Cattle. 



The parent race of the ox is said to have been much larger than 

 any of the present varieties. The Urus, in his wild state at least, 

 was an enormous and fierce animal, and ancient Iccrends have thrown 

 around him an air of mystery. In almost every part of the Con- 

 tinent, and in every district of England, skulls, evidently belonging to 

 cattle, have been found, far exceeding in bulk any now known. 

 There is a fine specimen in the British Museum : the peculiarity of 

 the horns will be observed, resembling smaller ones dug up in the 

 mines of Cornwall, preserved, in some degree, in the wild cattle of 

 Chillingham Park, and not quite lost in our native breeds of Devon 

 and East Sussex, and those of the Welsh mountains and the High- 

 lands. We believe that this referred more to individuals than to the 

 breed generally, for there is no doubt that, within the last century, 

 the size of the cattle has progressively increased in England, and kept 

 pace with the improvement of agriculture. 



We will not endeavor to follow the migrations of the ox from 

 Western Asia, nor the change in size, and form, and value, which it 

 underwent, according to the difference of climate and of pasture, as 

 it journeyed on toward the west, for there are no records of this on 

 which dependence can be placed ; but we will proceed to the subject 

 of the present work, the British Ox. 



