206 THEMOUFLO N, &c. 



the ox or the camel. They werelikewife more 

 eafily tranfportcd from one climate to another. 

 From this fource, all the varieties among thefe 

 fpecies, as well as the difficulty of diftinguilhing 

 the genuine ftock of each, have proceeded. We 

 formerly proved, that our domeftic fheep, in 

 their prefent condition, could not fubfift with - 

 out the fupport of man * ; from which it is ap- 

 parent, that Nature never produced them as 

 ihey exift at prefent, but that they have dege- 

 nerated under our care. We muft, therefore, 

 fearch among the wild animals for thofe which 

 make the neareft approach to the fheep. We muft 

 compare them with the domeftic fheep of foreign 

 countries, examine the different caufes which 



might 



pendulous and large. His thighs, under the tail, are white, 

 and the tail is black. Upon the breaft and throat the hair 

 is fo lono- that he feems to have a beard. The hairs upon 

 the fhoulders and breaft are long and black. He has two 

 gray fpots, one on each fide of the flanks. His noftrils are 

 black ; and his muzzle, as well as the under part of his belly, 

 are white. — Note. This defcription of the tragelaphus by 

 Belon agrees, in every elTential character, with that we have 

 given of the mouflon. 



Mufmon, feumufimon; Ge/her, Hijl. quad. p. 823. 



Hircus cornibus fupra rotundatis, infra planis, femicircu- 



lum referentibus Le chamois de Siberic; le chevre 



du Levant; Brijfon, quad. p. 46. 



Rupicapra cornibus arietinis, Argali ; Nov. Com. Petrop. torn. 

 4. p. 49. 388. tab. 8. 



Fifhtall, Lerwee ; Shaw's travels, p. 243. 



Capra Ammon, cornibus arcuatis, femicircularibus, fubtus 

 planiufculis, palearibus laxis, pilofis, gula imberbi ; Linn. S-.jh 

 Nat. p. 97. 



* See above, article Sheep, vol. III. 



