MAMMALS. 89 



and fur of the Rabbit are largely used in commerce, 

 the former principally in making cheap imitations of 

 more costly furs, and the latter in the manufacture of 

 felt hats. The numerous varieties of Rabbits kept in 

 the domestic state are all derived from the Common 

 Wild Rabbit. The usual colour is brownish-grey above, 

 and white beneath. Total length, about 16 inches : 

 Average weight, 3 Ibs. It is stated on good authority 

 that this animal is not indigenous here, but the date of 

 its introduction is quite unknown. 



WILD OX. Zoologists differ in their views as to whether 

 Bos taurus. all the forms of Ox found in Europe 



should be regarded as one or several 

 species, and it would be out of place to discuss the 

 question in a book of the nature of this volume. In 

 Shropshire there are, of course, no wild Oxen now-a-days, 

 but that they formerly existed here is proved by the 

 fact that a bone picked up by Dr. Sankey, by the river 

 Perry, was pronounced by Professor Alec. Macalister to 

 be the atlas vertebra of Bos primigenius. Long, long ago, 

 the natives of this country succeeded in domesticating 

 a smaller breed of Ox to which the name of the Long- 

 faced Ox (Bos longerons) has been given. The Romans 

 when they built Uriconium found these cattle already 

 in the country, and probably appropriated them without 

 scruple. That they used them for food is evident, for 

 in the shambles found in excavating the ruins, bones of 

 the animal are numerous. Several skulls and other 

 parts of the skeleton are to be seen in the Shrewsbury 

 Museum, and remains of the same kind have been found 

 on the site of the Shrewsbury Post Office, and under 

 the bed of the River Severn at Shrewsbury where 



