BRETON SHEEP. 



679 



and set in the accustomed spot, so that it could be kept under surveillance. The lamb 

 was soon seen to approach it, and after a careful inspection, walked away, and soon 

 returned, bearing a tolerably large stone in its mouth. Rising on its hind legs, it 

 brought the stone upon the glass with such force that the thick pane was shivered to 

 fragments. It then laid down the stone, put its head through the opening, and quietly 

 began to browse on the green herb which it so much coveted. 



THE very small dimensions of the Welsh Sheep are sufficiently familiar to every 

 frequenter of the metropolitan markets, on account of the small size of the delicately 

 flavored joints which are taken from the Welsh Sheep. There is, however, one variety 

 of domesticated Sheep which is of such pigmy stature that even the Welsh animal rises 

 into importance when compared with one of these curious little creatures. The variety 

 in question is that which is known by the name of the Breton Sheep, and is of such 

 wonderfully minute proportions that it irresistibly reminds the observer of the dwarfed 

 oak-trees which are so prevalent among the Chinese. 



BRETON SHEEP. 



A considerable number- of these little animals have been lately imported into 

 England, not for the sake of improving the British herds of Sheep, but merely as curious 

 examples of the singular diversity of size and shape which can be assumed by a single 

 species. If a Breton Sheep be placed by the side of a fair example of the Leicester 

 breed, the difference in size would be much greater than that which is exhibited by the 

 huge Flanders dray-horse and the diminutive Shetland pony. 



IN several foreign breeds of the domestic Sheep there is a curious tendency to the 

 deposition of fat upon the hinder quarters. This propensity is not valued in our own 

 country, where the Sheep are almost invariably deprived of the greater portion of their 

 tails by the hand of the shepherd, and in consequence is never developed. In some 

 varieties, however, such as the steatopygous Sheep of Tartary, the fat accumulates 

 upon the hinder quarters in such enormous masses that the shape of the animal is 

 completely altered. The fat of this portion of the body will sometimes weigh between 



