6 
THE SHEEP. 
HISTORY. 
silk and cotton of the East began to supersede the ancient raiment of the Roman people. The finest wools of ancient Italy were 
produced in Apulia and Calabria, being the eastern parts of the present kingdom of Naples. Pliny informs us that the best wool 
was that of Apulia on the Adriatic Sea; that the next best was further to the south, on the Gulf of Tarentum; that the Mile¬ 
sian or Asiatic Sheep carried the third prize ; and that, for whiteness, there was none better than that produced on the Po. The 
care of the Romans in causing the wool to grow fine, exceeded, in the case of certain breeds, any thing that is now attempted. 
ThI sheep were kept in housed, and continually clothed, so that the filaments of the wool might become delicate ; the skin was 
smeared with fine oil and moistened with wine: the fleece was combed, so that the wool might not become matted, and the whole 
was washed several times in the year. Under this artificial treatment the breed became tender, subject to diseases, voracious of 
food and the females so incapable of nourishing their young, that a large part of the lambs was obliged to be destroyed. The Apu¬ 
lian and Tarentine breeds probably ceased to exist even before the fall of the Empire, or were swept away by barbarous conquerors, 
with all the arts of the lovely land. There are still in Italy many fine-woolled Sheep, but of small bad form, and ruined by ne- 
dect. The same remark applies to the Sheep of Sicily, which were greatly celebrated for the fineness of their wool, and which 
have not yet lost this ancient character. 
Of all the countries of Europe, Spain has been the longest distinguished for the excellence of its wool. This fine country, 
more varied in its surface and natural productions than any other region of the like extent in Europe, produces a great variety of 
breeds of Sheep, from the larger animals of the richer plains, to the smaller races of the higher mountains and and country. Be¬ 
sides the difference produced in the Sheep of Spain by varieties of climate and natural productions, the diversity of character in 
the animals may be supposed to have been increased by the different races introduced into it, Is/, fiom Asia, by the eaily Phoe¬ 
nician colonies; 2d, from Africa, by the Carthaginians, during their brief possession; 3d, from Italy, by the Romans, during their 
dominion of 600 ye’ars; and 4 th, again from Africa, by the Moors, who maintained a footing in the country for nearly eight cen¬ 
turies. The larger sheep of the plains have long wool, often coloured brown or black. The Sheep of the mountains, downs, 
and arid plains,” have short wool, of different degrees of fineness, and different colours. The most important of these latter 
breeds is the Merino, now the most esteemed and widely diffused of all the fine-woolled breeds of Europe. This race we shall 
have occasion to consider in the sequel, as having been partially naturalized in this country. 
Of the Sheep which have been established in the other parts of the continent of Europe, the varieties are exceedingly great. 
Their full history would be of much interest, not only as illustrating the natural history of the Sheep, but as throwing light on the 
early migrations and settlements of some of the ancient inhabitants of Europe. This extensive subject, however, could not be here 
entered upon. It must suffice to observe, that the greater part of the Sheep found in the west of Europe are of the long-tailed 
varieties, but that the short-tailed kinds have been cultivated by the Sclavonic nations, and have found their way to Scandinavia, 
and thence into the most northerly of the British Islands. The Sheep of the Celtic tribes seem to have been small in size, and 
covered with a soft wool, agreeing with examples existing in Wales, and, until a recent period, in the Highlands of Scotland. 
In Iceland and the extreme north of Europe are to be found polycerate Sheep covered with a shaggy fur. 
In the British Islands the races of Sheep present extraordinary diversities of size, form, and other characters, caused, it may 
be believed, in part, by a difference of descent, in part by the long-continued influence of climate, food, and other agencies, and in 
part by the'effects of breeding and artificial treatment. The first of the British breeds to be mentioned is of the Short-tailed 
variety, which is limited to the countries whose inhabitants are of Scandinavian and not of Celtic origin. 
