12 
[ Clafs I. 
quadrupeds. 
horns as thick, and longer than thofeof an ox*. 
He mentions another kind, which are clothed 
with a mixture of wool and hair$ and of a 
fourth fpecies, whole flelh and fleeces are yel¬ 
low, and their teeth of the color of gold; 
but the truth of thefe relations is doubtful, 
as no other writer has mentioned them, except 
the credulous Boethius . 
Befides the fleece, there is fcarce any part 
of this animal but what is ufeful to mankind ; 
the flelh is a delicate and wholefome food; the 
fkin drefled, forms different parts of our ap¬ 
parel $ and is ufed for covers of books. The 
entrails properly prepared ; and twilled, ferve 
for firings for various mulical inllruments. 
The bones calcined (like other bones in ge¬ 
neral) form materials for tells for the refiner. 
The milk is thicker than that of cows ; and 
confequently yields a greater quantity of but¬ 
ter and cheefe ; and in fome places is fo rich, 
that it will not produce the cheefe without a 
mixture of water to make it part from the 
whey. The dung is a remarkable rich manure; 
infomuch that the folding of Iheep is become 
too ufeful a branch of hulbandry for the 
farmer to negleft. To conclude, whether we 
confider the advantages that refult from this 
animal to individuals in particular, or to thefe 
kingdoms in general, we may with Columella 
confider this in one fenfe, as the firll of the 
domellic animals. Poft majores quadrupedes 
ovilli pecoris fecunda ratio eft ; quoe prima 
fit ft ad ut Hit at is magnitudinem ref eras. Nam 
id prcecipue contra frigor is violent iam prctegit , 
corporibufque noftris liberaliora prtfbet vela - 
min a ; et etiam elegantium menfas jucundis et 
numerofts da pi bus exornat j - . 
The fheep, as to its nature, is a moll in¬ 
nocent mild and fimple animal; and confcious 
* Gmelin dcfcribes an animal he found in Siberia , that in many 
particulars agrees with this ; he calls it Rupicapra cornubus arieti- 
nis ; Linnaeus ftyles it Capra arnnon . Syft. 70. and Gefner p. 934. 
imagines it to be the Mujimon of the antients; the horns of the 
Siberian animal are two yards long, their weight above thirty 
pounds. As we have fuch good authority for the adual exiftence 
of fuch a quadruped, we may venture to give credit to Boethius s 
account, that the fame kind was once found in Uirta. 
•j- De re rujlica, lib. 7. c. 2. 
of its own defencelefs flate, remarkably timid: 
If attacked when attended by its lamb, it will 
make fome Ihew of defence, by llamping with 
its feet and pulhing with its head; it is a 
gregarious animal, is fond of any jingling 
noile, for which reafon the leader of the flock 
has in many places a bell hung round its neck, 
which the others will conllantly follow ; it is 
fubjedl to many difeafes : fome arife from in¬ 
fers which depofite their eggs in different 
parts of the animal; others are caufed by their 
being kept in wet pallures ; for as the Iheep 
requires but little drink, it is naturally fond 
of a dry foil. The dropfy, vertigo (the 
pendro of the wellh) the pthifick, jaundice, 
and worms in the liver f annually make great 
havock among our flocks : For the firll diff- 
eafe, the Ihepherd finds a remedy by turning 
the infedled into fields of broom ; which plant 
has been alfo found to be very efficacious in 
the fame diforder among the human fpecies. 
The Iheep is alfo infelled by different forts 
of infedls ; like the horfe it has its peculiar 
Oeftrus or Gadfly , which depofits its eggs 
above the nofe in the frontal finufes ; when 
thofe turn into maggots they become excefiive 
painful, and caufe thofe violent agitations that 
we fo often fee the animal in. The French 
fhepherds make a common pra&ice of eafing 
the Iheep, by trepanning and taking out the 
maggot; this pradlice is fometimes ufed by 
the Englijh Ihepherds, but not always with 
the fame fuccefs : Befides thefe infedls, the 
Iheep is troubled with a kind of tick and 
loufe, which magpies and llarlings contribute 
to eafe them of, by lighting on its back, and 
picking the infedls off. 
GENUS 
•f Fafciola hepatica Lin.fijl. 64S. 
