Dr. N. Severtzoff on the Mammals of Turkestan. 329 



but there are some other characteristics, probably not depen- 

 dent on domestication, namely the high legs and the short tail, 

 both of which separate this sheep from our tame one and bring 

 it nearer to the wild species just described. 



For determining its affinity with the latter, I am sorry to 

 say, I have no good adult skulls here with normal horns ; but, 

 as far as I can remember, the horns in their shape, especially 

 in the inner spiral, more resemble those of the above wild sheep 

 than the horns of the Russian or Spanish domestic breeds ; the 

 median curve also does not come quite so close to the head. 



The inner spiral of the horns of the Spanish sheep (the 

 original variety infantado) would fit on a cone with a rather 

 short axis, which points towards the front and forms a very 

 sharp angle with the axis of the skull ; owing to the form of 

 the inner spiral the median curves approach the skull below, 

 and do not spread out from it as is the case with all the wild 

 species. The spirals of the ridges of the right horn are turned 

 to the left, and on the left horns to the right, as in all the other 

 Oves ; but the axil spiral forms one and a half or even two 

 circles round the imaginary cone on which the inner spiral 

 fits, whereas there is usually only one circle in the wild sheep. 



The flat forehead is one of the most striking characteristics : 

 it is not vaulted immediately above the nose as in the wild 

 sheep ; but this may be dependent upon the small horns and 

 domestication. The forehead is as flat as that of the Kirgies 

 sheep : but the horns of the latter, to the best of my belief, are 

 different ; the axis of the cone on which they are turned is not 

 short ; and in that respect the Kirgies sheep come nearer to the 

 wild species. These differences, however, most probably sprang 

 from domestication ; this is most likely also the reason for 

 the difference in the horns, the rising basal curve being even 

 shorter than that of the Spanish sheep. It also very often 

 happens that the horns are not regularly bent, or the edges 

 are irregular ; this, however, is to be seen on small horns only ; 

 and often there are even four or six ridges running down to the 

 end of the horn. Hornless sheep are also common and even 

 more numerous than those with horns ; and the shorter the 

 horns are, so much the longer are the ears in proportion. 



The examination of all these varieties illustrates also the 

 specific distinctions between the different wild sheep. Con- 

 stant, however, are the high legs and short tail, which are 

 proportionally of the same size as on wild sheep, in which tlie 

 tail is half as long as the nose of the animal, whilst the tail 

 of our sheep is equal to the length of the whole head. 



The "fat tail" consists solely of two pieces of fat hanging 

 down on each side of the tail ; this is also the case with some 



