140 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



have not been the result, as some people im- 

 agine, of the ancient barbarous practice of " de- 

 horning " cattle, because it is almost certain 

 that the changes produced in the individual by 

 such mutilations are not inherited. Probably 

 in every instance in which such a breed has been 

 developed man has made use of a " chance 

 variation " in this direction. It seems very 

 improbable that any of the ancestral types of 

 cattle were hornless. Among the many ancient 

 skulls which have been unearthed in all parts 

 of Europe one finds no trace of a polled breed. 

 Indeed the wild cattle, living as they did a 

 life of continual warfare both civil and against 

 numerous fierce carnivorous enemies, could 

 scarcely have existed without this natural means 

 of defence. 



There are reasons for thinking that the horns 

 were developed, in the first place, not so much 

 to enable the wild bulls to be victors in their 

 civil contests, as to enable the wild cows to 

 protect their calves from wolves and other 

 enemies. It has puzzled some people that, 

 although the bull is a much more warlike 

 animal than the cow, the horns of the latter, 

 both in shape, length, and direction, are far 



