FAT-RUMPED SHEEP 207 



skins all go to America, where they are used for 

 gloves. 



Near akin to the Somali breed is the Hedjaz 

 or Mecca fat-rumped sheep (pi. xiv. fig. 2), which 

 Dr. Fitzinger classed as a distinct type, and believed 

 to be the result of crossing the pure-bred fat- 

 rumped with the Syrian fat-tailed breed. It is 

 characterised by a slight excess in length of the 

 lower over the upper jaw, the pendent ears, and 

 the moderately short tail, which, owing to its 

 peculiar form, appears more abbreviated than is 

 really the case, and is bare beneath, where it is 

 divided into two fatty moieties by a median longi- 

 tudinal groove, and has its tip bent backwards. 

 Short as it looks, the tail really comprises no less 

 than fifteen vertebrae, having a combined length of 

 about one foot, but a dozen of these are completely 

 buried between the fat-masses of the rump, which may 

 weigh so much as 30 lbs., and is thus heavier than 

 in any of the other breeds. The ewes are devoid 

 of horns, but rudimentary horns are often developed 

 in the rams. The coat has a certain amount of 

 short, curling, woolly hair mixed with the ordinary 

 hair. In the rams the black of the head extends 

 all over the neck and thence along the under-parts ; 

 but in the ewes, which are further distinguished by 

 the smaller development of the dewlap and of the 

 fatty cushions on the rump, it includes merely the 

 sides and the lower surface of the fore part of the 



