158 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Oxen. 



wild forests of Central Europe, that we ought to 

 look for the type of the domestic race (or races ?), 

 are sufficient to induce a doubt. 



The terra urus is evidently identical with the 

 terras auer, ur, auerochs, ure-ox, the root also of 

 the word taurus ; and we agree with Mr. Woods 

 in the belief that the aurochs, or ure-ox, of the 

 ancient Germans, was the urus of Csesar, but that 

 the word, on the extinction of that animal, became 

 transferred to the bison of the ancients, now known 

 as the aurochs, and also under names derived from 

 a different root, as zubr (Lithuanian), zimbr (Molda- 

 vian), bison, vison, wisont, and wisant, whence bo- 

 nasus, monasus, &c. 



Besides the Bos primigenius, the following fossil 

 species of ox have been named : — Bos trochocerus 

 (Hermann von Meyer), subapennine beds;' Bos 

 (Bison) priscus (Bonjanus), Buffi e fossil e de Siberie 

 (Cuv.), Bos latifrons (Harlan), Broad-headed fossil 

 Bison and Bison fossilis, ' diluvium ' of Europe and 

 North America, bone-caves and bone breccias ; Bos 

 (Bison ?) bombifrons (Harlan), Big-bone-lick, North 

 America ; Bos Pallasii (Dekay), Bos moschatus fos- 

 silis ? Bos canaliculars (Fischer) ? Siberia and North 

 America; Bos velaunus (Robert), Cussac, Haute 

 Loire. 



Abundant remains of the ox were found by Capt. 

 Cautley in the Sewalik Mountains, at the southern 

 foot of the Himalayas, between the Sutlej and the 

 Ganges, partly lying on the slopes among the ruins 

 of fallen cliffs, and partly in situ in the sandstone, 

 in company with the bones of mastodon, elephant, 

 rhinoceros, hippopotamus, hog, horse (compara- 

 tively scarce), elk, deer, several varieties ; carnivora, 

 canine and feline (comparatively scarce) ; crocodile, 

 gavial, emys, trionyx, and fishes. There were also 

 portions of undescribed mammalia. 



695, 696. — The Wild White Cattle of 

 Chilling ham Park 



(Bos Taurus, var. Scoticus). Having thus intro- 

 duced this beautiful breed of cattle to our readers' 

 notice, we shall proceed to a few interesting details 

 respecting its history. 



Mr. Youatt, in his admirable -work on cattle 

 (' Library of Useful Knowledge '), clearly expresses 

 his belief in the identity of the wild breed with our 

 domestic races, and adds that the slightest observa- 

 tion will convince us that the cattle in Devon, 

 Sussex, Wales, and Scotland are essentially the 

 same breed changed by soil and climate, yet little 

 changed by the intermeddling of man. " Every 

 one who has had opportunities of comparing the 

 Devon cattle with the wild breed of Chatelherault 

 Park, or Chillingham Castle, has been struck with 

 the great resemblance in many points, notwith- 

 standing the difference in colour." In another place 

 the same writer says : " To the Principality we na- 

 turally look for some trace of the native breed of 

 cattle, for the Welsh were never entirely subdued 

 by any of the early invaders. The Romans pos- 

 sessed merely a portion of the country ; the Saxons 

 scaicely penetrated into Wales, or not beyond the 

 county of Monmouth. The Welsh long resisted the 

 superior power of the English under the Norman 

 kings, and it was not till late in the thirteenth 

 century that the Principality was annexed to the 

 crown of England. We therefore expect to find 

 more decided specimens of the native productions 

 of our own island, nor are we altogether disap- 

 pointed. Howell Dha, or Howell the Good, de- 

 scribes some of the cattle in the tenth century as 

 being white with red ears, resembling the wild cattle 

 of Chillingham Castle. An early record speaks of 

 a hundred white cows with red ears being demanded 

 as a compensation for certain offences against the 

 princes both of North and South Wales. If the 

 cattle were of a dark or black colour, a hundred and 

 fifty were to be presented. When the Cambrian 

 princes did homage to the king of England, the 

 same number of cattle, and of the same description, 

 were rendered in acknowledgment of sovereignty. 

 Speed tells us that Maud de Breos, in order to ap- 

 pease King John, whom her husband had offended, 

 sent to his queen a present from Brecknockshire of 

 four hundred cows and a bull, all white with red 

 ears. Whether this was the usual colour of the 

 ancient breed of Welsh and British cattle, or a rare 

 variety esteemed on account of its beauty, and 

 chiefly preserved in the parks of the nobles, we are 

 unable to determine. The latter is the most pro- 

 bable supposition ; and the same records that de- 

 scribe the white cattle with red ears, speak also of 

 the dark or black coloured breed which now exists, 

 and which is general throughout the Principality. 

 As a further point in favour of the probability of the 

 white wild cattle being specifically the same as our 

 domestic races, we select the following quotation 

 from the work above referred to : " The colours of 

 the improved short-horns are red or white, or a 

 mixture of the two, combining in endless variety, 

 and producing very frequently a most brilliant 

 effect. The white, it is very probable, they obtained 



from an early cross with the wild breed, and when- 

 ever this colour shows itself it is accompanied more 

 or less with a red tinge on the extremity of the ear, 

 a distinctive character also of the wild cattle." 



Are then the wild cattle of Chatelherault Park, 

 Lanarkshire, or Chillingham Park, Lime Hall, Che- 

 shire, and other places, the descendants, as Mr. 

 Youatt seems to infer, of these white cattle of 

 ancient race, so valued in early times ; or are they 

 descendants of the wild breed which at an early 

 period tenanted the great forests of our island, and 

 which, as the forests became cleared and the land 

 cultivated, were gradually thinned, till at length 

 their remnant found in the chase or park of the 

 nobleman that safety which as old denizens of the 

 soil they might well claim, and but for which the 

 breed wouldlong since have been utterly extirpated ? 

 Again, was the wild breed which roamed the Cale- 

 donian forest, and the great forest north of London, 

 so late as the latter part of the twelfth century, and 

 mentioned by Fitzstephen, identical with the white 

 Cambrian breed ? These are questions more easily 

 asked than solved. One thing is certain — the wild 

 cattle of Chillingham will breed with the domestic 

 race, but the progeny has never been preserved, the 

 calves having been always killed at an early age, 

 from a pardonable desire to keep this ancient race 

 in all its purity ; we firmly believe, however, that 

 the cross-breed would be* as fertile as any of our 

 domestic varieties. 



The author of the article Bos in the ' British 

 Cyclopaedia' is of opinion that the white cattle in 

 question are domesticated oxen which have run 

 wild; and, moreover, that they are not descended 

 from an aboriginal stock, but that the race was 

 originally imported by the ecclesiastics from Italy, 

 where herds of wild cattle much resembling them 

 still exist. In this, as in all other theories, authen- 

 ticated facts as our basis are wanting. 



The Chillingham wild cattle are invariably of a 

 creamy Avhite colour with a black muzzle ; the whole 

 of the inside of the ears, and the tip externally, are 

 red ; the horns are white, with black tips, very fine 

 and bent upwards. Some of the bulls have a thin 

 upright mane, an inch and a half or two inches long. 

 The weight of the oxen is from 35 to 45 stone the 

 four quarters (14 lbs. to the stone) ; that of the cows, 

 from 25 to 35 stone. The beef is finely marbled 

 and of excellent flavour. 



These cattle are fleet and active: "At the first 

 appearance of any person they set off in full gallop, 

 and at the distance of about two hundred yards 

 make a wheel round and come boldly up again, 

 tossing their heads in a menacing manner ; on a 

 sudden they make a full stop at the distance of forty 

 or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their 

 surprise; but upon the least motion being made 

 they all again turn round and fly off with equal 

 speed, but not to the same distance, forming a 

 shorter circle ; and, again returning with a bolder 

 and more threatening aspect than before, they ap- 

 proach much nearer, probably within thirty yards, 

 when they again make another stand, and then fly 

 off: this they do several times, shortening their dis- 

 tance and advancing nearer and nearer till they 

 come within such a short distance that, most people 

 think it proper to leave them, not choosing to pro- 

 voke them further." 



The females hide their calves for a week or 

 ten days after birth in some sequestered situation, 

 and visit them two or three times a day. If any 

 person approach the calves, they crouch close, like 

 a hare in form, and endeavour to lade themselves, but 

 when roused exhibit great fury, pawing, bellowing, 

 and butting at the intruder ; the females are resolute 

 in the defence of their young, and attack persons 

 discovered near their lair with impetuous ferocity. 

 Formerly the hunting of these animals was con- 

 ducted with great parade, many scores assembling 

 on horseback, and hundreds on loot, to witness the 

 sport ; but from the number of accidents that hap- 

 pened, and perhaps from the disturbance created 

 among the game, this practice has been long dis- 

 continued. The keeper now uses a rifle, and steals 

 upon the animal selected, until within range, and 

 drops it at a single shot. 



697 to 702. — English Domestic Cattle 



(Bos Taurus). To describe the form, contour, and 

 colour of the domestic ox is superfluous; and all 

 know that within the precincts of our fertile island, 

 affording unequalled pasturage, the animal has ra- 

 mified into many breeds, which it has been the care 

 of the farmer to improve and modify to his own 

 advantage. Excepting in a few districts,^ the ox is 

 not employed in our country as a beast of draught, 

 or for the labour of the plough, which it was in an- 

 cient times on the Continent, and still is in many 

 countries; on the contrary, it is for its flesh on the 

 one hand, and its milk on the other, that this animal 

 is so valuable ; indeed, everywhere the true import- 

 ance of the ox is in itself and not its labour, thouglr 

 in many parts of the world it is used both as a beast 



of burden and draught. Restricting our present 

 observations to British cattle, w r e may observe that 

 there are two parties immediately, and we may say 

 professionally, interested in the culture of cattle — 

 the grazier and the dairy-farmer ; and both require 

 different and, to a certain degree, incompatible ex- 

 cellences. With the grazier, roundness of form, a 

 moderate smallness of bone, depth of chest, and an 

 aptitude to acquire external fat upon a small con- 

 sumption of food, are among the points of excel- 

 lence aimed at and expected. On ihe contrary, the 

 supply of a large quantity of rich milk is the desi- 

 deratum of the dairy-farmer; and it very seldom 

 happens that the qualities prized by the one party 

 are combined with those required by the other : 

 both therefore attend to their exclusive interests, 

 agreeing only in the care bestowed upon the ani- 

 mals subservient to their respective purposes. To 

 note every variety and enter into minutia? — the part 

 rather of the farmer than the naturalist — is far from 

 being our object; a sketch, however, of some of the 

 principal breeds will not be uninteresting as an 

 accompaniment to the pictorial specimens be- 

 fore us. 



Among the. older breeds was a long-horned race, 

 now greatly modified, of which Lancashire and the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire might be considered as 

 the central district ; whence it extended, not to the 

 exclusion of other races, through the midland coun- 

 ties, and even into Ireland. This breed was termed 

 the Craven, from a district of that name in York- 

 shire, bordering upon Lancashire, where it. is said 

 to have originally appeared. This breed was large, 

 coarse boned, and apt to be long in the body, which 

 besides was destitute of roundness. The milk, if not 

 abundant in quantity, was extremely rich, and suited 

 the purpose of the dairy-farmer. The horns were of 

 enormous length; sometimes they projected hori- 

 zontally on each side of the head ; generally, how- 

 ever, they swept, downwards, with an inward flexure,, 

 often reaching below the level of the muzzle, or 

 even meeting before it, so as to interfere with the 

 facility of grazing : we have indeed often seen the 

 points press against the sides of the muzzle, render- 

 ing it necessary to shorten them. In the beginning 

 of the eighteenth century various agriculturists 

 commenced a series of attempts towards the im- 

 provement of this old breed, which resulted in the 

 establishment of the Dishley or new Leicester long- 

 horn. To the grazier the improvement was most 

 immediately beneficial, but the dairyman preferred 

 the old stock. In process of time, however, the new 

 breed extended, improving the cattle of , the middle 

 and northern counties, and especially of Ireland. 



In its turn, however, this breed has almost every- 

 where yielded to a middle or short-horned race, and 

 even in Leicestershire, the stronghold of the Dishley 

 breed, few are now to be seen. In Cheshire also 

 — which till recently retained a long-horned breed 

 derived chiefly from the old Lancashire and new 

 Dishley stocks— the Durham or short-horned race 

 has made decided inroads, but with doubtful advan- 

 tage as respects the quality of the cheese for which 

 that county is celebrated. 



Among the long-horned race must be reckoned 

 the old Shropshire breed, a large-boned and hardy 

 race, well fitted to serve the dairy. It would appear 

 that this breed is seldom to be seen pure, having 

 been crossed with advantage by the short-horned 

 Holderness. In Staffordshire the old long-horned 

 breed has been in most parts superseded by short- 

 horned cattle ; it still, however, maintains its ground 

 in the north of that county, more particularly along 

 the banks of the Trent, and the Dove, close to the 

 borders of Derbyshire. Between the long-horned 

 and the short-horned races of our cattle intervenes 

 a race termed " middle-horns," represented by the 

 North Devonshire, Somersetshire, Herefordshire, 

 Gloucestershire, and Sussex cattle. 



The Devonshire breed is of great antiquity, and 

 has been long celebrated for beauty ; like most of 

 our other breeds it has become improved during the 

 last 50 or 60 years, and has perhaps now attained to 

 its perfection. The head of the Devon ox is small, 

 but broad across the forehead and narrow at the 

 muzzle ; the horns curve gracefully upwards, the 

 chest is deep, and the back straight. The cow is 

 small compared with the bull. 



The system of ploughing with oxen is very gene- 

 rally practised in Devonshire, and where the. land is 

 not too heavy, no teams of oxen are superior, if 

 equal, to these in this kind of work. It is, however, 

 to the grazier that this breed is more especially 

 valuable, few oxen rivalling: the Devonshire in dis- 

 position to fatten and in the quality of the flesh. 

 Generally speaking, this breed is inferior to many 

 others for the dairy, not indeed as respects the 

 quality of the milk— for it yields a more than average 

 proportion of cream and butter— but the quantity. 

 Some farmers, however, have found the North 

 Devons to yield even a large produce of milk, so 

 that in this particular much may depend on choice 

 of pasturage. 



