MEDIUM-TAILED CONTINENTAL BREEDS 137 



over Spain, and may be regarded as the common 

 sheep of the country. 



Leaving Spain, we may pass to the considera- 

 tion of a very remarkable and distinct breed 

 commonly known in England as the Wallachian 

 sheep, but termed in Germany the Zackelsckaf, 

 that is to say the prong (horned) sheep. So 

 distinct indeed is this breed that it was regarded 

 by Linnaeus as representing a species {Ovis strep- 

 siceros) apart from the ordinary circular -horned 

 domesticated sheep {O. aries) ; this opinion being 

 subsequently adopted by Dr. Fitzinger,^ The 

 Hungarian rasko sheep, which is generally regarded 

 as a half-breed, shows, however, the manner in 

 which a gradation may take place in respect to the 

 form of the horns from the typical Wallachian sheep 

 to breeds like the Tibetan hunia,^ in which the 

 spiral is more corkscrew-like than usual and the 

 direction of the axis of the horns more outwards. 

 This indicates how the horns of the Wallachian 

 sheep may have been developed from the ordinary 

 type ; and it therefore seems clear that the Walla- 

 chian sheep is not entitled to rank as a separate 

 species. Accordingly, if it is to bear a scientific 

 name at all, it should be known as Ovis aries strep- 

 siceros ; but the practice of bestowing Latin names 

 on domesticated breeds of animals is not one that 

 is to be commended. 



* op. cit., p. 343. ' See chapter viii. 



