178 NATURAL HISTORY. 



have no incisive teeth in the upper jaw. At eighteen 

 months old, the two neighbouring teeth t)f the two first 

 that fell, fall also ; and, at three years old, they arc 

 replaced. They are then even, and tolerably whits ; 

 but, in proportion as the animal becomes older, they 

 become uneven and black. The age of the ram i* 

 also known by his horns, which shew themselves in 

 the first year, and frequently from the birth. They 

 grow every year a ring, which is a mark round. The 

 sheep have generally no horns ; but they have bony 

 prominences on their heads, in the same part where 

 the horns of the rams grow ; there are, notwithstand- 

 ing, some sheep which have two, and even four horns. 

 These sheep are like the others ; their horns are five 

 or six inches long, but less turned than those of the 

 ram ; and when there arc four horns, the two exterior 

 ones are shorter than the two others. 



Sheep carry their young five months, and drop 

 them at the beginning of the sixth. They usually 

 produce but one lamb, and sometimes two. In warm 

 climates they may produce twice a year, but in cold 

 elimates they produce but once a year. 



The sheep has great plenty of milk for five or sir 

 months. This milk is tolerable food for children, and 

 for poor people in the country ; and they make good 

 cheese with it, especially when it is mixed with cow's 

 milk. 



In dry soils, and in high grounds, where wild thyme 

 and other odoriferous herbs abound, the flesh of the 

 sheep is of a much better quality than when it is fed 

 in low plains and humid vallies, unless these plains 

 are sandy and near the sea ; for then all the herbs 

 imbibe a saltness, and the flesh of mutton is no where 

 so good as in these salt meadows. The sheep's milk 



