Fig. 97. Skulls of British oxen. A. The Urus (Bos primigenius), from British Pleistocene deposit (British Museum, Natural History, South Kensington). B. Upper portion of skull of the urus, showing the long, curving horns, the bases of which form almost a straight line with the upper skull. C. Skull of the Celtic shorthorn (Bos longifrons), showing the short, stout, downward-curved horns, and the depression in the skull between their bases. D. Skull of Chartley bull, one of our Park cattle. This type exhibits the straight-topped skull, a feature not possessed by all the breeds of Park cattle. The outline of the horns is comparable to that seen in the domestic longhorn breed, rather than to the “pitch-fork” arrangement in the Chillingham cattle.
humps on its withers, and since none of our present breeds of cattle exhibits this feature, the claimant is deemed an impossible ancestor[1316]. Next in rank is the gigantic ox, known scientifically as Bos primigenius, which was characterised by long curving horns, of which the basal portions lay in a straight line with the top of the skull ([Fig. 97] A). This beast was domesticated in Switzerland in the Neolithic Age, though, in Britain, it seems to have been known only as a wild animal during that period. It had made its appearance in our island in Palaeolithic days, but many writers suppose that it had become extinct here before the Roman invasion. Without much hesitation this animal may be considered identical with the urus which Caesar describes as inhabiting Continental forests. The urus, he tells us, was a little below the elephant in size, while its appearance, colour, and shape were those of a bull (Hi sunt magnitudine paulo infra elephantos, specie et colore et figura tauri). Its strength, speed and ferocity were extraordinary. The Germans captured it by means of pitfalls and killed it (Hos studiose foveis captos interficiunt)[1317]. It is stated as a fact of no little importance that the urus, or, as it was sometimes called by German writers, the aurochs, survived in Poland and Lithuania until A.D. 1627[1318]. Since its extinction, the name of aurochs has been improperly given to the European bison, which, as already stated, still lives on.
The interest of the late survival of the urus lies in the theory that all European breeds of long-horned oxen, and indirectly—through introductions from the Continent—some of our semi-wild cattle, are descended from this species. The famous breeds of Chartley ([Fig. 98]), Lyme, and Chillingham Park, are placed in this list. We say “indirectly,” because Professor James Wilson asserts that B. primigenius is not found in British deposits latter than the Bronze Age, and hence cannot have left direct descendants in our country.
Wild bulls are, indeed, mentioned in Fitzstephen’s Life of Becket, as existing near London in the latter part of the twelfth century, though it is extremely doubtful if these were uri[1319]. They were more probably more akin to our Park cattle. And one reason for believing that these Park cattle are derived from partially domesticated breeds is their white colour, which, had natural selection been allowed free play, would have tended to bring about their extermination. Moreover, the Park cattle occasionally have black calves; one was born in the Zoological Gardens, London, in 1909. This fact would seem to indicate that the original colour was black. Professor Wilson’s theory is, that the Park cattle are the wild representatives of oxen introduced by the Romans. Again, the present feral descendants of the supposed domesticated ancestors are not all of one type as regards skull and horns, so that the problem is not simple.
Fig. 98. Wild bull, Zoological Gardens, London; the sole survivor of the (mixed) Chartley herd. Characteristics: white body, long, level back, coarse hair, black muzzle. The horns, which are blackish towards the tips, project slightly downwards and then curve upwards again. (Cf. the horns of B. primigenius and B. longifrons, [Fig. 97] B, C.)
Touching the origin of our domestic long-horned breeds, there are two views extant. The first hypothesis is that our longhorns are traceable to the Roman invasion. The Romans had a tame long-horned ox of a size intermediate between B. primigenius and B. longifrons, the last named being a smaller breed, to be noticed shortly. This Roman ox was perhaps the result of crossing B. longifrons with Italian stock. Alternatively, it may have been a domesticated form of B. primigenius itself, which, not having passed through so many generations as later varieties, retained more of the original features—such as the long horns and straight forehead—its size alone being diminished[1320]. The other view taken of our long-horned cattle is that of Professor Boyd Dawkins, who, arguing from the occurrence of B. longifrons as the only species discovered at the Roman station of Uriconium, credits the Scandinavian invaders with the importation of the long-horned race[1321]. Professor Wilson has also strongly argued that the Norsemen brought over our polled cattle. Mr R. Hedger Wallace, in an excellent contribution to this subject, considers that the longhorns may even have been introduced from Holstein and the Low Countries in Mediaeval times[1322]. This might be termed a third hypothesis, and, before accepting it, the student should carefully read Professor Wilson’s little volume.
We pass to the last of our ancient types, the “Celtic shorthorn” (Bos longifrons = B. brachyceros), already mentioned as known to the Romans. This smaller ox had an abnormally developed forehead, hence its name longifrons. The short horns and the depressed curve of the upper portion of the skull frontal should be compared with the corresponding features in the urus ([Fig. 97] C). The Celtic shorthorn was domesticated in Britain in the Neolithic period, and during the Bronze Age it was our characteristic, if not our only ox, and occupied this