WEST HIGHLAND BREEDS OF CATTLE. 
545 
and extended inquiries of Mr. Low merit attention from all phy- 
siologists, and not less also from the practical farmer and breeder 
of stock. The breeding of cattle is simply a physiological ques- 
tion : it cannot be discussed as an insulated inquiry, and merely 
oh its own merits, involving as it does so many other questions ; 
and that which renders the whole of these inquiries into the truth 
so difficult is, the lapse of time, and the vastness of the field re- 
quired for the thorough examination of any theory offered ; the ex- 
penses attending such an inquiry also, and the danger of trusting 
to analogy, which, by reason of the specific differences in animals, 
is so prone to lead the best thinking mind astray. Anxious to 
acquire information regarding these Pembroke cattle, and believ- 
ing that I may not have leisure for some years to visit that inte- 
resting ground, I have taken the liberty of addressing through 
you the following hints and queries for your professional brethren 
in the South of England and of the Principality. First, it is the 
opinion of Mr. Low, that “ the origin of the domestic ox must be 
sought for, not in extinct species, but in a race yet existing,” and 
it is evidently his opinion that the original ox is the white forest 
breed of Hamilton, Chillingham, &c. altered by food, climate, 
domesticity, into the numerous varieties which adorn the pastures 
and moors of Britain and Ireland. This was also the opinion of 
Baron Cuvier. To such a theory, even with the addition of the 
hypothesis of Dr. Pritchard*, there are objections, in my humble 
opinion, altogether insurmountable. The conversion, for example, 
of the Shetland cow into the short horn, of the Hereford into the 
Galloway, of the Alderney into the Angusshire breed, by any pro- 
cess short of altering the breed by crossing, appears to be alto- 
gether absurd, and I can scarcely think that Mr. Low seriously 
maintains it. But, secondly, even admitting that the Shetland 
and Hereford cattle would breed freely with each other, I main- 
tain that under no circumstances whatever can the cross breed 
so produced be maintained without a constant reference or return 
to one or other of the original breeds. The cross, if left to itself, 
would either altogether cease or die out, or return gradually to 
one of the original breeds. The same, I am persuaded, holds true 
in man, and refutes altogether Dr. Pritchard’s hypothesis. The 
white ox of Pembroke is, according to Mr. Low, identical with 
the common black cattle of the district, and are, in fact, the pri- 
mitive cattle of the Celt. To this I beg leave to offer the follow- 
ing objections : — 
Although I always was inclined to adopt the hypothesis that 
the wild white cattle and black West Highland cattle might ulti- 
* That varieties in man and animals may be produced by accidental cir- 
cumstances, and may be perpetuated by breeding. 
