228 



TlIK I(H'KNAI< OV HERI•:I)IT^• 



well's method of brcedinj^f ccnild not be 

 carried on for an\' length of time with 

 good results — although it was long in 

 fashion because of Bakewell's great 

 influence. 



If Darwin did not appeal to these 

 sources of evidence, it was not, of 

 course, because they were not entitled 

 to command respect. Besides, he refers 

 only casuall}' to Culley, although the 

 latter is one of the most positive of the 

 older English writers, on the absence of 

 danger from inbreeding. The greatest 

 hindrance to the improvement of breeds 

 of live-stock, Culley declares, is due to 

 the su]3erstition that because of the 

 danger of inbreeding, one should use the 

 same l)ull only three years at the longest. 

 Weak and delicate produce is feared, 

 and many have fallen into the belief 

 that inbreeding is abhorrent to reli- 

 gion. Happily, however, there are still 

 people in England who have no regard 

 for such superstitions, and the experi- 

 ence of many years justifies them. By 

 the example of the half-wild cattle in 

 Chillingham Park in Northumberland- 

 shire, Culley seeks to demonstrate that 

 even long-continued inbreeding is hann- 

 less. This race, the purest-bred in 

 Europe, is hardy, sound and of good 

 form, and has not changed in color for 

 more than 500 years. 



THE CHILLINGH.WI CATTLE. 



The Chillingham cattle are so often 

 cjuoted in German literature that it 

 seems worth while to gi\'e Darwin's 

 remarks on the subject verbatim. 

 Notice that according to his view even 

 here inbreeding has not proved wholly 

 innocuous : 



"The half- wild cattle, which have 

 been kept in British parks probably for 

 400 or 500 years, or even for a longer 

 jx-riod, have been advanced by Culley 

 and others as a case of long-continued 

 interbreeding within the limits of the 

 same herd without any consequent 

 injury. With respect to the cattle at 

 Chillingham, the late Lord Tankerville 

 owned that they were bad breeders. 

 The agent, Mr. Hardy, estimates (in a 

 letter to me dated M'ay, 1.S61) that in 

 the herd of aljout 50 the average number 

 annually slaughtered, killed 1)\- lighting. 



and dying, is alxjut 10, or one in five. 

 As the herd is kept up to nearly the 

 same average number, the annual rate 

 of increase must be likewise about one 

 in five. The bulls, I may add, engage 

 in furious battles, of which battles the 

 ])resent Lord Tankerville has given me 

 a graphic description, so that there will 

 always be rigorous selection of the most 

 vigorous males. I jjrocured in 1855 

 from Mr. D. Gardner, agent to the 

 Duke of Hamilton, the following account 

 of the wild cattle kept in the Duke's 

 park in Lanarkshire, which is about 200 

 acres in extent. The number of cattle 

 varies from 65 to 80; and the number 

 annually killed (1 ]jresume by all 

 causes) is from 8 to 10; so that the 

 annual rate of increase can hardly be 

 more than one in six. Now in South 

 America, where the herds are half-wild, 

 and therefore offer a nearly fair standard 

 of comparison, according to Azara the 

 natural increase of cattle on an estancia 

 is from one-third to one-fourth of the 

 total number, or one in between three 

 and four, and this no doubt applies 

 exclusively to adult animals fit for con- 

 sumption. Hence the half-wild British 

 cattle which have long been interbred 

 within the limits of the same herd are 

 relatively far less fertile. Although in 

 an unenclosed country like Paraguay 

 there must be some crossing between 

 the different herds, yet even there the 

 inhal^itants believe that the occasional 

 introduction of animals from distant 

 localities is necessary to prevent 'de- 

 generation in size and diminution in 

 fertility.' The decrease in size from 

 ancient times in the Chillingham and 

 Hamilton cattle must have been pro- 

 digious, for Professor Rutimeyer has 

 shcjwn that they are almost certainly 

 descended from the gigantic Bos primi- 

 geniiis. No doul)t this decrease in size 

 may be largely attributed to less favor- 

 able conditions of life; yet animals roam- 

 ing over large parks, and fed during 

 severe winters, can hardly be considered 

 as placed under very unfavorable con- 

 ditions." 



CA.MI-: I\ I'RICSERVES. 



'I'lir (lui'slion wlu'lluT sustained close- 

 intcrbrt'cding in game ])reserves leads to 



