediate between two extremely
different races or species, I can hardly believe. Sir J. Sebright
expressly experimentised for this object, and failed. The offspring
from the first cross between two pure breeds is tolerably and sometimes
(as I have found with pigeons) extremely uniform, and everything seems
simple enough; but when these mongrels are crossed one with another for
several generations, hardly two of them will be alike, and then the
extreme difficulty, or rather utter hopelessness, of the task becomes
apparent. Certainly, a breed intermediate between _two very distinct_
breeds could not be got without extreme care and long-continued
selection; nor can I find a single case on record of a permanent race
having been thus formed.
_On the Breeds of the Domestic Pigeon_. Believing that it is always
best to study some special group, I have, after deliberation, taken up
domestic pigeons. I have kept every breed which I could purchase or
obtain, and have been most kindly favoured with skins from several
quarters of the world, more especially by the Honourable W. Elliot from
India, and by the Honourable C. Murray from Persia. Many treatises in
different languages have been published on pigeons, and some of them
are very important, as being of considerable antiquity. I have
associated with several eminent fanciers, and have been permitted to
join two
of the London Pigeon Clubs. The diversity of the breeds is something
astonishing. Compare the English carrier and the short-faced tumbler,
and see the wonderful difference in their beaks, entailing
corresponding differences in their skulls. The carrier, more especially
the male bird, is also remarkable from the wonderful development of the
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