MAMMALIA. 453 



cinally in several diseases. The period of gestation of the female is five 

 months, and she generally has two kids at a birth. 



The genus Ovis (the sheep) differs very slightly from the preceding 

 except by the external covering, which in the sheep is generally wool 

 throughout. The horns are directed backwards, and then inclined spirally 

 more or less forwards. There is no beard under the chin. The goats and 

 sheep produce together a prolific offspring, showing a very intimate rela- 

 tionship between these two animals. As in the goats, there are several 

 wild races or species very nearly allied. The argali of Siberia {0. amnion) 

 and the moufflon of Sardinia {0. musimon) appear to differ from each^ 

 other only in size. Both are supposed to be the original stocks from which 

 are descended the innumerable races of our woolly animals which vary so 

 greatly. Ovis aries or domesticus {pi. 107. fig. 9). The wool may be 

 coarse or fine, the animal itself large or small, provided with horns of vari- 

 ous size, Avhich are either wanting in the female or present in both sexes. 

 The most interesting sheep are those of Spain, which have a fine curled 

 fleece, with large spiral horns on the male ; it is now more diffused through 

 Europe than formerly. The English variety has a long and fine wool. 

 The most common variety in the south of Eussia has a very long tail. 

 Those of India and Guinea, which also have a long tail, are distinguished 

 by their long legs, very convex foreheads, pendent ears, no horns, and 

 short hair. Those of Syria and Barbary have a long tail loaded with an 

 immense mass of fatty substance. In the race of Tartary and China the 

 tail is transformed into a double globe of fat. The ears are pendent, the 

 horns of the male large, those of the females moderate, and the wool mixed 

 with hair. Sheep are valuable for their flesh, suet, milk, skin, and wool ; 

 when well managed, flocks of them are everywhere the source of wealth. 

 The period of gestation lasts five months. Usually two lambs are produced 

 at a birth. 



The Rocky Mountain sheep {0. montana) is a species nearly allied to 

 the argali, and inhabiting the mountain range west of the Mississippi. It 

 is strikingly characterized by the immense size of the horns. 



Fossil species of goats and sheep have been discovered in the caverns of 

 the greatest part of Europe, and referred either to the genus Capita or 

 Ovis, the generic difference being so slight as not to allow of much discri- 

 mination in fragmentary skeletons. 



The genus Bos (the oxen) is characterized by the lateral direction of the 

 horns, existing generally on both sexes, then inclined upwards or forwards, 

 constituting a crescent. The oxen are large animals, with a broad snout, 

 short and thick body, and stout legs. The different species of oxen in their 

 wild state are distributed as follows : — In the temperate part of North 

 America, the buffalo. Bos, or Bison americanus {pi. 109, fig. I). The 

 horns are black, and very thick near the head, whence they curve upwards 

 and outwards, rapidly tapering towards their point. The physiognomy of 

 the bison is menacing and ferocious. Its hairs are more shaggy in winter 

 than in summer. It lives in herds of innumerable individuals in the country 

 west of the Missouri. 



ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPEDIA. — VOL. II. 42 657 



