his system, much modified, has been adopted by the leading Shorthorn breeders down to the present day. How much this means to a breed can be inferred from the fact that the blood of the stock of the highest class breeders soon permeates a breed through the demand made upon it for breeding purposes by other breeders. Thus, at the present day there are no Shorthorns which are not descended from Charles Colling's Comet again and again.
Among the Shorthorns, as among the Longhorns, there was first a mingling of races and afterwards a retention of the desirable and an expulsion of the undesirable characters produced by the mixing. All other breeds have gone through the same process of mixing first and purification after, some to a less, others to a greater extent. For instance, the white colour has been expelled from pure-bred Welsh cattle, the hornless character and the light dun colour have been expelled from Somerset and Devon cattle, and while the Norfolks and the Suffolks have amalgamated, the former have given up their horns and the latter their colour; but, if we take a short survey of the history of Aberdeen-Angus cattle we shall see the process from more sides than in any other breed, and at the same time get a glimpse perhaps of what may be possible in the future.
At the present day Aberdeen-Angus cattle
