It is scarcely possible to doubt that the long-continued selection of qualities serviceable to man has been the chief agent in the formation of the several breeds of the horse. Look at a dray-horse, and see how well adapted he is to draw heavy weights, and how unlike in appearance to any allied wild animal. The English race-horse is known to be derived from the commingled blood of Arabs, Turks, and Barbs; but selection, which was carried on during very early times in England (2/27. See the evidence on this head in 'Land and Water' May 2, 1868.), together with training, have made him a very different animal from his parent-stocks. As a writer in India, who evidently knows the pure Arab well, asks, who now, "looking at our present breed of race-horses, could have conceived that they were the result of the union of the Arab horse and African mare?" The improvement is so marked that in running for the Goodwood Cup "the first descendants of Arabian, Turkish, and Persian horses, are allowed a discount of 18 pounds weight; and when both parents are of these countries a discount of 36 pounds (2/28. Prof. Low 'Domesticated Animals' page 546. With respect to the writer in India see 'India Sporting Review' volume 2 page 181. As Lawrence has remarked ('The Horse' page 9), "perhaps no instance has ever occurred of a three-part bred horse (i.e. a horse, one of whose grandparents was of impure blood) saving his distance in running two miles with thoroughbred racers." Some few instances are on record of seven-eights racers having been successful.) It is notorious that the Arabs have long been as careful about the pedigree of their horses as we are, and this implies great and continued care in breeding. Seeing what has been done in England by careful breeding, can we doubt that the Arabs must likewise have produced during the course of centuries a marked effect on the qualities of their horses? But we may go much farther back in time, for in the Bible we hear of studs carefully kept for breeding, and of horses imported at high prices from various countries. (2/29. Prof. Gervais 'Hist. Nat. Mamm.' tome 2 page 144 has collected many facts on this head. For instance Solomon (1 Kings x. 28) bought horses in Egypt at a high price.) We may therefore conclude that, whether or not the various existing breeds of the horse have proceeded from one or more aboriginal stocks, yet that a great amount of change has resulted from the direct action of the conditions of life, and probably a still greater amount from the long-continued selection by man of slight individual differences.
With several domesticated quadrupeds and birds, certain coloured marks are either strongly inherited or tend to reappear after having been lost for a long time. As this subject will hereafter be seen to be of importance, I will give a full account of the colouring of horses. All English breeds, however unlike in size and appearance, and several of those in India and the Malay archipelago, present a similar range and diversity of colour. The English race-horse, however, is said (2/30. 'The Field' July 13, 1861 page 42.) never to be dun-coloured; but as dun and cream-coloured horses are considered by the Arabs as worthless, "and fit only for Jews to ride" (2/31. E. Vernon Harcourt 'Sporting in Algeria' page 26.), these tints may have been removed by long-continued selection. Horses of every colour, and of such widely different kinds as dray-horses, cobs, and ponies, are all occasionally dappled (2/32. I state this from my own observations made during several years on the colours of horses. I have seen cream-coloured, light-dun and mouse-dun horses dappled, which I mention because it has been stated (Martin 'History of the Horse' page 134) that duns are never dappled. Martin (page 205) refers to dappled asses. In the 'Farrier' (London 1828 pages 453, 455) there are some good remarks on the dappling of horses; and likewise in Col. Hamilton Smith on 'The Horse.'), in the same manner as is so conspicuous with grey horses. This fact does not throw any clear light on the colouring of the aboriginal horse, but is a case of analogous variation, for even asses are sometimes dappled, and I have seen, in the British Museum, a hybrid from the ass and zebra dappled on its hinder quarters. By the expression analogous variation (and it is one that I shall often have occasion to use) I mean a variation occurring in a species or variety which resembles a normal character in another and distinct species or variety. Analogous variations may arise, as will be explained in a future chapter, from two or more forms with a similar constitution having been exposed to similar conditions,—or from one of two forms having reacquired through reversion a character inherited by the other form from their common progenitor,—or from both forms having reverted to the same ancestral character. We shall immediately see that horses occasionally exhibit a tendency to become striped over a large part of their bodies; and as we know that in the varieties of the domestic cat and in several feline species stripes readily pass into spots and cloudy marks—even the cubs of the uniformly-coloured lion being spotted with dark marks on a lighter ground—we may suspect that the dappling of the horse, which has been noticed by some authors with surprise, is a modification or vestige of a tendency to become striped.
(FIGURE 1. DUN DEVONSHIRE PONY, with shoulder, spinal, and leg stripes.)
[This tendency in the horse to become striped is in several respects an interesting fact. Horses of all colours, of the most diverse breeds, in various parts of the world, often have a dark stripe extending along the spine, from the mane to the tail; but this is so common that I need enter into no particulars. (2/33. Some details are given in 'The Farrier' 1828 pages 452, 455. One of the smallest ponies I ever saw, of the colour of a mouse, had a conspicuous spinal stripe. A small Indian chestnut pony had the same stripe, as had a remarkably heavy chestnut cart-horse. Race-horses often have the spinal stripe.) Occasionally horses are transversely barred on the legs, chiefly on the under side; and more rarely they have a distinct stripe on the shoulder, like that on the shoulder of the ass, or a broad dark patch representing a stripe. Before entering on any details I must premise that the term dun-coloured is vague, and includes three groups of colours, viz., that between cream-colour and reddish-brown, which graduates into light-bay or light-chestnut—this, I believe is often called fallow-dun; secondly, leaden or slate-colour or mouse-dun, which graduates into an ash-colour; and, lastly, dark-dun, between brown and black. In England I have examined a rather large, lightly-built, fallow-dun Devonshire pony (Figure 1), with a conspicuous stripe along the back, with light transverse stripes on the under sides of its front legs, and with four parallel stripes on each shoulder. Of these four stripes the posterior one was very minute and faint; the anterior one, on the other hand, was long and broad, but interrupted in the middle, and truncated at its lower extremity, with the anterior angle produced into a long tapering point. I mention this latter fact because the shoulder-stripe of the ass occasionally presents exactly the same appearance. I have had an outline and description sent to me of a small, purely-bred, light fallow-dun Welch pony, with a spinal stripe, a single transverse stripe on each leg, and three shoulder-stripes; the posterior stripe corresponding with that on the shoulder of the ass was the longest, whilst the two anterior parallel stripes, arising from the mane, decreased in length, in a reversed manner as compared with the shoulder-stripes on the above-described Devonshire pony. I have seen a bright fallow-dun cob, with its front legs transversely barred on the under sides in the most conspicuous manner; also a dark- leaden mouse-coloured pony with similar leg stripes, but much less conspicuous; also a bright fallow-dun colt, fully three-parts thoroughbred, with very plain transverse stripes on the legs; also a chestnut-dun cart- horse with a conspicuous spinal stripe, with distinct traces of shoulder- stripes, but none on the legs; I could add other cases. My son made a sketch for me of a large, heavy, Belgian cart-horse, of a fallow-dun, with a conspicuous spinal stripe, traces of leg-stripes, and with two parallel (three inches apart) stripes about seven or eight inches in length on both shoulders. I have seen another rather light cart-horse, of a dirty dark cream-colour, with striped legs, and on one shoulder a large ill-defined dark cloudy patch, and on the opposite shoulder two parallel faint stripes. All the cases yet mentioned are duns of various tints; but Mr. W.W. Edwards has seen a nearly thoroughbred chestnut horse which had the spinal stripe, and distinct bars on the legs; and I have seen two bay carriage-horses with black spinal stripes; one of these horses had on each shoulder a light shoulder-stripe, and the other had a broad back ill-defined stripe, running obliquely half-way down each shoulder; neither had leg-stripes.
The most interesting case which I have met with occurred in a colt of my own breeding. A bay mare (descended from a dark-brown Flemish mare by a light grey Turcoman horse) was put to Hercules, a thoroughbred dark bay, whose sire (Kingston) and dam were both bays. The colt ultimately turned out brown; but when only a fortnight old it was a dirty bay, shaded with mouse-grey, and in parts with a yellowish tint: it had only a trace of the spinal stripe, with a few obscure transverse bars on the legs; but almost the whole body was marked with very narrow dark stripes, in most parts so obscure as to be visible only in certain lights, like the stripes which may be seen on black kittens. These stripes were distinct on the hind-quarters, where they diverged from the spine, and pointed a little forwards; many of them as they diverged became a little branched, exactly in the same manner as in some zebrine species. The stripes were plainest on the forehead between the ears, where they formed a set of pointed arches, one under the other, decreasing in size downwards towards the muzzle; exactly similar marks may be seen on the forehead of the quagga and Burchell's zebra. When this foal was two or three months old all the stripes entirely disappeared. I have seen similar marks on the forehead of a fully grown, fallow-dun, cob-like horse, having a conspicuous spinal stripe, and with its front legs well barred.
In Norway the colour of the native horse or pony is dun, varying from almost cream-colour to dark-mouse dun; and an animal is not considered purely bred unless it has the spinal and leg-stripes. (2/34. I have received information, through the kindness of the Consul-General, Mr. J.R. Crowe, from Prof. Boeck, Rasck, and Esmarck, on the colours of the Norwegian ponies. See also 'The Field' 1861 page 431.) My son estimated that about a third of the ponies which he saw there had striped legs; he counted seven stripes on the fore-legs and two on the hind-legs of one pony; only a few of them exhibited traces of shoulder stripes; but I have heard of a cob imported from Norway which had the shoulder as well as the other stripes well developed. Colonel H. Smith (2/35. Col. Hamilton Smith 'Nat. Lib.' volume 12 page 275.) alludes to dun-horses with the spinal stripe in the Sierras of Spain; and the horses originally derived from Spain, in some parts of South America, are now duns. Sir W. Elliot informs me that he inspected a herd of 300 South American horses imported into Madras, and many of these had transverse stripes on the legs and short shoulder-stripes; the most strongly marked individual, of which a coloured drawing was sent me, was a mouse-dun, with the shoulder-stripes slightly forked.
In the North-Western parts of India striped horses of more than one breed are apparently commoner than in any other part of the world; and I have received information respecting them from several officers, especially from Colonel Poole, Colonel Curtis, Major Campbell, Brigadier St. John, and others. The Kattywar horses are often fifteen or sixteen hands in height, and are well but lightly built. They are of all colours, but the several kinds of duns prevail; and these are so generally striped, that a horse without stripes is not considered pure. Colonel Poole believes that all the duns have the spinal stripe, the leg-stripes are generally present, and he thinks that about half the horses have the shoulder-stripe; this stripe is sometimes double or treble on both shoulders. Colonel Poole has often seen stripes on the cheeks and sides of the nose. He has seen stripes on the grey and bay Kattywars when first foaled, but they soon faded away. I have received other accounts of cream-coloured, bay, brown, and grey Kattywar horses being striped. Eastward of India, the Shan (north of Burmah) ponies, as I am informed by Mr. Blyth, have spinal, leg, and shoulder stripes. Sir W. Elliot informs me that he saw two bay Pegu ponies with leg-stripes. Burmese and Javanese ponies are frequently dun-coloured, and have the three kinds of stripes, "in the same degree as in England." (2/36. Mr. G. Clark in 'Annal and Mag. of Nat. History' 2nd series volume 2 1848 page 363. Mr. Wallace informs me that he saw in Java a dun and clay-coloured horse with spinal and leg stripes.) Mr. Swinhoe informs me that he examined two light- dun ponies of two Chinese breeds, viz., those of Shanghai and Amoy; both had the spinal stripe, and the latter an indistinct shoulder-stripe.
We thus see that in all parts of the world breeds of the horse as different as possible, when of a dun-colour (including under this term a wide range of tint from cream to dusty black), and rarely when almost white tinged with yellow, grey, bay, and chestnut, have the several above-specified stripes. Horses which are of a yellow colour with white mane and tail, and which are sometimes called duns, I have never seen with stripes. (2/37. See also on this point 'The Field' July 27, 1861 page 91.)
From reasons which will be apparent in the chapter on Reversion, I have endeavoured, but with poor success, to discover whether duns, which are so much oftener striped than other coloured horses, are ever produced from the crossing of two horses, neither of which are duns. Most persons to whom I have applied believe that one parent must be dun; and it is generally asserted that, when this is the case, the dun-colour and the stripes are strongly inherited. (2/38. 'The Field' 1861 pages 431, 493, 545.) One case, however, has fallen under my own observation of a foal from a black mare by a bay horse, which when fully grown was a dark fallow-dun and had a narrow but plain spinal stripe. Hofacker (2/39. 'Ueber die Eigenschaften' etc. 1828 s. 13, 14.) gives two instances of mouse-duns (Mausrapp) being produced from two parents of different colours and neither duns.
The stripes of all kinds are generally plainer in the foal than in the adult horse, being commonly lost at the first shedding of the hair. (2/40. Von Nathusius 'Vortrage uber Viehzucht' 1872 135.) Colonel Poole believes that "the stripes in the Kattywar breed are plainest when the colt is first foaled; they then become less and less distinct till after the first coat is shed, when they come out as strongly as before; but certainly often fade away as the age of the horse increases." Two other accounts confirm this fading of the stripes in old horses in India. One writer, on the other hand, states that colts are often born without stripes, but that they appear as the colt grows older. Three authorities affirm that in Norway the stripes are less plain in the foal than in the adult. In the case described by me of the young foal which was narrowly striped over nearly all its body, there was no doubt about the early and complete disappearance of the stripes. Mr. W.W. Edwards examined for me twenty-two foals of race-horses, and twelve had the spinal stripe more or less plain; this fact, and some other accounts which I have received, lead me to believe that the spinal stripe often disappears in the English race-horse when old. With natural species, the young often exhibit characters which disappear at maturity.]
The stripes are variable in colour, but are always darker than the rest of the body. They do not by any means always coexist on the different parts of the body: the legs may be striped without any shoulder-stripe, or the converse case, which is rarer, may occur; but I have never heard of either shoulder or leg-stripes without the spinal stripe. The latter is by far the commonest of all the stripes, as might have been expected, as it characterises the other seven or eight species of the genus. It is remarkable that so trifling a character as the shoulder-stripe being double or triple should occur in such different breeds as Welch and Devonshire ponies, the Shan pony, heavy cart-horses, light South American horses, and the lanky Kattywar breed. Colonel Hamilton Smith believes that one of his five supposed primitive stocks was dun-coloured and striped; and that the stripes in all the other breeds result from ancient crosses with this one primitive dun; but it is extremely improbable that different breeds living in such distant quarters of the world should all have been crossed with any one aboriginally distinct stock. Nor have we any reason to believe that the effects of a cross at a very remote period would be propagated for so many generations as is implied on this view.
With respect to the primitive colour of the horse having been dun, Colonel Hamilton Smith (2/41. 'Nat. Library' volume 12 1841 pages 109, 156 to 163, 280, 281. Cream-colour, passing into Isabella (i.e. the colour of the dirty linen of Queen Isabella), seems to have been common in ancient times. See also Pallas's account of the wild horses of the East, who speaks of dun and brown as the prevalent colours. In the Icelandic sagas, which were committed to writing in the twelfth century, dun-coloured horses with a black spinal stripe are mentioned; see Dasent's translation volume 1 page 169.) has collected a large body of evidence showing that this tint was common in the East as far back as the time of Alexander, and that the wild horses of Western Asia and Eastern Europe now are, or recently were, of various shades of dun. It seems that not very long ago a wild breed of dun- coloured horses with a spinal stripe was preserved in the royal parks in Prussia. I hear from Hungary that the inhabitants of that country look at the duns with a spinal stripe as the aboriginal stock, and so it is in Norway. Dun-coloured ponies are not rare in the mountainous parts of Devonshire, Wales, and Scotland, where the aboriginal breed would have the best chance of being preserved. In South America in the time of Azara, when the horse had been feral for about 250 years, 90 out of 100 horses were "bai-chatains," and the remaining ten were "zains," that is brown; not more than one in 2000 being black. In North America the feral horses show a strong tendency to become roans of various shades; but in certain parts, as I hear from Dr. Canfield, they are mostly duns and striped. (2/42. Azara 'Quadrupedes du Paraguay' tome 2 page 307. In North America Catlin (volume 2 page 57) describes the wild horses, believed to have descended from the Spanish horses of Mexico, as of all colours, black, grey, roan, and roan pied with sorrel. F. Michaux 'Travels in North America' English translation page 235, describes two wild horses from Mexico as roan. In the Falkland Islands, where the horse has been feral only between 60 and 70 years, I was told that roans and iron-greys were the prevalent colours. These several facts show that horses do not soon revert to any uniform colour.)
In the following chapters on the Pigeon we shall see that a blue bird is occasionally produced by pure breeds of various colours and that when this occurs certain black marks invariably appear on the wings and tail; so again, when variously coloured breeds are crossed, blue birds with the same black marks are frequently produced. We shall further see that these facts are explained by, and afford strong evidence in favour of, the view that all the breeds are descended from the rock-pigeon, or Columba livia, which is thus coloured and marked. But the appearance of the stripes on the various breeds of the horse, when of a dun colour, does not afford nearly such good evidence of their descent from a single primitive stock as in the case of the pigeon: because no horse certainly wild is known as a standard of comparison; because the stripes when they appear are variable in character; because there is far from sufficient evidence that the crossing of distinct breeds produces stripes, and lastly, because all the species of the genus Equus have the spinal stripe, and several species have shoulder and leg stripes. Nevertheless the similarity in the most distinct breeds in their general range of colour, in their dappling, and in the occasional appearance, especially in duns, of leg-stripes and of double or triple shoulder-stripes, taken together, indicate the probability of the descent of all the existing races from a single, dun-coloured, more or less striped, primitive stock, to which our horses occasionally revert.
THE ASS.
Four species of Asses, besides three zebras, have been described by naturalists. There is now little doubt that our domesticated animal is descended from the Equus taeniopus of Abyssinia. (2/43. Dr. Sclater in 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1862 page 164. Dr. Hartmann says ('Annalen der Landw.' b. 44 page 222) that this animal in its wild state is not always striped across the legs.) The ass is sometimes advanced as an instance of an animal domesticated, as we know by the Old Testament, from an ancient period, which has varied only in a very slight degree. But this is by no means strictly true; for in Syria alone there are four breeds (2/44. W.C. Martin 'History of the Horse' 1845 page 207.); first, a light and graceful animal, with an agreeable gait, used by ladies; secondly, an Arab breed reserved exclusively for the saddle; thirdly, a stouter animal used for ploughing and various purposes; and lastly, the large Damascus breed, with a peculiarly long body and ears. In the South of France also there are several breeds, and one of extraordinary size, some individuals being as tall as full-sized horses. Although the ass in England is by no means uniform in appearance, distinct breeds have not been formed. This may probably be accounted for by the animal being kept chiefly by poor persons, who do not rear large numbers, nor carefully match and select the young. For, as we shall see in a future chapter, the ass can with ease be greatly improved in size and strength by careful selection, combined no doubt with good food; and we may infer that all its other characters would be equally amenable to selection. The small size of the ass in England and Northern Europe is apparently due far more to want of care in breeding than to cold; for in Western India, where the ass is used as a beast of burden by some of the lower castes, it is not much larger than a Newfoundland dog, "being generally not more than from twenty to thirty inches high." (2/45. Col. Sykes Cat. of Mammalia 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' July 12, 1831. Williamson 'Oriental Field Sports' volume 2 quoted by Martin page 206.)
The ass varies greatly in colour; and its legs, especially the fore-legs, both in England and other countries—for instance, in China—are occasionally barred more plainly than those of dun-coloured horses. Thirteen or fourteen transverse stripes have been counted on both the fore and hind legs. With the horse the occasional appearance of leg-stripes was accounted for by reversion to a supposed parent-form, and in the case of the ass we may confidently believe in this explanation, as E. taeniopus is known to be barred, though only in a slight degree, and not quite invariably. The stripes are believed to occur most frequently and to be plainest on the legs of the domestic ass during early youth (2/46. Blyth in 'Charlesworth's Mag. of Nat. Hist.' vol 4 1840 page 83. I have also been assured by a breeder that this is the case.), as likewise occurs with the horse. The shoulder-stripe, which is so eminently characteristic of the species, is nevertheless variable in breadth, length, and manner of termination. I have measured one four times as broad as another, and some more than twice as long as others. In one light-grey ass the shoulder- stripe was only six inches in length, and as thin as a piece of string; and in another animal of the same colour there was only a dusky shade representing a stripe. I have heard of three white asses, not albinoes, with no trace of shoulder or spinal stripes (2/47. One case is given by Martin 'The Horse' page 205.); and I have seen nine other asses with no shoulder-stripe, and some of them had no spinal stripe. Three of the nine were light-greys, one a dark-grey, another grey passing into reddish-roan, and the others were brown, two being tinted on parts of their bodies with a reddish or bay shade. If therefore grey and reddish-brown asses had been steadily selected and bred from, the shoulder stripe would probably have been lost almost as generally and completely as in the case of the horse.
The shoulder stripe on the ass is sometimes double, and Mr. Blyth has seen even three or four parallel stripes. (2/48. 'Journal As. Soc. of Bengal' volume 28 1860 page 231. Martin on the Horse page 205.) I have observed in ten cases shoulder-stripes abruptly truncated at the lower end, with the anterior angle produced into a tapering point, precisely as in the above dun Devonshire pony. I have seen three cases of the terminal portion abruptly and angularly bent; and have seen and heard of four cases of a distinct though slight forking of the stripe. In Syria, Dr. Hooker and his party observed for me no less than five similar instances of the shoulder- stripe plainly bifurcating over the fore leg. In the common mule it likewise sometimes bifurcates. When I first noticed the forking and angular bending of the shoulder-stripe, I had seen enough of the stripes in the various equine species to feel convinced that even a character so unimportant as this had a distinct meaning, and was thus led to attend to the subject. I now find that in the E. burchellii and quagga, the stripe which corresponds with the shoulder-stripe of the ass, as well as some of the stripes on the neck, bifurcate, and that some of those near the shoulder have their extremities bent angularly backwards. The bifurcation and angular bending of the stripes on the shoulders apparently are connected with the nearly upright stripes on the sides of the body and neck changing their direction and becoming transverse on the legs. Finally, we see that the presence of shoulder, leg, and spinal stripes in the horse,— their occasional absence in the ass,—the occurrence of double and triple shoulder-stripes in both animals, and the similar manner in which these stripes terminate downwards,—are all cases of analogous variation in the horse and ass. These cases are probably not due to similar conditions acting on similar constitutions, but to a partial reversion in colour to the common progenitor of the genus. We shall hereafter return to this subject, and discuss it more fully.
CHAPTER 1.III.
PIGS—CATTLE—SHEEP—GOATS.
PIGS BELONG TO TWO DISTINCT TYPES, SUS SCROFA AND INDICUS. TORFSCHWEIN. JAPAN PIGS. FERTILITY OF CROSSED PIGS. CHANGES IN THE SKULL OF THE HIGHLY CULTIVATED RACES. CONVERGENCE OF CHARACTER. GESTATION. SOLID-HOOFED SWINE. CURIOUS APPENDAGES TO THE JAWS. DECREASE IN SIZE OF THE TUSKS. YOUNG PIGS LONGITUDINALLY STRIPED. FERAL PIGS. CROSSED BREEDS.
CATTLE. ZEBU A DISTINCT SPECIES. EUROPEAN CATTLE PROBABLY DESCENDED FROM THREE WILD FORMS. ALL THE RACES NOW FERTILE TOGETHER. BRITISH PARK CATTLE. ON THE COLOUR OF THE ABORIGINAL SPECIES. CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFERENCES. SOUTH AFRICAN RACES. SOUTH AMERICAN RACES. NIATA CATTLE. ORIGIN OF THE VARIOUS RACES OF CATTLE.
SHEEP. REMARKABLE RACES OF. VARIATIONS ATTACHED TO THE MALE SEX. ADAPTATIONS TO VARIOUS CONDITIONS. GESTATION OF. CHANGES IN THE WOOL. SEMI-MONSTROUS BREEDS.
GOATS. REMARKABLE VARIATIONS OF.
The breeds of the pig have recently been more closely studied, though much still remains to be done, than those of almost any other domesticated animal. This has been effected by Hermann von Nathusius in two admirable works, especially in the later one on the Skulls of the several races, and by Rutimeyer in his celebrated Fauna of the ancient Swiss lake-dwellings. (3/1. Hermann von Nathusius 'Die Racen des Schweines' Berlin 1860; and 'Vorstudien fur Geschichte' etc. 'Schweineschadel' Berlin 1864. Rutimeyer 'Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten' Basel 1861.) Nathusius has shown that all the known breeds may be divided into two great groups: one resembling in all important respects and no doubt descended from the common wild boar; so that this may be called the Sus scrofa group. The other group differs in several important and constant osteological characters; its wild parent- form is unknown; the name given to it by Nathusius, according to the law of priority, is Sus indicus, of Pallas. This name must now be followed, though an unfortunate one, as the wild aboriginal does not inhabit India, and the best-known domesticated breeds have been imported from Siam and China.
First for the Sus scrofa breeds, or those resembling the common wild boar. These still exist, according to Nathusius ('Schweineschadel' s. 75), in various parts of central and northern Europe; formerly every kingdom (3/2. Nathusius 'Die Racen des Schweines' Berlin 1860. An excellent appendix is given with references to published and trustworthy drawings of the breeds of each country), and almost every province in Britain, possessed its own native breed; but these are now everywhere rapidly disappearing, being replaced by improved breeds crossed with the S. indicus form. The skull in the breeds of the S. scrofa type resembles, in all important respects, that of the European wild boar; but it has become ('Schweineschadel' s. 63-68) higher and broader relatively to its length; and the hinder part is more upright. The differences, however, are all variable in degree. The breeds which thus resemble S. scrofa in their essential skull characters differ conspicuously from each other in other respects, as in the length of the ears and legs, curvature of the ribs, colour, hairiness, size and proportions of the body.
The wild Sus scrofa has a wide range, namely, Europe, North Africa, as identified by osteological characters by Rutimeyer, and Hindostan, as similarly identified by Nathusius. But the wild boars inhabiting these several countries differ so much from each other in external characters, that they have been ranked by some naturalists as specifically distinct. Even within Hindostan these animals, according to Mr. Blyth, form very distinct races in the different districts; in the N. Western provinces, as I am informed by the Rev. R. Everest, the boar never exceeds 36 inches in height, whilst in Bengal one has been measured 44 inches in height. In Europe, Northern Africa, and Hindostan, domestic pigs have been known to cross with the wild native species (3/3. For Europe see Bechstein 'Naturgesch. Deutschlands' 1801 b. 1 s. 505. Several accounts have been published on the fertility of the offspring from wild and tame swine. See Burdach 'Physiology' and Godron 'De l'Espece' tome 1 page 370. For Africa 'Bull. de la Soc. d'Acclimat.' tome 4 page 389. For India see Nathusius 'Schweineschadel' s. 148.); and in Hindostan an accurate observer (3/4. Sir W. Elliot Catalogue of Mammalia 'Madras Journal of Lit. and Science' volume 10 page 219.), Sir Walter Elliot, after describing the differences between wild Indian and wild German boars, remarks that "the same differences are perceptible in the domesticated individuals of the two countries." We may therefore conclude that the breeds of the Sus scrofa type are descended from, or have been modified by crossing with, forms which may be ranked as geographical races, but which, according to some naturalists, ought to be ranked as distinct species.
Pigs of the Sus indicus type are best known to Englishmen under the form of the Chinese breed. The skull of S. indicus, as described by Nathusius, differs from that of S. scrofa in several minor respects, as in its greater breadth and in some details in the teeth; but chiefly in the shortness of the lachrymal bones, in the greater width of the fore part of the palate- bones, and in the divergence of the premolar teeth. It deserves especial notice that these latter characters are not gained, even in the least degree, by the domesticated forms of S. scrofa. After reading the remarks and descriptions given by Nathusius, it seems to me to be merely playing with words to doubt whether S. indicus ought to be ranked as a species; for the above-specified differences are more strongly marked than any that can be pointed out between, for instance, the fox and the wolf, or the ass and the horse. As already stated, S. indicus is not known in a wild state; but its domesticated forms, according to Nathusius, come near to S. vittatus of Java and some allied species. A pig found wild in the Aru islands ('Schweineschadel' s. 169) is apparently identical with S. indicus; but it is doubtful whether this is a truly native animal. The domesticated breeds of China, Cochin-China, and Siam belong to this type. The Roman or Neapolitan breed, the Andalusian, the Hungarian, and the "Krause" swine of Nathusius, inhabiting south-eastern Europe and Turkey, and having fine curly hair, and the small Swiss "Bundtnerschwein" of Rutimeyer, all agree in their more important skull-characters with S. indicus, and, as is supposed, have all been largely crossed with this form. Pigs of this type have existed during a long period on the shores of the Mediterranean, for a figure ('Schweineschadel' s. 142) closely resembling the existing Neapolitan pig was found in the buried city of Herculaneum.
Rutimeyer has made the remarkable discovery that there lived contemporaneously in Switzerland, during the Neolithic period, two domesticated forms, the S. scrofa, and the S. scrofa palustris or Torfschwein. Rutimeyer perceived that the latter approached the Eastern breeds, and, according to Nathusius, it certainly belongs to the S. indicus group; but Rutimeyer has subsequently shown that it differs in some well- marked characters. This author was formerly convinced that his Torfschwein existed as a wild animal during the first part of the Stone period, and was domesticated during a later part of the same period. (3/5. 'Pfahlbauten' s. 163 et passim.) Nathusius, whilst he fully admits the curious fact first observed by Rutimeyer, that the bones of domesticated and wild animals can be distinguished by their different aspect, yet, from special difficulties in the case of the bones of the pig ('Schweineschadel' s. 147), is not convinced of the truth of the above conclusion; and Rutimeyer himself seems now to feel some doubt. Other naturalists have also argued strongly on the same side as Nathusius. (3/6. See J.W. Schutz' interesting essay 'Zur Kenntniss des Torfschweins' 1868. This author believes that the Torfschwein is descended from a distinct species, the S. sennariensis of Central Africa.)
Several breeds, differing in the proportions of the body, in the length of the ears, in the nature of the hair, in colour, etc., come under the S. indicus type. Nor is this surprising, considering how ancient the domestication of this form has been both in Europe and in China. In this latter country the date is believed by an eminent Chinese scholar (3/7. Stan. Julien quoted by de Blainville 'Osteographie' page 163.) to go back at least 4900 years from the present time. This same scholar alludes to the existence of many local varieties of the pig in China; and at the present time the Chinese take extraordinary pains in feeding and tending their pigs, not even allowing them to walk from place to place. (3/8. Richardson 'Pigs, their Origin' etc. page 26.) Hence these pigs, as Nathusius has remarked (3/9. 'Die Racen des Schweines' s. 47, 64.), display in an eminent degree the characters of a highly-cultivated race, and hence, no doubt, their high value in the improvement of our European breeds. Nathusius makes a remarkable statement ('Schweineschadel' s. 138), that the infusion of the 1/32nd, or even of the 1/64th, part of the blood of S. indicus into a breed of S. scrofa, is sufficient plainly to modify the skull of the latter species. This singular fact may perhaps be accounted for by several of the chief distinctive characters of S. indicus, such as the shortness of the lachrymal bones, etc., being common to several species of the genus; for in crosses characters which are common to many species apparently tend to be prepotent over those appertaining to only a few species.
(FIGURE 2. HEAD OF JAPAN OR MASKED PIG. (Copied from Mr. Bartlett's paper in 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1861 page 263.))
The Japan pig (S. pliciceps of Gray), which was formerly exhibited in the Zoological Gardens, has an extraordinary appearance from its short head, broad forehead and nose, great fleshy ears, and deeply furrowed skin. Figure 2 is copied from that given by Mr. Bartlett. (3/10. 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1861 page 263.) Not only is the face furrowed, but thick folds of skin, which are harder than the other parts, almost like the plates on the Indian rhinoceros, hang about the shoulders and rump. It is coloured black, with white feet, and breeds true. That it has long been domesticated there can be little doubt; and this might have been inferred even from the fact that its young are not longitudinally striped; for this is a character common to all the species included within the genus Sus and the allied genera whilst in their natural state. (3/11. Sclater in 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' February 26, 1861.) Dr. Gray (3/12. 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1862 page 13. The skull has since been described much more fully by Professor Lucae in a very interesting essay, 'Der Schadel des Maskenschweines' 1870. He confirms the conclusion of von Nathusius on the relationship of this kind of pig.) has described the skull of this animal, which he ranks not only as a distinct species, but places it in a distinct section of the genus. Nathusius, however, after his careful study of the whole group, states positively ('Schweineschadel' s. 153-158). that the skull in all essential characters closely resembles that of the short-eared Chinese breed of the S. indicus type. Hence Nathusius considers the Japan pig as only a domesticated variety of S. indicus: if this really be the case, it is a wonderful instance of the amount of modification which can be effected under domestication.
Formerly there existed in the central islands of the Pacific Ocean a singular breed of pigs. These are described by the Rev. D. Tyerman and G. Bennett (3/13. 'Journal of Voyages and Travels from 1821 to 1829' volume 1 page 300.) as of small size, hump-backed, with a disproportionately long head, with short ears turned backwards, with a bushy tail not more than two inches in length, placed as if it grew from the back. Within half a century after the introduction of European and Chinese pigs into these islands, the native breed, according to the above authors, became almost completely lost by being repeatedly crossed with them. Secluded islands, as might have been expected, seem favourable for the production or retention of peculiar breeds; thus, in the Orkney Islands, the hogs have been described as very small, with erect and sharp ears, and "with an appearance altogether different from the hogs brought from the south." (3/14. Rev. G. Low 'Fauna Orcadensis' page 10. See also Dr. Hibbert's account of the pig of the Shetland Islands.)
Seeing how different the Chinese pigs, belonging to the Sus indicus type, are in their osteological characters and in external appearance from the pigs of the S. scrofa type, so that they must be considered specifically distinct, it is a fact well deserving attention, that Chinese and common pigs have been repeatedly crossed in various manners, with unimpaired fertility. One great breeder who had used pure Chinese pigs assured me that the fertility of the half-breeds inter se and of their recrossed progeny was actually increased; and this is the general belief of agriculturists. Again, the Japan pig or S. pliciceps of Gray is so distinct in appearance from all common pigs, that it stretches one's belief to the utmost to admit that it is simply a domestic variety; yet this breed has been found perfectly fertile with the Berkshire breed; and Mr. Eyton informs me that he paired a half-bred brother and sister and found them quite fertile together.
(FIGURE 3. HEAD OF WILD BOAR, AND OF "GOLDEN DAYS," a pig of the Yorkshire
Large Breed; the latter from a photograph. (Copied from Sidney's edition of
'The Pig' by Youatt.))
The modification of the skull in the most highly cultivated races is wonderful. To appreciate the amount of change, Nathusius' work, with its excellent figures, should be studied. The whole of the exterior in all its parts has been altered: the hinder surface, instead of sloping backwards, is directed forwards, entailing many changes in other parts; the front of the head is deeply concave; the orbits have a different shape; the auditory meatus has a different direction and shape; the incisors of the upper and lower jaws do not touch each other, and they stand in both jaws beyond the plane of the molars; the canines of the upper jaw stand in front of those of the lower jaw, and this is a remarkable anomaly: the articular surfaces of the occipital condyles are so greatly changed in shape, that, as Nathusius remarks (s. 133), no naturalist, seeing this important part of the skull by itself, would suppose that it belonged to the genus Sus. These and various other modifications, as Nathusius observes, can hardly be considered as monstrosities, for they are not injurious, and are strictly inherited. The whole head is much shortened; thus, whilst in common breeds its length to that of the body is as 1 to 6, in the "cultur-racen" the proportion is as 1 to 9, and even recently as 1 to 11. (3/15. 'Die Racen des Schweines' s. 70.) Figure 3 (3/16. These woodcuts are copied from engravings given in Mr. S. Sidney's excellent edition of 'The Pig' by Youatt 1860. See pages 1, 16, 19.) of the head of a wild boar and of a sow from a photograph of the Yorkshire Large Breed, may aid in showing how greatly the head in a highly cultivated race has been modified and shortened.
Nathusius has well discussed the causes of the remarkable changes in the skull and shape of the body which the highly cultivated races have undergone. These modifications occur chiefly in the pure and crossed races of the S. indicus type; but their commencement may be clearly detected in the slightly improved breeds of the S. scrofa type. (3/17. 'Schweineschadel' s. 74, 135.) Nathusius states positively (s. 99, 103), as the result of common experience and of his experiments, that rich and abundant food, given during youth, tends by some direct action to make the head broader and shorter; and that poor food works a contrary result. He lays much stress on the fact that all wild and semi-domesticated pigs, in ploughing up the ground with their muzzles, have, whilst young, to exert the powerful muscles fixed to the hinder part of the head. In highly cultivated races this habit is no longer followed, and consequently the back of the skull becomes modified in shape, entailing other changes in other parts. There can hardly be a doubt that so great a change in habits would affect the skull; but it seems rather doubtful how far this will account for the greatly reduced length of the skull and for its concave front. It is well known (Nathusius himself advancing many cases, s. 104) that there is a strong tendency in many domestic animals—in bull- and pug-dogs, in the niata cattle, in sheep, in Polish fowls, short- faced tumbler pigeons, and in one variety of the carp—for the bones of the face to become greatly shortened. In the case of the dog, as H. Muller has shown, this seems caused by an abnormal state of the primordial cartilage. We may, however, readily admit that abundant and rich food supplied during many generations would give an inherited tendency to increased size of body, and that, from disuse, the limbs would become finer and shorter. (3/18. Nathusius 'Die Racen des Schweines' s. 71.) We shall in a future chapter see also that the skull and limbs are apparently in some manner correlated, so that any change in the one tends to affect the other.
Nathusius has remarked, and the observation is an interesting one, that the peculiar form of the skull and body in the most highly cultivated races is not characteristic of any one race, but is common to all when improved up to the same standard. Thus the large-bodied, long-eared, English breeds with a convex back, and the small-bodied, short-eared, Chinese breeds with a concave back, when bred to the same state of perfection, nearly resemble each other in the form of the head and body. This result, it appears, is partly due to similar causes of change acting on the several races, and partly to man breeding the pig for one sole purpose, namely, for the greatest amount of flesh and fat; so that selection has always tended towards one and the same end. With most domestic animals the result of selection has been divergence of character, here it has been convergence. (3/19. 'Die Racen des Schweines' s. 47. 'Schweineschadel' s. 104. Compare also the figures of the old Irish and the improved Irish breeds in Richardson on 'The Pig' 1847.)
The nature of the food supplied during many generations has apparently affected the length of the intestines; for, according to Cuvier (3/20. Quoted by Isid. Geoffroy 'Hist. Nat. Gen.' tome 3 page 441.), their length to that of the body in the wild boar is as 9 to 1,—in the common domestic boar as 13.5 to 1,—and in the Siam breed as 16 to 1. In this latter breed the greater length may be due either to descent from a distinct species or to more ancient domestication. The number of mammae vary, as does the period of gestation. The latest authority says (3/21. S. Sidney 'The Pig' page 61.) that "the period averages from 17 to 20 weeks," but I think there must be some error in this statement: in M. Tessier's observations on 25 sows it varied from 109 to 123 days. The Rev. W.D. Fox has given me ten carefully recorded cases with well-bred pigs, in which the period varied from 101 to 116 days. According to Nathusius the period is shortest in the races which come early to maturity; but the course of their development does not appear to be actually shortened, for the young animal is born, judging from the state of the skull, less fully developed, or in a more embryonic condition (3/22. 'Schweineschadel' s. 2, 20.) than in the case of common swine. In the highly cultivated and early matured races the teeth, also, are developed earlier.
The difference in the number of the vertebrae and ribs in different kinds of pigs, as observed by Mr. Eyton (3/23. 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1837 page 23. I have not given the caudal vertebrae, as Mr. Eyton says some might possibly have been lost. I have added together the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, owing to Prof. Owen's remarks ('Journal Linn. Soc.' volume 2 page 28) on the difference between dorsal and lumbar vertebrae depending only on the development of the ribs. Nevertheless the difference in the number of the ribs in pigs deserves notice. M. Sanson gives the number of lumbar vertebrae in various pigs; 'Comptes Rendus' 93 page 843.), and as given in the following table, has often been quoted. The African sow probably belongs to the S. scrofa type; and Mr. Eyton informs me that, since the publication of this paper, cross-bred animals from the African and English races were found by Lord Hill to be perfectly fertile.
TABLE 2: NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE IN VARIOUS PIGS:
ENGLISH LONG-LEGGED MALE.
Dorsal 15. Lumbar 6. Dorsal plus Lumbar 21. Sacral 5. Total 26.
AFRICAN FEMALE.
Dorsal 13. Lumbar 6. Dorsal plus Lumbar 19. Sacral 5. Total 24.
CHINESE MALE.
Dorsal 15. Lumbar 4. Dorsal plus Lumbar 19. Sacral 4. Total 23.
WILD BOAR FROM CUVIER.
Dorsal 14. Lumbar 5. Dorsal plus Lumbar 19. Sacral 4. Total 23.
FRENCH DOMESTIC BOAR, FROM CUVIER.
Dorsal 14. Lumbar 5. Dorsal plus Lumbar 19. Sacral 4. Total 23.
Some semi-monstrous breeds deserve notice. From the time of Aristotle to the present time solid-hoofed swine have occasionally been observed in various parts of the world. Although this peculiarity is strongly inherited, it is hardly probable that all the animals with solid hoofs have descended from the same parents; it is more probable that the same peculiarity has reappeared at various times and places. Dr. Struthers has lately described and figured (3/24. 'Edinburgh New Philosoph. Journal' April 1863. See also De Blainville 'Osteographie' page 128 for various authorities on this subject.) the structure of the feet; in both front and hind feet the distal phalanges of the two greater toes are represented by a single, great, hoof-bearing phalanx; and in the front feet, the middle phalanges are represented by a bone which is single towards the lower end, but bears two separate articulations towards the upper end. From other accounts it appears that an intermediate toe is likewise sometimes superadded.
(FIGURE 4. OLD IRISH PIG, with jaw appendages. (Copied from H.D. Richardson on Pigs.))
Another curious anomaly is offered by the appendages, described by M. Eudes-Deslongchamps as often characterizing the Normandy pigs. These appendages are always attached to the same spot, to the corners of the jaw; they are cylindrical, about three inches in length, covered with bristles, and with a pencil of bristles rising out of a sinus on one side: they have a cartilaginous centre, with two small longitudinal muscles they occur either symmetrically on both sides of the face or on one side alone. Richardson figures them on the gaunt old "Irish Greyhound pig;" and Nathusius states that they occasionally appear in all the long eared races, but are not strictly inherited, for they occur or fail in animals of the same litter. (3/25. Eudes-Deslongchamps 'Memoires de la Soc. Linn. de Normandie' volume 7 1842 page 41. Richardson 'Pigs, their Origin, etc.' 1847 page 30. Nathusius 'Die Racen des Schweines' 1863 s. 54.) As no wild pigs are known to have analogous appendages, we have at present no reason to suppose that their appearance is due to reversion; and if this be so, we are forced to admit that a somewhat complex, though apparently useless, structure may be suddenly developed without the aid of selection.
It is a remarkable fact that the boars of all domesticated breeds have much shorter tusks than wild boars. Many facts show that with many animals the state of the hair is much affected by exposure to, or protection from, climate; and as we see that the state of the hair and teeth are correlated in Turkish dogs (other analogous facts will be hereafter given), may we not venture to surmise that the reduction of the tusks in the domestic boar is related to his coat of bristles being diminished from living under shelter? On the other hand, as we shall immediately see, the tusks and bristles reappear with feral boars, which are no longer protected from the weather. It is not surprising that the tusks should be more affected than the other teeth; as parts developed to serve as secondary sexual characters are always liable to much variation.
It is a well-known fact that the young of wild European and Indian pigs (3/26. D. Johnson 'Sketches of Indian Field Sports' page 272. Mr. Crawfurd informs me that the same fact holds good with the wild pigs of the Malay peninsula.), for the first six months, are longitudinally banded with light-coloured stripes. This character generally disappears under domestication. The Turkish domestic pigs, however, have striped young, as have those of Westphalia, "whatever may be their hue" (3/27. For Turkish pigs see Desmarest 'Mammalogie' 1820 page 391. For those of Westphalia see Richardson 'Pigs, their Origin, etc.' 1847 page 41.); whether these latter pigs belong to the same curly-haired race as the Turkish swine, I do not know. The pigs which have run wild in Jamaica and the semi-feral pigs of New Granada, both those which are black and those which are black with a white band across the stomach, often extending over the back, have resumed this aboriginal character and produce longitudinally-striped young. This is likewise the case, at least occasionally, with the neglected pigs in the Zambesi settlement on the coast of Africa. (3/28. With respect to the several foregoing and following statements on feral pigs see Roulin in 'Mem. presentes par divers Savans a l'Acad.' etc. Paris tome 6 1835 page 326. It should be observed that his account does not apply to truly feral pigs; but to pigs long introduced into the country and living in a half- wild state. For the truly feral pigs of Jamaica see Gosse 'Sojourn in Jamaica' 1851 page 386; and Col Hamilton Smith in 'Nat. Library' volume 9 page 93. With respect to Africa see Livingstone 'Expedition to the Zambesi' 1865 page 153. The most precise statement with respect to the tusks of the West Indian feral boars is by P. Labat quoted by Roulin; but this author attributes the state of these pigs to descent from a domestic stock which he saw in Spain. Admiral Sulivan, R.N., had ample opportunities of observing the wild pigs on Eagle Islet in the Falklands; and he informs me that they resembled wild boars with bristly ridged backs and large tusks. The pigs which have run wild in the province of Buenos Ayres (Rengger 'Saugethiere' s. 331) have not reverted to the wild type. De Blainville 'Osteographie' page 132 refers to two skulls of domestic pigs sent from Patagonia by Al. d'Orbigny, and he states that they have the occipital elevation of the wild European boar, but that the head altogether is "plus courte et plus ramassee." He refers also to the skin of a feral pig from North America, and says "il ressemble tout a fait a un petit sanglier, mais il est presque tout noir, et peut-etre un peu plus ramasse dans ses formes."
The common belief that all domesticated animals, when they run wild, revert completely to the character of their parent-stock, is chiefly founded, as far as I can discover, on feral pigs. But even in this case the belief is not grounded on sufficient evidence; for the two main types, namely, S. scrofa and indicus, have not been distinguished. The young, as we have just seen, reacquire their longitudinal stripes, and the boars invariably reassume their tusks. They revert also in the general shape of their bodies, and in the length of their legs and muzzles, to the state of the wild animal, as might have been expected from the amount of exercise which they are compelled to take in search of food. In Jamaica the feral pigs do not acquire the full size of the European wild boar, "never attaining a greater height than 20 inches at the shoulder." In various countries they reassume their original bristly covering, but in different degrees, dependent on the climate; thus, according to Roulin, the semi-feral pigs in the hot valleys of New Granada are very scantily clothed; whereas, on the Paramos, at the height of 7000 to 8000 feet, they acquire a thick covering of wool lying under the bristles, like that on the truly wild pigs of France. These pigs on the Paramos are small and stunted. The wild boar of India is said to have the bristles at the end of its tail arranged like the plumes of an arrow, whilst the European boar has a simple tuft; and it is a curious fact that many, but not all, of the feral pigs in Jamaica, derived from a Spanish stock, have a plumed tail. (3/29. Gosse 'Jamaica' page 386 with a quotation from Williamson 'Oriental Field Sports.' Also Col. Hamilton Smith in 'Naturalist Library' volume 9 page 94.) With respect to colour, feral pigs generally revert to that of the wild boar; but in certain parts of S. America, as we have seen, some of the semi-feral pigs have a curious white band across their stomachs; and in certain other hot places the pigs are red, and this colour has likewise occasionally been observed in the feral pigs of Jamaica. From these several facts we see that with pigs when feral there is a strong tendency to revert to the wild type; but that this tendency is largely governed by the nature of the climate, amount of exercise, and other causes of change to which they have been subjected.
The last point worth notice is that we have unusually good evidence of breeds of pigs now keeping perfectly true, which have been formed by the crossing of several distinct breeds. The Improved Essex pigs, for instance, breed very true; but there is no doubt that they largely owe their present excellent qualities to crosses originally made by Lord Western with the Neapolitan race, and to subsequent crosses with the Berkshire breed (this also having been improved by Neapolitan crosses), and likewise, probably, with the Sussex breed. (3/30. S. Sidney's edition of 'Youatt on the Pig' 1860 pages 7, 26, 27, 29, 30.) In breeds thus formed by complex crosses, the most careful and unremitting selection during many generations has been found to be indispensable. Chiefly in consequence of so much crossing, some well-known breeds have undergone rapid changes; thus, according to Nathusius (3/31. 'Schweineschadel' s 140.), the Berkshire breed of 1780 is quite different from that of 1810; and, since this latter period, at least two distinct forms have borne the same name.
CATTLE.
Domestic cattle are certainly the descendants of more than one wild form, in the same manner as has been shown to be the case with our dogs and pigs. Naturalists have generally made two main divisions of cattle: the humped kinds inhabiting tropical countries, called in India Zebus, to which the specific name of Bos indicus has been given; and the common non-humped cattle, generally included under the name of Bos taurus. The humped cattle were domesticated, as may be seen on the Egyptian monuments, at least as early as the twelfth dynasty, that is 2100 B.C. They differ from common cattle in various osteological characters, even in a greater degree, according to Rutimeyer (3/32. 'Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten' 1861 s. 109, 149, 222. See also Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 'Mem. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat.' tome 10 page 172; and his son Isidore in 'Hist. Nat. Gen.' tome 3 page 69. Vasey in his 'Delineations of the Ox Tribe' 1851 page 127, says the zebu has four, and common ox five, sacral vertebrae. Mr. Hodgson found the ribs either thirteen or fourteen in number; see a note in 'Indian Field' 1858 page 62.) than do the fossil and prehistoric European species, namely, Bos primigenius and longifrons, from each other. They differ, also, as Mr. Blyth (3/33. 'The Indian Field' 1858 page 74 where Mr. Blyth gives his authorities with respect to the feral humped cattle. Pickering also in his 'Races of Man' 1850 page 274 notices the peculiar grunt-like character of the voice of the humped cattle.), who has particularly attended to this subject, remarks, in general configuration, in the shape of their ears, in the point where the dewlap commences, in the typical curvature of their horns, in their manner of carrying their heads when at rest, in their ordinary variations of colour, especially in the frequent presence of "nilgau-like markings on their feet," and "in the one being born with teeth protruding through the jaws, and the other not so." They have different habits, and their voice is entirely different. The humped cattle in India "seldom seek shade, and never go into the water and there stand knee-deep, like the cattle of Europe." They have run wild in parts of Oude and Rohilcund, and can maintain themselves in a region infested by tigers. They have given rise to many races differing greatly in size, in the presence of one or two humps, in length of horns, and other respects. Mr. Blyth sums up emphatically that the humped and humpless cattle must be considered as distinct species. When we consider the number of points in external structure and habits, independently of important osteological differences, in which they differ from each other; and that many of these points are not likely to have been affected by domestication, there can hardly be a doubt, notwithstanding the adverse opinion of some naturalists, that the humped and non-humped cattle must be ranked as specifically distinct.
The European breeds of humpless cattle are numerous. Professor Low enumerates 19 British breeds, only a few of which are identical with those on the Continent. Even the small Channel islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney possess their own sub-breeds (3/34. Mr. H.E. Marquand in 'The Times' June 23, 1856.); and these again differ from the cattle of the other British islands, such as Anglesea, and the western isles of Scotland. Desmarest, who paid attention to the subject, describes 15 French races, excluding sub-varieties and those imported from other countries. In other parts of Europe there are several distinct races, such as the pale-coloured Hungarian cattle, with their light and free step, and enormous horns sometimes measuring above five feet from tip to tip (3/35. Vasey 'Delineations of the Ox-Tribe' page 124. Brace 'Hungary' 1851 page 94. The Hungarian cattle descend according to Rutimeyer 'Zahmen Europ. Rindes' 1866 s. 13 from Bos primigenius.): the Podolian cattle also are remarkable from the height of their fore-quarters. In the most recent work on Cattle (3/36. Moll and Gayot 'La Connaissance Gen. du Boeuf' Paris 1860. Fig. 82 is that of the Podolian breed.), engravings are given of fifty-five European breeds; it is, however, probable that several of these differ very little from each other, or are merely synonyms. It must not be supposed that numerous breeds of cattle exist only in long-civilised countries, for we shall presently see that several kinds are kept by the savages of Southern Africa.
[With respect to the parentage of the several European breeds, we already know much from Nilsson's Memoir (3/37. A translation appeared in three parts in the 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' 2nd series volume 4 1849.), and more especially from Rutimeyer's works and those of Boyd Dawkins. Two or three species or forms of Bos, closely allied to still living domestic races, have been found in the more recent tertiary deposits or amongst prehistoric remains in Europe. Following Rutimeyer, we have:-
Bos primigenius.
This magnificent, well known species was domesticated in Switzerland during the Neolithic period; even at this early period it varied a little, having apparently been crossed with other races. Some of the larger races on the Continent, as the Friesland, etc., and the Pembroke race in England, closely resemble in essential structure B. primigenius, and no doubt are its descendants. This is likewise the opinion of Nilsson. Bos primigenius existed as a wild animal in Caesar's time, and is now semi-wild, though much degenerated in size, in the park of Chillingham; for I am informed by Professor Rutimeyer, to whom Lord Tankerville sent a skull, that the Chillingham cattle are less altered from the true primigenius type than any other known breed. (3/38. See also Rutimeyer 'Beitrage pal. Gesch. der Wiederkauer' Basel 1865 s. 54.)
Bos trochoceros.
This form is not included in the three species above mentioned, for it is now considered by Rutimeyer to be the female of an early domesticated form of B. primigenius, and as the progenitor of his frontosus race. I may add that specific names have been given to four other fossil oxen, now believed to be identical with B. primigenius. (3/39. Pictet 'Palaeontologie' tome 1 page 365 2nd edition. With respect to B. trochoceros see Rutimeyer 'Zahmen Europ. Rindes' 1866 s. 26.)
Bos longifrons (or brachyceros) of Owen.
This very distinct species was of small size, and had a short body with fine legs. According to Boyd Dawkins (3/40. W. Boyd Dawkins on the British Fossil Oxen 'Journal of the Geolog. Soc.' August 1867 page 182. Also 'Proc. Phil. Soc. of Manchester' November 14, 1871 and 'Cave Hunting' 1875 page 27, 138.) it was introduced as a domesticated animal into Britain at a very early period, and supplied food to the Roman legionaries. (3/41. 'British Pleistocene Mammalia' by W.B. Dawkins and W.A. Sandford 1866 page 15.) Some remains have been found in Ireland in certain crannoges, of which the dates are believed to be from 843-933 A.D. (3/42. W.R. Wilde 'An Essay on the Animal Remains, etc. Royal Irish Academy' 1860 page 29. Also 'Proc. of R. Irish Academy' 1858 page 48.) It was also the commonest form in a domesticated condition in Switzerland during the earliest part of the Neolithic period. Professor Owen (3/43. 'Lecture: Royal Institution of G. Britain' May 2, 1856 page 4. 'British Fossil Mammals' page 513.) thinks it probable that the Welsh and Highland cattle are descended from this form; as likewise is the case, according to Rutimeyer, with some of the existing Swiss breeds. These latter are of different shades of colour from light- grey to blackish-brown, with a lighter stripe along the spine, but they have no pure white marks. The cattle of North Wales and the Highlands, on the other hand, are generally black or dark-coloured.
Bos frontosus of Nilsson.
This species is allied to B. longifrons, and, according to the high authority of Mr. Boyd Dawkins, is identical with it, but in the opinion of some judges is distinct. Both co-existed in Scania during the same late geological period (3/44. Nilsson in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' 1849 volume 4 page 354.), and both have been found in the Irish crannoges. (3/45. See W.R. Wilde ut supra; and Mr. Blyth in 'Proc. Irish Academy' March 5, 1864.) Nilsson believes that his B. frontosus may be the parent of the mountain cattle of Norway, which have a high protuberance on the skull between the base of the horns. As Professor Owen and others believe that the Scotch Highland cattle are descended from his B. longifrons, it is worth notice that a capable judge (3/46. Laing 'Tour in Norway' page 110.) has remarked that he saw no cattle in Norway like the Highland breed, but that they more nearly resembled the Devonshire breed.]
On the whole we may conclude, more especially from the researches of Boyd Dawkins, that European cattle are descended from two species; and there is no improbability in this fact, for the genus Bos readily yields to domestication. Besides these two species and the zebu, the yak, the gayal, and the arni (3/47. Isid. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 'Hist. Nat. Gen.' tome 3, 96.) (not to mention the buffalo or genus Bubalus) have been domesticated; making altogether six species of Bos. The zebu and the two European species are now extinct in a wild state. Although certain races of cattle were domesticated at a very ancient period in Europe, it does not follow that they were first domesticated here. Those who place much reliance on philology argue that they were imported from the East. (3/48. Idem tome 3 pages 82, 91.) It is probable that they originally inhabited a temperate or cold climate, but not a land long covered with snow; for our cattle, as we have seen in the chapter on Horses, have not the instinct of scraping away the snow to get at the herbage beneath. No one could behold the magnificent wild bulls on the bleak Falkland Islands in the southern hemisphere, and doubt about the climate being admirably suited to them. Azara has remarked that in the temperate regions of La Plata the cows conceive when two years old, whilst in the much hotter country of Paraguay they do not conceive till three years old; "from which fact," as he adds, "one may conclude that cattle do not succeed so well in warm countries." (3/49. 'Quadrupedes du Paraguay' tome 2 page 360.)
Bos primigenius and longifrons have been ranked by nearly all palaeontologists as distinct species; and it would not be reasonable to take a different view simply because their domesticated descendants now intercross with the utmost freedom. All the European breeds have so often been crossed both intentionally and unintentionally, that, if any sterility had ensued from such unions, it would certainly have been detected. As zebus inhabit a distant and much hotter region, and as they differ in so many characters from our European cattle, I have taken pains to ascertain whether the two forms are fertile when crossed. The late Lord Powis imported some zebus and crossed them with common cattle in Shropshire; and I was assured by his steward that the cross-bred animals were perfectly fertile with both parent-stocks. Mr. Blyth informs me that in India hybrids, with various proportions of either blood, are quite fertile; and this can hardly fail to be known, for in some districts (3/50. Walther 'Das Rindvieh' 1817 s. 30.) the two species are allowed to breed freely together. Most of the cattle which were first introduced into Tasmania were humped, so that at one time thousands of crossed animals existed there; and Mr. B. O'Neile Wilson, M.A., writes to me from Tasmania that he has never heard of any sterility having been observed. He himself formerly possessed a herd of such crossed cattle, and all were perfectly fertile; so much so, that he cannot remember even a single cow failing to calve. These several facts afford an important confirmation of the Pallasian doctrine that the descendants of species which when first domesticated would if crossed have been in all probability in some degree sterile, become perfectly fertile after a long course of domestication. In a future chapter we shall see that this doctrine throws some light on the difficult subject of Hybridism.
I have alluded to the cattle in Chillingham Park, which, according to Rutimeyer, have been very little changed from the Bos primigenius type. This park is so ancient that it is referred to in a record of the year 1220. The cattle in their instincts and habits are truly wild. They are white, with the inside of the ears reddish-brown, eyes rimmed with black, muzzles brown, hoofs black, and horns white tipped with black. Within a period of thirty-three years about a dozen calves were born with "brown and blue spots upon the cheeks or necks; but these, together with any defective animals, were always destroyed." According to Bewick, about the year 1770 some calves appeared with black ears; but these were also destroyed by the keeper, and black ears have not since reappeared. The wild white cattle in the Duke of Hamilton's park, where I have heard of the birth of a black calf, are said by Lord Tankerville to be inferior to those at Chillingham. The cattle kept until the year 1780 by the Duke of Queensberry, but now extinct, had their ears, muzzle, and orbits of the eyes black. Those which have existed from time immemorial at Chartley, closely resemble the cattle at Chillingham, but are larger, "with some small difference in the colour of the ears." "They frequently tend to become entirely black; and a singular superstition prevails in the vicinity that, when a black calf is born, some calamity impends over the noble house of Ferrers. All the black calves are destroyed." The cattle at Burton Constable in Yorkshire, now extinct, had ears, muzzle, and the tip of the tail black. Those at Gisburne, also in Yorkshire, are said by Bewick to have been sometimes without dark muzzles, with the inside alone of the ears brown; and they are elsewhere said to have been low in stature and hornless. (3/51. I am much indebted to the present Earl of Tankerville for information about his wild cattle; and for the skull which was sent to Prof. Rutimeyer. The fullest account of the Chillingham cattle is given by Mr. Hindmarsh, together with a letter by the late Lord Tankerville, in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' volume 2 1839 page 274. See Bewick 'Quadrupeds' 2nd edition 1791 page 35 note. With respect to those of the Duke of Queensberry see Pennant 'Tour in Scotland' page 109. For those of Chartley, see Low 'Domesticated Animals of Britain' 1845 page 238. For those of Gisburne see Bewick 'Quadrupeds' and 'Encyclop. of Rural Sports' page 101.)
The several above-specified differences in the park-cattle, slight though they be, are worth recording, as they show that animals living nearly in a state of nature, and exposed to nearly uniform conditions, if not allowed to roam freely and to cross with other herds, do not keep as uniform as truly wild animals. For the preservation of a uniform character, even within the same park, a certain degree of selection—that is, the destruction of the dark-coloured calves—is apparently necessary.
Boyd Dawkins believes that the park-cattle are descended from anciently domesticated, and not truly wild animals; and from the occasional appearance of dark-coloured calves, it is improbable that the aboriginal Bos primigenius was white. It is curious what a strong, though not invariable, tendency there is in wild or escaped cattle to become white with coloured ears, under widely different conditions of life. If the old writers Boethius and Leslie (3/52. Boethius was born in 1470; 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' volume 2 1839 page 281; and volume 4 1849 page 424.) can be trusted, the wild cattle of Scotland were white and furnished with a great mane; but the colour of their ears is not mentioned. In Wales (3/53. 'Youatt on Cattle' 1834 page 48: See also page 242, on shorthorn cattle. Bell in his 'British Quadrupeds' page 423 states that, after long attending to the subject, he has found that white cattle invariably have coloured ears.), during the tenth century, some of the cattle are described as being white with red ears. Four hundred cattle thus coloured were sent to King John; and an early record speaks of a hundred cattle with red ears having been demanded as a compensation for some offence, but, if the cattle were of a dark or black colour, 150 were to be presented. The black cattle of North Wales apparently belong, as we have seen, to the small longifrons type: and as the alternative was offered of either 150 dark cattle, or 100 white cattle with red ears, we may presume that the latter were the larger beasts, and probably belonged to the primigenius type. Youatt has remarked that at the present day, whenever cattle of the shorthorn breed are white, the extremities of their ears are more or less tinged with red.
The cattle which have run wild on the Pampas, in Texas, and in two parts of Africa, have become of a nearly uniform dark brownish-red. (3/54. Azara 'Quadrupedes du Paraguay' tome 2 page 361. Azara quotes Buffon for the feral cattle of Africa. For Texas see 'Times' February 18, 1846.) On the Ladrone Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, immense herds of cattle, which were wild in the year 1741, are described as "milk-white, except their ears, which are generally black." (3/55. Anson's Voyage. See Kerr and Porter 'Collection' volume 12 page 103.) The Falkland Islands, situated far south, with all the conditions of life as different as it is possible to conceive from those of the Ladrones, offer a more interesting case. Cattle have run wild there during eighty or ninety years; and in the southern districts the animals are mostly white, with their feet, or whole heads, or only their ears black; but my informant, Admiral Sulivan (3/56. See also Mr. Mackinnon's pamphlet on the Falkland Islands, page 24.), who long resided on these islands, does not believe that they are ever purely white. So that in these two archipelagos we see that the cattle tend to become white with coloured ears. In other parts of the Falkland Islands other colours prevail: near Port Pleasant brown is the common tint; round Mount Usborn, about half the animals in some of the herds were lead- or mouse-coloured, which elsewhere is an unusual tint. These latter cattle, though generally inhabiting high land, breed about a month earlier than the other cattle; and this circumstance would aid in keeping them distinct and in perpetuating a peculiar colour. It is worth recalling to mind that blue or lead-coloured marks have occasionally appeared on the white cattle of Chillingham. So plainly different were the colours of the wild herds in different parts of the Falkland Islands, that in hunting them, as Admiral Sulivan informs me, white spots in one district, and dark spots in another district, were always looked out for on the distant hills. In the intermediate districts, intermediate colours prevailed. Whatever the cause may be, this tendency in the wild cattle of the Falkland Islands, which are all descended from a few brought from La Plata, to break up into herds of three different colours, is an interesting fact.