THE SHEEP AND GOATS.[1]
Between the bearded Goat and the beardless Sheep there exist intermediate species, which so completely fill up the gaps that it is almost impossible to separate the two into different genera. With triangular, curved, and transversely-ridged horns in both sexes, a characteristic general appearance, and feet formed for mountain climbing, the species present differences which are recognised with facility.
With reference to the domestic Sheep, it is the opinion of most naturalists that it has descended from several distinct species. “Abel was a keeper of Sheep,” is a Biblical statement from which the immense antiquity of a domestic breed may be inferred, whose origin cannot be better studied than by a comparison of the different forms found wild in Asia, the head-quarters of the genus. That no Sheep existed in Australia when that continent was first discovered is a well-known fact.
“Endowed by nature,” as Mr. Spooner, in his work on the Sheep aptly puts it, “with a peaceable and patient disposition, and a constitution capable of enduring the extremes of temperature, adapting itself readily to different climates, thriving on a variety of pastures, economising nutriment where pasturage is scarce, and advantageously availing itself of opportunities where food is abundant,” it is not to be wondered at that the animal has become the companion of man from the earliest times.
The fleece of the wild species of Sheep is composed of hair with wool at its roots, in the same way that in the Duck there is a covering of feathers and down. In the domesticated species the hair, by selection, has been reduced to a minimum, so that the wool forms the only coat.
In the southern parts of Western Asia many of the Sheep have a curious tendency to the deposition of fat on the tail rather than under the skin of the body generally, and this may occur to such an extent that the thus loaded caudal appendage may contain a large part of the entire weight of the body.
The Astracan breed, of small size, has a fine spiral black and white wool, sometimes entirely black, which is obtained from the lamb when the finest furs are required.
Of all the breeds of Sheep the Merino of Spain is one of the most important, on account of the excellence of its wool. In England the breed can hardly be said to exist, because the dampness of the climate does not suit its constitution. It is extensively found in Germany, and is the Sheep of Australia. The animal is small, flat-sided, and long-legged. The males have long horns, these appendages being absent in the females. The face, ears, and legs are dark, and the forehead is woolly, at the same time that the skin about the throat is lax. The body-wool is close-set, soft, twisted in a spiral, and short.
In Great Britain the breeds of Sheep are very numerous, some of the best being of quite recent origin. First among the heavy breeds are the Dishley, or Improved Leicesters, which, from their early maturity, aptness to fatten, smallness of bone, and gentle disposition, well deserve the high repute in which they stand. It is to the persevering energy and acuteness of Mr. Bakewell that we are indebted for the present animal, which in origin is far from pure bred. His aim was entirely in the direction of the carcass, and in his object he and his followers have quite succeeded, notwithstanding an inherent delicacy in constitution and an inferiority of the wool. “The head of this breed,” we are told, “should be hornless, long, small, tapering towards the muzzle, and projecting horizontally forwards; the eyes prominent, and with a quiet expression; the ears thin, rather long, and directed backwards; the neck full and broad at its base, where it proceeds from the chest, but gradually tapering towards the head, and being particularly fine at the junction of the head and neck; the neck seeming to project straight from the chest, so that there is, with the slightest possible deviation, one continuous horizontal line from the rump to the poll; the breast broad and full; the shoulders also broad and round, and no uneven or angular formation where the shoulders join either the neck or the back, particularly no rising of the withers or hollow behind the situation of these bones; the arm fleshy through its whole extent, and even down to the knee; the bones of the leg small, standing wide apart, no looseness of skin about them, and comparatively bare of wool; the chest and barrel at once deep and round; the ribs forming a considerable arch from the spine, so as in some cases—and especially when the animal is in good condition—to make the apparent width of the chest even greater than the depth; the barrel ribbed well home; no irregularity of line on the back or the belly, but on the sides, the carcass very gradually diminishing in width towards the rump; the quarters long and full, and, as with the fore-legs, the muscles extending down to the hock; the thighs also wide and full; the legs of a moderate length; the pelt moderately thin, but soft and elastic, and covered with a good quantity of white wool, not so long as in some breeds, but considerably finer.”