Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/164

138 In the brick earths of the Thames valley magnificent heads of this noble-looking animal have been discovered from time to time. Even the horn cores in many instances measure three feet, with a breadth of forehead between horns of one foot. Although abundant remains have turned up in England, Wales, and Scotland, there are no authentic data of the animal in connection with Ireland. Whether the semi-feral Chillingham breed belongs or not to this species, it is evident that it is, as regards size, a degenerate race of either of the British fossil oxen. As to the assertion that our domesticated cattle are descended from the Giant Ox, it may be stated that, unless introduced by the Romans, there is a probability that the Long-fronted Ox, which will be noticed presently, may have sprung from the latter, and in the course of ages become through domestication a distinct variety, from which all our modern cattle have been derived; but the foreign wild species are so numerous, that to speculate on domesticated breeds and their progenitors would be a fruitless undertaking. With reference to our islands, and Europe generally, it was believed by Cuvier—and Bell in his 'British Quadrupeds' is of the same opinion—that our domestic cattle are the degenerate descendants of the Wild Ox, whilst Professor Owen is more inclined to think that the Romans were the first to introduce cattle into England. The discovery, however, of remains of the Long-fronted Ox in various parts of the country, associated with stone and bronze implements considered pre-Roman, gives strength to the view that it was reclaimed by the ancient Britons long before the invasion. It seems, however, now impossible to differentiate all the points in connection between the wild and tame oxen, so as to come to just conclusions as to their relationships; indeed, as far as pedigree is concerned, the British human and bovine animal are on a par.

or seems, if anything, to have been more plentiful than the Giant Ox. It was larger than the living Bisons of Europe and America, but the connections between the three are very close, and, when we admit time as a factor, in conjunction with food, region, and climate, it may be fairly allowed that the present denizens of the Lithuanian, Moldavian, Wallachian, and Caucasian forests and North-western America are very closely allied to each other, and lo the fossil remains found in Great