108 
The Rise and Progress of 
sidered to be a remedy for every disease, and a preservative fruin evil. Every 
one wlio has had an opportunity of comparing tlie Devon cattle with the wild 
breed in Chillingham Park, in Northumberland, has been struck with the 
s;reat resemblance in many points, notwithstandiiiG; tlie difference in colour, 
while the wild cattle bear no likeness at all to those of the surrounding 
country." 
Ajjain, speaking of skulls of cattle found in various parts of 
England, he says : — 
"There is a line specimen in the British ]\[useum : the peculiarity of the 
horns will l>e observed, resembling smaller ones dug np in the mines of Corn- 
wall, and preserved in some degree in the wild cattle in Chillingham Park, and 
not quite lost in our native breeds of Devon and Sussex, and those of the 
Welsh mountains and the Highlands." 
Persons in the habit of visiting our show-yards must see that 
there is still a similarity between the Devon, Hereford, Scotch, 
and Sussex cattle, particularly the former and the latter ; indeed, 
it is so great that an inexperienced observer would fail to detect 
any material difference, especially when we notice how much 
the Sussex cattle resemble in the crescent-shaped, turned-up 
horn and heavy eye, as well as in size and shape, those Devons 
bred about Taunton, particularly before they had been so much 
mixed with North Devon bulls. 
A great difference is perceptible in animals of the same 
breed. Large breeds and bulky varieties of the same are co- 
extensive with a warm climate and rich pasturage, whilst 
smaller breeds and their varieties are met with in colder and 
poorer districts. In proof of this, attention may be directed to 
the larger class of Devons, with long straight hair, bred in the 
fertile Vale of Taunton Dcane, as compared with those bred 
among the hills of North Devon, so noted for their rich curly 
coats, which they frequently lose after a change of pasturage to 
a richer and warmer district, but which desirable appendage 
cattle brought from a distance frequently acquire by the end of 
the autumn after having been summered on those hill pastures. 
Unquestionably, the original seat of the Devon breed was in 
the district bounded by the river Taw on the west, extending 
from Barnstaple to about the point where the South Molton Rail- 
way station is now situated, from thence to Bampton, VVivelis- 
combe, Taunton, then turning towards Williton and on to the 
Bristol Channel, which forms its northern boundary. Some 
would probably confine it within narrower limits, but it is 
necessary to approach this subject truthfully, without prejudice 
or partiality for any particular variety. Mr. Shillabear, the 
agent for the present Earl of Leicester, states that it was towards 
the close of the last or the commencement of the present century 
that the late Lord Leicester (who was a very good judge of 
stock) became a purchaser not only of Devon steers for working, 
