22 Domesticated Animals. 



probable by the fact that the former arc not unfrequcntly four- 

 horned, and also from the circumstance that the Museum possesses 

 the head (presented in 1901 by the Rev. H. G. Morse) of a South 

 African Sheep which is black, with a white face, and has four horns. 

 It is noteworthy that in this liead the horns are much smaller than 

 in the English piebald rams, and also that the coat is short and hairy. 



It is thus evident that wholly black Sheep, and black Sheep with 

 a large white ' blaze ' on the face, occur in Zululand and other jmrts 

 of South Africa, and also that the rams of these Sheep are not 

 nnfrequently four-homed. On the other hand there seems no 

 information with regard to the existence of any such breed either 

 in Spain, Portugal, or North Africa. Consequently, till tlie contrary 

 is proved, the presumption is that these Sheep are indigenous to 

 South Africa. 



The superior size, the longer fleece, and perhaps the greater 

 amount of white on the body in the English strain are features 

 which might naturally occur as the result of better feeding. 



That the duplication of the horns in these breeds is due to 

 splitting of the normal pair, is rendered practically certain by a skull 

 of a South African piebald ram presented to the Museum by 

 Mr. W. P. Pycraft. In this specimen each horn is cleft to within 

 a short distance of its base ; the minor branch, which is inferior in 

 position, lying close alongside the larger. 



The specimens of this breed include a ram, presented by Mr. 

 E. C. Lowndes in 1902 ; the head of a ram, presented by the 

 Duke of Devonshire in the same year ; and the above-mentioned 

 head from South Africa, presented by the Eev. H. G. Morse 

 in 1901. 



_. . Unicorn Sheep, which are natives of Nepal, take their 



name from the circumstance that the horns of the rams 

 "• are completely welded together (fig. G). The ewes are 

 hornless. The fleece is woolly ; the head and neck being black, the 

 body white, and the limbs piebald ; the tail appears to be naturally 

 short. These Sheep form a regular breed in Nepal, and are not 

 merely accidental sports. In the adult rams the horns, alike in shape, 

 direction and size, are not dissimilar to those of the Nilgiri Tahr 

 {Hemitragus hylocriiis) ; but they are placed so close together that their 

 inner surfaces become practically united, although a transverse section 

 shows that the sheath of each is complete and distinct. From their 

 direct Imckward curvature, the horns tend to grow into the back of 

 the neck of the animal, so that, as in two skulls in the Museum, it is 

 frequently necessary to saw ofif the tips. 



