CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 9. EUMINANTIA. 
623 
a single clog. He will even engage a bull, and as the bone of his forehead is much harder than 
that of any other animal, he is generally victorious in this apparently unequal contest. The bull, 
according to his custom, loAvers his head, and is brought to the ground by the stroke of the ram 
between his eyes. When individual strength is not sufficient to afford protection, sheep will com- 
bine against dogs and other enemies. If these animals sprung from a wild breed, Ave cannot doubt 
that these Avere capable of defense, alike by instinct, activity, intelligence, and strength. If by 
domesticity we have deprived them of these qualities, it is because avc have rendered them use- 
less ; in their place Ave have cultivated an unresisting gentleness, placidity, and docility, Avhich at 
once forces upon man the necessity of giving them protection, and makes them Avhat they are, one 
of man's greatest blessings. 
PARTICULAR BREEDS OF SHEEP. 
All the breeds of the common sheep in America are derived from Europe. The first settlers 
brought Avitli them the domestic animals of the countries from which they emigrated, and thus 
the majority of our sheep Avere of English breeds. AVithin the last fifty years special attention 
has been paid, here as w-ell as in Europe, to the breeding of sheep, Avith a Anew to their improve- 
ment, both in respect to the flesh and the Avool ; and, consequently, all the most valuable kinds 
are common in this country. 
It is an argument in favor of the originality of the wool-bearing breeds of sheep, and against 
the idea that they are derived from any species of mouflon or ibex, that so early as the ancient 
days of Tyre and Egypt, these nations produced avooI of exquisite fineness. The Greeks early 
possessed similar breeds, and these, no doubt, Avere planted, Avith their colonies, in Spain, along 
the coast of the Mediterranean. The Romans also, in the time of Augustus, had fine breeds of 
sheep, to Avhich they paid great attention, and, doubtless, as Spain passed under their domin- 
ion, flocks of these were transported thither. From these sources, in the progress of centuries, Ave 
may fairly conclude the celebrated Merino Avas bred. 
There are other breeds of sheep in Spaiu besides the Merinos, more or less intermixed with 
them ; but of the pure race it is calculated that there are about ten millions, Avhich are mostly 
migratory, and termed Transhumantes^ being periodically conducted from one part of the coun- 
try to another, and back again. These Transhumantes are divided into flocks, Avhich, under the 
care of a mayoral, or chief shepherd, and assistants, migrate from the mountains of the north to 
the plains of the south in winter, and return back to the mountains in summer. The flocks fol- 
low the shepherds, Avho lead the way, and direct the length and speed of the journey : a fcAv 
wethers, perfectly trained, tread in the footsteps of the conductor, and the rest folloAv in due 
order ; a powerful breed of dogs accompany the shepherds in order to defend the flock from 
wolves, and a few mules carry their provision and other necessaries, as Avell as materials for 
making up the fold at night. This migration extends four hundred miles, and it takes fourteen 
weeks to accomplish it both Avays. To this, popular opinion in Spain, no doubt erroneously, 
attributes the excellence of their sheep. In the south of France the sheep are in a similar man- 
ner driven in winter from the mountain regions of the Alps, Cevennes, and Pyrenees, to the 
softer climes of Provence and Languedoc. 
The history of the Merino in America is too familiar to demand special notice here. It is 
sufficient to say that, from the year 1802 to 1811, a number of these were introduced into the 
United States by Chancellor LiAangston, Colonel Humphries, and Mr. Jarvis, and thus the foun- 
dation of the breed Avas laid. At subsequent periods many others have been imported, and mill- 
ions have been bred, so that the Merino is as well established in this country as any other, not 
excepting Spain itself. 
The Saxon breed, an offspring of the Merino, produced in Saxony, and celebrated for the full- 
ness and fineness of the fleece, has been also introduced, and is noAV extensively cultivated. The 
Merino bred in France, under the care of the government, at Rambouillet, Malmaison, and upon 
other royal farms, have also been brought hither and mingled Avith our flocks. The noted British 
breeds — South-Downs, Cheviots, BaJceioells or Leicesters, Teeswaters, Serefoy-ds, JDorsets, Dishleys, 
Kents, Devons, Devonshire-Nots, Darimoor-Nots, Cotswolds and Lincolnshires, and many others 
