266 THE OX. 



and its varieties, the highly cultivated breed of Short-horns, 

 and the Hereford : and, again, there is a class of breeds in- 

 termediate between the smaller breeds of the mountains and 

 the larger races of the plains, as the Galloway, the Angus, 

 and the beautiful breed of Nouth Devon. 



But, besides the effects of the natural and acquired fertility 

 of districts in modifying the form and characters of these 

 animals, so as to form varieties, art and a fitting selection of 

 the breeding parents exercise an influence scarcely less im- 

 portant. Experience shews that the characters of the Ox, as 

 of all animals subjected to domestication, are communicated 

 with surprising constancy to the young, and become perma- 

 nent by reproduction between similar individuals. Not only 

 are the properties of form so transmitted, but those pecu- 

 liarities of temperament which render the animals fitted to 

 particular uses, as for the exertion of strength in the yoke, 

 for the secretion of fat, or the production of milk. Besides, 

 then, the characters of breeds which are the result of natural 

 causes, there is a class of characters the result of breeding 

 and artificial treatment. Some of the finest of the breeds of 

 England may be termed artificial, with relation to the means 

 employed to give them their distinctive characters : such was 

 the variety of the Long-horned breed formed by Bakewell, 

 such is the modern Durham improved by Colling, and such is 

 the highly esteemed breed of Hereford, perfected by Tomkins. 

 These breeds, the finest in the world with respect to their 

 economical uses, although bearing an affinity to the parent 

 stocks from which they were derived, have had those peculiar 

 properties which fit them for the uses for which they are de- 

 signed mainly communicated by the art of the breeder. 



Of the properties which artificial breeding is employed to 

 call forth, that which holds the first place in this country is, 

 an early maturity of the animal, and a tendency to the secre- 

 tion of fat. But the production of milk is likewise important, 

 and particular breeds are valued for the faculty of yielding 

 this substance in abundance. Before describing the various 



