I was favoured with the drawings of two Wallachian Sheep[J] (fig. 24, 25.) by Mr. Colinson a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, whose horns are very different from ours, but I was never able to discover whether they were of the ordinary kind in Walachia or some accidental variety.
[J] The annexed representations were taken from two of these living animals, the property of Mr. Clark; and as the likeness was strongly attended to, will be found more correct than the drawings copied in the works of our author.
In Denmark, Norway, and in the northern part of Europe, the sheep are very indifferent; and it is customary there to improve the breed, to have rams frequently imported from England. In the islands near Norway the sheep are constantly left in the fields, and they are much larger and produce better wool than those who are attended by men. Pontopiddan asserts that those sheep which live in perfect liberty always sleep on that side of the island from whence the wind will blow the next day, and this is constantly attended to by the mariners.
The Iceland sheep have larger and thicker horns than the common sheep of these climates; some of them have four or five horns, but this is not common, and when they find any so ornamented, they are sent to Copenhagen and sold at a high price as great rarities.
THE GOAT.
Though the species of animals are all separated by an interval which Nature cannot overleap, yet some resemble others in so many respects that there seems only a necessary space to draw a line of separation. When we compare these neighbouring species, and consider them relatively to ourselves, some appear to be of the greatest utility, and others seem to be only auxiliary species, which might in many respects serve in the place of the former. Thus the ass might nearly supply the place of the horse, and the goat that of the sheep. The goat, like the sheep, furnishes both milk and suet in great abundance. Their hair, though coarser than wool, can serve the purpose of making very good cloth; their skins are more valuable than those of the sheep; and the flesh of a young kid nearly resembles that of lamb. These auxiliary species are wilder and more robust than the principals. The ass and the goat do not require near so much care as the horse and the sheep, for they every where find means of support, and browze equally on the most coarse as on the most delicate plants; they are less affected by the influence of the climate, and can do better without the aid of man; the less dependence they have on us, the more they seem to belong to Nature; and instead of considering these subordinate species as degenerations of the principal species; instead of looking on the ass as a degenerated horse; it might with more reason be said, the horse is an ass brought to perfection, and that the sheep is a more delicate kind of goat, which we have taken care of, brought to perfection, and propagated for our own use; and, in general, that the most perfect species, especially among domestic animals, take their origin from those wild and less perfect kinds which resemble them the most, as the powers of Nature are greatly augmented when united to those of man.
Although the goat is a distinct species, and possibly further removed from the sheep than the ass is from the horse, yet the buck will as willingly couple with the ewe as the he-ass with the mare; the ram with the she-goat in the same manner as the horse with the she-ass. But though these couplings happen very frequently, and are sometimes prolific, yet no intermediate species has been formed between the goat and the sheep. The two species are distinct, remaining at the same distance from each other; no change has been effected by the intermixture, no new or middle race has arisen therefrom; at most they have only produced individual differences, which have no influence on the unity of each primitive species, but, on the contrary, confirm the reality of their different characteristics.
There are, however, many cases in which we cannot distinguish these characters, nor pronounce on their differences with certainty: there are others in which we are obliged to suspend our opinions, and in a great number of others we have not the smallest ray of light for our guide; for, independent of the uncertainty arising from the contrariety of assertions respecting recorded facts, independent of the doubts resulting from the inaccuracy of those who have endeavoured to observe Nature, the greatest obstacle to the advancement of knowledge, is our ignorance of a great number of effects which time has not disclosed to us, and which can only be revealed to posterity by experience, and the most accurate observations; in the mean time we stray in darkness, perplexed between prejudices and probabilities, ignorant even of possibilities, and every moment confounding the opinions of men with the acts of Nature. Examples are in abundance; but, without quitting our subject, we know that the goat and the sheep couple together; though we are still to learn whether the mule from this commixture is sterile or fruitful. We are apt to conclude that mules in general, are barren, because those produced from the he-ass and mare, or the horse and she-ass, are sterile. But this opinion may have no foundation, since the ancients positively assert, that the mule produces at seven years old and that it can produce with the mare; they say also that the she-mule is capable of conception, but that she cannot bring her fruit to perfection. It is necessary therefore, to destroy or confirm the truth of these facts, since they obscure the real distinction of animals and the theory of their generation; and though we know distinctly the species of all the animals which surround us, yet we are ignorant what might be produced by an intermixture among themselves, or with foreign animals. We are but ill informed of the jumar, an animal said to be the produce of a cow and an ass, or a mare and a bull. We are also ignorant whether the zebra would not produce with the horse or the ass, or the broad-tailed Barbary ram with a common ewe; whether the chamois goat be any thing more than a common goat in a wild state, or whether an intermixture would not form an intermediate race; whether the monkeys are of different species, or, like that of the dog, it is one and the same, but varied by a great number of different breeds; whether the dog can produce with the fox and the wolf, the stag with the cow, &c. Our ignorance in most of these cases is almost invincible, and the experiments which would decide them require more time, care, and expence, than the life and fortune of most men can permit.
On the determination of these facts, however, depends our knowledge of animals, the exact distinction of their species, the intelligence of their genuine history and manner of treating them. But since we are deprived of knowledge so necessary, since it is not possible to proceed upon positive facts, we cannot do better than go step by step, to consider each animal individually, to look on those as different species who do not procreate together, and to write their history in separate articles, reserving for ourselves a power to unite or separate, as we shall acquire a more perfect knowledge from our own experience, or from that of others.
It is for this reason that though there are many animals which resemble the sheep and goat, we have taken notice of only the domestic kinds. We are ignorant whether foreign kinds would intermix and form new races with our common species; we are therefore authorized to consider them as distinct species, till it can be proved that these foreign kinds can procreate with the common and produce fertile individuals: this degree alone constituting the reality of what should be denominated species both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms.