176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



says, " If sheep are carried from either of the temperate zones to 

 the burning phiins of the tropics, after a few years, material changes 

 take place in their covering." 



[Dr. Browne, quoting Prof. Agassiz, (Prin. of Zoology, p. 43.) 

 infers therefrom, " that the hair of the hairy sheep, and the wool of 

 the woolly sheep, according to his (Agassiz') notion, depend upon an 

 immaterial principle, which no external influence can prevent or 

 modify." It is to be regretted, that in a matter of such importance, 

 the opinion of that eminent naturalist was not obtained directly 

 touching the point, so that it need not have been left to an inference 

 ■which — craving Dr. B's. indulgence — might to some, seem rather 

 " remote."] 



Dr. Brown asserts, that "this change of coat never happens to 

 either the pure hairy sheep, or the pure woolly sheep, but is a con- 

 dition of those hybrids which have already hair and wool." 



Fleischman again says, (P. 0. R , 1847, p. 275,) " But besides 

 the peculiar wool, all sheep have, in particular places of their bodies, 

 real hairs, some more, some less." And it may be fairly deduced 

 from the teaching's of all the essavs and treatises to which the writer 

 of this Ilcport has had access, that there are no sheep bearing flee- 

 ces composed exclusively of either hair or wool; but that on the 

 shanks and about the heads of the finest wooled sheep of Saxony, 

 there may be found filaments approaching very closely to true hair ; 

 and that it is only by tlie greatest watchfulness and care, even 

 ■where the climate is the most uniform, that the 'constant and thor- 

 ough' character of their fleeces is maintained ; and that some mature 

 merino sheep, with woolly fleeces of the most perfect integrity, 

 exhibited when they were lambs, very hairy indications ; and that 

 ■wherever neglected, or where the climate is variable and they are 

 exposed to sudden vicissitudes of temperature, they will deteiiorate, 

 and occasionally a hairy sheep will appear in the flock. Reliable 

 authority also informs us, that Ave may sometimes observe one end 

 of the same fibre to be wool, with its spiral form and felting proper- 

 ties, ■while the other end is true hair; and that clothing and greas- 

 ing are resorted to with a very evident effect upon the quality of 

 the wool. 



To men of ordinary judgment, the case of the South Down sheep, 

 ■which Dr. Browne, citing, speaks of as an hybrid between the hairy 



