318 UNGULATA. 



SHEEP. 



Ovis aries. 



French: Mouton. German: Schaaf. 



The Sheep is perhaps of greater service to mankind 

 than any other animal. It is to the Englishman what 

 the Buffalo was to the North American Indian, and the 

 Keindeer to the Laplander. From its wool clothing is 

 made ; its skin is used for gloves, hat-leathers, etc. ; in 

 fact, there are few persons who are not clothed with a 

 portion of it ; almost every part of its body is used for 

 food. Frozen mutton is imported in large quantities 

 from Australia and New Zealand, and 1,038,965 live 

 Sheep were imported in 1886. 



The Sheep is extremely docile, but somewhat foolish, 

 following the leader unhesitatingly whether it be into 

 danger or not. It lives in a semi- wild state in the 

 Highlands of Scotland and Wales, cropping the scant 

 herbage in elevated positions where one would imagine 

 it could not find foot-hold. These mountain Sheep leap 

 with great agility, and can clear a wall of six feet high 

 at a bound, or four feet without touching. The Sheep 

 stands about two feet high, and is about four feet long. 

 The coat is composed of a thick coat of wool, of greater 

 or less length in the various breeds. The usual colour 

 of domestic Sheep, with the exception of some cases to 

 be treated later, is white, but black and parti-coloured 

 Sheep are by no means rare. The wool is a wonderful 

 protection to the animal in cold and damp weather. 

 In summer, if it is not shorn, it sheds its coat, thus 

 relieving it from the heat, which it does not well 



