40 
THE SHEEP. 
THE MERINO BREED. 
brought Sheep from Africa to improve the Spanish wool. It has been said, indeed, that we know of no race of African Sheep 
that produces wool resembling the Merino. Even if this were so, it would not invalidate the reasonable conclusions that may be 
drawn. The wool of the Sheep of Africa, like that of other warm countries, is mixed with hairs ; but underneath these hairs is a 
short and downy fleece, and it is easy to suppose that on such Sheep being transported to a colder country, the woolly portion would 
be more developed, so as to afford a covering to the animal; but, in truth, it is known that exceedingly fine wool is found in the north 
of Africa, though the races of Sheep that produce it have not been discriminated by travellers, and that there is a remarkable ten¬ 
dency in the Sheep of Africa to produce that copious oily secretion of the skin which distinguishes the Merino race from any other 
in Europe. The fine woollen fabrics of the Barbary States are known over all the countries of the Levant, and are one of the few 
manufactured productions which these long desolated countries export. It has been the opinion of many that the Merino Sheep of 
Spain have been derived from England. Stow, in his Chronicles, informs us that “ this yere” (namely, 1464,) “ King Edward IV. 
gave a license to pass over certain Cotteswolde Sheep into Spainand Baker says, “ King Edward IV. enters into a league with 
John King of Arragon, to whom he sent over a score of Costal ewes and four rams, a small present in show, but great in the 
event, for it proved of more benefit to Spain, and more detrimental to England, than could at first have been imagined.” From 
this slender incident it were idle to infer that the modern Merino owes its origin to the Sheep of England, though certainly the 
resemblance of the Dorset breed of England, and particularly of the variety termed the Pink-nosed Somerset, would seem to be 
sufficiently striking to give some countenance to the supposition. But the successor of King John of Arragon was Ferdinand, 
who married Isabella of Castile, and it was the minister of these Sovereigns who resorted to Africa for Sheep to improve the 
Spanish wool. Our early writers who assign an English derivation to the fine-woolled Sheep of Spain, were probably ignorant 
that already Spain was in possession of the best wool, and manufactured the finest woollen fabrics in Europe. Upon the whole, 
although authentic documents on the subject are wanting, there is a presumption that the Sheep of Africa were employed to 
perfect the Sheep of Spain with respect to the production of wool. The Merinos exhibit certain characters which seem to show 
them to have been derived from some country warmer than that in which they were naturalized, and it was during the dominion 
of the African possessors of the country that the wool of Spain arrived at its greatest excellence. 
Ihe Spanish Merino Sheep are of small size. The skin is of a reddish fleshy colour, and the wool is white, although black 
or dun sometimes appears on the legs, faces, and ears. The forehead is covered with a tuft of coarse wool, and coarse wool like¬ 
wise appears on the cheeks. The males have large spiral horns ; the females are usually destitute of horns. Both sexes have a 
certain looseness of skin under the throat, which is valued by the Spanish shepherds as indicative of a productive fleece. The legs 
are long, the sides flat, and the chest narrow. The fleece is altogether peculiar ; it is close, short, and unctuous, weighing, from 
these causes, more in proportion to its bulk than the fleece of any other known race of Sheep. From its closeness, it feels hard 
when compressed, but, on examination, the filaments are seen to be of extreme tenuity, and no wool has been found comparable to 
it for the property of felting. It is not annually renewed, but will continue to grow for several years. 
The Spanish Merino Sheep, when we regard them as animals to be fattened for human food, are of an inferior class. Their 
flesh is of indifferent quality, and they are of tender constitutions. The females are the worst nurses of any race of Sheep which 
inhabit Europe. So great is their defect in this respect, that in Spain half the lambs are killed in order that the ewes may be 
enabled to suckle the remainder, it being calculated by the Spanish shepherds that the milk of two ewes is required to bring up 
one lamb in a proper manner. Abortions are frequent, parturition is difficult, and the ewes are more apt to desert their offspring 
than any other Sheep which are known to us. In these respects the Merinos resemble the ancient Oves Molles of Italy, which 
were remarkable for the delicacy of their constitution, their voracity, unthriftiness, and inferior power of secreting milk. The 
same causes, it would appear, have produced the same effects. Attention having been mainly directed in both cases to the produc¬ 
tion of wool, the other properties were disregarded, of hardiness and the power of yielding fat and milk. 
The Spanish Merinos, although retaining a certain degree of wildness, are yet very docile in their tempers. No Sheep place 
themselves more unreservedly under the guidance of the shepherds; and although late in arriving at maturity, and difficult to be 
fattened, they are readily satisfied with dry and innutritious pastures. When put amongst other Sheep they keep together, 
generally on the higher grounds. At night they form themselves into a circle, the rams and stronger sheep being on the outside, 
retaining thus the instincts which they had acquired in their native habitation. They are incapable of bearing the same extremes 
of cold and wetness as the hardy Mountain Sheep of Northern Europe; and yet they do not seem to be peculiarly affected by 
changes of temperature, which doubtless their dense fleece enables them to resist. 
The Spaniards, who by degrees subdued the Moorish kingdoms, neglected tillage, and attended chiefly to their flocks and 
herds; and then it was that those immense sheep-walks seem to have been formed which cover so great a part of the country. 
Writers of the middle ages speak of the large flocks possessed by individuals, amounting to thirty or forty thousand each. Whether 
