THE SHEEP. 
5 
HISTORY. 
beneath the skin, more or less thick on different parts of the body, as the rump, the flanks, and the shoulder. But in the Sheep 
of certain countries it accumulates greatly on the posterior parts, namely, the rump, or the tail, just as in the Ox of certain 
countries it accumulates on the shoulder. 
In the races of Sheep which extend from Circassia and Georgia over Asia Minor, Syria, and Arabia, the tail is broad as well 
as long, and is covered with fat to its extremity, where it terminates in a point. The fat accumulates sometimes on this tail to such 
a degree as to form a large part of the weight of the animal. It is of a soft oily substance, and is used in those countries in place of 
butter or oil. Some of these Sheep are brought to England from time to time, under the name of Turkish Sheep. But that 
monstrous accumulation of fat which we see in some of them, seems to take place chiefly when they are kept in yards or houses. 
They then become very large, and the excess of fatty matter accumulates on the tail, where it may be supposed to be less injurious 
to the animal in a warm country than were it extended over the other parts of the body. In Africa the same character prevails, 
but in races of Sheep entirely distinct from the Syrian. 
Northward of the Caucasian range the Sheep are found to be short-tailed, with the fat accumulated on the haunches, forming 
two great cushions. This character is the most remarkable in the races near the Black Sea and the Caspian; but it extends over 
a part of Asiatic Tartary and Russia in Europe, becoming less prominent, however, as we recede from these seas, and ulti¬ 
mately disappearing. Pallas conjectures that this character arises from the Sheep feeding on the bitter and saline plants found 
in the countries on the Black Sea and the Caspian; and he asserts that, when they are removed from the places where these plants 
grow, the fatty excrescence becomes less. It may be justly assumed, indeed, that this character is the result of peculiarities of food, 
although we cannot determine physiologically in what manner the effect is produced. 
A race of Sheep exists in Persia, and to the north of it, which deserves to be mentioned, as being perhaps the nearest in its 
characters to the wild species. There are, indeed, various races in Persia, but this peculiar race is proper to the northern parts of 
the country on the Caspian, and is greatly the most diffused. It is covered with a very coarse hairy wool, of a grey colour. Its 
horns are bent outwards in the manner of the Argali, and, what is worthy of note, its head resembles the common figure of the 
Ram, as depicted in Eastern sculptures. This original race is the most diffused of any in the world, extending across the Indus 
over a great part of Hindostan. It is to be distinguished, however, from another very remarkable one found likewise in Persia, 
which is destitute of tail, and has an accumulation of fat upon the posterior parts. This breed is frequently termed the Persian, 
but its principal habitat is the shores of the Red Sea, and it seems to be of African rather than Asiatic origin. It is by some 
termed the Abyssinian Sheep. 
The Tartar Sheep have usually horns and pendent ears: they are strong and hardy, but they are of bad form, and have 
coarse wool. The finest woolled Sheep of this race are said to be produced in the Crimea ; but this is partly the result of crossing 
with the Spanish Merinos. Many of the Tartars under the Russian dominion have vast flocks of Sheep, amounting to many 
thousands. The Sheep of Astrachan on the Caspian Sea are noted for the fine furs which they produce; but these furs are the 
skins of lambs taken from the mother before the natural birth. 
Proceeding northwards through the Russian dominions in Asia and Europe, the fat rump disappears, and the Sheep have the 
short flat tails which distinguish a great proportion of the Sheep of Northern Asia and Europe. The wool of this race is much 
mixed with coarse hair. Sometimes, however, the wool covered by this hair is fine, as in the Sheep of the Zetland and Feroe 
Islands. 
The Sheep of Europe seem to be of a more mixed descent than those of a great part of Asia. The original Celtic nations 
had their Sheep, though few in numbers, while their conquerors may be supposed to have brought with them the Sheep of the 
countries from which they emigrated, and hence the mixture of races. The Sheep of Africa, too, have been been from time to 
time mixed with those of the south of Europe. 
In European Turkey and Greece, the Sheep do not correspond with their ancient fame. They are of small size and indiffe¬ 
rent form. They are oftenof the flat-tailed variety, exhibiting in this respect an affinity with the Sheep of Asia Minor, and the 
adjacent countries. In the Islands of the Archipelago few Sheep are reared. Some of them are of the Syrian breed, having 
long fat tails. But there is a peculiar race existing in some of the islands, which have several horns, and long hairy wool. 
Ascending the Danube, the Sheep are found to be of the long-tailed variety, although without any tendency to a fatty en¬ 
largement of the tail. The breed of Wallachia may be regarded as the type of a race which extends through Moldavia, Tran¬ 
sylvania, and westward towards Vienna. This breed has black faces, and long wiry wool, much mixed with hair. It resembles 
in certain characters the Persian breed, and the Blackfaced Heath Breed of Scotland. 
Italy, once so renowned for her Sheep, can now boast little of this production of her bounteous clime. The Romans, whose 
dress was woollen, cultivated in an especial degree the fineness of the fleece; and it was not until the days of the Empire that the 
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