122 THE SHEEP. 



The Wiltshire Breed may be regarded as the type of some 

 others which inhabited a portion of the midland chalk coun- 

 ties of England until a recent period. The Old Hampshire 

 Sheep may be referred to this group. They were horned, 

 had the faces and legs white, though in some cases speckled, 

 long limbs, and lank bodies. This race has been supplanted 

 by the South Down, or so crossed with it, as to have lost its 

 original characters. The ancient Sheep of the adjoining 

 county of Berks were of two kinds. One had horns, and 

 the other was destitute of horns. Both were coarse slowly- 

 fattening animals, tall and muscular, with an .arched chaf- 

 fron. Their wool was short, and fitted for felting. These 

 breeds have been universally crossed with the South Down, 

 and may be said to be nearly extinct in the pure state. Be- 

 sides, few Sheep are now reared in the county of Berks, the 

 farmers of which derive their Sheep for fattening from other 

 districts. 



XIII. THE DORSET BREED. 



A breed of Sheep has, from time immemorial, been na- 

 turalized in the county of Dorset, which formerly extended 

 over a large tract of country. These Sheep possess small 

 horns, common to the male and female. They have white 

 legs and faces : their wool is fine, but only applied to the 

 making of second or livery cloths, and it weighs about four 

 pounds the fleece. Their limbs are somewhat long, but 

 without coarseness ; their shoulders are low, and the loins 

 broad and deep ; their lips and nostrils are black, though 

 with a frequent tendency to assume a fleshy colour. The 



will be presented to the public of a breed once so esteemed and celebrated. 

 The individuals represented form part of a flock on an estate in the county of 

 Wilts, bequeathed and held on the singular condition, that the proprietor 

 should maintain a flock of the pure old Wiltshire Sheep. The former owner 

 adopted this expedient for perpetuating the existence of his favourite breed. 



