

VERTEBRATA. 



THE SHEPHERD. 



ia destroyed by emasculation. The wether sheep arc still more timorous than ewes; it is through 

 that they gather so often in troops; the smallest noise to which they are unaccustomed is 

 sufficient to make them llv ami "vt close together. This fear is attended with the greatest stu- 

 pidity ; for they know not how to fly the danger, nor do they even seem to feel the inconvenience 

 of their situation ; they continue wherever they are, either in rain or snow, and to oblige them to 

 change their situation they must have a chief who is instructed to walk first, and whom they will 

 follow step by step. This chief will remain with the rest of the flock, without motion, in the saim 

 he be nol driven from it by the shepherd, or the dog which guards them, who, in fact, 

 watches for their safety, defends, directs, and separates them, assembles them together, and com- 

 municates to them motives not their own. Goats, which in many things resemble sheep, hai 

 much more understanding. 



• Bui tlii> animal, so cowardly in itself, so wanting in sentiment and interior qualities, is to ma: 

 the mosl valuable of all animals, and the mosl useful both for his present and future support. Of 

 If it supplies our greatesl necessities: it furnishes us with both food and clothing. "Without 

 ; the particular advantages we have from the milk, the skin, and even the bowels, tic 

 bones and the dung of this animal serve to prove that nature has given it nothing but what tun- 

 out useful to man." v 

 This portrait of the sheep is drawn with the usual force and something of the exaggerate: 

 •urn. n to its author. It is only in its thoroughly domesticated state that this animal is cow- 

 ardly. In mountainous countries, where it ranges over a wide extent, and with little contre 

 is deficient neither in courage nor intelligence. A ram or a wether will attack, and often defeat. 



