48 NATUIIALIST'S CABINET. 



_ ^_^__ . . i , , ., . 



General description. 



shepherds, in several parts of Syria, fix a thin 

 piece of board on the under part, supported by 

 wheels. This ample tail is mostly covered with 

 long woolly hairs, and is composed of a substance 

 betwixt fat and marrow, which is often used for 

 culinary purposes instead of butter. 



The skins of the sheep above Grand Cairo are 

 used bv most of the Egyptians for beds; since, 

 besides their being very soft, it is said, that in 

 sleeping on them persons are secured from the 

 stings of scorpions, which never venture upon 

 wool lest they should be entangled in it. These 

 fleeces are taken off entire; and Sonnini informs 

 us, that one of them, long and broad enough to 

 serve a man as a mattrass, was sold for a sum 

 equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, whilst the 

 whole animal alive and without its fleece, only 

 brought about six shillings. 



Their fleeces are remarkably long, fine, and 

 beautiful ; and, in Thibet, are made into shawls, 

 which form a considerable source of wealth to 

 the inhabitants. An idea formerly prevailed, 

 that those shawls were made of the hair of the 

 camel, and it is only since the English residents 

 in India began to form a communication with 

 Thibet that the real material of this manufac- 

 ture has been known. 



