52 MARVELS OF THE ANIMAL WORLD 



and for cooking. The Arabs fry it in slices and 

 esteem it a delicacy, but it is very like fried tallow.' 



In the African fat-tailed sheep we have another 

 species which stores up an accumulation of fat in 

 its caudal appendage, this member being of con- 

 siderable length, and, in some individuals, even 

 trailing upon the ground. A specimen from Egypt 

 has been recorded which had a tail weighing as 

 much as eighty pounds. According to report it 

 is by no means an uncommon practice for the shep- 

 herds to construct little two-wheeled carriages to 

 place under the end of the sheep's tails in order to 

 give support and to prevent them from chafing upon 

 the earth, but we do not care to vouch for the veracity 

 of this statement. 



Although selective breeding has produced domes r 

 tic sheep with abnormally developed tails, yet it is 

 interesting to note that an accumulation of fat in 

 that part of an animal's anatomy is by no means 

 an uncommon feature with other wild creatures. 

 The fat-tailed desert-mouse and the heloderm lizard, 

 for instance, both store up a large amount of fat 

 in their tails, which serves as a reserve of nourish- 

 ment that the animals can absorb into their systems, 

 and thus sustain life during times when food is scarce. 



A breed of sheep of quite a different character to 

 any we have so far reviewed are those kept by the 

 Hausa tribe of Nigeria. They present many goat- 

 like features, inasmuch as their bodies are clothed 

 in hair instead of wool ; while, moreover, their ears 

 are long and pendant, and frequently a pair of small 

 tags or wattles are present upon their throats. The 



