CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 9. RUMINANTIA. 



521 



ENGLISH SHEEP: THE WASHING. 



of ir dividuals, can he boast of having conquered an entire species ? - As they were all created 

 without his participation, may he not also believe that they all have had orders to grow without 

 his help? If we consider, nevertheless, the weakness and stupidity of the sheep, and at the same 

 time reflect that this animal, without defense, cannot find safety in flight ; that he has for his ene- 

 mies all devouring animals, which seem to seek him in preference to any other, and to devour 

 him by choice ; that formerly this species produced but few ; that each individual lived but a 

 short time, we shall be tempted to think that, from the beginning sheep were confided to the 

 care of man ; that they had occasion for his protection to subsist, and of his care to multiply, 

 since it is a fact that there are no wild sheep in the deserts ; that in all places where man does 

 not rule, the lion, the tiger, and the wolf reign, by force and by cruelty ; that these animals of 

 blood and carnage all live long, and multiply much more than sheep; and in 'short, that if we 

 •were now to abandon the flocks which we have rendered so numerous; they would soon be de- 

 stroyed before our eyes, and the species would be entirely annihilated by the voraciousness of its 

 numberless enemies. 



" The sheep is indeed absolutely without resource and without defense. The ram has but feeble 

 .arms; his courage is nothing but a petulance useless to himself, inconvenient to others, and which 



Vol. I.— 66 



