930 LIFE : OUTLINES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 



sometimes squat when frightened, and thus try to conceal themselves 

 even on an open and bare place." 



Domesticated sheep are the descendants of several species of wild 

 sheep, such as the moufions of Cyprus, Corsica, and the East; but 

 except when they are lambs they seldom show much of the adventur- 

 ousness and intelligence of their ancestors. Man is largely to blame 

 for this, as some exceptional breeds show; for he has usually bred 

 for wool and for mutton, not for brains. When any of his sheep 

 persisted in being enterprising and original, he removed them from 

 his flock by the simple process of eating them, and thus he has 

 succeeded in evolving an ultra-docile, if not even stupid, race. 

 Furthermore, as the playful lambs prove in later life, there is a 

 depressing and dulling influence in an over-sheltered life. Domesti- 

 cated sheep are protected from all enemies; even the wolf has 

 become a protecting dog. There is no danger except from snowstorms ; 

 and where there is no danger there is apt to be degeneration. 1 



Among domesticated sheep we see some interesting instances of 

 the grip of the past. Everyone familiar with a varied country-side 

 must have noticed how fond sheep are of chewing the cud under 

 the shelter of a low rock or against a bank broken by rabbit burrows 

 or the like. In short, they seek out a position where they cannot be 

 easily disturbed from behind. We may be sure that they do not 

 think this out, for they have no enemies nowadays to be afraid of 

 in a country like ours. Moreover, they often choose a place where 

 there is no real protection from a rear-attack, only a suggestion of 

 a protection. The interpretation is prehistorical, and takes our 

 thoughts back to the fear that the wild ancestors had of carnivores. 

 For herbivores of relatively small size the profitable habit is to graze 

 rapidly in the pasture, and then return to the shelter of the rocks 

 where they cannot be surprised from behind, and where they can 

 chew the cud in peace. This is why sheep persist in huddling against 

 the steep bank of the bunker on the golf course. 



When wild sheep are passing quickly in single file along the side 

 of a mountain, the routine rule is that they must all do what the 

 leader does. If he or she jumps over a narrow but deep fissure or 

 the like, all must do the same without hesitation. This saves time 

 and trouble, but it is a quaint survival when it is illustrated by sheep 

 going along the street of a town. It is often possible to see the suc- 

 cession of little jumps travelling along a file of sheep. Another 

 interesting reawakening is seen when a ewe is going to give birth 

 to a lamb, especially if it is for the first time. There is an instinctive 

 prompting to get away from the flock, and the ewe will sometimes 

 force herself through a difficult hedge to get away from her neigh- 

 bours. This is characteristic of the wild sheep. Another piece of 

 behaviour that we see at lambing time on a sheep-farm is that the 

 ewe scrapes with her fore-feet as if to make a little bed or cradle for 



