The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-05-12
The Turkey.

The turkey. belonging originally TO
the American Continent. was necessarily
unknown 10 the ancients. who. III this.
Is IN thousand other instances. were
deficient in our most common and es-
sential articles of food Readers Enac-
Quaiuted with the fact may well be sur
prise,i TO learn that although the intro
duction ef thi. bird into Europe Is COIN
parativcly modern. its origin has AL
ready been lost sight Of, and the emf
men. naturaiists Of the last century, who
lived 40 much nearer TO its first appear
ance. have expressed great uncertainty
concerning iss native country.
Thus Bclon, Aldrovahd:, Gessner.
Ray, etc. thought it came originally
from Africa ard the East lndies. aud
endeavored Ia recognize it III some OF
the domestic birds Of the ancien's. Be-
Ion Aldrovandi supposed it 10 have been
mentioned by the ancient authors; bu.
they mistook it for the Namida aae>ea-
gris Of Linnaus, which is actually an
African bird, now almost naturalized
in America, even In q wild state. so that
it would be apparently more reasonable
for America to regard that bird as in
digenous than that the Old Continent
.hould lay claim 70 the turkey. In so
soon losing sight Of the origin of this
bird we see strong exemp!itication of
the ungrateful disposition OF man. who
can durably treasure up the memory of
wrongs and injuries, but fails 10 recol-
lect the greatest benefits he has received.
1t would be loss of time TO confute
the arguments adsauccd by authors who
have deceived themselves in attempting
to deprive America If her just title to
this bird, since they have been fully
refuted by the eloquent BatEon; but We
may here introduce q sketch OF its pro-
gress from America throughout Europe
| The first unpues.ionsbie description
! of the turkey was written by Oviedo. III
/ 1925. in the summary of his History
/ of the Indies" This bird was sen,
from Mexico to Spain early IN the six
teenth century; from Spain it wss in
troduccd into England in 1924. Tur-
keys were taken to France in the reign
of Francis the First, whence they
spread into Germany. Italy, etc \
/ few had been carried TO the latter coun-
( try some years previously by Sp .niards
+ The first turkey eaten in France ap-
. pears to have been served up at the
/ wedding banquet If Charles the Ninth.
! IN the year 1870. Since that period
/ they have been bred with SO much care,
that in England. rs we read in ancient
/ chronicles, their rapid increase rendered
/ them attainable at county feasts. where
+ they We're a much esteemed dish as early
as 1885.
/ Europeans conveyed them to all
( their colonies, and thus they were
gradually introduced into Asia, \ Africa,
/ aud even Oceanica. l he French dis
: tinguished them by the name co3 Ct
/ l,oaie Isde- cock and hen from India.
because they were natives from the
West Indies. Subsequently. for the
sake of brevity, they werecalled dindon
sn appe!lation which is still retained.
The English name j. still worse. 1t
conveys the false idea that the turkey
originated in Asia. owing to the ridicu-
lous h,bit. formerly pravcleut. Of call
IN. every foreign object by the nams
/ of Turk. India. etc
Those who have observed the turkey
in its wild state, have only seen It's de
tcorated progeny, which are greatly in
tarior in size and beauty. 81 far from
having gained by care pt man. and the
abundance Of food accessible u il,
/ domestic condition. this bird has de
generated not only ia Europe aud Asia.
{ bat what ~ more extraordinary even
ia It's native country