52 HISTORY OF SHEEP. 



Dr. Anderson, the traveller, gives the following account 

 of this singularly-formed breed : " The flocks of all the Tar- 

 tar hordes resemble one another, by having a large yellow- 

 ish muzzle, the under jaw often projecting beyond the upper ; 

 by long hanging ears, and by the horns of the adult ram 

 being large, spiral, wrinkled, angular, or bent in a lunar 

 form. They have slender legs in proportion to their bodies, 

 a high chest, large hanging testicles, and tolerably fine wool 

 mixed with hair. The body of the ram, and sometimes of 

 the ewe, swells gradually with fat towards the posteriors, 

 where a solid mass of fat is formed on the rump, and falls 

 over the anus in place of a tail, divided into two hemispheres, 

 which take the form of the hips, with a little button of a 

 tail in the middle to be felt with the finger." 



This breed often weigh 200 lbs., and may be considered 

 the largest of the unimproved sheep ; of which weight the 

 soft oily fat alone that forms on the rump amounts to from 

 20 to 40 lbs. In the neighborhood of Caucasus and Tauri- 

 da, the hind-quarters of the sheep are salted as hams, and 

 sent in great quantities to the northern provinces of Turkey. 

 In parts of Russia the fat-rumped sheep bears a somewhat 

 fine fleece, but generally speaking it is coarse, and is adapted 

 only for the purposes of inferior manufactures. 



FAT-TAILED SHEEP. 



This race of sheep is more extensively diffused than the 

 fat-rumped, since it is found throughout Asia, a great part 

 of Africa, as well as through the north-eastern parts of 

 Europe. 



Dr. Russell, in his history of Aleppo, gives the follow- 

 ing account of it, as it appears in Syria : — " The dead weight 

 of one of these sheep will amount to 50 or 60 lbs., of which 

 the tail makes up 15 or 16 lbs. ; but some of the largest that 

 have been fattened with care weigh 150 lbs., the tail alone 

 composing one third of the whole weight. This broad, flat- 

 fish tail is mostly covered with long wool, and, becoming 

 very small at the extremity, turns up. It is entirely com- 

 posed of a substance between marrow and fat, serving very 

 often in the kitchen instead of butter, and cut into small 

 pieces, makes an ingredient in various dishes." 



Dr. Russell further remarks — " Animals of this extraor- 

 dinary size (150 lbs.) are, however, very rare, and kept up 



