xviii AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 



notice — it may be because they were no longer wild — 

 of cattle resembling them in form and colour, which 

 were then not uncommon in several parts of England, 

 Wales, and Scotland; though the similarity of their 

 descent to that of some of the wild herds was not 

 only strongly indicated by their own character and 

 appearance, but in certain instances was confirmed by 

 their history. 



The universal colour of these herds was white / in 

 general pure, approximating, however, in a few instances, 

 to cream- colon?', but with certain points otherwise coloured, 

 and these points generally black. The tips of the horns, 

 the muzzle, the circle round the eyes, the hoofs, were in 

 all the herds black ; in some the extremity of the tail 

 was of the same colour ; while the ears in all were either 

 black or brownish-red inside, and wholly or partially 

 of the same colour outside the ear also. In most of 

 them the front part of the fetlock, particularly of the 

 fore-legs, was marked with black, and in all there were 

 a few black hairs on the leg, a little above the hoof. 

 In all of them, too, there was I believe a tendency, 

 more or less slight, to produce small black or bluish- 

 black spots on the neck, and even sometimes on the 

 body. All were subject to occasional variations. In- 

 dividuals were born, though somewhat rarely, with 

 more than the average amount of white on the horns, 

 ears, about the eyes, on the muzzle and hoofs, or on 

 some of these parts; and in some, black, or black-and- 

 white calves now and then appeared : but these last 

 were always destroyed when young, in order to preserve 

 the original characteristics of the herd. 



In all cases and in all parts, dozens of witnesses, 

 living far distant from each other, have testified to the 



