ARGALI.—Caprévis Argati 
the depth of winter the shepherd can safely lie on the ground wrapped in his sheep-skin 
mantle. For this purpose, the skin is dressed without removing the wool. 
In a state of nature, all Sheep are furnished with a pair of horns, but in the cultivated 
races these ornaments generally become obliterated. A curious exception to this principle 
occurs in the many-horned varieties which are found in several parts of Asia, and which 
sometimes possess as many as three distinct pairs of horns. The additional or accessory 
appendages are shehter in their make than the true horns, and are generally placed on the 
upper parts of the head. Their tips almost invariably take an upward direction, while the 
true horns generally curl downward, and retain a portion of the tendency to a spiral form. 
GIANTS among the ovine race, the MouFLONS tower far above every other variety of 
the Sheep. These animals may be found in several portions of the world, several 
species bemg inhabitants of Asia, one of Sardinia and Corsica, and one of Northern 
America. Of these gigantic Sheep, the ARGALI of Siberia is the most conspicuous, as 
well for general dimensions, as for the enormous size of the horns. 
The Argali is nearly as large as a moderately sized ox, being four feet high at the 
shoulders and proportionately stout in its build. The horns of a full-grown male Argali 
are very nearly four feet in leneth if measured along the curve, and at their base are 
about nineteen inches in circumference. They spring from the forehead, and after rising 
perpendicularly for a short distance, curve boldly downwards until they reach below the 
chin, when they recurve upwards and come to a point. The surface of the horns is 
covered with a series of deep grooves set closely together, and extending almost to the 
very extremities. Firmly as these weapons are fixed upon the animal’s forehead, they are 
sometimes fairly broken off in the fierce conflicts which these creatures wage with each 
other when they fight for the possession of some desirable female. These broken horns 
