popular Btcttanari) nf &mmatrtr Mature. en 



or sheave or double-toothed ewe; and after 

 that, a two, or three, or four-sheared eict', or 

 sheave. The age of the Sheep is reckoned, 

 not from the i>eriod of their being dropped, 

 but from the first shearing. 



There are several remarkable varieties of 

 the genus Ovis in different parts of the globe, 

 which must here be noticed. 



The MANY-noRyEn SHEEP. (Ovis poly- 

 cerata.) This variety, which is found in 

 Iceland and the most northern parts of the 

 Russian dominions, resembles the domestic 

 breed in the shape of its body and tail, though 

 it has three, four, five, or more horns, some- 

 times placed with great regularity, and some- 

 times differing in proportion and situation. 

 This animal is large and formidable in ap- 

 pearance : but in its nature it is timid and 

 gentle. The wool, which is long, smooth, 

 hairy, and very different from that of the 

 common Sheep, is of a dark brown colour ; 

 and under its exterior coat there is a fine, 

 short, and soft kind of wool or fur. 



The BROAD-TAILED SHEEP. (Orf Jati- 

 cauda.} This variety is very common In 

 Tartary, Arabia, Persia. Barbary, Syria, and 

 Egypt ; * n( l is principally remarkable for 

 its large heavy tail, often BO loaded with a 

 mass of fat as to weigh from ten to twenty 



X.AROK-TA(I.EI> SOKEP. 



pounds ; nay, pome writers assert that the 

 tails are occasionally double that weight, a 

 foot broad, and supported by a small board, 

 which runs on wheels. The upper part is 

 covered with wool, but it is bare underneath ; 

 and the fat or marrow of which it consists is 

 reckoned a great delicacy. 



The CRETAN SHEEP. (Oiria Strepsiceros.) 

 This animal is principally found in the island 

 of Crete, and is kept in several parts of Eu- 

 rope for the singularity of its appearance ; 

 the horns being very large, long, and spiral : 

 those of the male are upright ; those of the 

 female at right angles to the head. By 

 Button this variety is termed Wallachian 

 Sheep. 



The FAT- RUMPED, TAILLESS SHEEP. These 

 Sheep are met with in all the deserts of Tar- 

 tary, from the Wolga to the Irtis and the 

 Altaic chain of mountains. They have long 

 legs, a somewhat arched visage, horns in the 

 male, like those of the domestic Sheep, black 

 heads, and large pendent ears. The tail is 

 sometimes so enveloped in fat as to be scarcelv 

 visible, the parts on each side swelling out 

 into two naked hemispheres. 



The AFRICAX SHEEP. (Ovis Guineensis.) 

 The Afiican or Guinea Sheep is a native of 

 all the tropical climates, both of Africa and 

 the East. It is large, with rough hairy skin, 

 short horns, and pendulous ears. Under 

 its chin there is a kind of dewlap ; and it 

 lias a long mane, which reaches below the 

 neck. They are stronger, larger, and more 

 fleet than other Sheep, and therefore better 

 adapted to a precarious forest life ; but their 

 flesh is very indifferent food. 



SHEEP-TICK. (Hippobotca Ovu.) A 

 well-known insect, extremely common in 

 pasture grounds, about the commencement 

 of summer. The body is very compressed 

 and smooth, the shape triangular, and the 

 colour a blackish brown. It fixes its head 

 in the skin of the animal, and extracts the 

 blood, leaving a large round tumour. This 

 singular animal has no wings, nor does it 

 ever attain them ; yet it evidently belongs, 

 from the conformation of its body, to the 

 family Hippoboscifke, as the bed-bug belongs 

 to the tribe of the winged bugs. The fore 

 part of its body is uncommonly small ; the 

 thick roundish abdomen, however, is pro- 

 portionally very large, and generally in cir- 

 cumference about the size of a middling- 

 sized pea. Its colour is pale red, the ab- 

 domen lighter, with an irregular white line 

 on each side, and a red spot on the back. 

 The Sheep-tick lays only one egg, which is 

 the nymph or pupa, as in the forest-fly, and 

 is fastened to the wool of the sheep. At first 

 it is white, then brown, and finally the per- 

 fect insect escapes from it. As a remedy for 

 this insect, Bock advises that the infested 

 sheep should be washed with a decoction of 

 the crushed or bruised leaves of the common 

 maple. Another method of diminishing or 

 destroying this troublesome insect is given 

 in the Farmer's Magazine for Nov. 1828, by 

 a farmer in Suffolk. He advises the lambs 

 to be put into a bath, by which the produc- 

 tion of the sheep-tick will be prevented. 

 The best time for this is July or August. 

 Should it, however, have been neglected, 

 then it is still time, if the weather permits, 

 till Christmas. A pound of arsenic is boiled 

 with a pound of soft soap and a pound of 

 purified potash, in four gallons of water. 

 The arsenic will be perfectly dissolved by 

 the other ingredients. As soon as this is the 

 case, the solution is thrown into a bathing 

 tub sufficiently large to dip a sheep in, and 

 forty gallons more water added to it. In 

 order to dip the sheep, its fore legs must be 

 held by one man and its hind legs by an- 

 other, so that the feet are held upwards. A 

 man must also stand at the tub, to prevent 

 the head being dipped, so that no poison 

 may get into the ears, which would do it an 

 injury. This man is provided with a sort 

 of tressel, which he holds under the lamb as 

 soon as it is withdrawn from the bath. He 

 then squeezes the fleece with his hands, so 



that the greater part of the water sucked up 



by the fleece 



this way the above-named quantity may 



runs again into the tub. In 



serve to dip one hundred moderate-sized 

 lambs in. The author adds, that the arsenic 

 has no injurious effects, if carefully used ; 



