146 THE MERINO. 



judicious treatment of many British flocks ; and there 

 can be no doubt, that such an experiment would be 

 well worth trying. Under this impression, I cannot 

 help expressing a wish, that the Society, to whose 

 consideration these remarks are submitted, would 

 exert their influence for accomplishing an object 

 which may prove of national importance." * 



In the specimen which we have figured, the ex- 

 ternal coat consists entirely of the hair, which Mr 

 Laurie alludes to as unfit for purposes of manu- 

 facture, forming a dense and deer-like covering, but 

 at the root of this there is abundance of very close, 

 fine, but short wool, which would be unattainable 

 for any purpose, unless the hairs could be got rid of 

 by the influence of a milder climate, and improve- 

 ment or change of the breed. 



The specimen in the Edinburgh Museum stands 

 three feet two inches high at the shoulder, and is in 

 length about three feet five inches. The general 

 colour is a pale opaque wood-brown, having a pecu- 

 .iar dull tint. The lower parts are paler, nearly 

 white, and the buttocks are marked with the pale 

 dusk of the deer. The horns are large, about thirty- 

 one inches long, and fifteen and a half inches in 

 circumference at the base. Dr Richardson remarks 

 that the old rams are nearly entirely white in the 

 spring, occasioned by the rubbing or wearing of the 

 hair, which is coloured only at the tips. We an? 



*Wern. Trans, vol. iii p. 310. 



