110 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OP THE OX. 



their footing, spread, established themselves, and in a manner 

 «uperseded the longhorns. They found their way to southern 

 districts, mingled with the native breeds, and it was found that 

 a cross from them usually increased the amount of milk, the 

 aptitude to fatten, and the earliness of maturity. The advantages 

 of the improved longhorns remained ; but the breed itself gradu- 

 ally diminished. In some places it almost disappeared ; and at 

 the present time, and even in Leicestershire, the shorthorns are 

 fast driving the longhorns from the field. To the historian it 

 might almost seem as if some dread scourge had suddenly swept 

 away the whole of this valuable breed. 



THE SHOKTHORNS. 



As the name itself manifestly implies, the famous breed of 

 -cattle known as the " Shorthorn " is characterised by the fact 

 that the animals so-called have shorter horns than almost any 

 other kind of oxen. They possess, in a high degree, a rare 

 combination of good qualities, being very attractive to the eye 

 by reason of their splendid frames and beautiful and varied 

 colours. These animals were first produced at the beginning of 

 the nineteenth century, having been originally bred in East 

 York and afterwards greatly improved in the county of Durham. 

 In fact, these two counties of York and Durham have for a long 

 time been noted for their shorthorns, which were remarkable, in 

 the first instance, principally on account of their great capabili- 

 ties in regard to the supply of milk. From this district these 

 oxen have spread very extensively both in England and in Scot- 

 land, and they are now met with in nearly all the best grazing 

 districts. At first the shorthorns were usually large, thin- 

 skinned, sleek, delicate, coarse in the offal, and rather deficient 

 in the fore- quarters. They were good milkers but slow feeders, 

 and their meat was inferior, not marbled, and rather dark in 

 colour. The shorthorns which have not been improved at the 

 present day are very similar to the original shorthorns. After 

 the lapse of eighty years the shorthorns existing near the banks of 

 the river Tees — on this account denominated the Teeswater breed 

 — had assumed characters very different from those above de- 

 scribed. They were occasionally red, red and white, and roan, 

 although the last-named colour was at that time not so prevalent 



