HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 53 



fleeces are indeed finer, but stand in no degree of 

 comparison with those of Lincolnshire or Warwick- 

 shire for weight or utility. In Edward the Third's 

 time, when wool was allowed to be exported, it 

 brought i5o,ooo/. per annum, at 2 1. IQS. a pack, 

 which was a great sum in those days. At this 

 time, when our woollen manufactory stands un- 

 rivalled by any nation in the world, and every 

 method is taken to prevent this valuable com- 

 modity from being sent out of the kingdom, the. 

 annual value of wool, shorn in England, is suppos- 

 ed to be about five millions sterling; and when 

 manufactured conjointly with the Spanish wool 

 imported, amounting to about six hundred thousand 

 pounds, must be above twenty millions. 



Like other ruminating animals, the Sheep wants 

 the upper fore teeth: it has eight in the lower jaw; 

 two of which drop out, and are replaced at two 

 years old ; four of them are renewed at three years, 

 and the remainder at the age of four. 



The Ewe produces one or two lambs at a time, and 

 sometimes, though rarely, three or four. She bears 

 her young five months, and brings forth in the spring. 

 The Ram lives to the age of about fifteen years, and 

 begins to procreate at one. When castrated, they 

 are called Wedders : they then grow sooner fat, and 

 the flesh becomes finer and better flavoured. 



There is hardly any part of this animal that is 

 not serviceable to man : of the fleece we make our 

 clothes ; the skin produces leather, of which are 

 made gloves, parchment, and covers for books ; 

 the entrails are formed into strings for fiddles 

 and other musical instruments, likewise coverings 

 for whips; its milk affords both butter and cheese; 

 and its flesh is delicate and wholesome food. 



