MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 439 



chaev, and Tushinskaya. " The Karachaev is said to be 

 even better than the Karakul when it comes to mutton/' 

 The Karakul sheep of the Duzbai order, which, like all 

 Asiatic sheep, is not an absolutely pure breed, now pro- 

 duces the best fur since the disappearance of the historical 

 Small Arabi. Plates I and II 7 show types of Karakul 

 sheep. 



CHARACTERISTICS. 



The Karakul-Duzbai is a large sheep, altogether black 

 at birth, with the possible occasional exception of a white 

 spot on the forehead or a white tip to the tail. As a rule 

 the ewe is hornless, and the ram generally, though not 

 invariably, carries horns of moderate dimensions, which 

 fall short of making a spiral turn. The head is long, 

 somewhat narrow, with a high arching nose descending 

 abruptly to the muzzle and giving it something of a 

 tapering appearance, partly the result of the shape of the 

 nostrils, the lips of which are folded in and contracted 

 rather than expanded, evidently as a natural precaution 

 against driving sand. The ears are of medium length 

 and pendant, as is the rule with the ears of most domestic 

 animals of the tropical East. The bone is strong and 

 clean, the legs tight and well formed, and the feet large. 

 The movement in walking or running is free and active, 

 and the carriage gay. The withers are high and sharp, 

 the loins broad, and the hindquarters low, short, and 

 markedly drooping. The characteristic tail "tapers into 

 a noticeably twisted end," the broad, flat, fatty base 

 sometimes weighing as much as 15 to 20 Ib. in full-grown 

 rams. The store of nutriment in the tail is akin to the 

 reserve provided by the hump of the camel and of the 

 zebu race of cattle, and being drawn upon for sustenance 

 in cases of emergency it enables an animal deprived of 

 food and water to subsist for many days. The charac- 

 teristics of a Karakul-Duzbai may be seen in Plate II. 



When the Karakul-Duzbai is crossed with European 

 sheep there is a wonderful increase in weight, owing to 



7 The illustrations accompanying this paper appeared in an 

 article by Professor Wallace in the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture for August, 1915, and are reproduced from blocks 

 kindly lent by the Board. 



