28 EVOLUTION OF BRITISH CATTLE 



sources, McKenny Hughes came to the con- 

 clusion that the race which the Romans were 

 most likely to have introduced to Britain was 

 the large white race which, in ancient as in 

 modern times, stretched eastwards and south- 

 wards into Asia and Egypt. 



Could any resemblances be traced between 

 the old white cattle of Southern Europe and 

 those whose bones lay in the Roman rubbish 

 heaps of Britain? And were their presumable 

 descendants in any way alike? The first link 

 was found in the fact that, while the horns of 

 Bos longifrons curved forward and inward, the 

 horns of the old southern cattle curved decidedly 

 upward. So also, as shown by their cores, did 

 the horns of the new breed that came into 

 Britain with the Romans. Another link was 

 found in the length and shape of the horns. 

 The horns of the old southern cattle not only 

 turned upward, but were lyre-shaped, with a 

 peculiar final bend, and many of them were of 

 extraordinary length. The same characteristics 

 are found not only among modern breeds of this 

 South European race, but also among English 

 breeds descended certainly from cattle brought 

 into the country within historical time, and, pre- 

 sumably, from those brought in by the Romans. 

 The accompanying illustrations will make this 

 point clear. 



Another link was found in the fact that 



