892 



DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



abdominal space, is worthy of notice ; it gives ample room for the 

 digestive organs. 



The structure of the head 

 of the sheep is such as to 

 give it great strength. The 

 anterior and superior parts of 

 the skull consist of powerful 

 bones, named the frontal, 

 parietal, and occipital. The 

 bones of the head are joined 

 together by sutures, which are 

 conducive to extreme strength. 

 The head of the ram is much 

 stronger than that of a ewe,' 

 hence the immense butting 

 qualities of the former. - (Fig. 

 1187.) 

 TEETH OF THE SHEEP. 



The teeth of the sheep con- 

 sist of incisors, or cutters, .and 

 molars, or grinders. There are 

 eight of the former, all in the 

 lower jaw, and twenty-four of 

 the latter. On the upper jaw, in place of cutting teeth, the sheep 

 has a cushion upon which the teeth of the lower jaw impinge when 

 the mouth is closed. The sheep has no canine teeth, or tusks. In 

 Fig. Il88 are sho#n the incisors of a sheep two years old, in which 

 the intermediate and corner incisors have not yet been replaced. 



In the group of sets of teeth given in Fig. 1189, are shown out- 

 side views of — 1, the incisors at the age of fifteen months ; 2, at the 

 age of two years ; 3, at the age of three years ; 4, at the age of four 

 years ; 5, at the age of five years ; and 6, the 

 deceptive appearance of teeth sometimes oc- 

 curring in four-year-old sheep, when the an- 

 imal may sometimes be taken for a five-year' 

 old. 



The teeth are exceedingly important in sheep. 

 Sometimes, from inherited constitutional weak- 

 ness or difficult pasturage, the teeth are broken while the animal is 

 yet young, and there is left the only alternative of fattening on 

 soft food for the slaughter-house ; for a sheep's usefulness for wool- 

 raising is gone when the teeth begin to decay. 



Fig. 1187.— Skull of a Ram. 



Fig. 1188.— Incisors of 

 a Two-year-old Sheep. 



