271 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



"The Roast Beef of Old Englaud." According to the official account in 1853, the number of oxen 

 exhibited in Smithfield was 294,57 1. But this is far from giving a true idea of the whole amount taken 

 into London. Much stock arrives in the capital which never enters the great mart which then existed, 

 or the immensely improved one that has since been opened. The railways convey thither, in the 

 course of a year, hundreds of thousands more. No fewer than 322,188 oxen were thus transmitted in 

 1853 from various parts of Great Britain and the Continent. Within the last quarter of a century 

 eighty miles was the farthest distance from which carcases ever came ; now the railways, during the 

 winter months, bring hundreds of tons from as far north as Aberdeen, while some are fetched from 

 Hamburg and Ostend. The term "butcher," derived from the French boucher, denotes one who 

 slaughters animals for market ; or, whose occupation is to kill animals for the table. But it is now 

 wholly inapplicable to many tradesmen in the neighbourhood of London, who, had they lived in a 

 former age, would have been likely to have worn it worthily. These persons, however, do not kill ; 

 it is their practice to go or send daily to Newgate market, to obtain from the dealers the halves, 

 quarters, or joints, from which they may best supply their respective circles of customers ; and thus 

 they are not butchers, but purveyors of meat. 



Some foreign tribes it will be well now to notice, as the race Alsac.iennc, of which we give a 

 life-like engraving. The race de Salers, admirably represented by Mile. Eosa and M. Auguste 

 Bonheur, presents the following characteristics : red coat ; hair rather short than long ; head short ; 

 mild and intelligent physiognomy ; very, marked muscles ; bones rather fine ; great and medium 

 height ; in point of size, generally good conformation ; aptitude for work ; easily fattened. 



The race Garonnaise is the one which is raised on the fertile shores of the Garonne, and which 

 strangers admire on the quay at Bordeaux, where enormous loads are drawn by bullocks of this species. 

 Its characteristics are : colossal stature ; strongly-developed muscles ; horns directed downwards, one 

 of which it is almost always necessary to cut in order to attach the yoke ; neck of darker colour than 

 the rest of the body; dorsal spine, undulating in consequence of several very marked ossial projections, 

 straight, ho >vever, as a whole ; bones rather large; dewlap developed ; head large and frizzled; limbs 

 short ; growth slower than in the greater part of the other southern races. Cows do not yield much 

 milk, but are strong and laborious. 



The qualities of the Mancelle race are thus stated : no black on the coat ; sometimes, however, 

 some hairs of colour round the lips ; height rather small than large, but varying according to the 

 abundance of pasturage ; horns shorter and thicker than in the Choletaise species, twisted in the air, 

 dark at the extremity ; skin thick ; largeness of forehead, chest, and rump ; rounded sides ; small legs 

 little aptitude for work ; milking faculties of the third order ; a marked disposition towards precocious 

 fattening. 



Under the names of the Parthenaise or Ckoletaise race are included the remarkable animals whose 

 high horns, haughty attitude and vivacity, remind one of the Bernese oxen : hair forming round the 

 eye and above the muzzle two borders, one light, the other black ; blackish at the lower part of the 

 dewlap, in the interior' of the ear, on the tail, above the hoof, and at the knee ; horns . of the oxen 

 turned in the air, black at the extremity ; bones fine ; medium height ; short limbs ; meat much 

 esteemed ; little aptitude for the production of milk. 



Sace Normande Cotentine. To this race belongs the enormous ox which, led in pomp at the time 

 of the carnival, excites the admiration of the Parisians. Long head, horns directed in front ; skin 

 rather thick than fine ; large bones ; short limbs ; dorsal spine, frequently undulated, in consequence 

 of strong ossial projections, and saddle shaped. 



The flemish race almost always have the coat spotted with white on the head and under the 

 body ; a long, straight head ; short horns, often turned in front ; thin neck ; narrow chest ; sides often 

 flat ; high limbs ; fine bones ; fine skin ; little aptitude for work ; milking powers of the first order ; 

 great height ; and rapid growth. 



The Breton race is a streaked species, marvellously adapted to the poor nature of the pasturage 

 of that country : hair black ; or red, spotted with white ; size very small ; fine head ; gentle face ; 

 tin'- horns turned into the air in front; rounded sides; fine skin; fine bones; soft and fine hair; 

 milk very buttery ; meat excellent; too feeble a race for work ; but rustic, thriving well on the most 

 meagre pasturage. 



