70 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



to the Soa breed, it is difficult to ascertain. Dr. 

 Fitzinger states that in the north of Russia the 

 ewes are almost invariably hornless, while the horns 

 of the rams seldom attain any great size, although 

 four-horned individuals are by no means uncommon. 



These northern short-tailed sheep have, how- 

 ever, been crossed, not only with long-tailed breeds 

 of their own species, with which they produce per- 

 fectly fertile offspring, but according to Fitzinger,^ 

 also with fat-tailed and fat-rumped sheep, and even 

 with goats. Cross-breds, of which the sires are of 

 the fat-tailed breed, are distinguished by their 

 superior size and greater fatness, as well as by a 

 short swollen tail, which carries a large deposit of fat 

 at the base, but terminates in a thin tip. These 

 cross-bred sheep are considered very hardy, and in 

 mountainous districts of Russia, where the snow 

 does not lie very deep, may be kept in the open 

 throughout the winter, which cannot be done in the 

 case of pure-bred loaghtans brought from Iceland. 

 The ordinary Russian short-tailed breed thrives 

 better in elevated and mountain districts than in 

 the plains, and more especially so in the Ural, where 

 it is larger and finer than in the north, and grows 

 better wool. 



The aforesaid crossing of the short-tailed breed 

 with fat-tailed and fat-rumped sheep in northern 

 Russia may perhaps be the reason why some of the 



' Op. cit., p. 201. 



