20 Q^tr ADRUPEDS; 



fertility, arid its flefli no longer has the fame flavour. In very cold 

 countries, it feems equally a ftranger j requires unceafing attention to 

 preferve it 3 aad though fubfifting as well in Greenland as in Guinea, 

 yet it feems a natural inhabitant of neither. 



The Iceland fheep refembles ours in form j but differs in the number 

 of horns, having four, fometimes eight, growing from different parts of 

 the forehead. Thefe are large and formidable ; and the animal feems 

 fitted for a flate of war : yet, is equally mild, gentle, and tisnid. Its 

 wool is long, fmooth, and hairy. Its colour a dark brown ; and under 

 its outward coat, it has a covering, rather refembling fur than wool, 

 being fine, fhort, and foft. 



A fecond variety is the broad-tailed Ihccp, of Tartary, Arabia, 

 Perfia, Barbary, Syria, and Egypt. This broad and heavy tail often 

 weighs from twenty to thirty pounds : fometimes grows a foot broad, 

 and muft be fupported by a fmall kind of board, that goes upon 

 wheels. This tail is not woolly underneath like the upper part, but 

 bare ; and the natives, who confider it as a great delicacy, are very 

 careful in preferving it from injury. Their fleeces, in the temperate 

 climates, are foft and woolly ; in the warmer latitudes hairy ; yet in 

 both thefe fheep preferve the enormous fize of their tails. 



A third variety is the fheep called flrepficheros, native of the iflands 

 of the Archipelago, which differs from our fheep, in having ftrait 

 horns, furrounded with a fpiral furrow. 



Another variety is the Guinea fheep, generally found in the tropical 

 climates. They are large, with a rough, hairy fkin, fhort horns, 

 ears hanging down, with a kind of dewlap under the chin. They 

 differ greatly in form from others i but breed with them, Thefe, of 

 all the domeftic kinds, feem to approach neareft the ftate of nature r 

 are larger, ftronger, and fwifter than others j confequently better fitted 

 for foreft life. However, they feem to rely, like the refl, on man for 

 fupport ; being entirely of a domeflic nature, and fubfifting only in 

 warm climates. 



Thefe varieties are capable of producing among each other ; their 

 peculiarities of form refult from climate and cultivation. While man 

 thus cultivates the domeflic kinds, he drives away the favage race, 

 which is lefs beneficial, and more headftrong. This is found in 

 fmall numbers in uncultivated countries, where they have fubfifled by 

 fwiftnefs or ftrength. In Greece, Sardinia, Corfica, and particularly 

 in the deferts of Tartary, the moufflon is found, that is thought by 

 ^ ' M. Buffon 



