Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/78

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EVOLUTION OF BRITISH CATTLE

having fully compared them with the cattle of Norway. The cattle of Iceland, which are undoubtedly Norse, were thus described by Uno von Triol in 1780: "Their beeves are not large, but very fat and good. It has been reported by some, though without foundation, that there are none without horns: it is true, however, that they seldom have any."[1] It might also be remarked that the old Caithness cattle bore some of the characters of the hornless cattle: "The chest was small, and the ribs flat, and the back thin; there was not room for the back to beat, nor the lungs to play."[2]

Perhaps a still more striking link is the recent discovery in some earthen mounds in North Holland of skulls similar to those found in Ireland. In dealing with these skulls in Cultura for 1908, the magazine of the old students of the Royal Agricultural College, at Wageningen, Professor Broekema points out that some Scandinavian bracelets and cloak-pins were found in the same mounds.

There are small bunches of hornless cattle here and there in other parts of Europe; but, according to Wilckens,[3] "they are found chiefly in Northern Europe, in North Russia, Finnland, Lappland, Sweden, Jemtland, Norway and

  1. "Letters from Iceland," 1780, p. 132.
  2. Youatt's "Cattle," p. 88.
  3. "Grundzüge der Naturgeschichte der Haustiere," p. 308.