O V 
£. O. Guineenfis, the Guinea (lieep : ears pendulous ; 
dewlaps lax, hairy; hind part of the head prominent. 
This, which is fometimes termed the Cape (lieep, and 
which is erroneoufly mentioned in Buffon’s Natural Hif- 
tory as of Indian extradiion, is fuppofed to be moft fre¬ 
quent in Guinea, and is diftinguiftied from others by its 
remarkably meagre appearance, length of neck and limbs, 
pendent ears, and long arched or curved vifage. It is co¬ 
vered with hair rather than wool, and has a pair of pen¬ 
dent hairy wattles beneath the neck, as in goats. The 
horns are fmall; and the tail long and lank. This variety 
is alfo confidered as a diftindt fpecies in the twelfth edi¬ 
tion of the Syftema Naturae. 
». O. laticaudata, the broad-tailed (lieep. This extra¬ 
ordinary and awkward variety occurs in Syria, Barbary, 
and Ethiopia. It is alfo found in Tartary, Thibet, &c. 
Its general appearance, as to other parts of the body, 
fcarcely differs from that of the European (heep ; and in 
Thibet it is remarkable for the exquifite finenefs of its 
wool. The tails of thefe (lieep fometimes grow fo large, 
long, and heavy, as to weigh, according to fome reports, 
from fifteen to fifty pounds; and, in order to enable the 
animal to graze with convenience, the (hepherds are 
obliged to put a board, furnifhed with fmall wheels, under 
the tail. This part of the (lieep is of a fubftance refem- 
bling marrow, and is confidered as a great delicacy. Mr. 
Pennant has remarked, that both the broad and long 
tailed varieties of this kind of (lieep were known to the 
ancients; being mentioned by Arilfotle and Pliny ; the 
former mentioning the firft, and the latter the fecond, 
fort. One fays the tails were a cubit broad, the other a 
cubit long. There are many intermediate races of thefe 
(heep; and fome have the tails ending in a point; others 
rather fquare, or rounded ; but, in every cafe, their fleeces, 
in finenefs, beauty, and length, are equal even to thofe of 
Caramania. The Cachemirians engrofs this article, and 
have faffors in all parts of Thibet for buying up the wool, 
which is fent into Cachemir, and worked into (bauds, fu- 
perior in elegance to thofe woven even from the fleeces 
of their own country. This manufacture is a confider- 
able fource of wealth. Bernier relates, that in his days, 
fliawls made exprefs for the great omrahs, of the Tiii- 
betian wool, coft a hundred and fifty rupees; whereas 
thofe made of the wool of their own country never coft 
more than fifty, Thefe articles of luxury have, till of 
late, been fuppofed to have been made with the hair of a 
goat, till we were undeceived by Mr. Bogle, a gentleman 
fent by Mr. Haftings on a commiflion to theTayfhoo Lama 
of Thibet. 
$. O. Bucharica, the Bucharian fat-rumped (lieep: ears 
large and pendulous; fatty cufliions on the hips; tail 
long and flat. 
There is another fat-rumped variety, of which the cha- 
raffer is, that the cufliions on the hips are larger, and 
that there is no tail, or, if there be a tail, it is fo enve¬ 
loped with fat as to be fcarcely vifible. The fat-rumped 
(lieep without tails have arched nofes, wattles, pendulous 
ears, and curled horns, like the common (heep. The 
wool iscoarfe, long, and in flocks ; the legs (lender, and 
the head black : the ears are of the fame colour, with a 
bed of white in the middle. The wool is generally white, 
fometimes black or reddifli, and often (potted. The but¬ 
tocks appear like two hemifpheres, quite naked and 
fmooth, with the os coccygis between fcarcely fenfible to 
the touch. Thefe are compofed only of fuet; whence 
Dr. Pallas properly ftyles this variety Ovis fteatopyga. 
Thefe (heep grow very large, even to two hundred pounds 
weight, of which the pofteriors weigh forty. Their 
bleating is (hort and deep, more like that of a calf than a 
(heep. They abound in all'the defects of Tartary, from 
the Volga to the Irtis, and the Altaic chain ; but are 
more or iefs fat according to the nature of the pafture, and 
moft fo where the plants are of a faline nature. Thefe 
monftrous varieties are fuppofed to originate from difeafe, 
arifing from an excels of fat in the hind parts, which in- 
I Si 99 
volved, and at length deftroyed, the tail. By. breeding 
between animals fimilarly aftedted, the race was probably 
continued in thofe parts where food and climate have 
concurred to fupport the fame appearances. Thofe with 
fat tails, are rather in the way to exhibit fuch a Angular 
variety, or a mixed breed between the common and tail- 
lefs kind. All abound fo greatly in Tartary, that one 
hundred and fifty thoufand have been fold annually at the 
Orenburg fairs, and a much greater number at Troinkaja, 
in the Irkutz government, bought from the Kirgifian. 
Tartars, and difperfed through Ruffia. They are very 
prolific ; ufually bring two at a time, anil often three. 
> O. longicaudata, the long-tailed (heep : tail long and 
woolly. 
k. O. Capenfis, the Cape (lieep : ears large, pendulous; 
tail large and broad. 
7 i. O. ftrepficeros, the Cretan (lieep : horns upright, 
carinated, fpirally contorted. This variety is principally 
found in the ifland of Crete, and is kept in feveral parts 
of Europe for the Angularity of its appearance ; the horns 
being very large, long, and twifted in the manner of a 
fcrew’. Thofe of the male are upright, as at fig. 7. and 
thofe of the female at right angles to the head, as at fig. 8. 
I*. O. ankon, the elbow-flieep : fore-legs Ihort, bent 
like an elbow'. A paper in the Phil.Tranf. for 1813 gives 
an account of this new and permanent variety'in the 
(lieep, which was produced, without any aflignable caufe, 
on a farm a few miles from Bofton in North America. 
It acquired the popular name of the oiler-breed , from the 
fliortnefs of its legs and the length of its back ; and it 
received the more appropriate title of anlwn-Jheep, from 
the Gr. cc.1y.0v, an elbow. The charafreriftic was, very 
fliort legs, particularly the fore-legs, which were bent 
fomewhat like an elbow. The (keleton brought to this 
country was compared by fir Everard Home with the 
fmalleft Welch (lieep that could be procured. The bone 
of the fore-leg of an ankon-fheep weighing 43II1S. was 
thicker, but not fo long, as that of a Welch (lieep fcarcely 
one-fourth of the weight. The joints of the ankon-llieep 
were loofer knit than ufual, and the animal was feebler. 
Its mutton was as good as ufual ; its fleece rather worfe. 
In New England the farms are furrounded only with low 
wooden or (tone fences ; the ankon-fheep was propagated 
becaufe it could not eafily get over thefe fences and in¬ 
jure the corn. 
Diseases of Sheep. —The (lieep is more fubjeft to dis¬ 
orders than any of the domefticated animals ; giddinefs, 
confumption, fcab, dropfy, and worms, frequently feizing 
upon it, and deftroying it. The difeafes may be enu¬ 
merated in the following order: rot, red-water, flux, 
pinding, tag-fore, fcab, foot-rot, leg-evil, flaggers, fturdy- 
evil, hove, and fly. Of each of thefe we (hall give the 
beft defcfiption in our power, with the moft approved re¬ 
medies. 
The rot, which is a very pernicious difeafe, has very 
much engaged the attention of fcientific farmers. Some 
valuable and judicious o'ofervations have been made upon 
it, which ought to be circulated, as they may perhaps, 
in many cafes, furnifli an antidote for this malignant dil- 
temper. Some have fuppofed the rot owing to the quick 
growth of grafs or herbs that grow in wet places. With¬ 
out premifing that all-bounteous Providence has given 
to every animal its peculiar tafte, by which it diftinguifties 
the food proper for its prefervation and fupport, if not 
vitiated by fortuitous circumftances, it feems very diffi¬ 
cult to difcover, on philofophical principles, why the 
quick growth of grafs fliould render it noxious, or why 
any herb fliould at one feafon produce fatal eftedhs, by the 
admiffion of pure w'ater only into its component parts, 
which at other times is perfe&ly innocent, although 
brought to its utmoft ftrength and maturity by the genial 
influence of the fun. Belides, the conltant practice of 
moft farmers in the kingdom, who with the greateft fe- 
curity feed their meadows in the fpring, when the grafs 
(hoots quick and is full of juices, militates diredlly againft 
this 
