THE TSCHERKESSIAN SHEEP- 
171 
a commerce of the Iamb skins. The attempt, we be- 
lieve, has not since been heard of.* 
The Tscherkessian Sheep of the Russians an<i 
Tartars, mentioned by Pallas, as the Ovis Dolichurci, 
is also very extensively used for the same purpose. 
It is a handsome animal resembling some of the Spa- 
nish and English breeds. The rams are horned, the 
wool is coarse in the adult state, and the tail, which 
contains twenty vertebrm, is covered with fine long 
wool, which trails on the ground, so as fo efface the 
prints made by the animal’s feet. It is reared in all 
the European regions situated on this side of the 
river Oeca, by the pastoral people of Mount Caucasus. 
They are commonly of a white colour. There is 
also more ai-t resorted to here in the preparing of the 
lamb skins. As soon as the lamb is dropped, it is 
sewed up in a sort of coarse linen shirt, so a# to keep 
up a gentle pressure on the wool, pouring warm 
water over it every day to make it soft and sleek, 
only letting out the bandage a little from time to 
time as the animal increases in size, but still keeping 
it tight enough to effect their purpose, which is to 
lay the wool in beautiful glossy ringlets, and thereby 
produce a delicate species of fur, in great request for 
lining clothes and morning gowns ; and the animal 
is killed younger or older, according to the specimens 
* According to Dr Maculloch, the number of lamb skins 
imported in 1831 and 1832 (chiefly from Italy), amounted 
to 2,3G5,G35 Diotionarij. 
