AND CHOICE OF S&EEP. .29 



then, may be certainly ascertained, the first five years, 

 by the state of the eight teeth ; it is afterwards ascer- 

 tained by the situation of the jaw teeth, which, as 

 they are the more used and worn, the older is the an- 

 imal. In short, the fore teeth fall out, or are broken, 

 when sheep are seven or eight years old : there are 

 sheep, which lose some of the fore teeth, at the age 

 of five or six years. 



Q. How are the sheep of different countries dis- 

 tinguished, when they differ from one another ? 



A They are distinguished into different breeds, or 

 branches, according to their height, size, and quality 

 of wool. 



Q. What difference is there in the size of sheep ; 

 and how is it ascertained ? 



A. The height of sheep is measured like that of 

 horses, from the ground to the top of the withers. It 

 is said, there is a breed of sheep, which is only one 

 foot high ; this is the smallest breed : others are three 

 feet eight inches, and this is the large breed. The 

 middling sized, of the different species yet known, are 

 about two feet four inches high, according to the 

 measures, which have been given of them. But in 

 France, the Flanders sheep are only two feet four 

 inches in height; therefore, among the other breeds, 

 the small size is from one foot, to one foot seven inch- 

 es ; the middling size from eighteen to twenty-two 

 inches, and the large size from twenty-three to twen- 

 ty-seven inches. There is a custom of measuring sheep 

 from their ears to the root of the tail ; but it is liable to 

 vary, from different situations of the head : one of these 



