SHE 
nagement is neceffary. If in fummer, they fliould 
be conduced to the field before fun-rifing, that 
they may feed on grafs moifcened with dew. No- 
thing contributes inore to the fattening of wea- 
thers than water taken in large quantities; and 
nothing retards it more than the heat of the fun. 
For this reafon, they fliould be put into the fold 
or fhade about eight or nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing, before the heat becomes too violent; and 
they ought to have a little fait to encreafe their 
appetite for drink. They fhould be led out a fe- 
cond time, about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
to frefh and moift paftures. By this treatment 
they acquire, in two or three months, all the ap- 
pearances of being fat and flefhy. But this fat, 
which originates from £he great quantity of wa- 
ter drank by the animals, is only a kind of purfy 
fwelling, and would foon occafion the rot, if not 
prevented by i<.illing them immediately after they 
acquire this fallacious appearance. Even their 
flefli, inftead of being firm and juicy, is frequently 
very loofe and infipid. To produce good mut- 
ton, befides the treatment already recommended, 
the animals fhould have richer nourifhment than 
grafs. In winter, and indeed in all feafons, they 
may be fattened by keeping them in ftables, and 
feeding them with the flour of barley^ oars, wheat, 
beans, and other grain, mixed with fait, to en- 
creafe their appetite for T.ater. But whatever 
mode be followed, it fhould be executed as 
quickly as poffible; for they cannot always be fat- 
tened twice, many that have been once in good 
condition dying of difeafes in the liver. 
' Every year the whole flock, weathers, ewes, 
and lambs, are (beared . In hot countries, where 
the creatures may without danger be laid quite 
bare, they do not fliear the wool, but tear it off; 
and this operation is performed twice a year. But 
in France, and in colder climates, the fleece is 
Jliorn only once a year ; and a part of it is allowed 
to remain, in order to proteft the animal from the 
inclemency of the weather. The operation is 
performed in the month of May, after wafhing 
the Sheep, to render the wool as clean as poflible. 
The month of April is generally too cold; and if 
delayed till the end of June or the beginning of 
July, the wool does not grow fufficiently long to 
proteft the animal from the cold of winter. Wea- 
thers have generally more wool than ewes, and it 
is alfo of a fuperior quality: that on the neck, 
and the top of the back, is the prime; that of the 
thighs, tail, belly, and throat, is inferior. White 
wool is alfo preferred to brown and black, as it 
will admit of any dye. Straight wool is better 
than curled ; and it is even alledged, that weathers 
whofe wool is too much curled, are not in fuch a 
found ftate of health as the reft. 
* A confiderable advantage may alfo be de- 
rived from Sheep by folding them ; that is, by 
leaving them for a proper time on lands intended 
for improvement. In order to this, the ground 
muft be inclofed, and the flock fhut up in it every 
night during fummer. By this means the dung, 
iirine, and heat of the body of thefe creatures, will 
in a fhort time bring the ground into heart, whe- 
ther exhaufted, or naturally cold and barren. An 
hundred Sheep will in one fummer fertilize eight 
acres of land for fix years. 
* The flavour of the flefli, the finenefs of the 
wool, the quantity of the fuet, and even the fize 
of thefe animals, differ very widely in different 
countries. In France, they chiefly abound in the 
SHE 
Duchy of Berry; thofe In the vicinity of Beauvais, 
and fome other parts of Normandy, are the largeft, 
and fulleft of fuet. In Burgundy, they are excel- 
lent, but the beft are thofe that feed on the fandy 
coafts of our maritime provinces. The wools of 
Italy, Spain, and England, are finer than thofe of 
France. In Poidtou, Provence, the neighbour- 
hood of Bayonne, and fome other parts of France, 
there are Sheep which feem to be of a foreign 
breed; they are ftronger, larger, and produce a 
great deal more wool than the common fort. 
Thefe Sheep are alfo more prolific than the other; 
it bei ng nothing extraordinary for them to pro- 
duce two lambs at a time, and to yean twice a 
year. The rams of this breed, engendering with 
the common ewes, produce an intermediate breed, 
partaking of the two from which it proceeds. In 
Italy and Spain, the number and variety in the 
breeds of Sheep [and he might have added, in 
England too] is (till greater; but all muft becon- 
fidered as forming one and the fame;, fpecies with 
our Sheep; though this fpecies, fo numerous and 
fo diverfified, hardly extends beyond Europe. 
Thofe long and broad-tailed creatures, fo com- 
mon in Africa and Afia, and by travellers called. 
Barbary Sheep, feem different from ours, as well 
as the American Vigonia and Llama.' 
A few of the moft remarkable varieties in this 
ufeful tribe, which is fo widely diffeminated over 
the globe, and lb largely contributes to the happi- 
nefs and accommodation of mankind, now claim 
a defcription. 
Sheep, Many Horned; the Ovis Polycerata 
of Linnseus. This variety, which is found in 
Iceland, Mufcovy, and the coldeft climates of 
the north, certainly derives it's origin from the 
domeftic kind. It refembles our breed in the 
fhape of it's body and tail; but differs confider- 
ably in the number of it's horns: thefe are gene- 
rally four ; though there are fometimes eight, pro- 
ceeding from different parts of the forehead. 
This animal is large and formidable; and na- 
ture feems to have adapted it for a ftate of war: 
neverthelefs, it partakes of the nature of it's kind, 
being gende, mild, and timid. The wool, which 
is long, fmooth, hairy, and very different from 
that of the common Sheep, is of a dark brown 
colour; and under it's exterior coat there is an in- 
ternal covering, fine, fliort, and foft, rather re- 
fembling fur than wool. 
There is a variety from Spain having two up- 
right and two lateral horns; the body covered with 
wool ; and yellowifli hairs^ fourteen inches long, 
growing in the fore-part of the neck. A Sheep 
of this kind was a few years ago exhibited in Lon- 
don. 
Sheep, Broad-Tailed ; the Ovis Laticaudaof 
Linn^us. The Broad-tailed Sheep is very com- 
mon in Tartary, Arabia, Perfia, Barbary, Syria, 
and Egypt. This animal is principally remarks 
able for it's large, heavy tail, which often weighs 
from twenty to thirty pounds; and, according to 
Pennant, now and then fifty pounds : it is fome- 
times a foot broad; and ufaally fupported by a 
fmall board, which runs on wheels; whence arofe 
the fiction of thefe animals having carts to carry 
their tails. The upper part of the tail is covered 
with wool; but it is bare underneath ; the natives, 
who reckon it a great delicacy, carefully preferve 
it from injury; and being of a fubftance between 
fat and marrow, they eat it with the lean of the 
mutton. 
In 
