SHEEP. 667 



cularly its bill and webbed fret, we shall readily perceive that it 

 must be a resident in watery situations ; that it has the habits of 

 digging or burrowing in the banks of rivers, or under ground ; 

 and that its food consists of aquatic plants and animals. This is 

 all that can at present be reasonably guess d at ; future observa- 

 tions, made in its native regions, will, it is hoped, afford us more 

 ample information, and will make us fully acquainted with the na- 

 tural history of an animal which differs so widely from all other 

 quadrupeds, and which verifies, in a most striking manner, the ob- 

 servation of BufFon ; viz. that whatever was possible for nature to 

 produce, has actually been produced. 



On a subject so extraordinary as the present, a degree of 

 scepticism is not only pardonable, but laudable ; and I ought, per- 

 haps, to acknowledge that I almost doubt the testimony of my own 

 eyes with respect to the structure of this animal's beak j yet must 

 confess, that I can perceive no appearance of any deceptive pre- 

 paration ; and the edges of the rictus, the insertion, &c. when tried 

 by the test of maceratiou in water, so as to render exery part com- 

 pletely moveable, seem perfectly natural ; nor can the most accu- 

 rate examination of expert anatomists discover any deception in 

 this particular. 



IShaw. 



SECTION VII. 



Sheep, 

 Ovis aries. Linn. 



This valuable animal inhabits the whole globe ; changes its teeth 

 with its age; feeds on short tender grass, chiefly sheep's fescue ; 

 has a peculiar tone, which is called bleating. The ram is esteemed 

 the best-shaped that has a thick head, a broad front large black 

 eyes, a broad nose, a long, high body, a lage crupper and large 

 reins, massy testicles, and a long tail. His colour shouid be white; 

 his fleece full and heavy. Those ewes are pref rred which have 

 thick necks, large, soft, and silky fleeces, large bodies, and a nim- 

 ble motion in walkiug. One ram suffices for fifty ewes. 



Sheep are not among the most sagacious of the lower animals. 

 They neither display the same natural dexterity and address, nor 

 the same docility as the dog, the horse, and some other of the tame 



