36 WILD WHITE CATTLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



expelled so long, makes some feeble efforts towards the 

 production of the original colours, for Professor Wright- 

 son, in his account of the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, 

 tells us that " about ninety per cent, of this race are 

 black-and-white, five per cent, are grey-and-white, and 

 five per cent, are red, or red-and- white. A mixed pepper- 

 and-salt, or black-and-white roan is also sometimes 

 noticeable." 



I perhaps have made a longer digression than to 

 many will seem desirable, but in taking this brief survey 

 of the Continental cattle ancient and modern, I wished 

 to shadow out the great fact that those which are with 

 the least modifications descended from the ancient Urus, 

 present also in form and colour the most remarkable 

 likeness to our own white forest breed. I could not 

 therefore fairly pass over the cattle of Western Europe. 

 From its shores came long since our own domestic 

 breed of the Urus type ; and I therefore felt compelled 

 to state my reasons for believing that neither in Holland, 

 nor in Friesland, nor in Holstein, is the race of cattle so 

 pure and so original as it was 200 or 300 years since. 

 In its present altered state, very small are the conclu- 

 sions to be drawn from it as respects those English 

 breeds which anciently came from thence ; while still 

 more feeble is any evidence it can give respecting the 

 character and colour of the ancient Urus. 



I pass over, then, with these few remarks, the 

 useful herds, so valuable for numerous economic pmv 

 poses, of Western Continental Europe. Many of these 

 have undoubtedly derived some of their excellent 

 qualities from containing a certain amount of the blood 

 of the wild bull; but except the Charolais, and per- 

 haps one or two other races which much more slightly 



