20 SHEEP, OKIGIN AND HISTOEY. 



belongs of developing and improving their condition, so that even- 

 in the time of the Eomans, Spanish wool was celebrated for its 

 quality, which pre-eminence it retained np to the commence- 

 ment of the present century. In ancient times sheep skins 

 were used for clothing, but as civilization progressed, we find 

 manufactured cloths taking the place of skins. This necessitated 

 the improvement of the fleece by careful breeding and selection. 

 In Ancient Eome fine wools were made a study, the fineness of 

 the fleece was cultivated to an extraordinary extent; the sheep 

 were clothed to insure a delicacy of the wool filaments; the 

 fleece being combed to prevent matting of the wool, the skin 

 being oiled and moistened with wine. Pliny, a Roman writer, 

 states that the best wool was that of Apulia on the Adriatic 

 Sea; the excessive care bestowed on these sheep predisposed to 

 constitutionally weaken them, rendering them liable to disease; 

 and with the fall of the Eoman Empire these choice breeds 

 were broken up and lost, and while a few fine-wooled sheep can 

 still be found in Italy, they are badly formed and very inferior 

 to their ancient progenitors. 



The history of the sheep in England dates back to the ear- 

 liest records. We find that the Eomans considered the British 

 wool as an object of luxury in the Capitol of the Empire. Dur- 

 ing the Roman occupation of Britain, a wool factory was estab- 

 lished at "Winchester, the fabrics of which became a subject of 

 favorable comment to the historians of Rome, and while the 

 origin of the different English breeds of sheep is altogether 

 shrouded in mystery, we know that certain breeds have occu- 

 pied stated localities as far back as the earliest records, and 

 from these localities we are enabled to trace the different classes 

 of English sheep, ascertaining their sources of improvement, and 

 the evolution of the recognized mutton breeds of the present 

 day. 



The origin of sheep in Xorth America dates back to the 



