608 



Ercarfury of $attiral 



with the political, the religious, and the 

 domestic customs of those primitive mag- 

 nates of the Jewish nation, are all of them 

 subjects forming ample food for deep and 

 delightful reflection. The relation which 

 existed between the patriarchal shepherds 

 and their flocks was indeed of so intimate, 

 and even affectionate a nature, as to have 

 afforded the subject of many of the most 

 beautiful and touching parables and moral 

 illustrations in the Sacred Writings. It is 

 scarcely necessary to refer to the unequalled 

 appeal of Nathan to David, to the still 

 higher and prophetic allusion to the character 

 of the Messiah, or to the sublime illustration 

 of the beneficence of the " great Shepherd 

 of Israel," in the beautiful and well-known 

 pastoral psalm. These are subjects which 

 cannot be discussed here ; but it is impossible 

 to pass them wholly without notice. But 

 the historical interest attached to this ani- 

 mal does not stop here. The customs ob- 

 served in the treatment of their flocks by 

 the shepherds of the Eastern nations in the 

 present day, offer numerous and highly im- 

 portant coincidences with those incidentally 

 alluded to or more distinctly described in 

 the Scriptures." 



The habits of the Sheep in its domestic 

 state are too well known to render a detailed 

 account necessary, or to speak of the methods 

 which have been adopted to improve the 

 breed. We shall, however, glean from dif- 

 ferent sources many particulars relating to 

 them, which are too important to be omitted. 

 We know that the products of this animal 

 are the flesh, milk, skin, and especially the 

 wool, which employs a vast capital in the 

 manufacture of clothing. The fineness of 

 the wool is considerably influenced by the 

 temperature : in a hot climate Sheep yield 

 a comparatively coarse wool ; in a cold cli- 

 mate they have a closer but a warmer fleece. 

 The filaments of wool taken from a healthy 

 Sheep present a beautiful polished and even 

 glittering appearance ; while that of the 

 neglected or half starved animal exhibits a 

 paler hue. " As for the carcase of the Sheep, 

 it is comparatively lately that even in Great 

 Britain it has been regarded in the light that 

 it deserves. In many foreipn countries it 

 is disliked, or at least rarely eaten. The 

 Calmucks and Cossacks seldom touch it. 

 Even in some parts of America there is a 

 prejudice against it. It is an object of little 

 or no value in Spain ; and, except among 

 the poorest, it is not there considered fit for 

 food. Since the British sheep-master has 

 begun, and judiciously, to look more to the 

 profit to be derived from the carcase since 

 the system of artificial feeding has been 

 brought to so great perfection, and a far 

 greater number of sheep can be fed and 

 perfected on the same number of acres, per- 

 haps the wool may have somewhat altered 

 in character. It has grown in length, and 

 it has increased in bulk of fibre. It has 

 not deteriorated, but changed. If no longer 

 fit for the purposes to which it was once 

 devoted, it has become suited to others. 

 The increase of the number of fleeces and 

 the increase of weight in each fleece go far to 

 compensate for the diminution of price, while 



the improvement of the carcase more than 

 supplies the deficiency, if in truth there was 

 any deficiency to supply. It has been proved 

 ! by authentic documents, that the number of 

 sheep in the United Kingdom has been more 

 than trebled in the last 150 years. How was 

 this managed ? for it was supposed that no 

 more than a given number of Sheep could 

 be kept on a certain space of ground. The 

 quantity of ground was rapidly increased, 

 and much that was formerly deemed un- 

 worthy of cultivation was rendered produc- 

 tive ; but more effective than this was the 

 new system of husbandry that was intro- 

 ducedthe artificial or turnip husbandry, 

 by which a regular supply of food could be 

 provided for every season. With this was 

 connected the attempt to fatten Sheep still 

 more expeditiously than could be accom- 

 plished by any former method. This succeed- 

 ing beyond his most sanguine expectations, 

 the sheep-master next attempted to increase 

 the size of the breed. He had not, however, 

 sufficiently taken into account a consequence 

 of this. As the carcase increased in size, 

 the wool became longer, heavier, and coarser. 

 The breeder would not see this at first ; but 

 he soon began to find that the manufacturer 

 would not purchase it, for it could not be 

 used for the purposes to which it was formerly 

 applied. His stock accumulated. It weighed 

 heavily on his hand. Still he would not 

 believe that his once favourite and yet valu- 

 able wool was deteriorated, although he 

 was compelled to sell it at a diminished 

 price. And what was the consequence ? 

 Why, that he had no just reason to complain ; 

 for the early maturity of the Sheep, and the 

 continued value of the wool for many im- 

 portant purposes rendered his profits greater 

 than they were before he had begun to alter 

 his system." Penny Cyclopaedia. 



The varieties of the Sheep are very nu- 

 merous, differing in size, the length of their 

 legs, and the size of their horns : some are 

 covered with hair instead of wool ; others 

 have enormous tails ; and others, again, 

 pendent ears. The variety most celebrated 

 for the fineness of the wool is the Spanish 

 Merino, as improved in Germany, where 

 both governments and individuals have paid 

 great attention to the improvement of the 

 wool, and in some parts of that country it 

 has been brought to such perfection as to 

 surpass that of any other part of the world. 

 | When we look for the origin of the improve- 

 I ments which have been made in the breed- 

 ing of this animal, which has become so im- 

 portant an element of national wealth, and 

 the source of so much manufacturing and 

 commercial industry, we are obliged to go 

 back to the .Romans. Columella, who lived 

 under the Emperor Claudius, gives us in- 

 teresting information on this point. Among 

 other things, he says that his uncle, who 

 lived in Boctica (which comprehends the 

 present province of Estremadura), procured 

 some wild African rams at Cadiz, of a coarse 

 fleece, but of an admirable colour. He put 

 them to some fine-woolled ewes, and, the 

 male progeny being again put to Tarentine 

 ewes, the offspring, with their descendants, 

 united the colour of the sire with the dam's 



