The distinction between a "breed" and "race," Goodale defines as follows: "By breeds are understood such varieties as were originally produced by a cross or mixture, and subsequently established by selecting for breeding purposes only the best specimens, and rejecting all others. In process of time deviations become less frequent, and greater uniformity is secured, and this is in proportion to the time which elapses and the skill employed in selecting. Races are varieties moulded to their peculiar type by _natural_ causes, with no interference of man, and no intermixture of other varieties; that have continued substantially the same, for a period beyond which the memory and knowledge of man does not reach. Such are the North Devon Cattle." There seems to have been three distinct races of these ancient cattle: the Long Horns, the Middle Horns, and Hornless, or Polled Cattle. The Middle Horns represented the cattle of the region of Devonshire. These races of cattle were bred by the Ancient Celtic inhabitants, and constituted their chief subsistence. Youatt says: "the native inhabitants were proud of their country, and prouder of their cattle, their choicest possession." When their country was invaded by their enemies, they fled to the mountains for safety and protection, and took with them their cattle upon which to subsist, and thus were preserved both themselves and their cattle, so that the races of cattle in these districts have been the same from time immemorial. In a few instances the wild forest cattle have been kept distinct, in a wild state, to this day; as in the parks of Chillingham and Chartley; and are said to be similar to those that existed in the tenth century; and also bear a strong resemblance to the present domestic breeds of that region. The cattle in these parks are white, with red ears. _Color._ Black or white were the principal colors, though where these were found the memory of the red prevails. "It seems the people had a superstitious reverence attached to it, (in Scotland and Wales), in the tradition of the country; the milk of the red cow was considered a remedy for every disease, and a preservative from every evil." The breeders of the improved Devons adhere scrupulously to the deep red color of the hair, and reject individuals that have a tendency to produce white. And it seems that in this way, if no other, the color of the Devons has been established and perpetuated. The deep red color of the pure bred Devon is implanted so strongly, that there is no race in which an admixture of foreign blood is so easily traced; nor is there a race that has remained so free from foreign intermixture. Their color is generally stamped on the progeny, in a cross with any other breed. _English Improved Devons._