114 THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
Islands properly so called, and thereby conform 
to Continental types. As regards origin, it has been 
suggested that these cattle came from a Scandinavian 
stock, but in view of their marked approximation 
to the type of the Spanish fighting bull, the opinion 
of Professor Plumb ^ that theyare descended from 
cattle inhabiting that portion of the Continent nearest 
to the Channel Islands, namely, Brittany and Nor- 
mandy, seems much more probable. On this point 
the author just cited writes as follows : — 
While the cattle of those regions [Brittany and 
Normandy] to-day do not closely resemble the 
Jersey, they have some things in common. The 
fawn or white colour has been attributed to certain 
cattle of Normandy, while the blacker colour has 
been ascribed to the Brittany cattle, it being assumed 
that the Jersey has resulted from the fusing of these 
French types." 
Three of the Channel Islands, namely, Jersey, 
Guernsey, and Alderney, possess sub-breeds of their 
own ; but those of the first two are practically identical, 
whereas the Jersey, which is the one generally 
favoured in Great Britain, is markedly distinct. The 
peculiarly graceful and high-bred appearance of 
these beautiful cattle, coupled with their prevalent 
colour, renders them recognisable at a glance. 
They are all of the same general type, although the 
Jersey specially excels in the high quality and large 
amount of milk yielded by the cows. The one 
disadvantage of this strain, in addition to its delicate 
constitution, is that it is absolutely useless for the 
butcher, so that bull calves, w^ith the exception 
of such as are required for breeding purposes, are 
1 Types and Breeds of Farm Animals, p. 249. 
