The Rise and Progress of the Devon Breed of Cattle. 107 
manaffement, and I have now endeavoured to show that under a 
more natural sj stcm of treatment such difficulties may be avoided. 
Such being; the fact, the man of judgment will at once detect, by 
an examination of his course of management, what is the cause 
of the trouble and loss he has to contend with, and thus he will 
be able to guard against their recurrence by modifying his pro- 
cedure, so as to maintain his stock in the highest state of health 
and excellence of which the peculiarities of the soil and climate 
of his neighbourhood will admit. 
V. — A Short History of the Rise and Progress of the Devon Breed 
of Cattle. By J. Tanner Davy. 
PrazE Essay. 
TuE origin of most communities is necessarily obscure ; it is, 
therefore, not to be wondered at that the fragments of history 
on which the origin of a particular breed of cattle rests are 
somewhat shadowy and uncertain. We learn from the early 
history of our country that invading armies frequently com- 
pelled the inhabitants to retreat with their flocks and herds into 
the wild mountainous districts of Wales and the west of Eng- 
land, thus preserving their lives and property and the source from 
which those breeds constituting the " middle-horned variety " are 
supposed to be descended. Writers on cattle divide them into 
three varieties : the " Short-horned," originally found in the 
northern and eastern counties ; the " Middle-horned," in the 
western part of England, in Wales, Scotland, and Sussex ; and 
the " Long-horned," in the midland counties and in Ireland ; 
all agreeing that the " Middle-horned," of which the Devons 
form one variety, are descendants of the aboriginal breed of 
Great Britain. From the earliest records the Devons can be 
traced as the peculiar breed of the county from which they take 
their name, and of that portion of West Somerset adjoining it, 
where from time immemorial they have reigned alone, clad in 
beautiful red curly coats well suited to the cold, damp climate 
of their hill country. In his work on Cattle, Mr. Youatt says : — 
" The slightest observation will convince us that the cattle in Devonshire, 
"Wales, and Scotland are essentially the same. They are middle-horned, 
tolerable but not extraordinary milkers, and remarkable rather for the quality 
than the quantity of their milk; active at work, with an unequalled aptitude 
to_ fatten. They have all the characteristics of the same breerl, changed by 
soil, climate, and time. We may almost trace the colour, namely, the red of 
the Devon, the Sussex, and the Hereford ; and even where the black alone are 
now found the memorj' of the red pievails, and has a kind of superstitious 
reverence attached to it in the legends of the country. In many parts of Scot- 
land, and in some of the mountains of Wales, the milk of the red cow is con- 
