EVOLUTION OF BRITISH 

 CATTLE 



I 



BOS PRIMIGENIUS 



In this volume it will be our duty again and 

 again to question, and sometimes to destroy, 

 many fondly cherished beliefs as to the origin 

 and history of the cattle of the British Isles, 

 and also as to the manner in which nearly every 

 breed has been evolved. Were our duty merely 

 to destroy, it could be pleasant neither in its 

 performance nor in the contemplation of its 

 results ; but it is to be hoped that no belief 

 will be destroyed without a better one being put 

 forward in its place. Little would be gained, for 

 instance, by telling cattle owners that no British 

 breed, excepting, perhaps, the Sussex, could lay 

 serious claims to purity of blood in a long and 

 unbroken stream, unless it could be shown 

 that the most exalted breeds have attained 

 their present eminence entirely through the 

 mingling of diverse strains and races. Again, 



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