158 MAMMALIA. KUMINANTIA. 



disc on the buttocks. Five feet long. Inhabits mountains and 

 Steppes of Northern Asia. Shaw, ii. pi. 201. 



O. aries, Desm. (Capra Ammon,lL'm. Musmon, Plin.) The Sheep. 

 Horns very strong, arched backwards, and curved downwards 

 and towards the point ; general colour fawn, more or less brown, 

 white on the face and legs, and under the belly ; a darker streak 

 on the dorsal line, on the flanks, and often black about the neck. 

 Corsica, Sardinia, &c. 



Sheep live in families more or less numerous upon the most inaccessible mountains 

 of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. They are found in flocks of sometimes a 

 hundred in number, conducted by an experienced leader. In the rutting-season 

 these flocks divide into little bands formed by a single male and the females attached 

 to him. When they meet at this season the males fight by butting with their heads, 

 and sometimes kill one another. The domestic varieties are distinguished by dif- 

 ferences in form, size, colour, and in horns. The long-legged sheep of Guinea has 

 the body covered with hair, with a kind of mane on the neck. The Barbary and 

 Egyptian broad-tailed sheep, (Ovis laticaudata of Ray) has the wool coarse, the tail 

 long, and wider than the buttocks at its base , and many other breeds exist in 

 Africa, distinguished by their horns, the nature of their wool, and the size of the tail. 

 The Asiatic breeds have some of them the broad tail of the African sheep. The 

 Astracan breed is distinguished by its fine spirally curled wool ; the Circassian race 

 has the tail of such length as to trail on the ground ; and other Asiatic families are 

 distinguished by the number of their horns, which vary from four to six. India 

 and China possess also particular breeds ; but it is in Europe that, at the present day, 

 the most useful varieties are found. The Merino sheep of Spain holds the first place 

 among the European varieties, but in no country in Europe has the rearing of this 

 valuable animal met with so much attention as in Great Britain. Wool was long a 

 staple of her commerce, and was exported for centuries ; and now, since circumstan- 

 ces have changed, and that the manufactures of the country create a demand for 

 the wool raised, the annual value of wool shorn in England is not less than five 

 millions Sterling. The varieties of the sheep in Britain are numerous, and adapted 

 to all the different kinds of pasture and situation. The original breeds of the coun- 

 try still exist in Shetland and the northern counties of Scotland. 



Gen. 144. OVIBOS, Blainville. Bos, Lin. Cuv. 



Incisors |, canines g-g, molars f-|, = 32. Body thick, heavy ; 

 legs short ; face elevated ; forehead long and bushy ; horns 

 very strong, directed laterally ; no muzzle ; ears short, eyes 

 small ; no furrow in the upper lip ; tail very short. 



O. moschatus, Desm. (Bos moschatus, Gmel.) The Musk Ox. 

 Adult male size of a small cow ; horns rising from the summit of 

 the head, close together and wide at their base, then tapering, 

 and bent down against the cheeks, with the point turned up ; fur 

 brownish black, long and woolly. N. America Shaw, ii. pi. 212. 



The O. Pallantis, (fossil,) found on the coast of Siberia, is not ascertained to be a 

 separate species. 



Gen. 145 Bos, Lin. Cuv. Geoff. Desm. Lin. 



Incisors g, canines g-g, molars - = 32. Body large, mem- 

 bers strong; headlarge; forehead straight; muzzle square ; eyes 

 large ; ears generally funnel-shaped ; a fold of the skin or dew- 

 lap on the under side of the neck ; four mammae ; tail long, 

 tufted; horns simple, conical, round, with different inflections, 

 but often directed laterally, and the points raised. 



