and Extension of the Merino Breed of Sheep. 343 



by the peculiar quality of the skins of the Merino sheep, which are remarkably 

 thin, soft, and loose, affording that evidence of a strong disposition to fatten, which 

 many of our farmers call " Proof." 



There is another respect in which the skin of the Merino race differs from that 

 of our native sheep. It is of a fairer hue, with a vivid tint of what is called car- 

 nation or flesh colour; bearing the same relation to that of our English breeds, as 

 the skin of women with red or auburn hair does to that of those whose hair is dark 

 brown, or black. This tint is particularly conspicuous on those parts which are 

 naturally free from wool, as the eye-lids and lips. 



With this peculiar condition of the skin is connected that quality of the fleece, 

 which has hitherto been generally considered as the chief characteristic of the Me- 

 rino race : I mean its fineness and flexibility, in which it is probably superior to 

 any other breed in the known world. On this point I shall hereafter give some far- 

 ther particulars. 



These animals seem absolutely buried in wool. It exists on their foreheads al- 

 most as low as the eyes, and on their cheeks ; covers their bellies, and envelopes 

 their hind legs, and sometimes their fore legs, down to their very hoofs. 



The length of the staple, or filaments, of wool is from two to somewhat more 

 than three inches j being much alike on the shoulder and on the rump. The wool 

 of the ram is generally esteemed the coarsest and longest ; that of the ewe finest 

 and shortest; and that of the wether, in both respects, between the two former. 



According to M. Lasteyrie, one Merino sheep with another gives five pounds of 

 wool unwashed on the animal's back. Now the French pound being to the English 

 as 109 to 100, the English weight per fleece will be 5 pounds seven ounces and 

 nearly a quarter. In the Compte rendu a la Classe des Sciences of Paris for the year 

 10 (1802}, we are told that the fleeces of thirty ewes recently imported from Spain 

 weighed, unwashed, 99 kilogrammes and a half. The kilogramme is 2,04438 livres, 

 or pounds: therefore 99^ kilogrammes make 203,41581 pounds, which, as before 

 stated, are equal to 221,72329 pounds English, or nearly 22i|:lbs. This sum di- 

 vided by the number of fleeces, gives 7,3907, or about 7 pounds ^^ ounces Eng- 

 lish for the weight of each. It appears, however, in abatement of this extraordinary 

 size, that these fleeces were of thirteen months growth ; and it is certain that the 

 sheep which they clothed had been selected with the minutest care from the most 

 productive of the Spanish flocks. There is no doubt that the weight quoted above 



