as distinct species. When we consider the number of points in
external structure and habits, independently of important
osteological differences, in which they differ from each other; and
that many of these points are not likely to have been affected by
domestication, there can hardly be a doubt, notwithstanding the
adverse opinion of some naturalists, that the humped and non-humped
cattle must be ranked as specifically distinct.
The European breeds of humpless cattle are numerous. Professor Low
enumerates 19 British breeds, only a few of which are identical
with those on the Continent. Even the small Channel islands of
Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney possess their own sub-breeds;[34]
and these again differ from the cattle of the other British
islands, such as Anglesea, and the western isles of Scotland.
Desmarest, who paid attention to the subject, describes 15 French
races, excluding sub-varieties and those imported from other
countries. In other parts of Europe there are several distinct
races, such as the pale-coloured Hungarian cattle, with their light
and free step, and enormous horns sometimes measuring above five
feet from tip to tip:[35] the Podolian cattle also are remarkable
from the height of their fore-quarters. In the most recent work on
Cattle,[36] engravings are given of fifty-five European breeds; it
is, however, probable that several of these differ very little from
each other, or are merely synonyms. It must not be supposed that
numerous breeds of cattle exist only in long-civilised countries,
for we shall presently see that several kinds are kept by the
savages of Southern Africa.
With respect to the parentage of the several European breeds, we
already know much from Nilsson’s Memoir,[37] and more especially
from Rütimeyer’s works and those of Boyd Dawkins. Two or three
species or forms of Bos, closely allied to still living domestic
races, have been found in the more recent tertiary deposits or
amongst prehistoric remains in Europe. Following Rütimeyer, we
have:—
_Bos primigenius._This magnificent, well known species was
domesticated in Switzerland during the Neolithic period; even at
this early period it varied a little, having apparently been
crossed with other races. Some of the larger races on the
Continent, as the Friesland, etc., and the Pembroke race in
England, closely resemble in essential structure _B. primigenius,_
and no doubt are its descendants. This is likewise the opinion of
Nilsson. _Bos primigenius_ existed as a wild animal in Cæsar’s
time, and is now semi-wild, though much degenerated in size, in the
park of Chillingham; for I am informed by Professor Rütimeyer, to
whom Lord Tankerville sent a skull, that the Chillingham cattle are
less altered from the true primigenius type than any other known
breed.[38]
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