THE WILD WHITE CATTLE 

 OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



CHAPTER I. 



Origin of Cattle — European Races of Cattle — Fossil Species — Small Celtic Ox 

 probably descended from Bos Longifrons — The larger Races from Bos 

 Urus — Historical Notices of the Urus. 



« 



Before I proceed to describe the British. Wild White 

 Cattle as they now exist, it seems desirable to state what 

 is known of their origin and history. The European 

 cattle — generally included under the name Bos taurus — 

 as a whole differ much in structure, habits, and 

 osteological formation from the humped kinds which 

 inhabit tropical countries — called in India Zebus, and 

 to which the name of Bos Indicus has been given. 

 Mr. Darwin * comes to the conclusion, that " there can 

 hardly be a doubt, notwithstanding the adverse opinion 

 of some naturalists, that the humped and non-humped 

 cattle must be ranked as specifically distinct." To this 

 it must be added that most existing European cattle are 

 supposed to descend from some one or more of the " two 

 or three species or forms of Bos, closely allied to living 

 domestic races, which have been found fossil in the more 

 recent tertiary deposits of Europe." These were, it is 



* For this and the following quotations, see Darwin's " Animals and 

 Plants under Domestication," vol. i., chap. iii. 

 B 



