SHEEP. 



In the early ages ot fociety, fheep appear to have been 

 principally domefticated for the fake of the fl<ii), or the 

 fleece : we Ihall, therefore, firft take a fliort view of their 

 cultivation and improvement in different countries, as wool- 

 bearing animals ; whether as producing fine or coarfe wool, 

 or as Img or Jhort-iuoolled (hecp ; the produce of the two 

 latter differing from each other in the mode of manufafture, 

 and the ufes to which it is applied, more than filk and cot- 

 ton, confidered as articles of manufafture. 



It is not a little remarkable, that the domefticated flieep 

 depends for its fubfiflence almoft entirely on the care of 

 man, and is never found at any great dillance from his habi- 

 tation. " Left to itfelf, it becomes the fubjedl of difeafe, and 

 the prey of ferocious animals ; or if thefe fhonld fpare it, its 

 own fleece becomes the abode of infefts, which continually 

 nourifh themfelves with its blood, and dellroy its conftitu- 

 tion. Its enemies are indeed fo numerous, and conftantly 

 at hand, that it has no chance of efcaping them." 



Naturahfls are not fully agreed from what animal the 

 different varieties of domeftic fheep originally fprung. The 

 Siberian argali, as defcribed by Pallas, was moll probably 

 the parent of all the cultivated flocks in Afia, from whence 

 they have fpread lo other parts of the world. This animal, 

 the argali, which in the Siberian language means wild fheep, 

 is called by the Ruflians kamenoi barann, or fheep of the 

 rocks, from its ordinary place of abode. According to 

 Pallas, it is the fame with the mufmion of Pliny, and the 

 ophion of the Greeks. It is found, in all its native wildnefs, 

 vigour, and aftivity, inhabiting the vafl chain of mountains 

 which run through the centre of Afia to the Eaftern fea, 

 and the various branches of this chain, extending through 

 Great Tartary, China, the north of Hindooftan, and Perfia. 

 The argali delights to baflc in the fun on the bare rocks, but 

 avoids the woods and fliade ; it feeds on alpine plants and 

 fhrubs ; it prefers a temperate climate, but is found alfo 

 amongll the rocks of Afiatic Siberia. This animal loves a 

 ftate of folitude, and flees the haunts of men. According 

 to profeffor Pallas, nothing but the furrounding fea can ac- 

 count for the argali being found on an inhabited ifland, as is 

 fometimes the cafe. 



The ewe of the argali brings forth before the melting of 

 the fnow : the lamb refembles a young kid, except that it 

 has a flat protuberance in place of horns, and is covered writh 

 dark grey hair, frizzled and woolly. 



There are few animals more difficult to overtake than the 

 argali. When purfued, it turns and doubles like a hare, 

 fcrambling over the rocks with wonderful agility. Though 

 the adult animal is untameable, the lamb is eafily domefli- 

 cated, when taken young, and fed on milk, and afterwards 

 on fodder, which is proved by numerous experiments made 

 in the Ruffian fettlements. 



The argali is about the fize of the fallow deer, but its make 

 is more robuil, being lefs elegant than the deer, and its 

 neck and legs are fhorter. Its head refembles that of a ram, 

 with long llraggling hairs about the mouth, but no beard 

 like the goat. The horns, according to the drawing given 

 by Pallas, bear a fimilarity to thofe of the Merino rams ; 

 their weight is about fixteen pounds ; the tail is fhort. 

 The fummer covering of the argali is a fhort fleek hair, rc- 

 fembling that of the deer ; the winter coat confifts of wool, 

 like down, generally of a white colour, and intermixed with 

 longer hair. See Akgali. 



From the facility with which the young of the argali is 

 domefticated, and from the charafter of this animal, as well 

 as its fituation, we may with mucli probabihty infer that it 

 wa3 the parent of the Afiatic flocks. According to other 

 travellers, the coat of the argali is of a grey or nut-brown 



colour : probably it may be of different colours in the dif 

 ferent dillrifts it inhabits. In early ages the fleeces of do 

 meltic fheep appear to have been all of a dark colour ; 

 fuch was the flock of Laban, in Mefopotamia ; and thi 

 narrative of the manner in which the change was effefted^ 

 may ferve to fhew that, previoufly to that time, the com- 

 mon colour of the fheep was bhick or dark-brown. The 

 improvement in the quality, as well as the colour of the 

 fleece, has always been clolely conneftcd with the progrefs 

 of the arts ; for we uniformly find in countries, where thefe 

 have flouriffied, a race of ffieep which yield wool of a fu. 

 periin- quality to thofe around them. In Perfia and Syria, 

 the influence of ancient manufaftures is ftill viCble in the 

 fupcriority of their fheep, as finc-wooUed animals. From 

 Afia Minor thefe animals were tranfported into Greece, 

 and from thence into Italy and Sicily. They were dif- 

 perfed by the Romans over various parts of Europe ; and 

 the Tarentine fheep, formerly celebrated for their fine foft 

 wool, were introduced into Spain, where they have flou- 

 rifhed for fixteen centuries ; the prefent Merino race being 

 their immediate defcendants, but rendered more hardy by 

 an intermixture with the original native fheep of Spain. 



From the writings of Columella, and the incidental cir- 

 cumftances mentioned by ancient hiftorians, we may infer 

 that the fine flocks of Greece and Italy were of the ffiort- 

 woolled kind, producing clothing wool, which was manu- 

 faftured into woollen cloth, fimilar to what is at prefent 

 worn ; but probably more flexible, from not undergoing fo 

 completely the milling or felting procefs. (See Wool.) 

 Indeed, from the remains of the Tarentine flocks at prefent 

 in Italy, we can be at no lofs to determine the nature of 

 the former Tarentine fleece. Thirteen centuries of ne- 

 glefted cultivation, and intermixture with other breeds, 

 have not been fufficient to obliterate the labours of former 

 times. From what we have feen of the finer Italian wools, 

 we have no hentation in aflerting, that by judicious and 

 careful leleftion, it would be practicable to reftore the Ta- 

 rentine race once more to its original purity, in the courfe 

 of a few years ; were it found to poflefs any fuperior merit, • 

 compared with the fine-wooUed fheep of Spain. The cir- 

 cumllances refpeCling the management of the Tarentine 

 flocks, recorded by ancient writers, when compared with 

 the prefent treatment of the Merino flocks in Spain, leave 

 no doubt refpefting the origin of the latter. 



The term Merino, in the Spanifh language, is an adjeftive, 

 derived from the corrupt Latin merinus, or mnjor'mus : when 

 united with ovejns, it fignifies the royal judge, or fuper- 

 intendant of the fheep-walk. At the period when the 

 trajhumantes, or travelling flocks in Spain, were eftablifhed, 

 they became the objefts of police, and were placed under the 

 exclufive junldiftion of mayors, with public walks and 

 large diftritls allotted for their fuftcnance, and were termed 

 Merinos ovijas, or the fheep under the care of the merino or 

 mayor. ThenamespcculiartotheellabHfhment of thefe flocks, 

 fuch as mejla, cavana, &c. are derived, not from the Morifco, 

 but from the provincial Latin that prevailed in Spain before 

 and after it was fubdued by the Goths. I See Mest.\.) The 

 management of the flocks is peculiarly Roman ; the merino, 

 or mayor, correfponds exaftly with the magilfcr pecori? of 

 Varro and Columella, and was fuperior to the opihones and 

 pailorcs. The practice of deftroying half the fheep at their 

 birth, and of fuckling each of the furvivors on two ewes ; of 

 fweating the ffieep before they were fhorn, to increafe the 

 foftnefs of the fleece ; and of condudling them from their 

 winter to their fummer ftations, by long journies through 

 public ffieep-walks, has been derived from Roman inftitu- 

 tions, with this difference, that in Italy their migrations 



were 



I 



