124 EVOLUTION OF BRITISH CATTLE 



his system, much modified, has been adopted 

 by the leading Shorthorn breeders down to the 

 present day. How much this means to a breed 

 can be inferred from the fact that the blood of 

 the stock of the highest class breeders soon 

 permeates a breed through the demand made 

 upon it for breeding purposes by other breeders. 

 Thus, at the present day there are no Short- 

 horns which are not descended from Charles 

 Colling's Comet again and again. 



Among the Shorthorns, as among the Long- 

 horns, there was first a mingling of races and 

 afterwards a retention of the desirable and an 

 expulsion of the undesirable characters produced 

 by the mixing. All other breeds have gone 

 through the same process of mixing first and 

 purification after, some to a less, others to a 

 greater extent. For instance, the white colour 

 has been expelled from pure-bred Welsh cattle, 

 the hornless character and the light dun colour 

 have been expelled from Somerset and Devon 

 cattle, and while the Norfolks and the Suffolks 

 have amalgamated, the former have given up 

 their horns and the latter their colour ; but, if 

 we take a short survey of the history of Aber- 

 deen-Angus cattle we shall see the process from 

 more sides than in any other breed, and at the 

 same time get a glimpse perhaps of what may 

 be possible in the future. 



At the present day Aberdeen-Angus cattle 



