The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-25 00:00:00

the priest, and the means of protecting the holy
things' from desecration on the occasion of alarm,
which in those uncertain times suddenly happened, and
as suddenly passed away." To trans'orm these sa-
gacious and probable conjectures into an established
reality, to calculate the precise age and the exact
uses of these interesting structures, to give them at
once an identity of time and character, such have been
the objects which, in the present undertaking, Mr.
George Petrie has ever endeavoured to reach. Keeping
constantly before him the attainment of truth, he
has escaped those incongruities which distinguished
all of his predecessors : he never forsakes a fallacy
until it has been most accurately and minutely
divulged, as an instauce of which we may refer
particularly to his mention of Dr. O'Connor and his mis-
conceived translations. The volume as a whole deserves
all possible praise for the spirit in which it is penned,
although it opens in the somewhat questionable and
ungrateful character of one ready to overwhelm his
opponents with sarcasm; nevertheless, when we re-
collect the principle quern amat ille castigat, and per-
ceive, even in his composition of the dedicatory ad-
dress, the enthusiasm of the antiquary and the
earnestness of his national disposition, we cannot but
overlook a failing so materially to the advantage of
science. The typography, the embellishments, all
the arrangements about the appearance of the work,
are in admirable keeping with its value as an acqui-
sition to the architectural library—they are all good:
in addition to which the volume presents one excellent
feature in its favour,—it has no rival ;in its pages
the round towers of Ireland are enshrined.

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' ALMANAC

AWL) GUIDE.
One of the effects of the removal of the stamp duty
on almanacs was to increase their number. This in-
crease has continued year by year, and we believe that,
even in a financial point of view the removal of the
stamp duty has been a source of profit to the revenue,
inasmuch as the duty on the additional paper consumed
more than compensates the loss on the stamp. Almost
every calling has now its special year-book; and it is sur-
prising that a body so influential and enterprising as the
licensed victuallers should have waited until 1846 for an
annual publication of this sort " peculiarly their own."
The present brochure well deserves its title of Guide. In
addition to the usual contents of an almanac, it contains
a digest of the Excise and Licensing laws, and of all
laws regulating the calling of the licensed victuallers;
lists of brewers, distillers, victuallers, &c. in the metro-
polis and the provinces; and in fact every article of infor-
mation that the licensed victualler can require to enable
him to conduct his business legally and properly.
Every licensed victualler should study it. It may sav e
him some money and much anxiety in the course of the
year, inasmuch as this little book informs him exactly
what he may and what he may not do.

VARIETIES OF BRITISH CATTLE.
We subjoin a short notice of the different breeds of
cattle, from the pen of Professor Low, which will give a
sort of idea of the different kinds of stock in this
country. Its brevity necessarily prevents any compre-
hensive description of their different properties, but still
enough may be learned from it to induce further inquiry:
1. The wild cr white forest breed, derived from a race
which formerly inhabited, in a state of liberty, the woods
of the country. Remains of this remarkable race have
been preserved for ages in the parks of opulent indivi-
duals, where the animals, herding and breeding exclu-
sively one with another, retain the habits of their wild
condition. In other cases they have been reared in a
state of domestication, when they assume the habits and
essential characters of the common varieties.
2. The Zetland breed, of Scandinavian origin, inha-
biting the remote islands of that name, and spreading
over the Orkneys. These cattle are of diminutive size,
but fatten readily, and are valued by the consumers.
The females excel the cattle of the Highlands in the
faculty of yielding milk.
3. The breeds of the Highlands of Scotland, spread-
ing over the primary mountainous tracts of North
Britain. These cattle are of small size, covered thickly
with hair, hardy, and suited to a country of heaths and
mountains. The finest, usually terieed the West High-
land breed, are produced in the countries on the western
coasts, and certain islands of the Hebrides, the smallest
in the central Highlands, and the largest towards the
eastern coasts, in the countries mixing with, or border-
irg on the plains. These hardy cattle are reared in vast
numbers on the natural herbage of the mountainous
country where they have been indigenous from time itn-
memorial, and whence they are transferred at the suitable
age, to be fattened in the lower country.
4. The Welsh breeds, somewhat exceeding in size the
West Highland breed, and, like it, suited to a country of
hills and natural herbage. They have dark or orange-
yellow skins, and are mostly of a black colour. 'I he
finest are reared in the county of Pembroke, in the dis-
trict of Castle-Martin.
5. The Kerry breed, naturalised in the mountains of
Kerry, but spread over all parts of Ireland. The cattle
of this breed are of small size, and of various colours,
with tapering horns. They subsist on scanty food, and
the females, yielding milk abundantly, are valued by the
poorer inhabitants for the dairy.
6. The polled Angus breed, allied, in its essential
characters, to the cattle of the mountains, but increased
in size by being naturalised in a country of richer
herbage, where artificial food can be supplied. This
breed has dark skins, and is destitute of horns. It has
been eeatly improved by the care of the breeders, and
is reared over a considerable tract of country.
7. The polled Aberdeenshire breed, of mixed origin,
and reared in the lower parts of the county of Aberdeen.
8. The Galloway breed, inhabiting a tract of Grey-
wacke hills in the south-west of Scotland; the cattle of
which are greatly valued for their hardiness, their adap-
tation to the purposes of the grazier, and the quality of
their beef. They are carried in great numbers to the
pastures of England, chiefly of Norfolk, whence they
are transferred to the London and other markers.
They have deep bodies, dark skins, and are destitute of
horns.
9. The polled Suffolk breed, cultivated for an un-
known period in Suffolk and the adjoining districts.
The individuals are of medium size, with defective horns;
but the cows are admirable for the quantity of milk
which they yield. The breed is losing ground continu-
ally from the want of care of the breeders, and the
effects of crossing:
10. The polled Irish breed, of large size, and well-
suited to the dairy, but much scattered, and merging in
the breed with which it is crossed.
11. The Falkland breed of Fifeshire, apparently de-
rived from Holland, inheriting the milking prof erties
of the Dutch races, but now nearly extinct in the pure
state.
12. The Alderney breed, reared in the Norman islands
of the Channel, of small size and ungainly form, with
short crumpled horns, of delicate constitution, and re-
luiring a temperate climate, but yielding a rich and
finely coloured milk. ' This breed is regularly imported
into England, where it is kept for the luxury of the
countries of the Chalk.
13. The Ayrshire breed, derived from the county of
Ayr, hut widely spread over the dairy districts of Scot-
land, and extending in considerable numbers to Ireland.
This is the most numerous breed, cultivated exclusively
for the dairy, in the British islands. The individuals
are of medium size, and of various colours, with short
horns. They are capable of subsisting on ordinary pas-
tures, and yield a large quantity of milk in proportion
to their size and the food consumed.
14 The Devon breed, naturalised in the higher parts
of Devonshire, on the Bristol Channel, but spreading
through the lower country. These cattle have orange
yellow skins, fine tapering horns, and are of a deep red
colour. They are of a light and graceful form, agile,
and suited for active labour. They fatten with sufficient
facility on good pastures and in a temperate climate;
but they are inferior in hardiness, and the power of sub-
sisting on scanty herbage, to the mountain cattle of Scot-
land and Wales. They increase in bulk when natural-
ised in a lower country, so that the breed of South Devon
differs in size and aspect from that of the higher lands.
The females are small, and deficient in the power of
yielding milk, though the milk which they afford is well-
coloured and rich in cream.
15. The Sussex breed, a variety of the Devon and
inheriting its properties, but of larger size, and less deli-
cate form. This breed is now undergoing great im-
provement, but is little sought for, for the purposes of
grazing, beyond the district in which it is reared.
16. The Glamorganshire breed, proper to the county
of that name, common to the high and low grounds, but
only brought to perfection in the vale of Glamorgan.
This breed possesses valuable qualities, and combines
both the properties of milking and fattening ; but the
numbers of the improved variety are limited and cir-
cumscribed in their diffusion by other breeds more gene-
rally cultivated.
17. The Herefordshire breed, greatly valued for its
fattening properties, and extensively diffused, for the
purpose of grazing, in the west of England. It has a
remote affinity with the Devon breed, and the cows in-
herit the defect of the latter in being small and imper-
fectly suited to the dairy.
18. The Long-horned breed, from time immemorial
spread over Ireland and the western counties of England,
still occupying a great tract of country, both in the
mountains and plains, and varying in size with the ferti-
lity, natural or acquired, of the districts in which it has
been naturalised. It was on the basis of this widely-
spread race that Bakewell reared the beautiful breed of
Dishley, which spread over the midland counties and
extended its influence by crossing the older and coarser
varieties. The Long-horned breed is now giving rapid
place to others better suited to the purposes of the breeder,
the grazier and the consumer.
19. The Teeswater Short-horned or Durham breed,
derived immediately from the district of the Tees, and
perfected by Charles and Robert Colling, in the county
of Durham. This breed is believed to possess a better
combination of properties than any of the larger cattle
yet produced in the British Islands, is everywhere extend-
ing its.limits, and superseding the pre-existing breeds,
or modifying their characters by intermixture.

SCARCITY OF FOOD IN RUSSIA.—The St. Peters-
burgh Gazette of the 7th contains an Imperial order, permit-
ting the importation of wheat, rye, barley, oats, flour, beans,
peas, and other similar products from Prussia free of duty up
to the 13th of September, 1846. The Gazette also contair s
an ukase published at Palermo, November 16, declaring that,
inasmuch as the crops have been indifferent in the western
part of Russia this year,the Emperor was desirous of afford-
ing a notable alleviation to the condition of his faithful sub-
jects in that part of his dominions, and should, therefore,
only require for the coining year a levy of five men in the
thousand. Furthermore, the Governments of Pokorff, Witepsk,
and Mohileff, were to be excused altogether from furnishing
their contingent. The lev.'es were to commence on January
1, and were to conclude by b,' arch
1.
FOWL TRANSACTION. Mr. Robert Fuller, a
poulterer, of Boston, killed last we ek, for the London Christ-
mas market, 2,400 geese, 1,000 Ok. ,cks, and 500 turkeys,
which altogether Weighed upwards nt twenty tem.—Lin-
o/whir. Chronicle.