Chat. II J. 



THEIR PARENTAGE. 



85 



Bos trochoceros. — This form is not included in the three species 

 above mentioned, for it is now considered by Eiitimeyer to be the 

 female of an early domesticated form of B. primigenius, and as the 

 progenitor of his frontosus race. I may add that specific names have 

 been given to four other fossil oxen, now believed to be identical 

 with B. primigenius?* 



Bos longifrons (or brachyceros) of Owen. — This very distinct species 

 was of small size, and had a short body with fine legs. According 

 to Boyd Dawkins 40 it was introduced as a domesticated animal into 

 Britain at a very early period, and supplied food to the Eoman 

 legionaries.' 11 Some remains have been found in Ireland in certain 

 crannoges, of which the dates are believed to be from 843-933 a.d. 42 

 It was also the commonest form in a domesticated condition in 

 Switzerland during the earliest part of the Neolithic period. Pro- 

 fessor Owen 43 thinks it probable that the Welsh and Highland cattle 

 are descended from this form ; as likewise is the case, according to 

 Riitimeyer, with some of the existing Swiss breeds. These latter 

 are of different shades of colour from light-grey to blackish-brown, 

 with a lighter stripe along the spine, but they have no pure white 

 marks. The cattle of North Wales and the Highlands, on the other 

 hand, are generally black or dark-coloured. 



Bos frontosus of Nilsson. — This species is allied to B. longifrons, 

 and, according to the high authority of Mr. Boyd Dawkins, is identical 

 with it, but in the opinion of some judges is distinct. Both co -existed 

 in Scania during the same late geological period, 44 and both have 

 been found in the Irish crannoges. 45 Nilsson believes that his 

 B. frontosus may be the parent of the mountain cattle of Norway, 

 which have a high protuberance on the skull between the base of 

 the horns. As Professor Owen and others believe that the Scotch 

 Highland cattle are descended from his B. longifrons, it is worth 

 notice that a capable judge 46 has remarked that he saw no cattle 

 in Norway like the Highland breed, but that they more nearly 

 resembled the Devonshire breed. 



On the whole we may conclude, more especially from the 

 researches of Boyd Dawkins, that European cattle are 



39 Pictet's ' Pale'ontologie,' torn i. p. 

 365 (2nd edit.). With respect to B. 

 trochoceros, see Riitimeyer's ' Zahmen 

 Europ. Rindes,' 1866, s. 26. 



40 W. Boyd Dawkins on the British 

 Fossil Oxen,' ' Journal of the Geolog. 

 Soc.,' Aug. 1867, p. 182. Also ' Proc. 

 Phil. Soc. of Manchester,' Nov. 14, 

 1871, and 'Cave Hunting,' 1875, p. 

 27, 138. 



41 ' British Pleistocene Mammalia,' 

 by W. B. Dawkins and W. A. Sandford, 

 1866, p. xv. 



42 W. R. Wilde, 'An Essay on the 



Animal Remains, &c. Royal Irish 

 Academy,' 1860, p. 29. Also ' Proc. 

 of R. Irish Academy,' 1858, p. 48. 



43 'Lecture: Royal Institution of G. 

 Britain,' May 2nd, 1856, p. 4. 

 ' British Fossil Mammals,' p. 513. 



44 Nilsson, in 'Annals and Mag. of 

 Nat. Hist.,' 1849, vol. iv. p. 354. 



45 See W. R. Wilde, ut supra ; and 

 Mr. Blythe, in ' Proc. Irish Academy,' 

 March 5th, 1864. 



46 Laing's ' Tour in Norway,' p 

 110. 



