298 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



of Thancfc and the cliffs of Dover, through Kent and Sussex. Formerly, this breed was of small size, 

 far from possessing a good shape, and late before they were capable of being fattened ; now, however, 

 they are greatly improved both in shape and constitution. They are smaller in bone, equally hardy, 

 with a greater disposition to fatten, and much heavier in carcase when fat. They used seldom to 

 fatten till they were four years old, but it would be a rare sight to see a pen of South-down wethers 

 at market more than two years old, and many are killed before they reach that age. 



The South-down sheep is, in fact, a model of what a hill sheep ought to be, and the flesh, in fineness 

 of grain and flavour, is peculiarly excellent. The wool is of a very useful quality, but is much larger 

 in fibre, and less numerously serrated than the short Saxony, and does not therefore possess such a 

 felting power ; hence it is rarely used in the manufacture of fine broad-cloths. Still, from its fineness and 

 felting powers, compared with the wool of many other middle-woolled breeds, it is highly esteemed, and 

 for flannels and worsted goods in general is extensively employed. In Surrey, Hampshire, and 

 Berkshire, the South-downs have either superseded or been blended with the old short-woolled 



sheep. 



Dorsetshire possesses its own breed, encroached upon, however, by the South-downs. The males 

 have large, spirally- twisted horns, and the females have also horns, but much smaller than those of the 

 male. Neither the wool nor the flesh equals that of the South-down breed. The old Norfolk breed 

 of middle-woolled sheep is very valuable, but it is rapidly giving way to the South-down. The rams 

 are distinguished by long, spiral horns, those of the ewes and wethers being smaller j the flesh is 

 remarkably fine, and the wool delicate, and felts well. The figure of these sheep is tall and slender ; 

 the legs are long, and the face and limbs black or mottled. The general aspect is wild and animated. 

 This breed thrives on the coarsest pasturage. The wool is not used in fine broad-cloths, but is used 

 in such as are of inferior quality, and in woollen stuffs generally. 



In Suffolk, the South-down breed prevails. The black-faced and honied sheep of Westmoreland, 

 Cumberland, and various parts of Scotland, as Lanarkshire, belong to the middle-woolled section. 

 These sheep do not rank high as to their wool ; it exceeds in length that of the middle-woolled breeds 

 generally, but is harsh and coarse. To compensate for this, these sheep are very hardy, have an 

 admirable contour, and the flesh, in fineness of grain and delicacy of flavour, equals either the South- 

 down or the Welsh mutton. 



The Cheviot breed is very distinct from the common, mountain or black-faced race, with which it 

 is on all sides immediately surrounded, these two races dividing the north between them. The former 

 is hornless, and the general contour is excellent ; the shoulders are full, the body round and long, and 

 the limbs small-boned. The mutton is in great esteem ; and the wethers average sixteen, eighteen, or 

 even twenty pounds weight per quarter. The wool is good, though inferior to that of the South-downs. 

 It far surpasses that of the black-faced breed, and as the Cheviot race is equally hardy, and as capable 

 of sustaining cold as the former, and is content with the Alpine plants of the bleak hills and moun- 

 tains, it will soon supersede the black-faced breed, as it has aleady done in the forest of Ettrick and 

 the whole of Selkirkshire, and even Sutherland. 



The variety of goods which come under the designation of " woollen manufactures," is increasing 

 every year. The eye and the ear are constantly saluted, in certain districts, with " broad-cloth," 

 " narrow-cloth," and "wool-dyed black;" then there is no end to such names as "Clarendons" and 

 '' Petershams," " cashmeres," " cashmerettes," " kerseys," " tweeds," " tartans," " linsey-woolsey*," 

 " angolas," " vicunas," " Venetians," " llamas," " Sardinians," " Himalayas," " moleskins," " doeskins," 

 " beavers," " trouserings," " vestings," and " coatings." Wool, by some magical process or other, 

 is constantly coming up in some new form, and the manufacturer puzzles his brain to find out an 

 appellation which will literally describe it, or is likely to strike by its novelty. Thus, a fabric of 

 double thickness, the two surfaces having different patterns, is called a " bis-unique cloth ;" and an 

 excellent brownish frieze, made of undyed foreign wool, is oddly named Irish " rumswizzle." 



Another substance now demands consideration. While the chief characteristics of " woollen 

 cloths" are that they undergo the well-known process of "feU'my," or "fulliny," the term " worsted 

 fstullV is applied to those manufactures in which wool is used that .has undergone the process of 

 combing, and includes the fabrics in which wool thus combed is combined with'eotton and with silk. 

 The name "worsted" is derived from a village in Norfolk, where these goods were first produced. 



