Mr. Blyth on the Germs Ovis. 255 



(jclaphus of Belon, it is true, ohscrvcd by that author in Candia and 

 iu Turkey, is described by him to have " horns simihir to those of 

 Goats, but sometimes gyrated Uke those of a Ham" ; yet the fact of 

 a nearly simikir flexure of horn to that represented by Messrs. Brandt 

 and Ratzeburg, proving to be of normal occuiTence in the allied Ar- 

 menian \vild Sheep, confers additional probability on the suj^jposition 

 that the Berlin specimen of the Cyprian MoufHon has also normally 

 curved horns, which alone would go far to establish its claim to rank 

 as a species, in which case it might bear the appellation of O. Ophion. 



13. O. : Jxaliis Probaton, Ogilby. I stated in my former 



paper an opinion, to which I am still disposed to adhere, that this 

 animal is no other than a genuine sheep, but specifically distinct 

 from any at present known : the specimen had long lived in cap- 

 tivit)', as is obvious from the manner in which its hoofs had grown 

 out ; but whereas I formei'ly sought to account for its absence of 

 horns, by ascribing this to probable castration at an early age, I am 

 now inclined to consider that this abnormity — for such there is every 

 reason to suppose it — was individually congenital, as in other rare 

 cases before aJluded to. The Armenian wild Sheep approaches more 

 nearly to this species than any other as yet discovered ; so much so, 

 that before actually comparing them I thought that they v/ould prove 

 to be the same ; but the}' are nevertheless distinct, as is particularly 

 shown by the longer and less slender tail of the present animal, and 

 the very different texture of its coat : the absence of dark markings 

 on its face and limbs may prove to be an indi^•idual peculiarity. The 

 specimen is of the size of a large tame Sheep, and entirely of a 

 chestnut fulvous colour, dull white beneath and within the limbs, 

 as also on the lips, chin, lower part of the cheeks, and at the tip of 

 the tail. From nose to base of tail it measures about 50 inches, — 

 the tail half a foot, and height of the back 2^ feet. From nose to 

 rudiment of horn 9 inches, and ears 4 inches : the vestiges of horns, 

 which exactly resemble those found upon many breeds of tame Sheep, 

 are 2 inches apart. Upon the minutest examination of the specimen, 

 I can perceive no character whatever to separate it from the genuine 

 Sheep, nor any distinction more remarkable than the trivial cir- 

 cumstance of its chaffron not being bombed, as usual, which how- 

 ever is equally the case vAlh. O. Tragelaphus. I have been favoured, 

 however, by Col. Hamilton Smith with a drawing of an animal ob- 

 served by himself on the banks of the Rio St. Juan in Venezuela, 

 which appears to accord so nearly with Ixalus Probaton, except in 

 the particular of bearing horns similar to those of the Rocky ^loun- 



froni the West Indies, which, during tlie winter, have been clad with a co- 

 pious fleece of a rufous brown colour, through which these long white hairs 

 projected and were very conspicuous, contrasting with the rest : at the ap- 

 proach of spring the woolly fleece was shed, and succeeded by a coat of hair 

 like that of the various wild species. These sheep are hornless, and have the 

 usual long body of the domestic races; their tail is ratlier short, but more 

 than twice as long as the Moufflon's, and the cliaffron is mucli bombed. 

 From these facts I infer the near affinity, rather than the identity, of the 

 latter witli the domestic species, the aboriginal type of which would cer- 

 tainly also exhibit much long hair pendent from the front of the neck, as 

 retained in the Icelandic and some other breeds. — E. I>. 



