78 THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE 



The close, yellow-gray fleece fits over the head like a 

 cap, disclosing the face and nose, covered with short, 

 gray hair not wool. The features are extremely 

 dainty, and the movements of the mouth, as the sheep 

 nibbles its fragrant supper of trefoil and clover, resemble 

 those of some delicate foreign rodent. Their heads are 

 far prettier than those of many deer almost as refined 

 as that of the gazelle. These sheep undergo an 

 elaborate toilet every morning. Clipping them is an 

 art in which few excel. Their coats are trimmed, 

 brushed, and damped, and pressed flat with a setting- 

 board, and finally tinted for the day. The Hampshires, 

 black-faced and Roman-nosed, are also rouged. 



It would be interesting to trace the development of 

 these fine creatures from their primitive ancestors ; but 

 even in the earliest instance the sheep seems not to 

 have been indigenous in England. Geologically speak- 

 ing, it is a very modern animal. Oddly enough, the 

 chief difference between the tame and the wild sheep 

 seems to be in the length of its tail, which is short 

 in all the wild breeds, and will grow long in domesti- 

 cated sheep, though severely discouraged in this 

 country. The wool in the tame sheep has also gained 

 that power of ' felting ' on which its value mainly 

 depends. The wild cattle of Chillingham are this year 

 not represented at the Show. The animal shown last 

 year, which was the result of a. cross with a pure-bred 



