Class I. SHEEP. ji 



or twenty guineas for the ufe of it for a certain 

 number of ewes during one feafon. Suffolk alfo 

 breeds a very valuable kind. The fleeces of the 

 northern parts of this kingdom are inferior in fine- 

 nefs to thofe of the fouth ; but ftill are of great 

 value in different branches of our manufadlures. 

 The Torkjhire hills furnifh the looms of that county 

 with large quantities of wool ; and that which is 

 taken from the neck and fhoulders, is ufed (mixed 

 with Spanijh wool) in fome of their fined cloths. 



JVales yields but a coarfe wool ; yet it is of more 

 extenfive ufe than the fineft Segovian fleeces ; for 

 rich and poor, age and youth, health and infirmities, 

 all confefs the univerfal benefit of the flannel ma- 

 nufacture. 



The flieep of Ireland vary like thofe of Great- 

 Britain, Thofe of the fouth and eafl: beino; larore, 

 and their flefti rank. Thofe of the north, and the 

 mountainous parts fmall, and their flefli fweet. 

 The fleeces in the fame manner difl^er in desirees of 

 value. 



Scotland breeds a fmall kind, and their fleeces are 

 coarfe. Sihhald (afcer Boethius) fpeaks of a breed 

 in the ifle of Rona^ covered with blue wool ; of 

 another kind in the ifle of Hirta^ larger than the 

 biggeft: he goat, with tails hanging almofl: to the 

 ground, and horns as thick, and longer than thofe 

 of an ox*. He mentions another kind, which is 



clothed 



* Gmelin defcribes an animal he found in Siberia, that in 



many particulars agrees with this ; he calls it Rv.picapra cornu- 



bus 



