146 HISTORY OF THE SHEEP. 



they seem to rely, like the rest, on man t for support ; being 

 entirely of a domestic nature, and subsisting only in the 

 warmer climates. 



Such are the varieties of this animal, which have been 

 reduced into a state of domestic servitude. These are all 

 capable of producing among each other ; all the peculiari- 

 ties of their form have been made by climate and human 

 cultivation ; and none of them seem sufficiently inde- 

 pendent to live in a state of savage nature. They are, 

 therefore, to be considered as a degenerate race, formed 

 by the hand of man, and propagated merely for his bene- 

 fit.^ At the same time, while man thus cultivates the 

 domestic kinds, he drives away and destroys the savage 

 race, which are less beneficial, and more headstrong. 

 These, therefore, are to be found in but a very small 

 number, in the most uncultivated countries, where they 

 have been able to subsist by their native swiftness and 

 strength. It is in the more uncultivated parts of Greece, 

 Sardinia, Corsica, and particularly in the deserts of Tar- 

 tary, that the moufflon is to be found, that bears all the 

 marks of being the primitive race ; and that has been 

 actually known to breed with the domestic animal. 



The moufflon, or musmon, though covered with hair, 

 bears a stronger similitude to the ram, than to any other 

 animal : like the ram, it has the eyes placed near the. 

 horns ; and its ears are shorter than those of the goat ; it 

 also resembles the ram in its horns, and in all the particu- 

 lar contours of its form. The horns also are alike ; they 

 are of a yellow color, and have three sides, as in the ram, 

 and bend backwards in the same manner behind the 

 ears ; the muzzle and the inside of the ears, are of a 

 whitish color, tinctured with yellow; the. other parts 01 

 the face are of a brownish gray. The general color of the 

 hair over the body is of a brown, approaching to that of the 

 red deer. The inside of the thighs and the belly are of u 

 white, tinctured with yellow. The form, upon the whole, 



