RUMINANTIA. 217 



the Argali of Siberia. (O. Ammon.) They differ little 

 from each other in manners, food, strength, and 

 intelligence, in a state of freedom ; but while the 

 Goat retains much of his native character and self- 

 reliance, the Sheep has become timid, helpless, weak, 

 and stupid, by subjugation ; and utterly dependent 

 on man. It is a very singular fact, and one calcu- 

 lated to originate interesting reflections, that among 

 the multitudinous and varied fossil remains of extinct 

 animals, the denizens of a former world, that lie 

 scattered so thickly in the crust of the earth, no 

 remains of either the Goat or Sheep have as yet 

 been detected. 



Besides the use which is made of the flesh of 

 both animals, which, though extensively eaten in all 

 parts of the world, has a tendency to a rank and 

 disagreeable flavour ; both the Sheep and the Goat, 

 the former more particularly, furnish material for 

 a large portion of the clothing of civilized nations. 

 The curious property of felting, which distinguishes 

 wool from hair, depends upon the fact, that every 

 fibre is covered with microscopically-minute scales 

 overlapping each other, like the young leaves on the 

 root of a lily. These entangling in each other in 

 certain directions only, the fibres by being moved to 

 and fro, adhere more and more closely, at length 

 assuming that solid appearance seen in the substance 

 called felt, and giving much of its compact character 

 to woven cloth. 



The wool of the Spanish Sheep, called the Merino 

 breed, now naturalized in Saxony, and in our own 



VOL. i. L 



