BOOK VIII. Lxxii. i88-LXxin. 191 



in the horn close to the ear. If a Hgature is put 

 on the right testicle he gets females and if on the 

 left niales. Claps of thunder cause sheep to miscarry 

 when solitary ; the remedy is to herd thern in flocks, 

 so as to be cheered by company. They say that male 

 lambs are got when a north wind is blowing and female 

 when a south ; and in this breed the greatest 

 attention is given to the mouths of the rams, as the 

 wool in the case of the progeny is of the colour of 

 the veins under the tongue of the parent ram, and 

 if these were of several colours the lamb is vari- 

 coloured. Also changing the water they drink varies 

 their colour. 



There are two principal breeds of sheep, jacketed 

 sheep and farm sheep ; the former are softer and 

 the latter more dehcate in their pasture, inasmuch as 

 the jacketed sheep feeds on brambles." The best 

 jackets for them are made of Arabian sheep's wool. 



LXXIII. The most highly esteemed wool is the Varteties 

 ApuHan and the kind that is called in Italy wool of ""eep'7woot. 

 the Greek breed and elsewhere Itahan wool. The 

 third place is held by the sheep of Miletus. The 

 ApuHan fleeces are short in the hair, and not of great 

 repute except for cloaks ; they have a very high 

 reputation in the districts of Taranto and Canossa, 

 as have the Laodicean fleeces of tlie same breed in 

 Asia. No white fleece is valued above that from 

 the district of the Po, and none has hitherto gone 

 beyond the price of 100 sesterces ^" a pound. Sheep 

 are not shorn everywhere — in some places the 

 practioe survives of plucking ofF the wooh There 

 are several sorts of colour, in fact even names are 

 lacking for the wools which are variously designated 

 after their places of origin : Spain has the principal 



^33 



