30 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



many kinds these appendages are so little developed that they are 

 almost absent. Whilst, for example, Figs. i8 and 20 show animals 

 possessing strong and prominent horns of a curved and heavy kind, 

 Fig. 21 displays the curious fused horn of the One-Horned Indian 

 Domestic Sheep which, to say the least, gives the animal a very 

 uncommon appearance, especially with regard to the head. 



And whilst, as has been mentioned, in some breeds of Domestic 

 Sheep the horns may be said to be almost absent, in others they are 

 found to be comparatively large in the male, taking a sharp curve 

 downwards and not uncommonly up again. 



The various domestic breeds of Sheep need not be enumerated, 

 for whether we pay attention to such of our own country as the 

 Shetland breed, the Scotch, Welsh or Irish, the Heath breeds, 

 the Cheviots, Norfolk or Moor breeds, the Southdowns or Dorsets, 

 the Merino or the Long-Woolled breeds, we find some distinguish- 

 ing characteristic that cannot fail to be observed, and when we 

 come to the domestic breeds of Sheep in other parts of the world, 

 every country more or less presents some peculiar modifications 

 which need not be detailed. 



Naturally enough sheep-breeders make it 'their aim to produce 

 animals that will yield either good, or superior, meat, or profitable 

 wool, whilst in some of the commoner kinds both these essential 

 features are found. 



Mention may be made of the Merino Sheep found in Spain, 

 because of all breeds this animal is most noted for the excellence of 

 the wool it yields. The climate of Britain is unsuited to this profit- 

 able breed, but in other parts of the world it has been introduced 

 with most encouraging results. British Sheep, however, have many 

 distinct characteristics worthy of note, for they vary a great deal both 

 in size and the length and quality of their wool. The Shetland and 

 Orkney breeds bear a fine soft wool which is profusely intermixed 

 with hair. They are small in size, of a hardy disposition, and horns 

 are often found in both sexes. The Scotch Sheep come from older 

 stock, have small horns, short wool and lank bodies. Both races of 

 Welsh Sheep are of small stature, those which resort to the 

 mountains having horns in both sexes, a dark coloration, and 

 hair largely intermixed with the soft wool. Those of the second 

 race have no horns; they possess soft wool "which is deficient in the 

 property of felting"; they are hardy animal's, and are highly 

 esteemed by reason of the excellence of their flesh. 



