Identifier: wildwhitecattleo1879stor (find matches)
Title: The wild white cattle of Great Britain. An account of their origin, history, and present state
Year: 1879 (1870s)
Authors: Storer, John, of Hellidon
Subjects: Cattle
Publisher: London, New York (etc.) Cassell, Petter, Galpin & co
Contributing Library: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

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mother French races that it has been supposed to be de-scended from the Tuscan. For this there exists noauthority, either ancient or modern, and I quite agreewith Messrs. Moll and Gayot in believing that, like thewhite cattle of Great Britain, the Charolais are thedescendants of the ancient forest breed, like them whitewith black markings. Their excellent qualities havecaused the large extension of the breed in other partsof France; but for a fuller account of this most valu-able sort I must refer my readers to the excellent accountof the Charolais race by Monsieur Chamard, given inMessrs. Moll and Gayots work, adding, however—havingseen some of these beautiful animals at the LondonExhibition in 1862—that I fully appreciate his state-ment that, as respects rapidity of growth and disposi-tion to fatten, the Charolais race yields only to the besttypes of the Durham breed; and, like the latter, ithas been much cultivated. There is one animal I wish much we could see in all 11 ^- : HI
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TEE FRIESLAND OX. 33 his pristine purity—the Friesland ox, which, large andgrand, naturalists admit was of the Urus type, andretained much of the character of his ancestor. There isno question this was the case, for Tacitus tells us * that,a.d. 28, Drusus, the father of Grermanicus, imposed a taxof hides of oxen upon the Frisians (who, very little morethan 400 years later, invaded England under the nameof Anglo-Saxons), which his lieutenant, Olennius, re-quired should come up to the standard of certain tergaurorum (skins of the Urus), which he picked out for thepurpose. Tacitus implies that this was a difficultmatter, and very burdensome to the Frisians, but thepassage clearly shows that the Friesland cattle werethen of great size, and approximating in that respect tothe Urus. Large numbers of them were no doubt de-ported when their proprietors first invaded and thensettled in Britain. Still the Friesland ox remained insomething like its former state, till, during the lastcentury an

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