296 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



ARGALI. 



is no well made out distinction more broad than that 

 of variety,) are very apparent, and at once prevent 

 any possibility of confounding it either with the ante- 

 lopes or the goats, though of course, as all sheep do, 

 it approximates more closely to the latter of these than 

 to the former. The body is remarkable for its thick- 

 ness and roundness in proportion to its length ; the 

 legs are very long ; the outline of the forehead, seen 

 in profile, is nearly straight ; and the muzzle is almost 

 exactly that of the common sheep. The horns of the 

 male are very thick and large ; they advance in front 

 of the eyes, and form nearly an entire turn of a 

 spiral. They are flattened laterally like those of the 

 domestic ram, and have similar transverse furrows and 

 ridges. These furrows and ridges are very conspicu- 

 ous on the basal half of the length of the horn, but 

 much less so on the terminal half; and of the three 

 lateral faces the front one is the largest. The horns 

 of the female are much more slender than those of the 

 male ; they are compressed, nearly straight, and with- 

 out furrows ; there are, in some instance?, plates or 

 folds of skin undei: the throat, especially in the male ; 



