562 
The Evolution of the British Breeds of Cattle. 
with a polished stone implement sticking in the forehead, having 
been poleaxed, perhaps, when mired. The skull of this species 
is quite different from that of the bison. The forehead and 
occipital region are inclined to each other at an acute angle ; 
there is no protuberance between the horns, but the sweep of 
the base of the horn-cores is prolonged across the ridge between 
them. The forehead is flat or slightly concave, and the horn-cores 
bend first out, then forward and downward, and finally the points 
approach one another with an upward curve. This was a very 
large animal ; the skull of one of them measured thirty-six inches in 
length, and the form is so well marked that it is not likely that it 
could have been overlooked if come across in any excavations. 
But there is no record of the TJrus having been found in Britain 
associated with Roman objects or any remains that would show that 
it lived on later, at any rate, than the bronze age. 
With the TJrus , however, there appeared a small ox, known 
as Bos longifrons or brachyceros. It was about the size of a 
Kerry cow, had small horns sharply curved forward, and a 
considerably elevated ridge between them. This was the ox which 
the Romans found in Britain. Their middens are full of its bones. 
Mr. Ernest Clarke was good enough to lend me for exhibition some 
specimens of the young of this breed, which were dug up about 1863 
from a foundation in London Wall, and are now in the possession of 
the Royal Agricultural Society. 
When, however, we come upon a station where the Romans had 
long resided, in a settled district where agriculture and the im- 
provement of the cattle could be attended to, we find that this small 
breed had been modified — not superseded by the introduction of a 
different breed and the disappearance of the native cattle — but 
improved by crossing the native breed with the new stock, for 
specimens intermediate in form and size occur among them. 
Now comes the interesting question, What was the new 
breed with which Bos longifrons was crossed by the Romans 1 It 
cannot have been the great Urus, for that had been long exter- 
minated in Britain, and, even if there had been any of that breed 
available, it would not account for the modifications we observe in 
the improved breed, the head of which is not relatively so long, 
and the horns of which turn outward and upward ; whereas the 
TJrus is distinguished by exactly the opposite characters. It seems 
natural, therefore, ‘ to inquire what was the form of the ox which 
the Romans themselves bred at home, and probably imported 
into their provinces. Turning to the contemporary sculpture and 
coinage of Rome we find exactly what is required ; an animal of 
medium size with upturned horns, which we know from Roman 
authors was generally fulvous or black, while, sporadically, white 
individuals appeared, and these were then, as among some races at 
the present day, much prized. 
The Roman cattle now referred to have nothing to do with the 
great Podolian breed, but must have been in form not unlike the 
modern Ayrshire. The white individuals were wanted for sacri- 
