98 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



county of Hampshire. Berkshire, too, had a couple 

 of coarse, long-legged breeds of sheep, with convex 

 chaffrons, one of which was horned, while the other 

 was polled. 



It is a matter for regret that these interesting 

 old breeds of British sheep were allowed to die out 

 without specimens, or at all events skeletons, being 

 preserved in the national museum ; but at the 

 time of their disappearance little or no interest was 

 displayed in the matter of preserving records of 

 such vanishing types. From the point of view of 

 profit, there is of course no doubt that the replace- 

 ment of these ragged breeds by sheep of the down 

 class was fully justified. 



One of the oldest, and at the same time one of 

 the most easily recognised, breeds in the country is 

 the Dorset (pi. v. fig. 2), which is characterised by 

 the presence of horns in both sexes, coupled with 

 white faces and limbs. The horns, which are light 

 brown in colour, attain a considerable development 

 in the rams, but are relatively small in the wethers 

 and ewes. Although the legs are somewhat long, 

 they are free from coarseness ; the shoulders are 

 low, and the loins deep. The fleece, which weighs 

 about 4 lbs., is composed of wool of a fine char- 

 acter, although not suited to the manufacture of the 

 better descriptions of cloth. Typically, the lips and 

 nostrils are black, but in a sub-breed inhabiting the 

 adjacent county of Somerset they are pink or 



