362 WILD WHITE CATTLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Hence the half-wild British cattle, which have long 

 inter-bred within the limits of the same herd, are 

 relatively far less fertile. Although in an unenclosed 

 country like Paraguay there must be some crossing 

 between the different herds, yet even there the in- 

 habitants believe that the occasional introduction of 

 animals from distant localities is necessary to prevent 

 degeneration in size and diminution of fertility. The 

 decrease in size from ancient times in the Chillingham 

 and Hamilton cattle must have been prodigious, for 

 Professor Rutimeyer has shown that they are almost 

 certainly the descendants of the gigantic Bos primi- 

 genius. No doubt this decrease in size may be largely 

 attributed to less favourable conditions of life ; yet 

 animals roamiug over large parks, and fed during 

 severe winters, can hardly be considered as placed under 

 very unfavourable conditions." 



It has always seemed to me extraordinary that any 

 one can conceive that the wild herds of the desert or 

 the prairie can possibly inter-breed to the extent to 

 which park cattle in confinement, or domestic cattle 

 under the control of man, may be obliged to do. Look 

 at the American bison at the time when its countless 

 thousands shared with the Red Indian alone the greater 

 part of the vast continent of North America, and as it 

 still exists, though in lessened numbers. No doubt these 

 cattle break up for convenience of breeding, pasturage, 

 &c, into many small bodies, which constantly herd 

 together ; but even among these, in the ordinary routine 

 of life, there must be much admixture. Male rivalry 

 and female jealousy prevail throughout creation ; such 

 combats as take place between the bulls of Chillingham 

 and the cows of Kilmory occur also on the wild pasture- 



