C 9 ] 



The purefl of the hair-bearhig fheep I have feec, 

 were fomc fleeces that were fent to me from the 

 Baltic, which were as evidently hair as the fleece of 

 a goat, though finer and fofter. The Ruflians pre- 

 fer this breed of fheep, becaufe the fleece, when at 

 its full length, adheres fo much more firmly to the 

 flcin than wool does, that it lails much longer when 

 made into clothing than 'the other j for which rea- 

 fon, a wool-bearing flieep among them is a great 

 rarity. 



Among the fheep referable to this clafs, there 

 are fome breeds which afford a fmall quantity of a 

 very fine and foft wool underneath the hair, of 

 which the Argali of Pallas is a noted example; 

 b^t the greateft part of the varieties we know have 

 none of this. 1 have never heard of an unadulte- 

 rated breed of this kind that had flitchel hair among 

 the fleece, though it is often found among the mon- 

 grel breeds between this and the former. Neither 

 have I ever heard of a finer kind of wool being found 

 at the bottom of the fleece of any of the wool-bear- 

 ing breeds. 



The very long wool of Lincolnfliire, which I have 

 examined with care, appears to be from a mongrel 



and healthy rifing above alluded to. In this laft cafe, the wool does 

 not fcparate in the early part of the fpring as where it is matted; 

 but it adheres to it till the month of June at leaft, and even then in a 

 gradual manner, as the young fleece begins to rife, and always fooneft 

 upon the flicep in the beft condition, which, on that aceouijt, are oftei^ 

 fliom ten days or a fortnight fooncr than the other*. 



race. 



