294 Dr Fleming on ike Influence of Society on the 
testing in the Gothic name the prevalence of these animals, and 
the Scandinavian power by which it was imposed. 
The preceding quadrupeds have been merely reduced in num- 
bers, and expelled from certain districts ; others, however, have 
proved too feeble to support the war carried on against them, 
and do not at present exist in a wild state in the country. So 
early as the period of the Roman Invasion, the Britons appear 
to have paid great attention to the Horse , as a useful engine of 
war, as is attested by Ceesar, in the description he gives of their 
cavalry, ( C<zs . Com. lib. iv. S3.) The excellence of the breed, 
even in the reign of Athelstan, may be inferred, from his pro- 
hibitory statute, preventing their exportation. At what period 
the wild breed became extinct, we have not the means of deter- 
mining. If we are to credit Fleeter Boece, troops “equorum indo- 
mitorum*” frequented Inverness-shire so late as the end of the 
15th century. 
Of the ancient indigenous Oxen of this country, two different 
breeds appear to have existed. The 66 vacccc non cicures w of 
Lesley, (p. 10.) which frequented the mountainous regions of 
Argyle and Ross, were probably the parent stock of the present 
breeds of cattle, which yet preserve a considerable uniformity 
of character, in the more remote districts of the country. The 
u Loves sylvestres'' of the same author, remarkable for their 
white colour, with the muzzle and ears black, were, even in the 
days of Sir Robert Sibbald, (Scot. III. p. 7.) to be met with in 
many of the mountainous regions of Scotland. The remains, 
indeed, of this breed are yet preserved in the parks of a few of 
our nobility. Our ancient historians give to the last varieties 
manes , confounding them probably with the aurochs of Ger- 
many (BosUrus), a species, the claims of which to a place even 
in our extinct Fauna is doubtful. 
The Wild Boar , once a native, abounded in the reign of 
Henry the Second, in the great forest then existing to the north 
of London, according to the testimony of Fitzstephen. In 
Scotland, the parish and family of Swinton owe their name to 
this animal, the former celebrated for harbouring, the latter for 
destroying them. The period of their extirpation is unknown. 
The fur of the Beaver has ever been highly prized, and 
eagerly sought after. At the close of the 9th century, this 
