20 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



(f) regions slope away in opposite directions at 

 an obtuse or a right angle. If, as has been sug- 

 gested, this bending-down of the fore part of the 

 skull in a large number of grazing ruminants is to a 

 great extent brought about by the "pull" exerted 

 on the bones by the action of plucking the tufts 

 of grass, it will be manifest that the effect will be 



Side View of Skull of a Hornless Domesticated Sheep. /, frontal ; k, nasal ; 

 /, lachrymal ; /, parietal ; pm, premaxilla. 



greater in the case of a small and narrow skull like 

 that of a sheep than in the case of the broad and 

 stout cranium of an ox. And here it may be 

 mentioned that, owing to the small size of its 

 muzzle, a sheep can graze much closer than an ox, 

 and can, in fact, thrive on pasture where the latter 

 would absolutely starve. A horse occupies in this 

 respect an intermediate position between an ox and 



