Essay on Sheep, 17 



passage, translated from Professor Pallas*s 

 voyages, will serve as a full description of the 

 animal. After noticing a summons that he had 

 received from his troop of huntsmen who had 

 killed a wild sheep and lamb, he describes the 

 first in the following words: " 1 he wild sheep 

 called Argali by the Monguls, is stronger than 

 a fallow deer, and wciglis about 20 poud (or 

 660 lb). The ram weighs more, because his 

 horns, when full grown, weigh sometimes 

 more than a poud {3S lb); he is higher upon 

 his legs than a tame sheep, and also more massy. 

 I could remark but little difference in the for- 

 mation of the head. The Argali has small up- 

 right ears. The horns of the female are of a 

 middling size, and form crescents; they are also 

 flat, with two bkmt angles over the back, but 

 the lower part forms a sharp angle in front. 

 The horns of the male become enormous, and 

 form a spiral on each side of the head, as those 

 of the European ram; the tail is short, and 

 the hoof like that of the common sheep; in 

 winter the hair is long and frizzled, and mixed 

 with much wool ; on the contrary, it is short 

 and smooth in summer. The old sheep had 

 already (i^2d July) lost their winter coat, at 

 least very little of it remained; their colour is 

 an ash grey. This animal keeps upon moun- 



