to dress alike, to use the same sort of phraseology, have closely similar institutions, and in fact stand on the same general plane of civilisation, that a painful shock is caused whenever the fundamental contradiction happens to break through the surface. Many of us have experienced somewhat of the same feeling at home, in the case of persons having foreign blood in their veins. They may speak English like natives, and be imbued with English notions. Yet suddenly they will go off, as it were, at a tangent, showing that, though with us, they are not of us. We thought they were our cousins, and we make the unwelcome discovery that they are strangers after all.
Long-tailed Fowls. Few things Japanese are more curious and beautiful than the long-tailed cock, which a century of artificial selection has produced from common barndoor fowls at the village of Shinowara near Kōchi in the island of Shikoku. They are of various hues, some being pure white. The tail-feathers, which are from 15 to 24 in number and are never moulted, measure from 7 or 8 to 11 ft. in length, and proceed from quills considerably stouter than those of ordinary fowls. The present writer has measured one specimen 13½ ft. long; and as great a length as 18 ft. is said to have been attained. The body-feathers, which hang down on either side of the back above the tail grow to a length of 4 ft., adding greatly to the ornamental appearance of the bird.
As it is essential to the preservation of the tail-feathers that they be allowed to hang free, these cocks are kept in high narrow cages, quite dark except close to the top; for light at the bottom would attract them. When the tail-feathers become too long and touch ground in the cage, a bamboo is put a little way back, so as to form an arch and thus increase the distance. The bird sits all day on a flat perch three inches wide, and is only taken out once in two days, and allowed to walk about for half-an-hour or so, a man holding up its tail all the while to prevent it from getting torn or soiled. Once or twice a month
