i66 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



ears, which are represented by small truncated 

 rudiments. The face, especially in the rams, 

 exhibits a markedly convex profile ; the tail is 

 short, and the fleece, which, like the face and 

 legs, is wholly white, consists of short, rather curly 

 wool mingled with hair. The legs are relatively 

 short, and the body is long and rounded. A skull 

 of a ram from this flock preserved in the British 

 Museum (Natural History) shows no pits for face- 

 glands, from which it may be inferred that such 

 glands were lacking in these sheep. It is also 

 extraordinarily like the skull of the Theban goat 

 of Upper Egypt, although it also exhibits some 

 resemblance to that of the African lop-eared sheep,^ 

 which is, however, longer and has pits for face- 

 glands. 



In its aborted ears, Roman nose, short tail, and 

 white face and legs, the earless Shanghai breed 

 approximates to the Barwal, near which it is pro- 

 visionally placed. As noticed in the second chapter, 

 the ewes of the Shanghai breed are remarkable for 

 their fecundity. The parents of the Zoological 

 Society's flock were presented by Sir Rutherford 

 Alcock ; no other specimens seem to have been 

 received in England ; and, according to a letter 

 received from the British Consul, there appear to 

 be none of these sheep near Shanghai at the present 

 time. 



' See chapter xi. 



