Forrest : British ' Wild ' Cattle. 329 



prone to variation than they are in the wild state — that domes- 

 tication increases the tendency to variation. This fact has 

 been iitihzed by man for ages past, and by breeding only from 

 individuals showing the desired character, he has obtained 

 endless varieties from one original stock. The dog and pigeon 

 are notable examples. 



Applying this principle to the ox, we may perhaps get a 

 clue to the origin of the White Cattle of our parks. I do not 

 propose to enter into the history of the various herds, as this 

 has been dealt with exhaustively by Storer, Whitaker, and other 

 writers ; whilst to do so would not help us, as these cattle were 

 already white when the parks were enclosed five centuries ago, 

 so that their origin must be sought at some earlier period. 



Before going further, I would point out that, although the 

 various Park Cattle resemble one another in colour, they differ 

 considerably in other respects. Systematists agree that neither 

 colour nor size are of value in differentiating species ; yet, 

 almost with one accord, authors who have written about these 

 animals, have emphasized the similarity in colour, but have 

 overlooked the far more important differences in structure. 



It has been assumed that all Park Cattle are descended 

 from one stock. It is the object of this paper to show that 

 they are derived from two stocks — one short-horned, the other 

 long-horned, each form of horn being associated with a special 

 form of skull. 



Certain characters were probably common to both the long- 

 horned and short-horned ancient breeds : — 



(1) The horns were shorter, thicker, and straighter in the 

 bulls than the cows. 



(2) The colour was either red and white, or black and white — 

 sometimes entirely one of these colours. 



With regard to the first of these points, it is not difficult to 

 distinguish between the cows and bulls in the semi-fossil skulls 

 found in this country, although authors have rarely attempted 

 to do so. 



As to colouration, it must be familiar to everyone that all 

 our domestic breeds of cattle are either red and white or black 

 and white, with an occasional strain of beasts entirely red, 

 black, or white. The only exceptions are the Alderney and 

 kindred breeds, which are fawn-coloured, with dusky points. 

 These, however, are comparatively modern, and the peculiar 

 colouration is due to an admixture of blood from the ' Maure- 



1908 September i. 



