THE FARMER AT HOME. 359 



manner in which the eggs of these animals lie in the womb. In this 

 creature there were six eggs, each of the size of a goose egg, but 

 longer, more pointed, and covered with a membranous skin, by which 

 also they were united to each other. Each of these eggs contained 

 from thirteen to fifteen young ones, about six inches long, and as thick 

 as a goose quill. These little mischievous animals were no sooner let 

 loose from the shell, than they crept about, and put themselves into a 

 threatening posture, coiling themselves up, and biting the stick with 

 which he was destroying them. In this manner he killed 74 young 

 ones ; those that were contained in one of the eggs, escaped at the 

 place where the female was killed, by the bursting of the egg, and 

 their getting among the bushes. 



SHAD. A large species of herring, which inhabits the sea near 

 the mouths of large rivers, and in the spring ascends them for the pur- 

 pose of depositing its spawn in the shallow water about their sources. 

 The young fry remain for a season in the waters which gave them 

 birth, but on the approach of cold weather descend the rivers, and take 

 refuge in the ocean The old ones likewise return, and at this time 

 are emaciated and unfit for food. The form of the shad is the same 

 as that of the other herrings, very much compressed, with the abdo- 

 men gradually becoming thinner, arid forming a serrated edge ; and, 

 like them, the bones are much more numerous and more slender than 

 in other fish. The shad which frequents our waters has not been 

 accurately compared with the European, but is probably a different 

 species. It usually weighs four or five pounds, but sometimes twelve ; 

 the scales are easily detached, when a row of dark spots is exposed on 

 each side. It is found in all the rivers of* our Atlantic coast, is highly 

 esteemed for food, and is consumed in great quantities, in. the fresh 

 state, in our principal cities. During the season they are an important 

 source of wealth to the inhabitants of the borders of the Hudson, 

 Delaware, and Chesapeake. Great quantities are salted, but are less 

 esteemed than when eaten fresh. 



SHEEP. One of the most extraordinary facts respecting sheep is 

 the vast number of them in ancient as well as in modern times. 

 True, this is the result of the great value of the animal. There are 

 supposed to be twenty millions of sheep in our own country ; probably 

 more than this number, as many as there are inhabitants. In Great 

 Britain, the number is set down at between thirty and forty millions. 

 From Scripture accounts, Job had fourteen thousand of this animal. 

 When the Israelites made an incursion into the land of Midian, they 

 brought back with them six hundred and fifty thousand ; and when 

 the ",ribes of Reuben and Gad made war upon the Hagarites, their 

 spoils amounted to two hundred and fifty thousand. The king of 

 Moab was required to make an annual tribute of two hundred thou- 

 sand sheep ; and Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, made an 

 offering of one hundred and twenty thousand of them. From these 

 16* 



