Chap. III. THEIR PARENTAGE. 81 



Bos, closely allied to still living domestic races, have been found fossil in the 



more recent tertiary deposits of Europe. Following Eutimeyer, we have : 



Bos primigenius. — This magnificent, well known species was domesticated 

 in Switzerland during the Neolithic period ; even at this early period it 

 varied a little, having apparently been crossed with other races. Some 

 of the larger races on the Continent, as the Friesland, &c, and the Pem- 

 broke race in England, closely resemble in essential structure B. primi- 

 genius, and no doubt are its descendants. This is likewise the opinion of 

 Nilsson. Bos primigenius existed as a wild animal in Caesar's time, and is 

 now semi-wild, though much degenerated in size, in the park of Chilling- 

 ham ; for I am informed by Professor Biitimeyer, to whom Lord Tanker- 

 ville sent a skull, that the Chillingham cattle are less altered from the 

 true primigenius type than any other known breed. 38 



Bos trochoceros.— This form is not included in the three species above 



mentioned, for it is now considered by Eutimeyer to be the female of an 



early domesticated form of B. primigenius, and as the progenitor of his 



frordosus race. I may add that specific names have been given to four 



other fossil oxen, now believed to be identical with B. primigenius. 39 



Bos longifrons (or Irachyceros) of Owen.— This very distinct species was 

 of small size, and had a short body with fine legs. It apparently did not 

 exist in England before the Neolithic period, though a greater age was 

 formerly assigned to it. 40 It was the commonest form in a domesticated 

 condition in Switzerland during the earliest part of the Neolithic period. 

 It was domesticated in England during the Eoman period, and supplied 

 food to the Eoman legionaries. 41 Some remains have been found in Ireland in 

 certain crannoges, of which the dates are believed to be from 843-933 a.d. 42 

 Professor Owen 43 thinks it probable that the Welsh and Highland cattle are 

 descended from this form ; as likewise is the case, according to Eutimeyer, 

 with some of the existing Swiss breeds. These latter are of different shades 

 of colour from light-grey to blackish-brown, with a lighter stripe along the 

 spine, but they have no pure white marks. The cattle of North Wales and 

 the Highlands, on the other hand, are generally black or dark-coloured. 



Bosfrontosus of Nilsson.— This species is allied to B. longifrons and ac- 

 cording to Mr. Boyd Dawkins is identical with it, but in the opinion of 

 some good judges is distinct. Both co-existed in Scania during the same 

 late geological period, 44 and both have been found in the Irish crannoges 45 



38 See, also, Riitimeyer's ' Beitrage 42 W. R. Wilde, ' An Essay on the 



paL Gesch. der Wiederkauer,' Basel, Animal Remains, &c., Royal Irish 



8 3 6 9 5 ' s ; 54 ; Academy,' 1860, p. 29. Also ' Proc. of 



Qft* ™ ts '^ontologie,' torn. i. p. R. Irish Academy,' 1858, p. 48. 



dbo (^nd edit.). With respect to B. 43 < Lecture : Royal Institution of G. 



trochoceros see Riitimeyer's ' Zahmen Britain,' May 2nd, 1856, p. 4. « British 



Euror, Rmdes,' 1866, s. 26. Fossil Mammals,' p. 513. 



W Boyd Dawkins on the British 44 Nilsson? in « Annals and M of 



Fossd Oxen Journal of the Geolog. Nat. Hist.,' 1849, vol. iv. p. 354. 



Soc Aug. 1867, p. 182. 45 ^ w R WM * . ^ 



4i Bntxsh Pleistocene Mammalia,' by Mr. Blyth, in 'Proc. Irish Academy,' 



W. B. Dawkins and W. A. Sandford, March 5th, 1864. 



1866, p. xv 

 VOL. T. 



G 



