76 The Irish Naturalist. July, 



a character distinctive of any particular race. In the 

 Loaghton breed of the Isle of Man, in the Iceland, Shetland 

 and Soay sheep there is the same tendency to develop 

 extra horns. There may be three. or four, occasionally 

 even six horns. As all these sheep are typically brown in 

 colour, short -woolled with the wool extending only to the 

 junction between head and neck, and possess short and 

 slender limbs they seem to resemble, in some respects, the 

 Irish mountain breed which was probably the descendant 

 of the ancient breed whose remains occur in the caves. 

 The long-woolled breed may have been introduced much 

 more recently, possibly from France or Spain. 



There is considerable diversity of opinion as to the 

 origin of domesticated sheep. But as far as European 

 breeds are concerned, it seems likely that the wild sheep 

 of Sardinia [Ovis musimon) was the principal ancestor. 

 The Moufflon, as it is often called, had a much wider 

 distribution in Southern Europe long ago than at present. 

 The sheep inhabiting the small island of Soay off the west 

 coast of Scotland are said^ to bear a remarkable resemblance 

 to the Moufflon. The latter and the Soay sheep breed 

 freely together and form fertile offspring. In Sardinia 

 natural hybrids between the Moufflon and domesticated 

 sheep have been known for centuries. It is of interest to 

 record that the remains of a sheep have been discovered 

 in the Swiss lake-dwellings which Dr. Duerst identified with 

 this hybrid, and he states that the same breed or variety 

 has also been met with in various recent English deposits.^ 



The remains of ancient sheep from Irish crannogs in 

 the Dubhn National Museum are very fragmentary, although 

 the honi-cores are generally well preserved. Their structure 

 and curvature has such a strong resemblance to the horn- 

 cores of the Moufflon that a close relationship of the two 

 is indicated. 



Knockranny, Bray. 



^ Elwes, H. J. — " Notes on the primitive breeds of sheep in Scotland." 

 Scottish Naturalist, 19 12. 



® Duerst, J. M. — Uber ein neues prahistorisches Hauschaf und dessen 

 Herkunft. Vierteljahresschr. d. Naturf, Gesellsch. Z^irich. Jahrg, xlix., 

 1904. 



