WASHING 629 



lambs, to be fattened on turnips as hoggs ; and the rams were 

 sent to the butcher. To prevent the Cheviot rams getting 

 the ewes in lamb on the way south, the " worm " (filiform 

 appendage) was cut off. Dishonest breeders of Wensleydale 

 rams at one time also practised it, to save themselves the 

 trouble and expense of keeping their lambs of different sexes 

 in separate flocks. 



The Copulatory organ or penis of the ram is a curiously 

 complicated structure, which has been described anatomically 

 by Dr F. H. A. Marshall. 1 The urethra, or passage through 

 which the urine and seminal fluid pass when ejected, is pro- 

 longed within a filiform appendage, about I \ inches in length, 

 and arising from the left side of the organ, as shown in the 

 figure. It opens to the exterior at the end of the appendage. 



end of ram's penis, as seen from the left side, showing glans, accessory glans, 

 filiform appendage, and knob-shaped protuberance at proximal end of appendage. The 

 prepuce is represented as having been folded back. Slightly reduced. 



Dr Marshall has shown that this filiform prolongation has 

 an erectile structure, and since, if it is cut off, the ram is 

 rendered barren, there can be little doubt that its function 

 is that of insertion into the uterus or womb during 

 copulation. 



Washing, which should be done ten days before clipping, 

 is usual in the case of most Lowland breeds of sheep, though 

 it is not practised with the Scotch Blackface breed. It is 

 never done in salt water, as this injures the wool for keeping. 

 There ought to be a watertight box in the centre of the pond 

 for a man to stand in while doing the washing, in place of his 

 having to get into the water. The washer takes hold of a 

 sheep and keeps it moving in the water until the " yolk " or 

 " eik " is washed out. This yolk, which keeps the wool soft 

 and greasy to touch, is an excretion from the skin chiefly 

 but possibly also to some extent from the wool itself. It 

 contains much potash, and is used in the manufacture of 

 fancy soaps. It is most abundant on certain strains of the 

 Merino breed. Hill sheep, such as Cheviots, are simply 



1 Anatomischer Anzeiger^ vol. xx,, 1904. 



