12 OKIGIN OF POLLED RACES OF CATTLE. 



the correct one — is that the aboriginal cattle from which 

 existing races are derived were all originally provided 

 with horns, and that, therefore, the many varieties of 

 hornless cattle which have from time immemorial existed 

 in various parts of the British Isles and elsewhere must 

 be regarded as forming distinct departures from the ancient 

 or original order of things. How and when these depar- 

 tures may have been effected must be left in a large 

 measure to conjecture. 



That eminent philosopher and naturalist, Dr Charles 

 Darwin, who has so recently gone the way of all the living 

 (he died at Down, Kent, on April 20, 1882, aged 73 years), 

 and whose works, notably those on the ' Origin of Species ' 

 and ' Animals and Plants under Domestication,' mark him 

 out as at once the most gifted and most far-reaching in- 

 quirer into matters connected with the origin, formation, 

 and deviation of species, confessed frankly that he could 

 not account for the loss of horns on certain races of cattle. 

 In his last-named work, he says he has " often speculated 

 on the probable causes through which each separate dis- 

 trict in Great Britain came to possess in former times its 

 own peculiar breed of cattle ; " and yet he had not been 

 able to arrive at a confirmed conclusion as to how the 

 horns may have disappeared, and how the hornless breeds 

 have sprung up. He thinks " it is probable that some 

 breeds," and "some peculiarities, such as being hornless, 

 &c., have appeared suddenly, owing to what we may call 

 in our ignorance spontaneous variation," and that through 

 selection in breeding, either skilled or rude, the results of 

 these " spontaneous variations " have come to possess a 

 powerful hereditary tendency. In a courteous communi- 

 cation to us, dated January 23, 1882, this gifted naturalist 

 expresses his regret that he had " not had time during 

 several years to attend to the very interesting subject of 

 domesticated animals ; " and adds : " No one can give any 

 explanation — although no doubt there must be a cause — 



