|| ported breeds of Asia and Africa. 
of the British Islands present extraordinary di-” 
and possesses a wider connexion with the in- 
terests of husbandry, than at any former period. 
The names given to the domestic sheep in Bri- 
tain vary according to ‘sex, age, and other cir- 
cumstances. “The male,” says Mr. Youatt, “is 
called a ram or tup. While with his mother; he 
is denominated a tup or ram lamb, a heeder, and, 
| in some parts of the west of England, a pur lamb. 
From the time of weaning until he is shorn, he 
has a variety of names ; being called a hog, a hog- 
get, a hoggerel, a lamb hog, a tup hog, or a teg, and 
if castrated, a wether hog. After sheari ing, when 
probably he is a year and a half old, he is called 
a shearing, a shearling, a shear hee a diamond 
or dinmont ram or tup, and a shearling wether 
when castrated. After the second shearing, he 
is a two-shear ram or tup or wether ; at the ex- 
piration of another year, he is a three-shear ram, 
é&c.; the name always taking its date from the 
time of shearing. In many parts of the north of 
England and Scotland he is a tup lamb, after he 
is salved and until he is shorn, and then a tup 
hog, and after that a tup, or if castrated a din- 
mont or a wedder. The female is a ewe or gim- 
mer lamb until weaned, and then a gimmer hog, 
or ewe hog, or teg, or sheeder ewe. After being 
shorn, she is a shearing ewe or gimmer, some- 
times a theave or double-toothed ewe, or teg; 
and afterwards, a two-shear or three-shear, or a 
four or six-tooth ewe or theave. In some of the 
northern districts, ewes that are barren, or that 
have weaned their lambs, are called eild or yeld 
ewes.” 
The Varieties and Breeds of Domesticated Sheep. 
—The domesticated sheep of different countries 
present an almost endless diversity of form, size, 
fleece, and other characters ; and might, in con- 
sequence, be arranged into many groups, and 
distributed into almost innumerable varieties. 
|| Those of Asia comprise two grand classes,—the 
|| one with flat tails naked underneath, the other 
with long, round, wool-clothed tails,—both com- 
prising a great many kinds with widely different 
characters,—and the former including some re- 
markable varieties with enormous masses of fat 
either on the tail or on the haunches. Those of 
some parts of Africa, as in the north-east, are 
similar to some of the Asiatic races; these of 
other parts, as in the north-west and in Abys- 
| sinia and Congo, are peculiar, and comprise some 
| very large long-legged kinds ; and those of other 
parts, as in the vast regions of the interior, are 
ina great measure unknown, but are supposed 
to be more or less peculiar, and to comprise many 
varieties. Those of Hurope are amazingly diver- 
sified, and exhibit very marked indications of a 
mixed descent, and are generally supposed to 
have wholly or at least chiefly sprung from 
crosses and climatic modifications of the im- 
Even those 
versities of size, form, wool, habit, and other 
characters, and have Simard dbecended from 
SHEEP. 
183 
widely different and manifoldly commixed sources, 
and seem to exhibit, in no small degree, the 
effects of the prolonged influence of climate, 
food, and peculiar treatment, as well as the re- 
sults of systematic crossing and highly artificial 
management. We shall, in the sequel of this 
section, give a brief account, first of some of 
the most remarkable foreign breeds, and next of 
all the principal or well-defined British breeds 
The long-legged African sheep, which natively 
belongs to the coast of Guinea and to some other 
districts, is probably the largest and tallest of all 
the domestic varieties. It is 43 feet long and 
upwards of 3 feet high; and it resembles the 
wild musmon in outline of countenance and in 
general deficiency of wool. The chaffron is arched ; 
the ears are frequently pendant ; the neck is short ; 
the legs are remarkably long ; the tail reaches 
to the heels ; the skin of the throat is frequently 
pendant ; and the horns are generally short, and 
form not quite an entire circle round the ears. 
The colour varies from white to brown, black, 
and pied; and the covering comprises portions 
of wool on the croup, back, and flanks, but con- 
sists elsewhere of hair, which, on the nape of the’ 
neck and shoulders, assumes the form of a heavy 
mane hanging down to the breast. This animal 
was introduced to Europe by the Dutch, and 
naturalized in East Friesland. A cross of it 
with the common breed produced the Texel 
sheep or Mouton Flandrin, the ewe of which is 
remarkable for always producing several lambs 
every year, and whose wool, while possessing a 
certain degree of fineness, is of great length. 
The Morocco sheep has a somewhat near af- 
finity to the long-legged Guinea sheep, yet pos- 
sesses some decided characteristics of its own. 
The wool of it is long ; the hair on the neck is 
short, undulating, and of a rufous brown colour ; 
the ears are small and horizontal; the horns are 
small and turn spirally outwards ; the scrotum 
forms two separate sacs; and the general co- 
lour is white, with markings of liver-coloured 
brown. A specimen of this breed was at one 
time in the possession of the late Sir Joseph 
Banks. 
The Congo sheep is also akin to the hanellac 
ged Guinea sheep. Its proportions are similar ; 
but its flanks are hollower, its chaffron is great- 
ly arched, and some of its other characters are 
widely different. It is meagre and powerless ; 
and, instead of wool, is covered with loose hair, 
slightly lengthened beneath the throat. The 
horns are short, and turned back upon the neck ; 
the ears are pendulous ; the throat is wattled or 
pouched ; and the tail is very long, slender, and 
almost naked. The general colours of the fur are 
composed of large clouds of rufous coloured brown 
upon a white ground. The females are hornless. 
The Angola breed are better proportioned. 
The chaffron is scarcely arched ; the horns are 
small; and the wool, at least on those called 
Coquos, is finer and more abundant. ‘The others | 
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