1887] Horniess Ruminants. 1077 
possession of farmers who lived on the wooden platforms and 
artificial islands in the Swiss lakes. 
_ “The remains of the latter are to be found all over Europe in 
_tefuse-heaps belonging to various periods, from the Neolithic Age 
down to well within the historical frontier. It is the only do- 
_Mestic ox which I have met with in the large number of refuse- 
heaps in the British Isles, ranging from the Neolithic Age down 
to the time of the English invasion, and is represented by the 
present Highland cattle, small Welsh, and small Irish cattle. 
_ “The first, or the Urus stock, preserved to us almost in its 
aboriginal purity in the so-called wild cattle of Chillingham, I 
am unable to trace farther back than the invasion of Britain by — 
the English, and of Ireland by the Scandinavians. As the evi- 
dence stands, it was unknown in these islands as a domesticated 
animal before this time. 
“The present breeds are, in my opinion, descended from the 
two stocks, and are the result of crossing and selection. The 
Polled cattle I consider to be the result of selection, in which 
advantage has been taken of a tendency to revert to an ancestral 
$ hornless type, probably as far back as the Miocene Age. I should 
to meet with them from time to time in every breed, Just 
ð from time to time a horse is born with three toes, which have 
| been derived from his remote Miocene ancestor, the Anchithe- 
rium,” 
A He then refers to the case of the “ breeding out of the horns 
™ the Galloways” and the Gisburne polled cattle, on both of 
Which points his observations are given in their proper place. 
‘a subject, however, of tracing the ancestry of all of the nu- 
: ets British breeds, he says,,he has as yet been unable to find 
sI 
tme to deal with. 
: As supporting the view of the existence of the hornless char- 
ned in the aboriginal races of cattle in Britain, there may be 
i that certain foreign authors seem to have had evidence to 
= Dr. Brocchi, in a most comprehensive and practical 
>h *—dealing first with mammals, in which come the various 
3 ds of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs common to France, or 
„Sà have been introduced from other countries, with a descrip- 
: mot their qualities and origin,—speaking of the race ists 
"marks that the absence of horns characterizes this sprue a 
k However true this may have been at one time, it 1S, p = 
‘ents de Pisiculture, d’Apicul- 
Paris: Libraire, J. B. 
ge de Zoologi i lements de 
te de Seria: ogie Agricole, comprenant des elements 
" culture, d’Ostreiculture, &c.” P. Brocchi. 
-te et Fils, 
