MEDIUM-TAILED CONTINENTAL BREEDS 139 



in a corkscrew-like or screw-like manner, which are 

 born by both sexes, and recall the general appear- 

 ance of those of the wild markhor goat of the 

 Himalaya, although they are twisted in the same 

 direction as those of the mouflon, that is to say, the 

 right horn forms a right-handed spiral, and vice 

 versd. The fleece consists of long woolly hair, with 

 an undergrowth of finer wool ; and the relatively 

 long tail reaches well below the hocks. 



There is considerable variation in the direction 

 and twist of the horns, which, as Fitzinger pointed 

 out, appear distinctive of local sub-breeds. For 

 instance, in the ram from Wallachia represented in 

 pi. ix. fig. I, the horns diverge at an angle of 

 about 45 degrees, and have a corkscrew-like spiral, 

 recalling those of the more open types of the 

 markhor's horns. On the other hand, in the ram 

 shown in pi. ix. fig. 2, which is from Hungary, the 

 horns form a closer and more screw-like spiral, 

 and are much less divergent, recalling in both 

 these respects the closely twisted horns of the 

 Suleman race of the markhor. Very different are 

 the horns of the ram referred to above as being 

 figured in Wood's Natural History ; the figure 

 having apparently been drawn from a specimen 

 at one time living in the London Zoological 

 Gardens. In this case the basal twist of the 

 horns takes the downward, backward, and outward 

 direction characteristic of ordinary sheep ; and it 



