co::jtents. xi 



ence of climate on hair and wool — Mr. Youatt's remarks— M. Las- 

 teyrie's statement — the cultivation of the Merino and Saxon breeds in 

 the Southern States alluded to— causes of the degeneracy of the Me' 

 ruios in South America — felting — ^this long remained a mystery- 

 speculations in former times on the subject — the cause of felting of 

 wool surmised by M. Monge — the true theory, but did not demon- 

 strate it — the first successful effort to demonstrate Monge's thec/y by 

 Mr. Youatt — his description of the scene and results — the number of 

 serrations within an inch of Merino wool — cuts representing micro- 

 scopic views of Merino and South Down fibres — conclusion of the 

 chapter with remarks by Mr. Youatt 37 



CHAPTER II. 

 HISTORY OF SHEEP. 



ARGALI, MUSMON, ASIATIC, AND AFKICAN SHEEP. 



History of the Argali — its comparative size and horns — color and tex- 

 ture of its coat — inhabits the mountains and elevated plains of Asia — ■ 

 fttnd in small flocks — rams*fight furiously in the rutting season- 

 killed in autumn for their flesh and skin^-^difScuIt to domesticate un- 

 less taken young. American Argali. — Supposed to be a variety of 

 the Asiatic — remarks of Abb^ Lambert — Washington Irving's de- 

 scription of the animal on the Rocky Mountains — called ahsata or big 

 horn — is found nowhere else in America — dimensions of a male — 

 remarks of Major Smith. The Mouflon or Musmon — considered as 

 identical with the Argali by Bufibn and Wilson — inhabits Ihe moun- 

 tains of Sardinia and Corsica — described by Wilson — from fifty to an 

 hundred herd together — diflacult to domesticate. 



Asiatic Breeds. Faf-rumped breed — abounds where the primitive 

 shepherds roamed — Dr. Anderson's description of the animal — often 

 weigh 200 lbs. — fat on the rump weighs from 20 to 40 lbs. Fat-tailed 

 breed — more numerous than the fat-rumped — is found extensively in 

 Africa — Dr. Rusael's account of the breed — tails often weigh 15 lbs. 

 — whole live weight about 150 lbs. — supposed to be a variety only of 

 the fat-rumped. 



Persian Sheep. Fat-tailed predominate — Fraser's account of a Persian 

 caravan — a variety of sheep in the province of Kerman produce very 

 fine wool — much of it manufactured into shawls. 



Tibet Shefp. Are very numerous — a small variety of the fat-rumped 

 with black heads and necks — wool soft and long — converted into long 

 shawls. 



East India Sheep. Consist of the fat-rumped and fat-tailed varieties. 



Chinese Sheep. Breeds difFer much from each other — a breed with 

 extraordinary long legs — a breed resembling some of the European 

 varieties antiquity of Chinese manufactures alluded to. 



African Breeds. Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Abyssinian — ^both varieties' 

 of the fat-tailed found in Egypt — fat-tailed and fat-rumped prevail in 

 Ethiopia — also in Abyssinia — the many-horned sheep. 



Madagascar Sheep. Dr. Anderson's description of the same. 



Cape of Good Hope Sheep. Native sheep of the broad-tailed breed — 

 every variety of color — experiment with the JVIerinos by the Dutch— 



