Essay on Sheep. 2& 



owners, who do not fail to search for and re- 

 lieve them as soon as possible. They distin- 

 guish the spot in which they are buried by an 

 exhalation which arises from their breath. If 

 this aid is so long delayed as to sul)ject the 

 sheep to the danger of starving, they recipro- 

 cally feed upon each others fleece. This race 

 is extended through the Danish islands; where 

 it is equally neglected during the winter; and 

 their instincts improve by this neglect. They 

 keep each other warm by pressing close to- 

 gether when the bleak winds pinch them; and 

 those from the centre relieve in turn, those 

 who, in the outer part of the circle, are ex- 

 posed to the severity of the blast: thus neces- 

 sity sharpens the invention of beasts as well as 

 of men. Left to themselves, and compelled 

 to rely upon their own resources, they know 

 how to call them forth; while our helpless 

 sheep, who rely wholly upon the attention of 

 their keepers, will frequently suffer from cold, 

 rain, and snow, without moving into the shel- 

 ter that is provided for them. 



I find in the Supplement to Buffon the draw- 

 ing of another species of sheep, which he calls 

 the Wallachian Sheep, but it is accompanied by 

 no description. It is the sheep called the Strep- 

 siceros or Cretan Sheep, and only diifers Ixom 



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