OVIS. 
any considerable advance in civilization its 
breed of sheep has been admired for the 
excellence of their fleeces, which constituted 
the grand material of national industry, 
wealth, and revenue. Atpresent the worth 
of the wool annually shorn in this country is 
considerably upwards of two millions, and 
when wrought produces an amount of nearly 
seven millions sterling ; facts which exhibit 
the importance of the cultivation of that 
animal, which is the source of alt this opu- 
lence in a point of view particularly strik- 
ing. There are sevetal breeds or races in 
this country which have their respective 
admirers, and each of which will probably 
thrive better than others in certain soils 
and situations. The sheep of Lincolnshire 
afford the largest quantity of wool, but 
their flesh is more coarse and lean, aud less 
jaleasantly flavoured than that of some 
others. The sheep of the largest size are 
found in the rich district between York- 
shire and Durham, one of which was fed 
so highly as to weigh sixty-two pounds per 
quarter. These are reported to be equally 
prolific as they are large, and an ewe of 
this breed produced, at the age of two 
years, four young ones at a birth, and at 
the end of eleven months after, five more. 
The Dorsetshire breed is also considerably 
celebrated for fecundity, these are likewise 
highly admired for the delicacy and tine 
flavour of , their flesh, but their wool is lit- 
tle in amount, though of excellent quality. 
In the North thei-e is a hardy race of these 
animals, marked by their shaggy wool and 
black faces, which are admirably adapted 
to the bleak and mountainous tracts where 
they are produced, and sustain the rigour 
of winter in these cold situations without 
any inconvenience. 3'heir eyes are wild, 
their movements nimble and rapid, and 
their flesh is peculiarly excellent. Towards 
the extreme points of the north of Scot- 
land, there is a race , of sheep particularly 
small, not exceeding six pounds per quar- 
ter in weight. The attention of noblemen 
and gentlemen of the first distinction has 
now long been directed to the cultivation 
of the sheep with respect to .every point of 
its economy, its breed, its .food, and the 
nature and degree of those attentions which 
will best promote its excellence, both as an 
article for subsistence and manufacture. 
These efforts, not many years since, it 
must be acknowledged, took a somewhat 
singular direction, and it appeared to be 
the grand object of agricultural ingenuity, 
to raise the animal to tliat superlative de- 
gree of fatness which, in all but the most 
.robust appetites, was calculated to excite 
disgust. In one instance particularly, it 
was considered as an exploit of transcen- 
dent merit to have carried this process so 
far, that the fat of the animal, cut, without 
any slope, directly through the ribs, mea- 
sured upwards of seven inches. This ludi- 
crous, as well as pernicious and wasteful folly, 
has, how'ever, now for some years, ceased. 
The sheep is more subject to disorders than 
any of the domesticated animals ; giddi- 
ness, consumption,, scab, dropsy, and worms, 
frequently seizing upon and destroying it. 
The last are met with in vast numbers in 
the liver and gall bladdpr of these animals. 
These w'ornis belong to the genus fasciola, 
are flat, oval, and pointed at the extremi- 
ties. The fly is another formidable enemy, 
and is often fatal in the course , of twenty- 
four hours, breeding within the skull of the 
animal. To extricate the sheep; from this 
danger, the French shepherds apply the 
trephine without the slightest hesitation, 
and with the greatest dispatch and success. 
For the common ram see Mammalia, Plate 
XVII. fig. 4. 
The Cretan sheep is remarkable for long 
and large horns, twisted in the shape of a 
screw. 
The many-horned sheep is found most 
commonly in the north of Europe, and 
most frequently in Iceland. Three, four, 
and even five horns, are occasionally seen 
on these animals in considerably different 
forms, sizes, and situations. See Mamma- 
lia, Plate XVII. fig. 6. 
The Cape sheep is remarkable for its 
emaciated appearance, long neck, and pen- 
dulous ears, and for having a pair of wat- 
tles under the neck like goats. 
The broad-tailed sheep occurs in various 
countries of Asia and Africa, and is ex- 
tremely similar to the European breed in 
almost all respects, but that its tail is of an 
immense weight, varying from fifteen to 
fifty pounds, under which the shepherds 
are reported to place a board with wheels, 
to facilitate the animal’s movements. These 
tails are, stated to constitute the most mar- 
jowy arid luxurious food. 
The Tibetian sheep yield, wool of admi- 
.rable length and fineness, and are said to 
produce the material from which are fabri- 
cated the Indian shawls, Which are some- 
times sold in this country for between 
thirty and fifty pounds. 
For a species of sheep called the dwarf 
sheep, see Manimalia, Plate XVII, tig. 5- 
