THE KUMINANT OBDEB. 
261 
possess is very limited, and their constitution is weak ; indeed, 
they would soon entirely disappear, were it not that man protects 
them with assiduous and continual care. 
In our climate the ewe does not in general produce more than 
once in a year ; but in warmer countries they often bear twice 
in that period. The length of gestation is five months, and the 
ewes preserve their milk for seven or eight months after the 
birth of their young, although the lambs are not allowed to 
Fig. 93.— Kebsch {Caprovis ammotragus, Gray). 
suck for over two or three months. At the age of one year 
Sheep are able to reproduce, and they continue fruitful to the 
age of ten or twelve years. 
Very considerable differences exist in the various varieties of 
Sheep. The Big-tailed Sheep is a breed which is remarkable for 
the shape o| its tail ; in them this appendage is expanded to so 
grea,t an extent with fat, that it often assumes the form of an 
immense excrescence. This race exists in the temperate parts of 
