326 MAMMALIA. PECORA. Sheep. 



r.nd moft helplefs of all quadrupeds; it delights moft in dry places -which are expofed to the fun, and 

 is fond of fait, or of plants which grow in fait marfhes ; its voice is named bleating : It chiefly feeds 

 on the grafs named Feftuca ovina, and the Burfa paftoris, or Shepherd's purfe, and drinks little ; it 

 js injured by eating the Pruna fpinofa, Equifetum, Ranunculus, Flammula, Anthericum offifragum, 

 Kalmia, Myofotis paluftris, and Anemone nemorofa ; it is infefted by the Hippobofca ovina, Pedicu- 

 lus ovis, Oeftrum ovis, Acarus ricinus, and Fafciola hepatica ; it is likewife fubjeft to a vertigo, oc- 

 cafioned by -hydatids in the brain, to diforders of the liver, confumption, jaundice, dropfy, fcab, and a 

 kind of fmall-pox. Sheep attain their full fize in two years, and feldom reach fourteen years of age; 

 they change their teeth with age ; are very fearful, and, when threatened, ftamp on the ground with 

 their hoofs, voiding their urine at the fame time, and defend themfelves by butting with their horns: 

 One Ram is fufficient for forty or fifty Ewes ; the females go twenty three weeks with young, and 

 bring one or two Lambs, feldom three, at a birth. 



Of this fpecies, the following varieties are diftincTtly marked in authors, befides many, almoft end- 

 lefs, cultivated varieties, which differ from each other by fuch infenfible gradations as to baffle all at- 

 tempts at fcientific defcription. 



7 X 7 a. Hornlefs Sheep. — I. a. 0. Aries anglica. 



Has no horns ; the tail and fcrotum hang down as low as the fecond joint of the hind, 

 legs, and the wool is fine. 



Ovis Anglicana. Amoen.. ac. iv. 174. — Hornlefs Sheep. Penn. hift. of quad. n. 11. C. Sm, 

 Buff. iii. 472. note. 



This kind is common in moft parts of Britain ; thofe of Lincolnfhire are the largeft, and very 

 fmall breeds are found in Wales and in Shetland ; the White-faced and Fine-wooled Sheep of this 

 ifland have generally either no horns or very fmall ones. The length of tail mentioned in the cha— 

 rafter is by no means univerfal, as a great many of our hornlefs breeds have very fhort tails. 



718 /3. Dwarf Sheep.— 0. Aries nana. 

 Has no horns, is of a very fmall fize, and has a turned up nofe. 



Dunky, or Dwarf Sheep. Bewick, hift. of quad. 60. and fig. 



This variety is found in Lincolnfhire; but the individual engraven by Mr Bewick came from fome 

 foreign place, we are not told whence ; the wool forms a kind of ruff round its face, the under jaw 

 is much protruded, leaving the fore-teeth expofed, the nofe is much crooked upwards, the fore-head 

 is very high and projecting, and the ears are fmall and erect ; perhaps it may only be an accidental 

 variety. 



719 y. Ruftic Sheep.— i. |8. 0. Aries rujlica. 

 Is horned ; the tail is fhort, and the wool is fhort and rather coarfe. 



Ovis ruftica. Amoen. ac. iv, 174. Pall. fp. zool. xi. 61.— Ovis brachyura. Pall. fp. zool. xi. 

 59. —Black-faced Sheep. Bewick, quad. 52. and fig. 



This is the moft common breed of Sheep all over Europe, especially in the northern parts ; the 

 wool is fhorter, coarfer, and lefs. curled than on the Hornlefs breed ; the horns are generally large, 



wrinkled. 



