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Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 329

Hui Sun · Ching-Yu Yang

Chun-Wei Lin · Jeng-Shyang Pan
Vaclav Snasel · Ajith Abraham Editors

Genetic and
Evolutionary
Computing
Proceeding of the Eighth International Conference
on Genetic and Evolutionary Computing,
October 18–20, 2014, Nanchang, China
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

Volume 329

Series editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
e-mail: kacprzyk@ibspan.waw.pl
About this Series
The series “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” contains publications on theory,
applications, and design methods of Intelligent Systems and Intelligent Computing. Virtually all
disciplines such as engineering, natural sciences, computer and information science, ICT, eco-
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The publications within “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” are primarily
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Advisory Board
Chairman
Nikhil R. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
e-mail: nikhil@isical.ac.in
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e-mail: escorchado@usal.es
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e-mail: hani@essex.ac.uk
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e-mail: koczy@sze.hu
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Chin-Teng Lin, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
e-mail: ctlin@mail.nctu.edu.tw
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e-mail: Jie.Lu@uts.edu.au
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e-mail: epmelin@hafsamx.org
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e-mail: nadia@eng.uerj.br
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e-mail: Ngoc-Thanh.Nguyen@pwr.edu.pl
Jun Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
e-mail: jwang@mae.cuhk.edu.hk

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11156

Hui Sun · Ching-Yu Yang
Chun-Wei Lin · Jeng-Shyang Pan
Vaclav Snasel · Ajith Abraham
Editors

Genetic and Evolutionary

Computing
Proceeding of the Eighth International
Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary
Computing, October 18–20, 2014,
Nanchang, China

ABC
Editors
Hui Sun Jeng-Shyang Pan
Nanchang Institute of Technology Innovative Information Industry
HIGH-TECH Industry Research Center
Jiangxi Province Harbin Institute of Technology
China Shenzhen University
Shenzhen
Ching-Yu Yang China
Department of Computer Science and
Information Engineering Vaclav Snasel
National Penghu University of Science Faculty of Elec. Eng. and Comp. Sci.
and Technology Department of Computer Science
Magong City VSB-Technical University of Ostrava
Taiwan Ostrava
Czech Republic
Chun-Wei Lin
Innovative Information Industry Ajith Abraham
Research Center Machine Intelligence Research Labs
Harbin Institute of Technology (MIR Labs)
Shenzhen University Scientific Network for Innovation and
Shenzhen Research Excellence
China Auburn Washington
USA

ISSN 2194-5357 ISSN 2194-5365 (electronic)

ISBN 978-3-319-12285-4 ISBN 978-3-319-12286-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-12286-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014951877

Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

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 Preface

This volume composes the proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on

Genetic and Evolutionary Computing (ICGEC 2014), which was hosted by Nanchang
Institute of Technology and was held in Nanchang City on October 18-20, 2014. ICGEC
2014 was technically co-sponsored by National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sci-
ences (Taiwan), VSB-Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic), and Sping. It
aimed to bring together researchers, engineers, and policymakers to discuss the related
techniques, to exchange research ideas, and to make friends.
43 excellent papers were accepted for the final proceeding. Three plenary talks were
kindly offered by: Ponnuthurai Nagaratnam Suganthan (Nanyang Technological Uni-
versity, Singapore), Chin-Chen Chang (IEEE Fellow, IET Fellow, Feng Chia University,
Taiwan), and Bin Hu (IET Fellow, Lanzhou University, China).
We would like to thank the authors for their tremendous contributions. We would
also express our sincere appreciation to the reviewers, Program Committee members
and the Local Committee members for making this conference successful. Finally, we
would like to express special thanks for the financial support from Nanchang Institute
of Technology in making ICGEC 2014 possible.

October 2014 Hui Sun

Ching-Yu Yang
Chun-Wei Lin
Jeng-Shyang Pan
Vaclav Snasel
Ajith Abraham
 Conference Organization

Honorary Chair
Zhinong Jin Nanchang Institute of Technology, China

General Chairs
Hui Sun Nanchang Institute of Technology, China
Vaclav Snasel VSB-Technical University of Ostrava,
Czech Republic

Program Chairs
Jeng-Shyang Pan Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate
School, China
Ajith Abraham Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR Labs),
USA
Ching-Yu Yang National Penghu University, Taiwan

Technical Chair
Shengqian Wang Nanchang Institute of Technology, China
Nanchang Institute of Technology, China
Finance Chair
Peiwu Li
Nanchang Institute of Technology, China
Local Chairs
Chengzhi Deng
Hui Wang Nanchang Institute of Technology, China
Jia Zhao Nanchang Institute of Technology, China
VIII Conference Organization

Program Committee Members (sorted by last name)

Akira Asano Hiroshima University, Japan
Mohsen Askari University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Jonathan Hoyin Chan King Mongkut’s University of Technology
Thonburi, Thailand
Chin-Chen Chang Feng Chia University, Taiwan
Feng-Cheng Chang Tamkang University, Taiwan
Chien-Ming Chen Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen
Graduate School, China
Chao-Chun Chen Southern Taiwan University, Taiwan
Mu-Song Chen Da-Yeh University, Taiwan
Pei-Yin Chen National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Shi-Jay Chen National United University, Taiwan
Yueh-Hong Chen Far East University, Taiwan
Tsung-Che Chiang National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
Rung-Ching Chen Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Shu-Chuan Chu Cheng-Shiu University, Taiwan
Yi-Nung Chung National Changhua University of Education,
Taiwan
Maurice Clerc Independent Consultant, French
Jose Alfredo F. Costa Federal University (UFRN), Brazil
Martine De Cock Ghent University, Belgium
Zhihua Cui Taiyuan University of Science and Technology,
China
Wang Feng Kunming University of Science and Technology,
China
Xiao-Zhi Gao Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Alexander Gelbukh National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico
Gheorghita Ghinea Brunel University, UK
Massimo De Gregorio Istituto di Cibernetica, Italia
Stefanos Gritzalis University of the Aegean, Greece
Ramin Halavati Sharif University of Technology, Iran
Chian C. Ho National Yunlin University of Science Technology,
Taiwan
Jiun-Huei Ho Cheng Shiu University, Taiwan
Cheng-Hsiung Hsieh Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Wu-Chih Hu National Penghu University of Science
and Technology, Taiwan
Shu-Hua Hua Jinwen University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
Hsiang-Cheh Huang National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Deng-Yuan Huang Dayeh University, Taiwan
 Conference Organization IX

Tien-Tsai Huang Lunghwa University of Science and Technology,

Taiwan
Yung-Fa Huang Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Chien-Chang Hsu Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
Ming-Wen Hu Tamkang University, Taiwan
Yongjian Hu South China University of Technology, China
Donato Impedovo Politecnico di Bari, Italy
Albert B. Jeng Jinwen University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
Isabel Jesus Institute of Engineering of Porto, Portugal
Jie Jing Zhejiang University of Technology, China
Estevam R. Hruschka Jr. Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil
Mario Koeppen Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
Hsu-Yang Kung National Pingtung University of Science and
Technology, Taiwan
Yau-Hwang Kuo National Cheng kung University, Taiwan
Kun-Huang Kuo Chienkuo Technology University, Taiwan
Weng Kin Lai MIMOS Berhad, Malaysia
Jenn-Kaie Lain National Yunlin University of Science and
Technology, Taiwan
Kwok-Yan Lam Tsinghua University, China
Sheau-Dong Lang Central Florida University, USA
Chang-Shing Le National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Huey-Ming Lee Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
Shie-Jue Lee National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan
Jorge Nunez Mc Leod Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina
Jung-San Lee Feng Chia University, Taiwan
Chang-Tsun Li University of Warwick, UK
Yue Li Nankai University, China
Jun-Bao Li Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Guan-Hsiung Liaw I-Shou University, Taiwan
Chia-Chen Lin Providence University, Taiwan
Tsung-Chih Lin Feng-Chia University, Taiwan
Yuh-Chung Lin Tajen University, Taiwan
Chun-Wei Lin Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen
Graduate School, China
Wen-Yang Lin National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Lily Lin China University of Technology, Taiwan
Yu-lung Lo Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Heitor Silverio Lopes Federal University of Technology Parana, Brazil
Tianhua Liu Shenyang Normal University, China
Yuh-Yih Lu Minghsin University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
X Conference Organization

Yuchi Ming Huazhong University of Science and Technology,

China
Marco Mussetta Politecnico Di Torino, Italy
Kazumi Nakamatsu University of Hyogo, Japan
Julio Cesar Nievola Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Parana, Brazil
Yusuke Nojima Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
Isabel L. Nunes Universidade Nova Lisboa, Portugal
Jae C. Oh Syracuse University, USA
S.N. Omkar Indian Institute of Science, Indian
Djamila Ouelhadj University of Portsmouth, UK
Mauricio Papa University of Tulsa, USA
Sylvain Piechowiak University Of Valenciennes, France
Aurora Trinidad Ramirez Pozo Federal University of Parana, Brazil
Mohammed Al Rashidi Public Authority for Applied Education and
Training (PAAET), Kuwait
Andri Riid Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Selva S. Rivera Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina
Lotfi Ben Romdhane Lotfi Ben Romdhane, Tunisia
A. Fuster-Sabater Institute of Applied Physics, Spain
G. Sainarayanan ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu, India
Luciano Sanchez Oviedo University, Spain
Mariacarla Staffa Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
Yung-Jong Shiah Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan
S.N. Singh Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Indian
Georgios Ch. Sirakoulis Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Shing Chiang Tan Multimedia University, Malaysia
Tsung-Han Tsai National Central University, Taiwan
Izzettin Temiz Gazi University, Turkey
Eiji Uchino Yamaguchi University, Japan
Michael N. Vrahatis University of Patras, Greece
Brijesh Verma Central Queensland University, Australia
Sebastian Ventura University of Cordoba, Spain
Enrique Herrera-Viedma University of Granada, Spain
Lei Wang Xi’an University of Technology, China
Lidong Wang National Computer Network Emergency Response
Technical Coordination Center of China
Ling Wang Tsinghua University, China
Yin Chai Wang University Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Shiuh-Jeng Wang Central Police University, Taiwan
K.W. Wong City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Michal Wozniak Wroclaw University of Technology, Portugal
Zhijian Wu Wuhan University, China
Tsu-Yang Wu Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen
Graduate School, China
 Conference Organization XI

Qingzheng Xu Xi’an Communication Institute, China

Ruqiang Yan Southeast University, China
Li Yao University of Manchester, UK
Chung-Huang Yang National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan
Chyuan-Huei Thomas Yang Hsuan Chuang University, Taiwan
Sheng-Yuan Yang St. John’s University, Taiwan
Show-Jane Yen Mining Chuan University, Taiwan
Fa-xin Yu Zhejiang University, China
Xinpeng Zhang Shanghai University, Chian
Yongping Zhang Hisilicon Technologies Co., Ltd, China
Yong Zhang Shenzhen University, China
Zhiyong Zhang Henan University of Science and Technology,
China
Xiao-Jun Zeng University of Manchester, UK
Zhigang Zeng Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
China
Sanyou Zeng China University of Geosciences (Wuhan),
China
 Contents

Part I: Nature Inspired Constrained Optimization

Artificial Bee Colony Using Opposition-Based Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Jia Zhao, Li Lv, Hui Sun
Theorem of Existence and Uniqueness of Fixed Points of Monotone
Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Hui Luan, Zhihong Xia
Adaptive Sampling Detection Based Immune Optimization Approach
and Its Application to Chance Constrained Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Kai Yang, Zhuhong Zhang
Characteristic Analysis and Management of Human Resource in EPC
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Wenhai Luo, Yanfang Zhu, Tao Hong
Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization with Bat Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Tien-Szu Pan, Thi-Kien Dao, Trong-The Nguyen, Shu-Chuan Chu
Interaction Artificial Bee Colony Based Load Balance Method in Cloud
Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Jeng-Shyang Pan, Haibin Wang, Hongnan Zhao, Linlin Tang
Command Center Operation Miss Root Cause Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
XiaoLin Xiong, XinMing Xiang

Part II: Recent Advances on Evolutionary Optimization

Technologies
A New Cat Swarm Optimization with Adaptive Parameter Control . . . . . . . 69
Jianguo Wang
XIV Contents

Multi-objective Nondominated Sorting Invasive Weed Optimization

Algorithm for the Permanent Magnet Brushless Direct Current Motor
Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Si-Ling Wang, Bao-Wei Song, Gui-Lin Duan
An Evolutionary Approach to Tower of Hanoi Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Jie Li, Rui Shen
Multipopulational Metaheuristic Approaches to Real-Parameter
Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Václav Snášel, Pavel Krömer
Evolved Bat Algorithm for Solving the Economic Load Dispatch
Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Thi-Kien Dao, Tien-Szu Pan, Trong-The Nguyen, Shu-Chuan Chu
A Simple and Accurate Global Optimizer for Continuous Spaces
Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Zhenyu Meng, Jeng-Shyang Pan
Spatial Evolutionary Algorithm for Large-Scale Groundwater
Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Jihua Wang, Ximing Cai, Albert Valocchi

Part III: Wearable Computing and Intelligent Data Hiding

Block-Based Colour Image Steganography Using Smart
Pixel-Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Ching-Yu Yang, Wen-Fong Wang

A Sport Recognition Method with Utilizing Less Motion Sensors . . . . . . . . . . 155

Wen-Fong Wang, Ching-Yu Yang, Ji-Ting Guo
Information Hiding Based on Binary Encoding Methods and Linear
Transformation Scrambling Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Kuang Tsan Lin
Dispersed Data Hiding Using Hamming Code with Recovery Capability . . . 179
Brian K. Lien, Shan-Kang Chen, Wei-Sheng Wang, Kuan-Pang King
16-Bit DICOM Medical Images Lossless Hiding Scheme Based on Edge
Sensing Prediction Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Tzu-Chuen Lu, Chun-Ya Tseng, Chun-Chih Huang, Kuang-Mao Deng
A Quality Improving Scheme for VQ Decompressed Image Based
on DCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Yung-Chen Chou, Shu-Huan Chen, Min-Rui Hou
 Contents XV

Research of Image Enhancement Algorithm Based on Multi-scale

Retinex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Xinhua Yang, Jianlong Yang
The HRV Analysis on e-Book Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Chien-Sheng Huang, Ching-Huang Lin, Chien-Yue Chen, Shao-Ciang Gan,
Guan-Syuan Hong

Part IV: Image Processing and Intelligent Applications

Modified Choice Function Heuristic Selection for the Multidimensional
Knapsack Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
John H. Drake, Ender Özcan, Edmund K. Burke
A Distributed Computational Model of State of Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Susmit Bagchi
Rotation Invariant Texture Classification Using Principal Direction
Estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Yulong Qiao, Ying Zhao
An Improved Spatial Histogram and Particle Filter Face Tracking . . . . . . . . 257
Dingli Yang, Yulin Zhang, Rendong Ji, Yazhou Li, Liqun Huangfu,
Yudong Yang
Joint Encoding of Mluti-scale LBP for Infrared Face Recognition . . . . . . . . . 269
Zhihua Xie, Zhengzi Wang
Driving Behavior Analysis of Multiple Information Fusion Based on
AdaBoost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Shi-Huang Chen, Jeng-Shyang Pan, Kaixuan Lu, Huarong Xu
The Study and Application of IT Projects Management and Control
Model for Enterprise Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Ke Li, Yongteng Wang

Part V: Intelligent Multimedia Tools and Applications

A Data Hiding Method for Image Retargeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Wen-Pinn Fang, Wen-Chi Peng, Yu-Jui Hu, Chun Li, Shang-Kuan Chen
Rendering 3D Solid Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Cheng-Wei Huang, Ran-Zan Wang, Shang-Kuan Chen, Wen-Pin Fang
Greedy Active Contour Detection for Median Nerve on Strain
Sonographic Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Chii-Jen Chen, You-Wei Wang, Sheng-Fang Huang, Yi-Shiung Horng
One Decomposition Method of Concept Lattice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Haixia Li, Jian Ding, Dongming Nie, Linlin Tang
XVI Contents

The Evaluation Method for Enterprise Group Information Planning and

Implementation Based on PDCA Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Weixiong Chen, Lailong Zou, Juan Liu, Xiaochen Yang
A New Look into Web Page Ranking Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Thi Thi Zin, Pyke Tin, Hiromitsu Hama, Takashi Toriu
Seismic Qualification of Telecommunication System in Nuclear Power
Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Zhichun Li, Yong Zheng

Part VI: Technologies for Next-Generation Network

Environments
A Virtual Network Guard System Based on Cloud Computing
Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Bing-Zhe He, Kuan-Ling Huang, Hung-Min Sun, Raylin Tso
Towards SQL Injection Attacks Detection Mechanism Using Parse Tree . . . 371
Tsu-Yang Wu, Jeng-Shyang Pan, Chien-Ming Chen, Chun-Wei Lin
No-Reference Image Quality Assessment in Spatial Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Tao Sun, Xingjie Zhu, Jeng-Shyang Pan, Jiajun Wen, Fanqiang Meng
MDPAS: Markov Decision Process Based Adaptive Security for Sensors
in Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Eric Ke Wang, Tsu-Yang Wu, Chien-Ming Chen, Yuming Ye, Zhujin Zhang,
Futai Zou
Accurate Recommendation Based on Opinion Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Xiu Li, Huimin Wang, Xinwei Yan
Reliability Analysis on Parallel System with N Element Obeying
Exponential Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Lu-Xiong Xu, Chao-Fan Xie, Lin Xu
The Research of Private Network Secure Interconnection Scheme in
Large-Scaled Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Haijun Guo, Tao Tang, Di Wu

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

 Part I
Nature Inspired Constrained
Optimization
 Artificial Bee Colony Using Opposition-Based Learning

Jia Zhao, Li Lv, and Hui Sun

School of Information Engineering, Nanchang Institute of Technology, No. 289,

Tianxiang Road, State HIGH-Tech Industry Development Zone, Nanchang, 330099, China
zhaojia925@163.com

Abstract. To overcome the drawbacks of artificial bee colony(ABC) algorithm

that converges slowly in the process of searching and easily suffers from
premature, this paper presents an effective approach, called ABC using
opposition-based learning(OBL-ABC). It generates opposite solution by the
employed bee and onlooker bee, and chooses the better solution as the new
locations of employed bee and onlooker bee according to the greedy selection
strategy in order to enlarge the search areas; the new approach proposes a new
update rule which can retain the advantages of employed bee and onlooker bee
and improve the exploration of OBL-ABC. Experiments are conducted on a set
of test functions to verify the performance of OBL-ABC, the results
demonstrate promising performance of our method OBL-ABC on convergence
and it is suitable for solving the optimization of complex functions.

Keywords: artificial bee colony, opposition-based learning, update rule,

optimization.

1 Introduction

Artificial bee clony(ABC), originally developed by Karaboga in 2005, is a swarm

intelligence optimization algorithm. Because ABC has many advantages of a few
parameters, easy implementation and strong global search optimum, many researchers
pay more attention to ABC and apply it into lots of science projects successfully[2,3],
such as image processing[4], optimization of electric system[5], parameter estimation
[6], economic dispatch[7] and function optimization[8].
Opposition-Based Learning(OBL) , proposed by Tizhoosh[9] in 2005, is
successfully applied into genetic algorithm[10], differential evolution algorithm[11],
Ant colony algorithm[12] and shuffled frog leaping algorithm[13] to enlarge the
search area and enhance the performance of the algorithms.
To improve the convergence velocity of ABC and to avoid the premature
convergence, we introduce the opposition-based learning strategy into standard ABC,
then present a new method, called artificial bee colony using opposition-based
learning (OBL-ABC). In the process of optimization, the algorithm adds opposition-
based learning strategy and generates the opposite solution of the employed bee and
onlooker bee to enlarge the search area, and chooses the better solution as the new
locations of employed bee and onlooker bee according to the greedy selection

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 3

H. Sun et al. (eds.), Genetic and Evolutionary Computing,
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 329, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-12286-1_1
4 J. Zhao, L. Lv, and H. Sun

strategy; in addition, when the employed bee reaches the search threshold and does
not find nectar source, we change it into the scout. Our methods adopt a new nectar
source update strategy to update the new location of the scout according to the
location of employed bee and to improve the learning ability of the scout and the
location exploitation. The simulation results show that OBL-ABC can improve
optimization efficiency.

2 ABC Algorithm

There are three kinds of bee, the employed bee, the onlooker bee and the scout. The
number of employed bee is equal to the number of the onlooker bee. The employed
bee conducts a global search, then all employed bees finish the search, they return the
area of information exchange to share information with other bees by swinging dance.
The more abundant nectar source, the greater probability to be selected, the more the
onlooker bees. Then the onlooker bees search in the areas like the employed bee. The
employed bee and onlooker bee choose the better nectar source position as the next
generate solution according to the greedy rule.
Assume that the dimension of problem is D , the positions of nectar source
corresponds to the points of solution space, the ith (i = 1, 2,  , NP) nectar source’s
quality is regarded as the fitness of solution fiti , the number of soulution (NP, i.e.
the nectar source’s number), is total of the number of employed bees and onlooker
bees. Xi = ( xi1 , xi 2 , xiD ) represents the location of the ith nectar source, the
location Xi is updated randomly in the d d (d = 1, 2, , D) dimensions as follows.

xid = Ld + rand (0,1) ∗ (U d − Ld ) (1)

where, xid is the location of the ith bee in the dth dimension; Ld and U d stand
for the Lower and upper bounds of search space respectively.
At the beginning of the search ,the employed bee generates a new nectar source
around the ith nectar source according to the formula 2.

vid = xid + rand (−1,1) ∗ ( xid − x jd ) (2)

where, d is a random integer which denotes that the employed bee searches in
random dimension; j ∈ {1, 2, , NP} ( j ≠ i ) represents that it chooses a nectar
source which is different from the ith nectar source in the NP nectar source;
rand (−1,1) is a random number with uniform distribution between 0 and 1.
When the fitness value of new nectar source Vi = (vi1, vi 2 , , vid ) is better than
X i , the Vi replaces X i , otherwise, the ABC algorithm keeps X i , and update the
employed bees according to the formula (2). After updating, the employed bee feed
information back to the onlooker bee. the onlooker bee chooses the employed bee to
follow in roulette way according to the probability pi , and determined the retention
 Artificial Bee Colony Using Opposition-Based Learning 5

of nectar according to the same greedy method of the employed bee. pi is computed
as follows.

fiti
pi =

SN (3)
j =1
fit j

in which, fiti stands for the fitness value of the ith nectar source.
In the processing of search, if X i does not find the better the nectar source after
reaching the threshold limit and trial times iteration, X i would be given up and
the employed bee would be changed into the scout. The scout generates randomly a
new nectar source which replaces X i in the search space. The above-mentioned
process can be described as follows.

 L + rand (−1,1) ∗ (U d − Ld ) , trial ≥ limit

vit +1 =  d (4)
 vit , trial < limit

Generally, ABC algorithm takes the minimum optimization problem as an

example, the fitness value of solution is estimated by formula (5).

 1 / (1 + fi ) , fi ≥ 0
fiti =  (5)
1 + abs ( fi ) , otherwise

where, the f i is the function value of solution.

3 Artificial Bee Colony Using Opposition-Based Learning

According to the theory of probability, the each random generated candidate

solution, compared with the opposite solution, has a probability of 50% away from
the optimal solution of the problem. The literature [14] deduced the opposition-based
learning strategy by math and proved the opposite candidate solution is close to the
global optimal solution from the math theory. So the paper proposes a new method,
called artificial bee colony using opposition-based learning, and to keep the advantage
information of the employed bee an onlooker bee, we adopt a new update rule of the
scout when the scout can not find the better nectar source after reaching the threshold
limit and trial times iteration. It can increase the local exploration ability.

3.1 Opposite-Based Learning Strategy

Assuming in the kth iteration, the ith particle’s optimal location and the opposite
location are respectively pim and opim , and the values are respectively pidm and
opidm in the mth dimension, then pidm is computed as
6 J. Zhao, L. Lv, and H. Sun

opidm = r1 * adm + r2 * bdm − pidm (6)

where r1 and r2 is a random number between 0 and 1, pidm ∈ [ad , bd ] , [ad , bd ] is the
dynamic boundary of the mth dimension space, [ad , bd ] is specified by

adm = min( xidm ), bdm = max( xidm ) (7)

The above formula (7) uses the dynamic boundary to replace the traditional fixed
boundary, which is propitious to keep the previous search experience. In addition, if
the opposite solution may jump out the boundary [ad , bd ] , then reset according to the
followings

opid = 2.0* ad (m) − opid opidm > xmax

m m
if
 m (8)
opid = 2.0* bd (m) − opid opidm < xmin
m
if

3.2 Update Rule of the Scout

To increase the local exploration ability of OBL-ABC, the scout is updated by

formula (9).

 rand (−1,1) ∗ x jk , trial ≥ limit

t
xikt +1 =  , k = 1, 2, , D (9)
 xikt , trial < limit

where, x tjk is the location of the jth nectar source in kth dimension at the tth
iteration, j ∈ {1, 2, , NP} j ≠ i represents that it chooses a nectar source which is
different from the ith nectar source in the NP nectar source; the new generated
nectar is decided by the each dimension of the employed bee, some dimension of
X i may come from the some better location of the same nectar source.

3.3 The Steps of OBL-ABC

Step1: Initialization of parameters and nectar source, including
NP , limit , CR , trial = 0 ;
Step2: Allocating the employed bee of NP nectar sources and updating by the
formula (2). Then generating new nectar source Vi , and computing the fitness value
of Vi according to formula (5); and then updating the employed bee by (6) and
generating the opposite solution, also its fitness value is accurate by (5); finally,
choosing the best fitness value according the greedy choose strategy, if Vi or
opposite value is kept, set trial = 0 ,otherwise, trial + + ;
 Artificial Bee Colony Using Opposition-Based Learning 7

Step3: according to roulette way, estimating the probability by formula (3) and
updating according to the same greedy method of the employed bee.
， ，
Step4: Judging trial ≥ limit if it is satisfied jump to Step 6, otherwise, go to
Step5;
Step5: the scout generates the new nectar source according to formula (9);
Step6: if the algorithm satisfied the ending condition, output the optimum,
otherwise , please turn to step 2 and continue.

4 Experimental Verifications

4.1 Test Functions

In order to verify the performance of OBL-ABC, We have chosen 6 well-known test

functions as followings table 1, where functions f 1 to f 3 are unimodal functions,
functions f 4 to f 6 are multimodal functions. The test functions are high
dimensional multimodal functions, Most algorithms which are applied into these
functions fall into local optimum.

Table 1. Benchmark functions

Function Function name Search space Optimum coordinate optimum

symbol
f1 Sphere [−100,100] (0,  , 0) 0
f2 Schwefel.2.21 [−100,100] (0,  , 0) 0
f3 Quadric Noise [−1.28,1.28] (0,  , 0) 0
f4 Rastrigin [−5.12, 5.12] (0,  , 0) 0
f5 Ackley [−32,32] (0,  , 0) 0
f6 Griewank [−600, 600] (0,  , 0) 0

4.2 Test Functions

In the experiments ,the number of dimensions of all test functions in ABC and OBL-
ABC is 30, evaluation number is 2.0 × 105 , the number of experiments is 100, the
colony is 200, the number of employed bee and the onlooker bee is 100 respectively,
when the individual search over 100 generation in the same nectar source, it will
change to the scout. The comparison results are shown in the table 2. Fig.1 show the
process comparison of function optimization.
8 J. Zhao, L. Lv, and H. Sun

Table 2. The comparison results with OBL-ABC and ABC on 6 benchmark functions

Function
Algorithm Mean Std.Dev Max Value Min Value
symbol
OBL-ABC 1.05e-059 1.46e-058 5.27e-058 1.77e-073
f1
ABC 6.93e-016 6.93e-016 9.62e-016 4.42e-016
OBL-ABC 3.93e-010 3.51e-009 5.59e-009 1.82e-012
f2
ABC 3.69e+001 3.10e+001 4.98e+001 2.11e+001
OBL-ABC 1.60e-010 2.22e-009 8.03e-009 1.94e-038
f3
ABC 2.29e-001 2.94e-001 3.12e-001 8.67e-002
OBL-ABC 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
f4
ABC 7.42e-015 5.83e-014 4.26e-014 0.00
OBL-ABC 5.88e-016 0.00 5.88e-016 5.88e-016
f5
ABC 5.22e-014 3.65e-014 7.16e-014 3.96e-014
OBL-ABC 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
f6
ABC 1.91e-013 2.33e-012 4.22e-012 1.11e-016

Table 2 presents results of ABC and OBL-ABC, the average fitness value ,
standard deviation, the maximum and minimum of OBL-ABC are further better than
ABC’s; OBL_ABC can find the optimal solution on f 4 and f 6 functions;
especially, for Schwefel function whose optimal location is not in the 0 point and the
solution is not 0, but the OBL-ABC can find the better solution for Schwefel function.
From Fig.1, OBL-ABC has stronger ability to search optimum and faster
convergence velocity, and can reach the more perfect result after a few iteration times.
However, the ABC falls into location optimum after a few iteration times.

20 10
ABC ABC
0 OBL-ABC 5 OBL-ABC

-20
0
LOG10(Fitness value)

LOG10(Fitness value)

-40
-5
-60
-10
-80
-15
-100

-20
-120

-140 -25

-160 -30
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Number of fitness function evaluation *104 Number of fitness function evaluation *104

(a) f1 function (b) f 2 function

Fig. 1. The evolution trend of OBL-ABC and ABC

 Artificial Bee Colony Using Opposition-Based Learning 9

10 10
ABC
0 5 OBL-ABC

-10 0
LOG10(Fitness value)

LOG10(Fitness value)
-20 -5

-30 -10

-40 -15

-50 -20

-60 -25
ABC
-70 OBL-ABC -30

-80 -35
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Number of fitness function evaluation *104 Number of fitness function evaluation *104

(c) f 3 function (d) f 4 function

10 10
ABC ABC
5 OBL-ABC 5 OBL-ABC

0
0

-5
LOG10(Fitness value)

LOG10(Fitness value)

-5
-10
-10
-15
-15
-20
-20
-25

-25
-30

-35 -30

-40 -35
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Number of fitness function evaluation *104 Number of fitness function evaluation *104

(e) f 5 function (f) f 6 function

Fig. 1. (continued)

5 Conclusions

On the base of standard ABC, we introduce the opposite-based learning strategy, and
present a new approach, called artificial bee colony using opposition-based learning.
Our methods generates opposite solution for the employed bee and onlooker bee and
keep the best location according greedy algorithm; in order to retain the advantage
information of the employed bee and onlooker bee, a new update rule of the scout is
proposed in the update processing of the scout. Finally, The simulation results
demonstrated that OBL-ABC has promising convergence velocity and global
optimum ability, compared with ABC on 6 famous test functions.
Acknowledgments. This work is supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China under Grant(No. 61261039, and 61263029), Science Foundation
of Jiangxi Province under Grant(No.20132BAB211031), Science and Technology
Pillar Program of Jiangxi Province under Grant(No.20142BBG70034 ) and
Technology plan projects of Nanchang city(No. 2013HZCG006, and 2013HZCG011).
10 J. Zhao, L. Lv, and H. Sun

References
1. Karaboga, D.: An idea based on honey bee swarn for numerical optimization. Erciyes
University, Kayseri (2005)
2. Weifeng, G., Sanyang, L., Lingling, H.: Inspired Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for
Global Optimization Problems. Acta Electronica Sinica 40(2), 2396–2403 (2014)
3. Pei-Wei, C., Jeng-Shyang, P., Bin-Yih, L., Shu-Chuan, C.: Enhanced Artificial Bee
Colony Optimization. International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and
Control 5(12), 5081–5092 (2009)
4. Amer, D., Bouaziz, A.: An artificial bee colony algorithm for image contrast enhancement.
Swarm and Evolutionary Computation 16(6), 69–84 (2014)
5. Afandi, A.N., Miyauchi, H.: Improved artificial bee colony algorithm considering harvest
season for computing economic dispatch on power system. IEEE Transactions on
Electrical and Electronic Engineering 9(3), 251–257 (2014)
6. Ghani, A.A., Mohamad-Saleh, J.: Multiple-global-best guided artificial bee colony
algorithm for induction motor parameter estimation. Turkish Journal of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Sciences 22(3), 620–626 (2014)
7. Onder, B., Tasgetiren, M.F.: An artificial bee colony algorithm for the economic lot
scheduling problem. International Journal of Production Research 42(4), 1150–1170
(2014)
8. Xiangtao, L., Minghao, Y.: Self-adaptive constrained artificial bee colony for constrained
numerical optimization. Neural Computing and Applications 24(3), 723–734 (2014)
9. Tizhoosh, H.R.: Opposition-based Learning: a new scheme for machine intelligence. In:
Proceedings of on Computational Intelligence for Modeling,Control and Automation,
pp. 695–701 (2005)
10. Tizhoosh, H.R.: Reinforcement Learning Based on Actions and Opposite Actions. In:
Proceedings of on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, pp. 19–21 (2005)
11. Qing-zheng, X., Lei, W., Bao-min, H., et al.: Opposition-Based Differential Evolution
Using the Current Optimum for Function Optimization. Journal of Applied Sciences 29(3),
308–315 (2011)
12. Haiping, M., Xieyong, R., Baogen, J.: Oppositional ant colony optimization algorithm and
its application to fault monitoring. In: Proceedings of Chinese Control Conference,
pp. 3895–3898 (2010)
13. Juan, L., Yi-wen, Z., Sen-lin, M.: Improved opposition-based shuffled frog leaping
algorithm for function optimization problems. Application Research of Computers 30(3),
760–763 (2013)
14. Shahryar, R., Hamid, R.T., Magdy, M.A.S.: Opposition versus randomness in soft
computing techniques. Applied Soft Computing 8(2), 906–918 (2008)
 Theorem of Existence and Uniqueness of Fixed Points
of Monotone Operators

Hui Luan1 and Zhihong Xia2

1
Faculty of Science, Nanchang Institute of Technology,
Nanchang China 330099
2
Business Administration College, Nanchang Institute of Technology,
Nanchang China 330099

Abstract. Operator equation and the fixed point problem are an important
component of nonlinear functional analysis theory. They are playing important
role in solving nature and uniqueness problems about all kinds of differential
equations and integral equations. Generally, the monotone operator has been
defined with compactness, continuity and concavity and convexity in partially
ordered Banach space. In this paper, without compactness and continuity,
concavity and convexity of functions, a new fixed point theorem of increasing
and decreasing operator and mixed monotone operator has obtained through
introducing order-difference in the cone.

Keywords: cone, partial order, monotone operator, fixed point.

1 Introduction and Definition

The monotone operator has both important theoretical significance and wide
applications. Generally, the monotone operator has been defined with compactness,
continuity and concavity and convexity in partially ordered Banach space. In the
literature [1,2], the compactness and continuity of monotone operator has been
required; in the literature [3,4], the concavity and convexity of monotone operator has
been required. In this paper, the definition of order-difference has been introduced in
the cone; then the theorem of existence and uniqueness of fixed points of monotone
operators have obtained without the above conditions.
In the following, let E be an arbitrary real Banach space, θ be zero element of
E , non-empty convex closed set P ⊂ E be cone, “ ≤ ” be partial order from P ,
that is, ∀x, y ∈ E , and if y − x ∈ P , x ≤ y . Suppose that x, y ∈ E , x ≤ y ,
and definite that [ x, y ] = { z ∈ E x ≤ z ≤ y} , the cone P can be considered to be
normal. If exist N > 0 , and θ ≤x≤ y x ≤N y , the minimum N can be
defined as normal constant of P .

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 11

H. Sun et al. (eds.), Genetic and Evolutionary Computing,
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 329, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-12286-1_2
12 H. Luan and Z. Xia

Definition 1: Suppose that D ⊂ E , function

ϕ : [ 0,1) × D × D → [ 0,1) can be considered to be meet the condition ( Φ ) , If
the following conditions are satisfied:
(ⅰ) ϕ ( 0, x, y ) = 0 , ∀x, y ∈ D × D ;
(ⅱ) ∀ ( t , x, y ) ∈ ( 0,1) × D × D , ∃ W ∈ D , 0

then 0 ≤ ϕ ( t , x, y ) ≤ ϕ ( t , w0 , w0 ) < t ;
( ⅲ) ϕ ( t , w0 , w0 ) → 0 ( n → ∞ ) , ∀t ∈ [ 0,1) .
n

and ϕ ( t , w0 , w0 ) = ϕ (ϕ ( t , w0 , w0 ) , w0 , w0 ) .
n n −1 n

Definition 2: Let P be the cone of E , θ ≤ u ≤ v , for h ∈ P , if exist ∃M > 0 ,

v ≤ Mh , and a = inf {α v ≤ α h} , b = sup {β β h ≤ u} , a − b could be called
h -order-difference of u , v , and d h ( u , v ) = a − b .

Note: In the definition 2, because {β β h ≤ u} includes element 0 at least and has a

upper bound M , sup {β β h ≤ u} may exist.
Lemma 1: P is a cone in E . θ ≤ u ≤ v , h ∈ P , and ∃M > 0 , v ≤ Mh . Then
(ⅰ) d h ( u , v ) ≥ 0 , d v ( u, v ) ≤ 1 ;
(ⅱ) d ( u , v ) = 0 , then u = v ;
h

(ⅲ) d ( u , v ) ≤ d ( u , w ) + d ( w, v ) , ∀w ∈ [u , v ] . “=” is tenable if and only

h h h

if d h ( w, w ) = 0 ;
(ⅳ) If θ ≤ u ≤ u ≤ v , then d ( u , v ) ≥ d ( u, v ) ;
1 h 1 h

(Ⅴ) d ( ku , kv ) = kd ( u , v ) , d ( kv, v ) = 1 − k , ∀k ∈ [ 0,1] .

h h v

Proof: Let a = inf {α v ≤ α h} , b = sup {β β h ≤ u} .

( ⅰ) In term of θ ≤u≤v and h ∈ P , θ ≤ bh ≤ u ≤ v ≤ ah can be deduced,
then 0 ≤ b ≤ a . The definition 2 shows that d h ( u, v ) = a − b ≥ 0 .
Let a1 = inf {α v ≤ α v} , b1 = sup {β β v ≤ u} .
Because θ ≤ u ≤ v , 0 ≤ b1 ≤ a1 = 1 , then, d v ( u, v ) = a1 − b1 ≤ 1 .
( ⅱ) Because d h ( u, v ) = 0 ,
a = b . Further more
θ ≤ bh ≤ u ≤ v ≤ ah , then u = v .
 Theorem of Existence and Uniqueness of Fixed Points of Monotone Operators 13

( ⅲ) ∀w ∈ [u, v ] , θ ≤ u ≤ w ≤ v ≤ Mh , therefore, d h ( u, w ) and

d h ( w, v ) have meanings. Let c = inf {α w ≤ α h} , d = sup {β β h ≤ w} , in
term of w ≤ ch , v ≤ ah and w ≤ v , c ≤ a can be known. (Actually, if c > a ,
the assumption of w ≤ v ≤ ah and c is contradictory). Similarly, b ≤ d can be
drawn. Then, 0 ≤ b ≤ d ≤ c ≤ a , combined with Definition 2
d h ( u, v ) = a − b ≤ c − b + a − d = d h ( u, w ) + d h ( w, v ) .
If d h ( u, v ) = d h ( u, w ) + d h ( w, v ) , then a − b = c − b + a − d , that is,
c − d = 0 , furthermore, d h ( w, w ) = 0 can be obtained. If d h ( w, w ) = 0 ,
then c − d = 0 , furthermore,
d h ( u , v ) = a − b = c − b + a − d = d h ( u , w ) + d h ( w, v ) .
( ⅳ) Let b2 = sup {β β v ≤ u1 } , b2 ≤ b can be drawn, therefore,
a − b2 ≥ a − b , that is, d h ( u1 , v ) ≥ d h ( u, v ) .
( Ⅴ) From Definition 2, d h ( ku, kv ) = ka − kb = kd h ( u, v ) and

d v ( kv, v ) = 1 − k can be obtained.

2 Main Conclusions

Theorem 1: P is the normal cone of E , θ ≤ u0 ≤ v0 . A : [u0 , v0 ] → E is an

increasing operator, and the following conditions are satisfied:
(ⅰ) u ≤ Au , Av ≤ v ;
0 0 0 0

(ⅱ) ∀x, y ∈ [u , v ] , if x ≤ y , then

0 0 d v0 ( Ax, Ay ) ≤ kd v0 ( x, y ) , constant
k ∈ ( 0,1) . Therefore, the unique fixed point x∗ of A may be existed in [u0 , v0 ] ,
and for any initial value x0 ∈ [u0 , v0 ] , the iterative sequence

xn = Axn −1 ( n = 1, 2,) must be converge to x∗ .

Proof: Let un = Aun −1 , vn = Avn −1 , n = 1, 2, (1)

ⅰ
From Condition ( ), and A is an increasing operator, the following can be
obtained:

u0 ≤ u1 ≤ u2 ≤  ≤ un ≤  ≤ vn ≤  ≤ v2 ≤ v1 ≤ v0 (2)
14 H. Luan and Z. Xia

From the formula (1), (2) and Condition( ⅱ), (ⅰ) of Lemma 1, the following can
be obtained:
d v0 ( un , vn ) = d v0 ( Aun −1 , Avn −1 ) ≤ kd v0 ( un −1 , vn −1 ) ≤  ≤ k n d v0 ( u0 , v0 ) ≤ k n .
Therefore, while n → ∞ , d v0 ( un , vn ) → 0 . That is, for ∀ε > 0 , K > 0 may
exist, furthermore, while n > K , the following can be drawn:
d v0 ( un , vn ) < ε . (3)

Letbe an = inf {α v n ≤ α v0 } , bn = sup {β β v0 ≤ un } . From the formula (3),

the following can be obtained:
0 ≤ an − bn ≤ ε , bn v0 ≤ un ≤ vn ≤ an v0 .
And because P is normal, the following can be drawn while n > K :
vn − un ≤ N an v0 − bn v0 ≤ N ε v0 .( N is the normal constant of P )
The following can be obtained from the arbitrariness of ε:
vn − un → θ ( n → ∞ ) (4)
From the formula (2), the inequalities can be drawn: θ ≤ un + p − un ≤ vn − un ,
θ ≤ vn − vn + p ≤ vn − un . Furthermore, {un } and {vn } are Cauchy consequences

because of the formula (4) and the normality of P . Therefore, u ∗ , v∗ ∈ E and

un → u ∗ , vn → v∗ , u ∗ = v∗ . Let x∗ = u ∗ = v∗ , then A ( x∗ ) = x∗ .
∀x0 ∈ [ u0 , v0 ] , the inequality u0 ≤ x0 ≤ v0 may exist. The inequality
un ≤ xn ≤ vn ( xn = Axn −1 , n = 1, 2 ) can be obtained with repeated substitution of
A , therefore, xn → x∗ ( n → ∞ ) . The above can give a conclusion: the unique fixed
point x∗ of A may be existed in [u0 , v0 ] , and for any initial value x0 ∈ [u0 , v0 ] ,
the iterative sequence xn = Axn −1 ( n = 1, 2,) must be converge to x∗ .
Theorem 2: P is the normal cone of E , θ ≤ u0 ≤ v0 . A : [u0 , v0 ] → E is a
decreasing operator, and the following conditions are satisfied:
(ⅰ) u ≤ Au , Av ≤ v ;
0 0 0 0

(ⅱ) ∀x, y ∈ [u , v ] , if x ≤ y , then

0 0 d v0 ( Ay, Ax ) ≤ kd v0 ( x, y ) , constant
k ∈ ( 0,1) . Therefore, the unique fixed point x∗ of A may be existed in [u0 , v0 ] ,
and for any initial value x0 ∈ [u0 , v0 ] , the iterative sequence
xn = Axn −1 ( n = 1, 2,) must be converge to x∗ .
 Theorem of Existence and Uniqueness of Fixed Points of Monotone Operators 15

Proof: Let B = A2 , the following can be proved:

B : [u0 , v0 ] → E is an increasing operator, and
u0 ≤ Bu0 , Bv0 ≤ v0 . (5)
ⅱ
∀x, y ∈ [u0 , v0 ] , if x ≤ y , from Condition ( ) the following can be obtained:
d v0 ( Bx, By ) = d v0 ( A2 x, A2 y ) ≤ kd v0 ( Ay, Ax ) ≤ k 2 d v0 ( x, y ) (6)
The conditions of Theorem 1 has satisfied from the formulas (5) and (6), therefore,
the conclusions of Theorem 2 can be established.
Theorem 3 and Theorem 4 are introduced in the following, and their proofs are
similar, so we can only prove Theorem 4.
Theorem 3: P is the normal cone of E , θ ≤ u0 ≤ v0 .
ϕ : [ 0,1) × [u0 , v0 ] × [u0 , v0 ] → [ 0,1) can be satisfied with

Condition ( Φ ) . A : [u0 , v0 ] → E is an increasing operator, and the following

conditions are satisfied:
(ⅰ) u ≤ Au , Av ≤ v ;
0 0 0 0

(ⅱ) ∀x, y ∈ [u , v ] , if x ≤ y , then

0 0

td Ay ( Ax, Ay ) ≤ ϕ ( t , x, y ) d y ( x, y ) , ∀ t ∈ ( 0,1) . Therefore, the unique fixed

point x∗ of A may be existed in [u0 , v0 ] , and for any initial value x0 ∈ [u0 , v0 ] ,
the iterative sequence xn = Axn −1 ( n = 1, 2,) must be converge to x∗ .
Theorem 4: P is the normal cone of E , θ ≤ u0 ≤ v0 .
ϕ : [ 0,1) × [u0 , v0 ] × [u0 , v0 ] → [ 0,1) can be satisfied with Condition (Φ) .

A : [u0 , v0 ] → E is a mixed monotone operator, and the following conditions are

satisfied:

(ⅰ) u ≤ A ( u , v ) , A ( v , u ) ≤ v ;
0 0 0 0 0 0

(ⅱ) ∀x, y ∈ [u , v ] , if x ≤ y , then

0 0

td A( y , x ) ( A ( x, y ) , A ( y, x ) ) ≤ ϕ ( t , x, y ) d y ( x, y ) , ∀ t ∈ ( 0,1) . Therefore,
the unique fixed point x∗ of A may be existed in [u0 , v0 ] , and for any initial
value x0 ∈ [u0 , v0 ] , the iterative sequence xn = A ( xn −1 , yn −1 ) ,

yn = A ( yn −1 , xn −1 ) , ( n = 1, 2,) must be converge to x∗ .

Another random document with
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 Swans (twenty-four dozen) no price
Larks (340 dozen), per dozen 0 6
The consumption of liquids, pastry, and trifles, can easily be guessed
at.
Here is an ancient receipt for making a Christmas game pie, found in
the books of the Salter’s Company, which is presumed to have often
furnished an annual treat to the members in the olden times; and
when made after this receipt, by the Company’s cook in modern
days, has been found to be excellent.
‘For to make a mooste choyce paaste of Gamys to be etin at ye Feste
of Chrystemasse.
‘(17th Richard II., A.D. 1394.)
‘Take Fesaunt, Haare, and Chykenne, or Capounne, of eche oone; wᵗ.
ij. Partruchis, ij. Pygeounes, and ij. Conynggys; and smyte hem on
peces and pyke clene awaye p’fro (therefrom) alle pᵉ (the) boonys pᵗ
(that) ye maye, and p’wt (therewith) do hem ynto a Foyle (a shield or
case) of gode paste, made craftily ynne pᵉ lykenes of a byrde’s bodye,
wᵗ pᵉ lyuours and hertys, ij. kydneis of shepe and farcys (seasonings
or forced meats) and eyren (eggs) made ynto balles. Caste p’to
(thereto) poudre of pepyr, salte, spyce, eysell,[14] and funges
(mushrooms) pykled; and panne (then) take pᵉ boonys and let hem
seethe ynne a pot to make a gode brothe p’ for (for it) and do yᵗ ynto
pᵉ foyle of paste and close hit uppe faste, and bake yᵗ wel, and so s’ue
(serve) yᵗ forthe: wt pᵉ hede of oone of pᵉ byrdes, stucke at pᵉ oone
ende of pᵉ foyle, and a grete tayle at pᵉ op’ and dyvers of hys longe
fedyrs sette ynne connynglye alle aboute hym.’
Marrow bones seem to have been in favour at an early date. 2,000
marrow bones were among the requisites for the Goldsmiths’
Company’s feast, on St. Dunstan’s day, 1449.
In the reign of Edward VI., 1548, a time of plague and scarcity, the
king thought it prudent to fix the price of cattle, &c., sold in the
several seasons of the year:—
£ s. d.
The best fat ox, from Midsummer to
Michaelmas, at 2 5 0
 One of inferior sort 1 8 0
The best fat ox, from Hallowmas to
Christmas 2 6 8
One of inferior sort 1 19 8
The best fat ox, from Christmas to
Shrovetide 2 8 4
One of inferior sort 2 6 8
The best fat wether, from shearing time
to Michaelmas 0 4 0
One of ditto, shorn 0 3 0
The best fat ewe 0 2 6
One ditto, shorn 0 2 0
The best fat wether, from Michaelmas
to Shrovetide 0 4 4
One ditto, shorn 0 3 0
Essex barrelled butter, per pound 0 0 0¾
All sorts of other barrelled butter, per
pound 0 0 0½
Essex cheese, per pound 0 0 0¾
All other sorts 0 0 0½
We are not quite such prodigious devourers of eggs as our French
neighbours, having a greater amount of meat or solid animal food to
fall back upon, and fewer fast days. Another reason is, that we
cannot, like the French, get them so fresh and cheap; but as an
alimentary substance, eggs are always in demand at a ratio
proportionate to the prices at which they can be obtained. In Paris
the consumption of eggs is at least 175 per annum to every head of
the population; in the departments it is more than double that
amount; eggs entering into almost every article of food, and
butchers’ meat being scarce and dear. If we only use, in London, half
the number of eggs the Parisians do, there must be a sale of about
173 millions a year; and the consumption throughout the kingdom
would be fully 2,000 millions. Although smaller in size, and not equal
to a new-laid egg, the French eggs arrive in pretty good condition,
and, if sold off quickly, are well adapted for ordinary culinary
purposes. Few are wasted, for even when not very fresh, they are
sold for frying fish, and to the lower class of confectioners for pastry.
Fried eggs, boiled eggs chopped up with salad, egg sauce for fish,
&c., eggs for puddings, for omelets, and pancakes, all contribute to
the sale. Omelets, sweet or flavoured with herbs, are much less
patronized in this country than they are in France.
The sixty wholesale egg merchants and salesmen in the metropolis,
whose itinerant carts are kept constantly occupied in distributing their
brittle ware, might probably enlighten us as to the extent and
increasing character of the trade, and the remunerative nature of the
profits. Railways and steamers bring up large crates, and carefully
packed boxes of eggs, for the ravenous maws of young and old, who
fatten on this dainty and easily digested food. The various city
markets dispose of two millions of fowls, one million of game birds,
half a million of ducks, and about one hundred and fifty thousand
turkeys, every year. But even if we doubled this supply, what would it
be among the three million souls of the great metropolis requiring
daily food.
Ireland and the continent contribute largely to our supply of poultry
and eggs. Immense pens of poultry, purchased in the Irish market,
are shipped by the steamers to Glasgow and Liverpool. Commerce
owes much to the influence of steam, but agriculture is no less
indebted to the same power. Taking everything into account, and
examining all the advantages derived by cheap and rapid transit, the
manufacturer of food is quite as much indebted to the steam-ship
and the locomotive as the manufacturer of clothing.
There is no difficulty whatever in testing eggs; they are mostly
examined by a candle. Another way to tell good eggs is to put them
in a pail of water, and if they are good they will lie on their sides,
always; if bad, they will stand on their small ends, the large ends
always uppermost, unless they have been shaken considerably,
when they will stand either end up. Therefore, a bad egg can be told
by the way it rests in water—always end up, never on its side. Any
egg that lies flat is good to eat, and can be depended upon.
An ordinary mode is to take them into a room moderately dark and
hold them between the eye and a candle or lamp. If the egg be good
—that is, if the albumen is still unaffected—the light will shine
through with a reddish glow; while, if affected, it will be opaque, or
dark.
In Fulton and Washington market, New York, a man may be seen
testing eggs at almost any time of the year. He has a tallow candle
placed under a counter or desk, and taking up the eggs, three in
each hand, passes them rapidly before the candle, and deposits
them in another box. His practised eye quickly perceives the least
want of clearness in the eggs, and suspicious ones are re-examined
and thrown away, or passed into a ‘doubtful’ box. The process is so
rapid that eggs are inspected perfectly at the rate of 100 to 200 per
minute, or as fast as they can be shifted from one box to another, six
at a time.
The preservation of eggs for use on ship board has always occupied
a large share of attention. They have been usually smeared with oil
or grease, and packed in bran or sawdust. A plan recommended by
M. Appert for preserving eggs is to put them in a jar with bran, to
prevent their breaking; cork and hermetically seal the jar; and put it
into a vessel of water, heated to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, or 12
degrees below boiling. The vessel with water being taken from the
fire, the water must cool till the finger may be borne in it; then
remove the jar. The eggs may then be taken out, and will keep for six
months.
Salted ducks’ eggs are an article in great demand in some parts of
the East, for transport by the trading junks. The Malays salt them as
they do their meat; but the Chinese mix a red unctuous earth with
the brine, which no doubt stops the pores of the shell, and preserves
them better. They are put into this mixture at night, and taken out
during the day to be dried in the sun, which is, in fact, a half roasting
process in a tropical climate.
Pickled eggs, while they constitute a somewhat novel feature in the
catalogue of condiments, are at the same time particularly relishing.
When eggs are plentiful, farmers’ wives, in some localities, take four
to six dozen of such as are newly laid, and boil them hard; then,
divesting them of the shells, they place them in large-mouthed
earthen jars, and pour upon them scalded vinegar, well seasoned
with whole pepper, allspice, ginger, and a few cloves of garlic. When
this pickle is cold, the jars are closed, and the eggs are fit for use in
a month afterwards. Eggs thus treated are held in high esteem by all
the farm-house epicures.
Fowls’ eggs, variously coloured, and having flowers and other
matters upon them, formed by the colouring matter being picked off
so as to expose the white shell of the egg, are a part of all the Malay
entertainments in Borneo. The eggs eaten by the Dyaks are
frequently nearly hatched when taken from the nest, as they enjoy
them just as well as when fresh.
An article called ‘condensed egg’ is now sold in the shops. It consists
of the whole substance of the fresh uncooked egg, very delicately
and finely granulated by patent processes, after the watery particles,
which the egg naturally contains, have been completely exhausted
and withdrawn, without further alteration of its constituents. It
contains all the nutritious properties of the egg in its natural state,
and must be valuable to shipmasters, emigrants, and others. One
ounce of it is said to be equal to three eggs.
The ancient Romans, though not great beef-eaters, were particular
as to poultry. Dr. Daubeny, in his Lectures on Roman Husbandry,
says—‘The ancient Romans had large preserves, not only of poultry
and pigeons, but even of thrushes and quails enclosed in pens which
were called ‘ornithones,’ from which they could draw their supply for
the table at pleasure. We are told, indeed, of two sorts of ornithones,
the one merely aviaries stocked with birds for the amusement of the
proprietor; the other kind, constructed with a view to profit, which
were often of vast extent, to supply the demands of the Roman
market for such articles of luxury. In the Sabine country particularly,
we read of extensive pens, filled with birds for the latter purpose. For
thrushes alone there were large rooms provided, each capable of
holding several thousand birds. As they were put in to be fattened,
the place had only just light enough to enable the birds to see their
food, but there was a good supply of fresh water accessible. And I
may remark that, whilst nothing is said by the Roman writers about
the fattening of oxen and sheep, particular directions are given for
fattening poultry and other birds—a strong additional argument of the
little importance they attached to the larger animals as articles of
food.’
The following may be enumerated as the sportsman’s game in
Jamaica:—
1. The pintado, or wild guinea fowl (Numida Meleagris), a bird now
domesticated in our poultry-yards. In its wild state the flesh is
considered by many persons to equal that of the pheasant.
2. The quail (Perdix coturnix).
3. Wild pigeons, namely, ring-tail, bald-pate, pea-dove, white-breast,
white-wing, mountain-witch, ground dove, and red-legged partridge.
4. Snipe (Scolopax gallinago).
5. Wild duck, or mallard (Anas boschas).
6. Gray, or Gadwall duck (Anas strepera).
7. The common teal (Anas crecca), the flesh of which was so much
prized by the Roman epicures, and is still in request for the table.
8. Widgeon (Anas Penelope).
9. Gray and ring plover (Charadrius minor, and hiaticula).
If we are out shooting in Canada we may easily add to our mess the
ruffled grouse (Tetrao umbellus), although these, like many other
birds, are partridges with the settlers—this variety being termed the
birch partridge. Another species, the spruce partridge of the colonists
(T. Canadensis), is less palatable, for, unfortunately, it has a habit of
feeding upon laurel leaves. But here is something to make amends
—a fine Esquimaux curlew, as large as an English partridge, and a
mud-sucker, id est snipe.
Let me note a Canadian receipt for cooking a partridge, which may
be useful to sportsmen and travellers:—
‘Expedition is the maxim of all sylvan cookery, and as plucking the
feathers of a partridge would be too great a tax on the time and
patience of the voyageur, the method most in vogue is to run your
hunting knife round his throat and ancles and down his breast, when,
taking a leg in each hand, and pressing your thumb into his back,
you pop him out of his skin, as you would a pea from its pod. Then
make a spread-eagle of him on a forked twig, the other extremity of
which is thrust into the ground, and after wrapping a rasher of bacon
around his neck and under his wings, as ladies wear a scarf, you
incline him to the fire, turning the spit in the ground, and you will
have a result such as Soyer might be proud of. When your other
avocations will not afford time even for the skinning process, an
alternative mode is to make a paste of ashes and water, and roll up
your bird therein, with the feathers, and all the appurtenances
thereof, and thrust the performance in the fire. In due time, on
breaking the cemented shell (which is like a sugared almond), the
feathers, skin, &c., adhere to it, and then you have the pure kernel of
poultry within.’
The red-legged partridge is common in the Greek islands, on the
continent of Asia, and in the southern countries of Europe. In some
of the Cyclades, where the inhabitants are too poor to expend
money on powder, they chase the birds on foot, till they are so
wearied, as to be easily taken with the hand.
Of all the European birds, the quail (Coturnix vulgaris) is the most
remarkable, on account of the vast numbers which congregate on
the shores of the Mediterranean in the spring, coming from Asia
Minor and Northern Africa, to avoid the excessive heat. For a few
weeks in the month of April, when they first begin to arrive in Sicily,
everybody is a sportsman. Arriving always in the night, although not
a quail could be seen the evening before, the report of guns the next
morning, in all directions, attests their number and the havoc that
has begun upon them. Such prodigious numbers have appeared on
the western coasts of the kingdom of Naples, that a hundred
thousand have been taken in a day, within the space of four or five
miles.
The flesh of the turtle dove is considered much superior to that of the
wild pigeon.
The passenger pigeon (Columba migratoria) of America, is a very
large and well flavoured variety, being 16 inches long, and 24 inches
in the spread of its wings; its hue chiefly slate-colour. They migrate at
certain seasons in millions, and feed on acorns and fresh mast. They
travel in the morning and evening, and repose about mid-day in the
forests. Their passage, whether in spring or autumn, lasts from 15 to
20 days, after which they are met with in the centre of the United
States. The Indians often watch the roosting places of these birds,
and knocking them on the head in the night, bring them away by
thousands. They preserve the oil or fat, which they use instead of
butter. There was formerly scarcely any little Indian village in the
interior, where a hundred gallons of this oil might not at any time be
purchased.
These pigeons spread over the whole of North America, abounding
round Hudson’s Bay, where they remain till December. They arrive in
the fur countries in the latter end of May, and depart in October. They
are met with as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, but do not extend
their range westward of the Rocky Mountains. Stray passenger
pigeons have been taken both in Norway and in Russia; and this bird
has found a place in the British fauna, from a solitary bird having
been shot in Westhall, Fifeshire, on the 31st December, 1825. Like
other pigeons, this genus makes a slender platform nest of sticks
and straws, but, unlike other pigeons, prolific as it is, it lays but one
egg. The female builds the nest, the male bird fetches the materials.
The time of incubation is 16 days, and the male relieves the female
in sitting during that period. The immense number of these birds
baffles all computation. Those eminent ornithologists, Wilson and
Audubon, describe flocks seen by them to contain respectively from
thousands of millions to upwards of a billion in each, the daily food
required to sustain which would be at least 60,000 bushels; and the
New York Evening Post informs us that, on one day, seven tons of
these pigeons were brought into the New York market by the Erie
railroad.
In their breeding places, herds of hogs are fed on the young pigeons
or ‘squabs,’ which are also melted down by the settlers, as a
substitute for butter or lard. The felling a single tree often produces
200 squabs, nearly as large as the old ones, and almost one mass of
fat. When the flocks of full grown pigeons enter a district, clap-nets
and guns are in great requisition. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology,
says, Sir William Johnstone told him, that at one shot, he brought
down with a blunderbuss above a hundred and twenty pigeons.
Wagon loads of them are poured into the towns, and sold as cheap
as a half-penny up to two-pence the dozen. The flesh tastes like the
common wild blue pigeon, but is, if anything, better flavoured. Why (it
has been asked) could not this large pigeon, whose migratory habits
are principally caused by search for food, be introduced into this
country as a tame variety, or by crossing with our native breeds
enlarge the size; or, in the same way as fresh mutton was sent from
Australia, be sent in casks potted in their own fat, to supply us with
cheap pigeon pies? And the same with a cross with the large Texan
rabbit, or the wild American turkey, the latter being far superior in
size and appearance to its degenerate descendant, the tame turkey,
sometimes as much as four feet in length, and five feet from wing to
wing? The canvas-back ducks of America are there boasted of
exceedingly as a delicacy, yet, although a great variety of useless
water-fowl has been introduced merely as an ornament to the ponds
and streams of our gentry, no attempt has been made to bring this
kind to our farm-yards and tables; and even if it was found
impossible to tame the pure breed, a cross with our own might be
effected. In the capercailzie, or cock of the wood, a bird of the
grouse species, but nearly as large as a turkey, once indigenous to
Scotland, but now only found in the north of Europe, and in the
bustard, the largest European land-bird, the cock weighing from 25
to 27 lbs., we have examples of two fowls well worth the trial of
domesticating by the amateur or intelligent agriculturist, a trial which,
if successful, would probably repay quite as well as competition
about the colour of a feather, or the shortness of a tail, and in time
would be the means of affording a constant, certain, and moderately-
priced supply, which is never the case while animals remain in a wild
or half-wild state.
Although the forests of New Zealand are not thickly inhabited by the
feathered tribes, there are many birds to be met with. Among others
are the following, which are excellent eating.—The wild pigeon,
which is very large and common; the parrot or ka-ka; and the tui or
mocking bird, which is about the size of the English black-bird, and
of the same colour, but with two bunches of white feathers under the
neck—his notes are few, but very melodious, resembling the tinkling
of small bells, which harmonize together as they are delivered. The
bronze-winged pigeon of Australia is most delicate eating. It abounds
in summer, when the acacia seeds are ripe.
 GRALLATORES.
From the order of grallatores, waders or stilt-birds, we find many
which yield choice dainties, whether it be the ostrich or emu for their
eggs, the bustard and bittern, the flamingo for its tongue, the plover,
dotterel, curlew, snipe, woodcock, rail, &c., for the table.
An ostrich egg is considered as equal in its contents to 24 of the
domestic hen. When taken fresh from the nest, they are very
palatable, and are wholesome, though somewhat heavy food. The
best mode of cooking them is that practised by the Hottentots, who
place one end of the egg in the hot ashes, and making a small orifice
at the other, keep stirring the contents with a stick till they are
sufficiently roasted; and thus, with a seasoning of salt and pepper,
you have a very nice omelet. The nest sometimes contains as many
as 24 eggs, and the difficulty the sportsman has is how to carry away
his spoil. The usual plan is to denude himself of his upper or lower
garments, and, tying up the orifices of leg-holes or arm-holes, to
make an impromptu sack, in which he can bear away his prize. If he
leaves them, he will be sure to find on his return that the ostrich has
broken the eggs, because they have been disturbed.
The eggs of the emu of South America are large, and, although the
food which they afford is coarse, it is not unpalatable.
The emu, or New Holland cassowary, is becoming rarer as
settlements advance. The same remark applies also to the kangaroo
and other animals against whom a war of extermination seems to
have been declared.
The emu is easily domesticated when taken young, and becomes
very familiar with, and attached to, the dogs, which generally leads to
the death of a tame one. A full-grown one, when erect, stands seven
feet high. The natives creep on them and spear them. The eggs are
of a tea green colour, with a watered appearance on the surface.
There is a singularity in the growth of the feathers—two of them
spring from one quill. The bird is principally valued for its oil. The skin
of a full-grown bird produces six or seven quarts of oil, clear, and of a
beautiful bright yellow colour. The method of extracting or ‘trying’ out
the oil is to pluck the feathers, cut the skin into pieces, and boil it; but
the aborigines prefer the flesh with the skin upon it, regarding it as
the Esquimaux do the flesh of whales and seals, as a highly luscious
treat. The flesh is eaten by Europeans, and preferred by some to the
kangaroo; the rump part is considered as delicate as fowl; the legs
coarser, like beef, but still tender.
Bustards are plentiful in many parts of the Cape Colony, and the
smaller sorts, called koerhans, are approachable in a bush country;
but the larger kinds, called paws, are a great prize, as they are found
on plains, and are generally shot with ball. In Australia, the bustard is
called, colonially, the wild turkey. It is a fine large bird, frequently
weighing 12 to 15 lbs., and extending full six feet, from tip to tip of
the wings. There it is declared excellent for eating, but its flesh is
much too gamey for ordinary palates.
Don Pernetty, in his Historical Journal of the Voyage to the Falkland
Islands, under the command of M. de Bouganville, says, they found
the bustard ‘exquisite either boiled, roasted, or fricasseed. It
appeared from the account we kept that we ate 1,500. It is, indeed,
hardly to be conceived that the ship’s company of our two frigates,
consisting of a hundred and fifty men, all in perfect health and with
good stomachs, should have found a quantity of these birds
sufficient for their subsistence during a stay of more than two
months, within a tract of country not exceeding three leagues.’
But they also tried other descriptions of feathered game. The wild
ducks were found, in general, to have the taste of mussels. Of a kind
of grey goose, weighing about 19 or 20 lbs., it is reported: ‘Its flesh
was oily, had a disagreeable smell and a fenny taste; but it was
eaten by the ships’ companies when no bustards were given them.’
The clucking hen of Jamaica (Ardea scolopacea), on the authority of
Browne and Robinson, is looked upon as the best wild fowl in the
country, although the latter writer tells us it feeds upon snakes,
toads, and lizards, as well as wood snails and gully crabs. The
flavour is, however, represented to be remarkably fine—a compound
of ham, partridge, and pigeon. The flesh is of a peculiarly close and
compact texture, and very tender.
The mangrove hen (Rallus Virginianus), indigenous to the watery
marshes of Jamaica, greatly resembles the dappled grey variety of
the common fowl. At the pullet age, the young birds are run down,
when feeding on the mud, with great facility. At this time, I have
found them to be delicious eating. Persons, on whose taste reliance
may be placed, say that, though a plover be undoubtedly a fine bird
for the table, and the sanderling a great delicacy, the young
mangrove hen exceeds both, as it combines all their peculiarity of
flavour with the fleshiness of the quail. This is no small
commendation. But much depends upon your cuisinier; if he is a
good artiste—a man of undoubted talents, it matters little what the
materials be.
The Rallus crex is another esteemed dainty of no ordinary kind, and
a most delicious bird.
In the reign of Henry the Eighth, the bittern was held in great esteem
at the tables of the great. Its flesh has much the flavour of hare, and
is far from being unpleasant.
Snipe of all kinds, from the ‘teeterer,’ that hovers about the edge of
the surf, to the jack snipe (Scolopax gallinula), half-brother to the
woodcock, are in high esteem for the table. The ‘green’ sportsman
finds these birds the most perplexing of all feathered game when on
the wing. Their catter-cornered, worm-fence line of flight renders
them very difficult to hit, until long practice has rendered the
marksman’s eye familiar with their erratic movements. Some
sportsmen take them at an angle; others after they have made their
tack; and others, again, seem to blaze away at them without any
particular aim, and yet always bring down their bird. The yellow-
legged snipe is in America considered the best species for the table.
They should be larded and roasted in bunches of three, and served
in gravy made from their own unctuous drippings. There are few
side-dishes more popular with epicures than snipe on toast. Some
cooks stuff them with a composition of bread crumbs and egg, highly
seasoned; but, in my opinion, they are far better without this kind of
‘trimmings.’
While the trail of the woodcock is a choice morsel with the English
epicure, the inhabitants of the North of Europe, to whose forests the
woodcocks retire in the summer, never eat the birds, esteeming their
flesh unwholesome, from the circumstance of their having no crops.
But they are particularly fond of the eggs, which the boors offer for
sale in large quantities in the principal markets, and this contributes,
possibly, to make the birds so scarce.
The semi-palmated snipe, better known by its common sobriquet of
‘pill-will-willet,’ the loud shrill note which it emits, is at certain periods
of the year esteemed an excellent bird in America. It ought to be
served up in the mode that snipes usually are, and for these
delicious viands it is esteemed a tolerable substitute when in good
order.
Dampier, nearly two centuries ago, speaking of the flamingo, says:
‘Their flesh is lean and black, but not ill-tasted. They have large
tongues, and near the root of them a piece of fat, which is accounted
a great dainty.’
The flamingo was much esteemed by the Romans at their
sumptuous entertainments. Their flesh is thought tolerably good
food, and the tongue was looked upon by the ancients as among the
most delicate of all eatables. Pliny, Martial, and many other writers,
speak of it in the highest terms of commendation. Many who have
tried it, consider the flesh extremely rich, much like that of the wild
duck, but with a strong fishy taste. The tongue is certainly delicate,
but scarcely worthy the high encomiums bestowed on it by the
ancients.
During the surveying expedition of Captain Owen, on the east coast
of Africa, the sailors used to shoot hundreds of these beautiful birds
for the purpose of making a dish of the tongues alone. The
remainder of the bird—in imitation of the Roman epicures—being
thrown away.
 NATATORES.
The Natatores, or swimming birds, supply us with very choice food.
Even many of the coarse sea fowl are not rejected by voyagers.
The Chinese shoot sea-gulls in large numbers, which add to their
stock of food. A man is constantly engaged in the bay of San
Francisco, California, shooting sea-gulls, which he sells to the
Chinese at the rate of 25 cents each. The San Francisco Evening
News says,—‘This bird is a slow and steady mover, of large size,
and flies at a convenient distance over the head of the sportsman.
The man in the skiff was armed with a double-barrelled shot gun,
both barrels of which he would load, and taking a dead gull would
throw it high in the air and allow it to fall at some distance from the
boat. This would naturally attract a flock of gulls, and as they made
their slow circuit around the spot, the gunner raised his piece and
generally succeeded in bringing down a bird for both barrels. He
would then re-load as fast as possible, and if a gull was in range,
another shot was fired and another trophy won.’
The flesh of sea-fowl is generally too rancid to find much favour with
fastidious palates. Sailors indeed eat the livers and hearts of the
penguins, which are exceedingly palatable, but the black flesh of the
body is rank and oily, and has rather a perfumed taste. Some
voyagers, however, tell us, that eaten in ragouts, they are good as
that made from a hare.
The young puffins, having gorged themselves with sprats and
crustacea, when pickled with spices, are by some considered
dainties, and they are, occasionally, potted in the North. But when it
has attained its ugly full developed bill, like a short, thick plough
coulter, this bird does not look very prepossessing. Besides making
use of them for food, some of the islanders use them for fire-wood.
They split them open, dry them, and then burn them feathers and all.
There is a species of puffin, the Puffinus urinatrix or P. brevicaudis,
popularly termed the mutton-bird by Tasmanian colonists, which is
met with on some of the New Zealand islands. It forms the principal
food for the native inhabitants of Foveaux Straits, and by them is
called the titi. It is a sea bird of black colour,[15] in its usual condition
smaller than the common duck. Like all sea birds it has thin, slender
legs, with webbed feet: the wings are long, with many joints, I forget
how many: the bill is a little hooked at the point. They are generally
in large flocks, covering the ocean as far as the eye can reach;
sometimes flying all in the same direction, at other times crossing
through each other like swarming bees. They breed on the small
uninhabited islands scattered round the coasts of Stewart’s Island.
These islands have a loose, dry, peatish soil, on a stony bottom.
Their being exposed to the stormy winds, loaded with the salt spray
of the sea, prevents the growth of a forest, except patches of stunted
bushes intermixed with a sort of soft, light green fern. The loose soil
is perforated with numberless birdholes, like a piece of worm-eaten
wood, running from two to four feet underground in a horizontal
direction, at the farthest end of which is the nest. Each female lays
only one egg, which is nearly as big as a goose egg, on which they
sit—it is believed male and female alternately—many weeks. The
young bird is full grown in the month of April, which corresponds to
October in Europe. At that time, almost all the inhabitants of Foveaux
Straits, old and young—the infirm only excepted—repair to the Titi
Islands, and take the young birds out of their nests, which amount to
many thousands, and a great many still escape. They put a stick in
the hole to feel where the bird is, which generally betrays itself by
biting the stick. If the hole is so long that the bird cannot be reached
by the hand, a hole is dug over it, the bird taken out and killed by
breaking its head, and the broken hole covered with rubbish and
earth, so that it may be used again the next year. Afterwards the
birds are plucked, and, to clean the skin from the hairy down, it is
moistened and held over the fire, when it is easily wiped quite clean.
Then the neck, wings, and legs are cut off, the breast is opened, the
entrails are taken out, and the body is laid flat, either to be salted or
to be boiled in its own fat, and preserved in air-tight kelp bags.
Though it cannot be said that the young birds suffer, they being killed
so quickly, yet it might seem cruel to rob the parents of their young
ones on so large a scale, and one would fancy a great deal of
fluttering and screaming of the old ones, bewailing the bereavement
of their offspring. But that is not the case. None of the old birds make
their appearance in the day-time. They are all out at sea, and come
only to their nests in the evening when it gets dark, and are off again
at day-break. But yet it would seem the parents would be distressed
at finding their nests robbed. Not so. It would seem as if Providence
had ordered it so that man should go and take the young birds for his
food without hurting the feelings of the parents. When the young
birds are full grown, then they are neglected by their parents, in
order to starve them to get thin, else they would never be able to fly
for the heaviness of their fat. It seems that at the time when they are
taken by men, they are already forsaken by the old birds; and those
that are not taken are compelled by hunger, when they have been
starved thin and light, to leave their holes and go to sea. The old
birds are tough and lean, but the young ones, which are nearly twice
as big, contain, when the legs, wings, neck, and entrails are taken
off, three-fourths of pure white fat, and one-fourth of red meat and
tender bones. The flavour is rather fishy, but, if once used to it, not
bad at all, only rather too fat. They eat best when salted and smoked
a little, and then boiled a short time, and afterwards eaten cold. If
properly salted, they might make an article of trade, like herrings in
Europe. The fat when clean is quite white, and looks just like goose
fat, but the taste is rather oily; however, it may be used for a good
many other purposes than for food. It burns very well on small
shallow tin lamps, which get warmed by the light and melt the fat.
The feathers are very soft, and would make excellent beds if they
could be cured of the oily smell, which it is likely they can.
The following remarks on the articles of food found in the arctic
regions are by one of the officers of the Assistance:—
‘To the feathered tribe we are chiefly indebted, and foremost in the
list for flavour and delicacy of fibre stand the ptarmigan (Lagopus
mutus) and the willow grouse (Tetrao saliceti). The flesh is dark-
coloured, and has somewhat the flavour of the hare. These may be
used in pie, stewed, boiled, or roast, at pleasure, and are easily shot.
Next in gustatory joys, the small birds rank, a kind of snipe, and a
curlew sandpiper; both are, however, rarely met with, and do not
repay the trouble of procuring them.
‘The brent goose (Anser torquatus) is excellent eating, and its flesh
is free from fishy taste. Then follow the little auk or rotge (Alca alle),
the dovekey, or black guillemot (Uria grylle), the loon, or thick-billed
guillemot (Uria Brunnichii). The first two are better baked with a
crust, and the last makes, with spices and wine, a soup but little
inferior to that of English hare. All these are found together in flocks,
but the easiest method of obtaining them is either to shoot them at
the cliffs where they breed, or as they fly to and fro from their feeding
ground.
‘The ducks now come upon the table, and are placed in the following
order by most Polar epicures. The long-tailed duck (Fuliluga
glacialis), the king duck (Anas spectabilis), and the eider duck (A.
mollissima). They require to be skinned before roasting or boiling,
and are then eatable, but are always more or less fishy.
‘The divers are by some thought superior for the table to the ducks,
but the difference is very slight. The red-throated diver was most
frequently seen, but few were shot; and of the great northern divers
(Colymbus glacialis) none were brought to table, two only having
been seen. Some of the gulls were eaten, and pronounced equal to
the other sea birds; they were the kittiwake, the tern, and the herring
or silver gull.
‘The denizens of the sea have fallen little under our notice, and they
may be dismissed with the remark, that curried narwhal’s skin can be
tolerated, but not recommended. Some fresh-water fish were caught,
and proved to be very good; they are said to be a kind of trout.’
The eggs of sea-fowl, although much eaten on the coasts, are
seldom brought to market for consumption in our large English
towns, and yet they form a considerable article of traffic in several
parts of the world, and are procured in immense quantities about the
lands near the North and South Poles.
The precipitous cliffs of England are occasionally searched for the
eggs of the razor-billed auk, which are esteemed a delicacy, for
salads especially.
A correspondent at San Francisco informs me that an important
trade is carried on in that city in the eggs of sea birds. He states, that
the Farallones de los Frayles, a group of rocky islets, lying a little
more than twenty miles west of the entrance to the Bay of San
Francisco, are the resort of innumerable sea-fowl, known by the
fishermen as ‘murres.’ These islands are almost inaccessible, and,
with a single exception, are uninhabited. They, therefore, very
naturally afford a resort for great multitudes of birds. Some time
since a company was organized in San Francisco for the purpose of
bringing the eggs of the murres to market. An imperfect idea of the
numbers of these birds may be formed from the fact, that this
company sold in that city the last season (a period of less than two
months, July and parts of June and August) more than five hundred
thousand eggs! All these were gathered on a single one of these
islands; and, in the opinion of the eggers, not more than one egg in
six of those deposited on that island was gathered. My
correspondent informs me that he was told by those familiar with the
islands that all the eggs brought in were laid by birds of a single kind.
Yet they exhibit astonishing variations in size, in form, and in
colouring. There is no reason to suppose that he was misinformed in
regard to these eggs being deposited by a single species. The men
could have had no motive for deception, and similar facts are
observable on the Labrador coast and in the islands north of
Scotland. Besides, the writer ascertained from other sources, that all
the eggs brought to the market were obtained from a limited portion
of the island, known as the Great Farallone—called the Rookery,
where a single species swarm in myriads, and where no other kind
of bird is found. Naturalists, who have received specimens of these
birds, pronounce them to be the thick-billed or Brunnich’s guillemot,
or murre, of Labrador and Northern Europe. The eggs are three and
a half inches in length, and are esteemed a great delicacy.
There is a small island off the Cape of Good Hope, named Dassen
Island, about six miles from the mainland, which is one and a half
mile long by one broad, from which 24,000 eggs of penguins and
gulls are collected every fortnight, and sold at Cape Town for a half-
penny each.
The late Lieut. Ruxton, R.N., speaking of the Island of Ichaboe, on
the Western Coast of Africa, says, ‘Notwithstanding that the island
had been occupied for nearly two years, during which time
thousands upon thousands of penguins had been wantonly
destroyed, on the cessation of work these birds again flocked to their
old haunts, where they had again commenced laying their eggs. The
rocks round the island are literally covered with penguins,
cormorants, and albatrosses. The former, wedged together in a
dense phalanx, have no more dread of man than ducks in a poultry-
yard, although they have met with such persecution on the island;
and any number might be taken by the hand without any difficulty.
The sailors eat the livers and hearts, which are exceedingly
palatable, but the flesh of the body is rank and oily.’[16]
Captain Morrell, also writing of Ichaboe (Nautical Magazine, vol. 13,
p. 374), tells us, ‘Eggs may be obtained here in great quantities. In
the months of October and November this island is literally covered
with jackass-penguins and gannets, which convene here for the
purpose of laying and incubation. The nests of the gannets are
formed like those of the albatross, but are not so much elevated;
while the jackass-penguins lay their eggs in holes in the ground from
twelve to thirty inches in depth, which they guard with the strictest
vigilance. They frequently lay three or four eggs, but the gannet
seldom lays more than two.’
A correspondent, writing from Tristan d’Acunha, in September, gives
an account of his adventures in taking penguins’ eggs. ‘This is now
the time for penguins’ eggs. They get great numbers of them. There
are two rookeries, as they call them; one on the east, and one on the
west, of us. To the one on the west, they go over land, beyond
Elephant Bay. I went there last year, when I saw the great sea
elephant and the penguins for the first time. But this year I have
been disappointed, the weather has been so unsettled. But
yesterday was a fine day, and they were going in the boat to the
other, to which they can go only by water; so I went with them. It was