CLASS MAMMALIA. 

 FIG. 416. 



239 



FIG. -:17. 



<> rts mOn ttl /ia. Mountain Sheep. ( u ' 5 .) 



The Domestic Sheep exhibits no less than forty well- 

 marked varieties, and yet so shading into one another, 

 that all have doubtless 

 originated from a com- 

 mon stock.* Its sharp, 

 chisel-like incisors and 

 cleft upper lip enable 

 it to bite closer than 

 the Ox, and thus pro- 

 cure sustenance where 

 that animal would 



, rpn . O'vis d'rinc. Sheep. 



starve. The Goat, in 



defending itself, rears upon its hind legs, and comes 



down head first upon its opponent with the weight of 



* The influence of climate is remarkably shown in the tendency of the Merino 

 breed to develop an additional pair of horns when transferred from Spain to 

 Peru. A breed found in Syria have tails weighing from seventy-five to a hundred 

 pounds. 



