THE ABSENCE OF DOMINANCE 63 



Jerseys, Swiss, and French- Canadians. These colours may 

 all be spotted and flecked with white, and the tastes of 

 breeders vary so that the gradations run from whole 

 colours at the one extreme tlu'ough numerous varieties 

 of spots and flecks to animals so little coloured at the 

 other extreme that, like the " wild white " cattle, they 

 are frequently regarded as whites. The black Aberdeen- 

 Angus, Galloways, and Welsh are whole-coloured breeds, 

 although small white markings on the underline are not 

 uncommon; the red Devons and Sussex are also whole- 

 coloured, but for the white tail-switch ; the red Herefords 

 have white faces, chines, and underlines ; the red Short- 

 horns have many varieties of white marks and flecks ; 

 the Dutch have large white flecks, one pattern of which 

 encircles the animal like a belt ; and many Ayrshires have 

 only a few small spots of colour about the neck : the rest 

 of the body being an unbroken white. Yet all these 

 cattle carry the factor for one or other of the ordinary 

 colours together with other factors which determine how 

 much of the body shall or shall not be pigmented. 



It may be that the pure whites are not absolutely colour- 

 less, for their white is not just that of an albino, and 

 sometimes it seems to assume a darker tint within the 

 ears ; but, since these white cattle can be crossed with 

 coloured cattle and their coloured descendants from such 

 crosses carry the usual spots and flecks, there can be no 

 doubt that they also carry factors for spots and flecks 

 whose effects are invisible in the whites themselves. 



The colours which do not breed true are yellow, dun, 

 the several varieties of brindle, and the two roans, blue 

 and red. These are known to be hybrids between one or 

 another pair of the true-breeding colours. Red roan, 

 which has been a Shorthorn colour since the foundation 



