760 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



The shorthorn breed was originally an East Anglian race of cattle, 

 but was modified into its present perfection in Durham, whence it is 

 often known by the name of Durham shorthorn. The illustration on p. 756 repre- 

 sents an ox of the best strain of this breed. In these animals the height of the 

 body is comparatively low, but there is great depth, and the chest, back, and loins 

 are remarkable for their width. The skin is light colored, and the hair either 

 reddish brown or white, or a mixture of the two, or the well-known strawberry 

 color. The muzzle should be flesh colored; and the horns are short, curving 

 inward, light in color, and frequently somewhat compressed. The skin is soft and 

 yielding, and the general form of the body square and massive, with upright shoul- 

 ders and roomy hind-quarters. The great advantages of the shorthorns are that 

 they are hardy and good-tempered animals, of large size and eminently distin- 

 guished by the rapidity with which they reach maturity of flesh and muscle. Al- 

 though inferior in their yield of milk to the Suffolk and Ayrshire breeds, shorthorns 

 are now more widely spread over England, both as dairy and fatting cattle, than 

 any other kind. 



On the Continent there are likewise numerous breeds of cattle, but 



only a few of these can be even mentioned. One of the most esteemed 

 creeds 



is the Freiburg breed of which a bull is represented in the illustration 

 on p. 759. This breed seems to be allied to the English shorthorns, but has a 

 longer body and neck. The horns are short but sharp, and the color is a mixture 

 of black or reddish brown with white. These cattle are largely bred in Switzerland, 

 and are considered to be the parent stock from which several other breeds have 

 originated. The Dutch breed, as represented by the cow figured in the accompany- 

 ing woodcut, was originally a native of the Lowlands of Holland, but has now spread 

 over a large part of Germany. Fitzinger regards the Dutch cattle as the direct 

 descendants of the aurochs, and they seem to approximate to the Ayrshire breed. 

 They are of large size, with long necks and pointed muzzles, and moderately-sized 

 horns, directed forward and inward. The usual color is black upon a white or 

 grayish-white ground, but the dark markings may be brown or reddish. 



Very different from all others are the large Hungarian cattle, characterized by 

 their uniform pale fawn color, their enormous, slender, outspreading horns, and their 

 free, light step. The horns may measure as much as five feet from tip to tip, and are 

 black at the extremities, but grayish throughout the rest of their length. This 

 breed ranges through Hungary into Turkey and Western Asia. The Podolian cat- 

 tle constitute another well-marked breed characterized by the great relative height 

 of the fore-quarters. 



In Northern India many of the breeds of domestic cattle appear to 

 be a cross between the ordinary European cattle and the humped In- 

 dian cattle, showing the general shape of the former but the white rings on the fet- 

 locks characteristic of the latter. In Africa there are several kinds of humpless cat- 

 tle, among which the Namaqualand breed most nearly resembles ordinary European 

 cattle, on the other hand, the Damara breed is distinguished by the large size of the 

 bones, the small feet, slender legs, the long tuft of bushy hair at the end of the tail, 

 and the extraordinary length of the horns. The horns are, however, even still larger 



