THE A KG A LI. 



551 



winter the shepherd can safely lie on the ground wrapped in his sheep-skin mantle. For ftiis 

 purpose, the skin is dressed without removing the wool. 



In a state of nature, all Sheep are furnished with a pair of horns, but in the cultivated 

 races these ornaments generally become obliterated. A curious exception to this principle 

 occurs in the many-horned 

 varieties which are found in 

 several parts of Asia, and 

 which sometimes possess as 

 many as three distinct pairs 

 of horns. The additional 

 or accessory appendages 

 are slighter in their make 

 than the trne horns, and 

 are generally placed on the 

 upper parts of the head. 

 Their tips almost invari- 

 ably take an upward direc- 

 tion, while the true horns 

 generally curl downward, 

 and retain a portion of the 

 tendency to a spiral form. 



Gi A NTS among the ovine 

 race, the MOUFLONS tower 

 far above every other vari- 

 ety of the Sheep. These 

 animals may be found in 

 several portions of the 

 world, several species being 

 inhabitants of Asia, one 

 of Sardinia and Corsica, 

 and one of Northern Amer- 

 ica. Of these gigantic 

 Sheep, the ARGALI of Sibe- 

 ria is the most conspicu- 

 ous, as well for general 

 dimensions, as for the enor- 

 mous size of the horns. 



The Argali is nearly as 

 large as a moderately sized 

 ox, being four feet high at 

 the shoulders and propor- 

 tionately stout in its build. 

 The horns of a full-grown 



male Argali are very nearly four feet in length if measured along the curve, and at their 

 base are about nineteen inches in circumference. They spring from the forehead, and 

 after rising perpendicularly for a short distance, curve boldly downwards until they reach 

 below the chin, when they recurve upwards and come to a point. The surface of the 

 horns is covered with a series of deep grooves set closely together, and extending almost 

 to the very extremities. Firmly as these weapons are fixed upon the animal's forehead, 

 they are sometimes fairly broken off in the fierce conflicts which these creatures wage 

 with each other when they fight for the possession of some desirable female. These 

 broken horns are not suffered to lie unobserved on the ground, but are soon utilized by 

 the foxes and other small mammalia which inhabit the same country, and converted at 



THE SARDINIAN MOUFLON.-Otfc mnsimon. 



