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1859
1860
1861
1866
1869
1872

Compare with:
1859
1861
1866
1869
1872

There can be no doubt 1859 1860
Many cases are on record, showing 1861 1872

could be obtained nearly 1859 1860 1861
OMIT 1872

extremely different races or species, I can hardly believe. 1860 1861
extremely different races or speceies, I can hardly believe. 1859
quite distinct races, would be very difficult. 1872

1 blocks not present in 1859 1860 1861 1872; present in 1866 1869
Many cases are on record, showing that a race may be modified by occasional crosses, if aided by the careful selection of the individuals which present the desired character; but to obtain a race nearly intermediate between two extremely different races or species, would be very difficult.

and 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
in character, and 1872

or rather utter hopelessness, 1859 1860 1861
or rather utter hopelessness 1866
OMIT 1869 1872

Pigeon .— 1859 1860 1861
Pigeon, their Differences and Origin . 1866 1869
Pigeon , their Differences and Origin . 1872

been produced by the crossing of a few aboriginal species; but by crossing we can
get only
only get
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, &c., 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
the
those
individuals
individual
mongrels
mongrels,
mongrels,
which present
the
any
desired character; but
to obtain
that
a race could be obtained nearly intermediate between two extremely different races or species, I can hardly believe. Sir J. Sebright expressly
experimented
experimentised
with
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)
quite
extremely
uniform
uniform,
and everything seems simple enough; but when these mongrels are crossed one with another for several generations, hardly two of them
are
will be
alike;
alike,
and then the
extreme
extreme
difficulty
difficulty,
or rather utter hopelessness, of the task becomes
manifest.
apparent.
Cer- tainly,
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
single
case on record of a permanent race having been thus formed.
On the
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 Hon. W. Elliot from India, and by the Hon. 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
con- siderable