Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/13

 I

this volume it will be our duty again and again to question, and sometimes to destroy, many fondly cherished beliefs as to the origin and history of the cattle of the British Isles, and also as to the manner in which nearly every breed has been evolved. Were our duty merely to destroy, it could be pleasant neither in its performance nor in the contemplation of its results; but it is to be hoped that no belief will be destroyed without a better one being put forward in its place. Little would be gained, for instance, by telling cattle owners that no British breed, excepting, perhaps, the Sussex, could lay serious claims to purity of blood in a long and unbroken stream, unless it could be shown that the most exalted breeds have attained their present eminence entirely through the mingling of diverse strains and races. Again,