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LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOJrLEDGE. 
 
 SHEEP 
 
 BREEDS, MANAGEMENT, AND DISEASES 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S 
 MANUAL 
 
 >^L,a+ U3ilU^ 
 
 Tin: I.EJCKSTER 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPEttlNTEN'DKNCIi OF 
 
 THE SOCIETY FOU THE DIFFUSION OF I'St-'FUI. KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 BALDWIN AND CRADOCK, PATERNOSTEIMIOW. 
 
 MUCCCXL. 
 
LONDON 
 
 Piiuted by William CLowEbuud Sons 
 
 Stamford Street. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The cultivation of the sheep and the manufacture of the fleece have, from 
 the earliest period of history, formed the most important branches of the 
 agriculture and the commerce of Great Britain. Many years did not pass 
 after the subjugation of our island by the Romans, ere the most valuable 
 and expensive woollen robes, and worn on days of ceremony alone, were 
 furnished by the British factories. The language of Dionysius Alexan- 
 drinus, quoted in the present volume, could be justified only on the sup- 
 position of very superior excellence : " The wool of Britain is often spun 
 so fine, that it is in a manner comparable to the spider's thread." 
 
 It was not in the larger factories alone that the conversion of the fleece 
 of the sheep into fabrics of various kinds was carried on ; this formed a 
 constant and a large portion of the domestic employment, and that not only 
 in the cottage, but in the palace. The mother and the sisters of that patriot 
 monarch, Alfred, whose name will be venerated as long as British liberty 
 remains, devoted much of their leisure time to the labours of the spinning- 
 vvheel. So universal, in fact, was this employment, and, consequently, so 
 numerous the animals from whom the material was obtained, and the 
 fabrics that were devoted to domestic use, that the sheep and its wool were 
 early and unequivocally acknowledged to be the foundation of the national 
 prosperity and wealth. Wool became the substitute for money. Did any 
 domestic contention exist, so many pounds of it were demanded from 
 each vassal — was any foreign enterprise attempted, the wool furnished the 
 sinews of war — or, was a monarch to be released from captivity, the ransom 
 was calculated by the number of sacks of wool. In all the middle periods 
 of British history, the fleece was the expression and the measure of national 
 prosperity or calamity. 
 
 If, in process of time, other branches of commerce should be opened, and 
 particularly the introduction of the silk manufacture begin in some measure 
 to lessen the demand for woollen goods, and the establishment of the cotton 
 trade cause a complete revolution in the consumption and the value of 
 the staple commodity of the kingdom, still the sheep and its fleece are 
 objects of paramount importance. No fewer than 32,000,000 of these 
 useful animals graze on our pastures. Exclusive of the value of the carcase, 
 that of the fleece alone cannot be less than seven millions of pounds ster- 
 ling, employing nearly 350,000 individuals, and ultimately yielding manu- 
 factures to the amount of at least twenty-one millions of pounds annually. 
 
 The recollection and the deep impression of these things must be 
 pleaded, if apology is necessary, as an excuse for the laboured detail, given 
 
 A 2 
 
•^ PREFACE. 
 
 ill this volume, of the history of tlie sheep from the earliest period to tlie 
 present 'lay — and also for the minuteness with which the different qualiiies 
 of the fleece and the different manipulations of the manufacture have been 
 described. 
 
 To the discovery of the serrated construction of the fibre of wool, so 
 beautifully explaining its felting property, the author does beg leave to 
 assert his unequivocal claim. More than one physiologist had main- 
 tained that a structure like this would best account for the property of 
 felting ; but the author of this work was the first who had seen and given 
 ocular demonstration of its existence, and of the increasing number and 
 firmness of the serrations in j)roportion to the felting property of the wool 
 on the one hand, and their decrease in development and in number where 
 that quality failed. The microscope of Mr. Powell fully and fairly brought 
 this out. It was one of extraordinary power. In other microscopes which 
 the author has had especially constructed, the serrated edge remains, but not 
 that difference of serration vviiich would enable the examiner to pronounce 
 unhesitatingly arid accurately on the character of the wool. He pledges 
 himself, however, to follow up the inquiry — an inquiry which will be suc- 
 cessfully pursued by some observer at no distant time ; and, when he is 
 enabled honestly to do so, he will publish a collection of the microscopic 
 appearances of different wools, with an especial regard to their felting and 
 manufacturing qualities. 
 
 The medical treatment of sheep is comparatively a new subject. The 
 author has to acknowledge many very important communications from old 
 and valued friends. He does flatter himself that some addition has been 
 made to the stock of veterinary knowledge as it regards this animal ; and 
 he trusts that the time is not far distant when- the good common sense of 
 the British Farmer, and the determination of a wise and patriotic govern- 
 ment, will cause a knowledge of the diseases, and general management of 
 these useful animals, to form a prominent object in the education of the 
 veterinary surgeon. 
 
 W. YOUATT, 
 Jime 15M, 183". 
 
Preface 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Chapter I.— THE ZOOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE SHEEP. 1 
 
 The different names applied to it according to its age — The marks by which its age 
 may ^e ascertained — The natural duration of its life — Description of the teeth. 
 
 Chapteu II.— THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE SHEEP. 6 
 
 The antediluvian sheep — The offering of Abel — The flesh not at first used for food, but 
 onlythemilk — The skins of sheep ustd for dress — Early imprnvement of sheep — The first 
 wanderini^ shepherds — The covering; of the tent made of the fle.ce — Felting — After the 
 flood, the sheep used as food — Description of the ancient Patriarchs — The peregrina- 
 tions of the Arabs — Their numerous flocks — Their hospitality — The old wells — Jacob 
 and Laban — The flocks tended by women — The first great improvement of the sheep- — 
 The progress cf improvement — The original breed, horned — The original breed, probably 
 the fat-rumped sheep — The present Tartarian sheep — The Aby^-sinian fat-rumped sheep 
 — ^^The parts of the sheep used in sacrifice — Management of the primitive sheep — The 
 occasional want of water — Wild beasts — The ancient dog — The shepherd's command 
 over his flock — Music — Humanity of the shepherds — The ancient sheep-shearyig — 
 Cotting the sheep — Weaving, the employment of the women — Embroidery' — Tithes — 
 The breed of Bashan — The male only eaten — Manner of cooking — Castration — The 
 milk of the sheep — Comparison of difi'ereiit kinds of milk — Old manufacture of cheese 
 — Polyphemus — Arab ewe milk, butter and cheese — British ditto — Objections to ewe- 
 milking — Under what circumstances allowed — The Iceland ewe-milking — French ewe- 
 niilk cheese. 
 
 Chaptbu III.— THE SKIN AND THE WOOL. . . 52 
 
 The structure of the skin — Value of the pelt — Anatomy of the wool — Differenee be- 
 tween wool and hair — Wool-bearing animals — The first sheep probably hairy — The 
 gradual change from hair to wool — The yolk — The periodical fall of the wool and hair 
 — The form of the fibre of wool — The wuolstapler — The propevties of wool — Fineness 
 — The influence of climate, temperature, and pasture — Trutness — Suundness — Soft- 
 ness — Elasticity — Colour — Felting pri;perties — The spirally-curling form of wool — 
 The felting properties resumed — Theories of felling — A glimpse of the true principle 
 — Microscopic appearance of hair and wool — Discover}' of the irregular surface of W(>ol 
 — The first public view of the serrated ed;;e of wool— Comparison of this serrated edge 
 with the felting properties of particular wools — The serrated edge of different wools — 
 The Saxony — The South Down — The Leicester — The advantage of this microscopic 
 study of the wool — Other wool-bearing animals — The rabbit — The seal — The bear — 
 The wolf-dog — The tiger — The difference between wool, hair, and fur — The divisions 
 of wool — Long wool — Middle wool— Short wool — The manufacturing uses of wool — 
 Table of the importation of \v. ol into Great Britain — The scribbler — The carder — Felt- 
 ing — Finishing — Combing — The difference between the woollen and the worsted 
 manufactorj' — The anticipated improvement. 
 
 Chapter IV.— THE FOREIGN BREED OF SHEEP. . 108 
 
 Models— The skeleton of the sheep— The new Leicester- The South Down— The Che- 
 viot — The Fat-Taxi. ED Sheep — The Egyptian — The Ethiopian— The Abyssinian — 
 The Madagascar — Tlie Cape — History of the establishment of the sheep colony at the 
 Cape — The Angola sheep — The Guinea — The Bearded — Baubary — Fezzan — Mo- 
 rocco — The Tunis sheep in America — The Fat-tailed sheep in England — The Asiatic 
 sheep — Thibet — East-Indian — Dkccan — Ceylon — Javanese — Chinese — Tartarian 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 — The Asiatic Aiiqam — The American ditto — The Moufi.on or Musman — Nokth 
 Amekican sheep — West India — South American. 
 
 Chapter V.—THE EUROPEAN SHEEP. . Page 136 
 
 The Russian sheep — Ouessa wool — The W ai.i.aciiian sheep — Its wool — The Mol- 
 davian sheep — The Moravian — The Greek — The Cyprus — Sicilian — Italian — Pied- 
 montese — Savoy — Swiss — Spanish — The origin of the Spanish sheep — The divisions 
 of them — The present Merinos — Character of the wool — Original management of — 
 Account of their migrations — Shearing — Cuts of the wool — The Swedish sheep — The 
 French sheep — The Paris market — French wool — The Rarabouillet ilock — The Alfort 
 flock — The Norwegian sheep — The Danish — The Feroe — The Iceland — The Azores 
 — The Saxon — The introduction and establishment of the Merinos in Saxony — The 
 Prussian — The Silesian — The Hungarian — The Hanoverian — The Flemish and 
 Dltch — The introduction of the Merinos into Britain — The difficulties to be con- 
 tended with — The first sale — The Merino society — The decay of the Anglo-Merinos — 
 The Merinos in Ireland — The New South Wales sheep — History of the establishment 
 of the colony — Cuts of the wool — Western and Southern Australia — The Van Diemen's 
 Land sheep — Cuts of the wool. 
 
 Chapter VI.— A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH 
 
 SHEEP AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. . . 192 
 
 The early commerce of the Britons — They traded in skins — The probably aboriginal 
 Vireed — Tlie first woollen manufactory — Probably the short wool principally used in it — 
 First mention of the price of a sheep — Spinning of wool, the employment even of the 
 royal family — The extirpation of wolves — The woollen manufacture under the Normaa 
 kings — Under Stephen — The establishment of guilds — The ransom of Richard I. paid 
 in wool — Woollen dressers or dealers — The exportation of British cloth — The wool- 
 stapler — The merchant-strangers — The merchant-adventurers — Improvement of the 
 manufacture under Edward III. — The prices of the different wools in 1341 — The change 
 in the character of the British wool — Present of wool to the king of Portugal — Intro- 
 duction of the hilk manufacture — British sheep exported to Flanders — The degradation 
 of the fleece under Henry VIII. — The smallness of the sheep at this time — The enclo- 
 sure of waste grounds — The revival of the wool trade under Elizabeth — Change in the 
 character of the manufacture — The Turkish company — The inventor of the stocking- 
 frame — ^Tlie East-Iadia Company — Decline of the manufacture under the Stuarts — 
 The number of sheep at different periods — The revival of the trade — The gradually 
 altered character of the wool — The consequence of this-^-The establishment of the 
 cotton manufacture — The present state of the woollen trade. 
 
 Chapter VII.— THE MIDDLE-AVOOLLED BREED OF SHEEP. . 231 
 
 The South Downs — Description and management of — The wool — the gradual 
 change in — Its increased value — The Kentish sheep — The Surrey, Bkrksiiire, 
 Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Wiltshire — Cut of the Wiltshire wool — The Merinos 
 still in England— The Dorset — Management of early Lambs — The Devon sheep — 
 The Cornish, Sombrset, Gloucester, Monmouth, Hyeland, — Cut of the Ryeland 
 ,vool — The Worcester sheep, Shropshire, Staffordshirr, Cheshire, Glamorgan, 
 Brecknock, Caermarthen, Pembroke, Cardigan, Radnor, Anqlesea, Caernarvon, 
 Merioneth, Montgomery, Lancaster, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Northumber- 
 land, Scottish — The Black-faced Cheviot — Comparative value of the Cheviot and 
 Black-faced sheep — A storm in the Highlands — Comparative losses by storms— The 
 advantages of Stells — The necessity of smearing — Various crosses of the Cheviots — 
 Cuts of Cheviot wool — A sketch of the mountain sheep— Farming — The Arran sheep — 
 The IsLAY — The Java — The Hebrides — The Orkney Islands — The Shetland — Isle 
 OK Man — Yorkshire — The Midland Counties — The Norfolk. 
 
 Chapter VIIL— THE LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS OF SHEEP. . 312 
 
 The Old Leicesters— The New Leicesters — Early History of them — Mr. Bake- 
 well's plan— The system of ram-lettiiig — The Dishley society — Mr. Pagi-t's sale — Com- 
 parison of the Leicesters with other breeds — Their influence on other breeds — The 
 revolution which they have effected — Sketch of the Messrs. Cniley in the north — The 
 TuESWATERS — The Lincoln sheep — Cuts of the modern Lincoln wool — The Romnev 
 Marsh sheep— The South-Ham Notts — The Bamptons— The Cotswold — The 
 Midland Long-woolled Sheep — Luccock and Hubbard's tables of the change of 
 British wool. 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 Page 
 Chapter IX.— THE IRISH SHEEP. . . ,346 
 
 Early history of the Irish sheep — The complete change which has been effected — 
 Description of the modern wool — Irish maiiufactures — Description of the sheep in each 
 ^ county— The Kilkenny sheep — The WicKi.ow sheep — The wool fair at Rathdrura — 
 The Galway sheep — Ballinasloe fair. 
 
 Chapter X.— THE ANATOMY, DISEASES, AND GENERAL MANAGE- 
 MENT OF THE SHEEP, THE SENSORIAL FUNCTION. . 361 
 
 The brain and spinal cord — The skull — Horns — Comparison bi^ween the horned and 
 polled sheep — The bot in the sinuses of the head — The proper form of the head — The im- 
 portance of this — Swelled head — The intelligence of tlie sheep — Their attachment to each 
 other — Fracture of the skull — Hydatid on the brain — Comparison of the diiferent opera- 
 tions — Water in the head — Abscess in the brain — Apoplexy — Inflammation of the brain 
 — Diseases of the spinal cord — Locked jaw — Epilepsy — Palsy — Rabies, or madness — 
 The acute sense of smell — Description of the eyes — Importance of the examination of the 
 eyes — Soreness of the lids — Falling of'the eye-lashes— Watery tumours — Inflanimaiion 
 of the eyes — Adhesion of the lids to the eyes — Larkspurring — Cataract — Gutta serena 
 — Blindness — The sense of hearing — The different form and direction of the ears in 
 the different breeds — Supposed importance of the form of the ear — Ulceration of the 
 ear, and particularly as connected with the fly — The acute sense of taste. 
 
 Chapter XL— THB DIGESTIVE FUNCTION. . . 410 
 
 The peculiar form of the lips — Teeth only in the lower jaw — The intention of this — 
 Blain, or inflammation of the tongue — Aptha or thrush in the mouth — The glands of 
 the mouth — The construction of the palate — Description of the mouth — The proper form 
 of the neck — The gullet — Obstruction in it — The proper form of the chest aud belly — 
 The stomach — The paunch or first stomach — Its construction — The reticulum or honey- 
 comb — The process of rumiuation — Distension of the stomach with food — Hoove or 
 distension of it with gas — Puncture of the paunch — place of puncture — Proper medicmes 
 and treatment — Poisoning — Concretions in the paunch — Inflammation of the paunch — 
 Loss of cud — Singular construction of the maniplus — Diseases of this stomach — The 
 abomasum or fourth stomach — Diseases of it — Bezoars or calculi in the abomasum — The 
 spleen — Enlargement and fatal diseases of it — The pancreas — The liver — Description of 
 it — Nature and use of the bile — Diseases of the liver — The rot — Dreadful mortality 
 occasioned by it — Has existed from time immemorial — Symptons of — The liver the 
 principal organ affected — Description of the fluke-worm — Cause of the rot — Connected 
 with the soil and state of pasturage, more especially with breathing the miasmata from 
 decomposing vegetables — The animal iufected in a moment — Strange accounts 
 of this — The circumstances and seasons most favourable to its development — The 
 grand prevention is the drainage of the land — The great care that should be taken in 
 that drainage — The treatment — Removal — Dry food — The administration of common 
 sail — The rot in Egypt — Structure and function of the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, 
 coccum, colon, and rectum — Value of sheep's dung — The question of folding — Acute 
 dropsy or redwater — The nature and treatment of— Diseases of the small intestines — 
 Colic — Strangulation or gut-tie — Introsusception — Enteritis — Diarrhoea — Dyseniery — 
 Constipation. 
 
 Chapter XIL— THE ABSORBENT SYSTEM. . . 472 
 
 Description and function of the lacteals — The mesenteric glands — The lymphatics — 
 Tumours of different kinds. 
 
 Chaptrr XIIL— the CIRCULATORY SYSTEM. . . 474 
 
 Description of the heart and its action. The cord in the ventricle. The bone of 
 the heart — Sharp substances often work their way into the heart — Tlie arteries — The 
 pulse — The capillaries — Inflammation aud fever — Inflammatory fever — Malignant 
 inflammatory fever — La maladie Sologne — Typhus fever — The veins — Rules for bleed- 
 ing — The proper places for it. 
 
 Chapter XIV — THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. . . 484 
 
 The change in the blood during respiration — The respiratory passages — Nasal dis 
 charge — Glanders 'n sheep — Strangles — The os hyoides — The riiechanism of the larynx 
 
vHi CONTENTS. 
 
 - The thyroid glands — The windpipe — Catarrh — Laryngitis — Bronchitis — Acute 
 inflammation of the lungs — Consumption — Epidemic diseases — Description of a dread- 
 ful epidemic in New South Wales. 
 
 Chapter XV.— BREEDING— THE GENERATIVE AND 
 
 URINARY SYSTEMS . . . Page 493 
 
 The grand principles of breeding — The importance of getting rid of every faulty 
 sheep — The principle of selection, with cautious admixture — Proper age of the ewe for 
 breeding — Best time for lambinij^ — Time for putting the ram with the ewes — Period 
 of pregnancy — Management of the ewe during pregnancy — Abortion — The immediate 
 preparation for lambing — Duties of the lamber — Natural labour — FaUe presentations — ■ 
 The Caesarian operation — Inversion of the womb — Inflammation of ditto — After-pains 
 — Monstrosities — (are of the lambs — Affection of the ewe — Substitute lamb — After- 
 care of the lambs — Twins — Cuckoo and gull lambs — Castration — Docking — Garget — 
 Spaying — Weaning — Diseases of lambs — Diarrhoea — Curdling of the milk — Costive- 
 ness — Fever — Sorting of the lambs. 
 
 Chapter XVI.— THE LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS . 5il 
 
 Difference in the quantity of hone — Fractures — Swelling of the joints — llhtuniatisin 
 — Strains — Diseases of the foot — Disease of the biflex canal and fetlock joints — Foot- 
 rot — Cause —Progress — Treatment — Highly contagious — Satisfactory experiments of 
 this. 
 
 Chapter XVII— THE INTEGUMENT, . . 535 
 
 The structure of the skin — Little cutaneous perspiration — Little radiation of animal 
 heat — Infectious diseases not readily communicite^ — The scab or rubbers — Spread by 
 means of the rubbing places — Produced by insects — Cuts of them — Produced also by 
 neglect — Method of cure— Erysipelatous scab — Wililfire — Ignis sacer — Lice and ticks 
 — Metliod of destroyini,' them — Ihe fly — Sheep-sliearing— The washing — The operation 
 itself — The cruelty of shearing fat sheep early in the spring — Salving or smearing — 
 The question of it — Its absolute necessity in cold and exposed situations. 
 
 Chapter XVIII.— THE GRASSES AND FATTENING OF SHEEP. 549 
 
 The system of sheep-feeding — The general inattention to the comparative nutritive 
 qualities of the different grasses — Mr. Sinclair's experiments on them — The sweet- 
 scented vernal grass — Meadow foxtail — Smooth and rough stalked and short blue mea- 
 dow — Sheep, Welsh — Hard and meadow fescue — Hound-headed cocksfoot — Narrow- 
 leaved and fertile meadow — Rye-crested dogtail — Yellow-oat and meadow — t'at"s-iail 
 grass — Bent's mangel-wurzel — Potatoes — Peas — Barley — Oil-cake— Corn — Hay. 
 
 Chapter XIX.— A LIST OF THE DRUGS USED IN THE TREAT- 
 MENT OF THE DISEASES OF SHEEP. . . 554 
 
 Alcohol — Aloes — Alteratives — Alum — Aniimony — Arsenic — Calamine — Camphor — 
 Catechu — Chalk — Corrosive sublimate — Digitalis — Epsom salts — Gentian— (linger 
 — Iodine — Lead — Lime — Linseed oil — Mercury — Calomel — Nitrate of silver — Nitre 
 — Opium — Salt — Sulphur — Tar — Spirit of tar — Turpentine — Oil and spirit of ditto- 
 Zinc. 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL, 
 
SHEEP. 
 
 Chaptf.r I. 
 
 The Zoological Character of the Sheep — The different Names applied to it according 
 to its Age — The Marks by which its Age maj- be ascertained, and the natural Dura- 
 tion of its Life — Description of the Teeth. 
 
 The Sheep, according to Cuvier*, belongs to the Order Ruminantia ; 
 having teeth in the lower jaw only, opposed to a callous substance in the 
 upper jaw ; six molar teeth on either side, and the joint of the lower jaw 
 adapted for a grinding motion ; four stomachs, and these, with the oesopha- 
 gus, so constructed that the food is returned for the purpose of rumination ; 
 long intestines not cellated : 
 
 — the Tribe Caprid.e ; tlie horns, where they are found, being perma- 
 nent ; placed on a vascular bony basis or process ; the horny sheath receiv- 
 ing its increase by annual ringlets at the base, forming deep sulci around the 
 horn, with others as deep running longitudinally, and dividing the surface of 
 the horn into a succession of irregularities or knots. The general structure 
 light, and adapted for springing or swiftness ; the ears usually erect and 
 funnel-shaped ; the pupils of the eye oblong, and there not being any canine 
 teeth in the mouth: 
 
 — the Genus Ovis ; with or without horns, and these, where present, 
 taking more or less a spiral direction ; the forehead or outline of the face 
 convex ; no lacrymal or respiratory opening under the eye ; the nostrils 
 lengthened and terminating without a muzzle ; no beard ; the body 
 covered with short close hair with a downy wool beneath, and, in a do- 
 mestic state, the wool prevailing over the hair, or quite superseding it ; 
 the legs slender, yet firm, and without brushes or callosities. 
 
 Of these there are three varieties : the Ovis Ammon, or Argali ; the Ovis 
 Musmon, or Musmon ; and the Ovis Aries, or Domestic Sheep. The two 
 first will be described in a future chapter, the last will form the principal 
 subject of this work. 
 
 There is considerable resemblance between the ovis or sheep, and the 
 capra or goat, another genus of the tribe Capridee, the history and uses 
 of which will be described in the after part of this volume. The distinctions 
 between them are chiefly these : many sheep are without horns ; the horns 
 of sheep have a spiral direction, while those of the goat have a direction 
 upwards and backwards ; the forehead of sheep is convex, and that of the 
 goat concave ; the sheep has, except in one wild variety, nothing resem- 
 bling a beard, but the goat is bearded ; while the goat, in his highest 
 state of improvement, and when he is made to produce wool of a fineness 
 unequalled by the sheep, as in the Cashmere breed, is mainly, and always 
 externally, covered with hair, the hair on the sheep mav, bv domestication, 
 
 ♦ Animal Kingdom, Synopsis, 
 
2 SHEEP. 
 
 be reduced to a few kemps (coarse hairs), or got rid of altogether ; and 
 finally, the pelt or skin of the goat has a thickness very far exceeding that 
 of the sheep. 
 
 Agriculturists have applied different names to the sheep according to 
 its sex and age. 
 
 The male is called a ram or tup. While he is with the 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 his weaning, and until he is 
 shorn, he has a variety of names : he is called a hog, a hogget, a hoggerel, 
 a lamb-hog, a tup-hog, or a teg ; and, if castrated, a wether hog. After 
 shearing, when probably he is a year and a half old, he is called a. shearing, 
 a shearling, a shear-hog, a diamond or dinmont ram, or tup ; and a shear- 
 ing wether, &c., when castrated. After the second shearing he is a two- 
 shear ram, or tup, or wether; at the expiration of another year he is a 
 three-shear ram, &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 tvp-lamb 
 after he is salved, and until he is shorn, and then a tup-hog, and, after that, a 
 tnp^ or if castrated, a dinmont or a wedder. 
 
 The female is a ewe, or gimmer lamb, until weaned ; and then a gimmer 
 hog, or ewe hog, or teg, or sheedei- ewe. After being shorn she is a shearing 
 ewe or gimmer, sometimes a iheave, or double- toothed ewe or teg; and 
 afterwards, a two-shear, or three-shear, or a. four or six-tooth ewe or iheave. 
 In some of the northern districts, ewes that are barren, or that have weaned 
 their iambs, are called eild or yeld ewes. 
 
 The age of sheep is not reckoned from the time that they are 
 dropped, but from the first shearing, although the first year may thus 
 include fifteen or sixteen months, and sometimes more. 
 
 When there is doubt about the age, of a sheep, recourse is had to the 
 teeth, for there is even more uncertainty about the horn in horned sheep 
 than there is in cattle; and ewes that have been early bred from, will always, 
 according to the rings on the horn, appear a year older than others that, 
 although of the same age, liave been longer kept from the ram. 
 
 It has already been stated, that sheep have no teeth in the upper jaw, 
 but the bars or ridges of the palate thicken as they approach the fore part 
 of the mouth ; there also the dense, fibrous, elastic matter of which they 
 are constructed, becomes condensed, and forms a cushion or bed that covers 
 the convex extremity of the upper jaw, and occupies the place of the upper 
 incisor or cutting teeth, and partially discharges their function. The herb- 
 age is firmly held between the front teeth in the lower jaw and this pad, and 
 thus partly bitten, and partly torn asunder. The nodding motion of the 
 head of the sheep is a sufficient proof of this. 
 
 This animal is one of those especially destined to support man with his 
 flesh ; and that he may be able to do this with the least possible expendi- 
 ture of food, and to extract the whole of the nutriment which the herbage 
 contains, a provision common to all ruminants (as will hereafter be more 
 fully explained) is made in the construction of the stomachs, and other 
 parts of the digestive apparatus. As the first process by which the food 
 is prepared for digestion, it is macerated for a considerable time in the 
 paunch. The frequent and almost necessary consequence of the long con- 
 tinuance of the food in this stomach, exposed to the united influence of heat 
 and moisture, will be the commencement of fermentation and decom- 
 position, and the extrication of a considerable quantity of injurious gas. 
 This often takes place, and many sheep are destroyed by the distension of 
 the paunch caused by this extrication of gas. The process of fermentation 
 
THE TEETH, 3 
 
 and decomposition is accompanied by the presence or development of 
 an acescent principle. It has been stated that an elastic pad occupies the 
 place of teeth in the upper jaw ; and that it is by a half biting and half 
 tearing action that the sheej) gathers his food : the necessary consequence 
 is, that some of the grass, of harder construction than the rest, does not 
 give way, but is torn up by the roots ; a portion of the mould adheres to 
 tlie roots, and is swallowed, and, all our soils containing more or less 
 absorbent or calcareous earth, the acid is neutralized, and, as it were, 
 removed, as rapidly as it is formed ; except in some extreme cases, attri- 
 butable almost entirely to the neglect or thoughtlessness of the proprietor 
 of the sheep. 
 
 The teeth of the sheep are the same in number as in the mouth of the 
 ox. There are eight incisor or cutting teeth in the fore part of the lower 
 jaw, and six molars in each jaw above and below, and on either side. The 
 incisors are more admirably formed for the purpose of grazing than in the 
 ox. The sheep bites closer than the ox ; he was destined to live where the 
 other would starve : he was designed in many places to follow the other, 
 and to gather sufficient nourishment where the" ox would be unable to croj) 
 a single blade. Two purposes are answered by this : all the nutriment 
 that the land ])roduces is gathered from it, and the pasture is made to pro- 
 duce more herbage than by any other means it could be forced lo do. The 
 sheep by his close bite not only loosens the roots of the grass, and dis- 
 poses them to spread, but by cutting off the short suckers and sproutings, 
 — a wise provision of nature — causes the plant to throw out fresh, and more 
 numerous, and stronger ones, and thus improves and increases the value 
 of the crop. Nothing will more expeditiously or effectually make a thick 
 permanent pasture than its being occasionally and closely eaten down by 
 sheep. 
 
 In order to enable the sheep to bite thus close, the upper lip is deeply 
 divided, and free from hair about the centre of it. 
 
 The stalks of the common herbage of the field, bitten thus closely as 
 they are by the sheep, are harder and more fibrous than the portions that 
 are divided and cropped by cattle ; and not only so, but some breeds of 
 sheep are destined to live, in part at least, on harder food than falls to the 
 lot of cattle, as the different kinds of heath, or substances almost as diffi- 
 cult to be broken off as the branches of the heath. The incisor teeth are 
 evidently formed for browsing on these dense productions of the soil, which 
 would otherwise be altogether useless and lost. The part of the tooth 
 above the gum is not only, as in other animals, covered with enamel to 
 enable it to bear and to preserve a sharpened edge, but the enamel on 
 the upper part rises from the bone of tlie tooth nearly a quarter of an 
 inch, and, presenting a convex surface outwards, and a concave one 
 within, forms a little scoop or gouge capable of wonderful execution. lie 
 who will take the trouble to compare together the incisor teeth of cattle 
 and of sheep — both ruminants — both by means of the half-cutting and half- 
 tearing action having the stomach, in which the process of maceration is 
 going forward, abundantly supplied with absorbent or alkaline earth — the 
 one, however, destined to crop little more than the summit of the erass, 
 and the other to go almost close to the roots, and occasionally to browse 
 on harder food — will have a not uninteresting illustration of the manner in 
 which every part of every animal is adapted to the situation in which he is 
 placed, and the destiny he is to fulfd. The pad also is firmer and denser 
 than in cattle, yet sufficiently elastic, so that it is in no danger of injury 
 from the sharp chisels below, while the interposed substance is cut through 
 with the greatest ease. 
 
 £2 
 
SHEEP. 
 
 Tlie mouth of the lamb newly dropped is either without incisor teeth, or 
 
 it has two. The teeth rapidly succeed to each other, and before the 
 
 animal is a month old he has the whole of the eight. They continue to 
 
 grow with his growth until he is about fourteen or sixteen months old. 
 
 1m«. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 
 
 Fig. 4. Fig. 5, Fig. 6. 
 
 In the accompanying cut, fig. 1 will give a fair representation of the mouth 
 of a sheep at this age. Then, with the same previous process of diminution 
 which was described in cattle, or carried to a still greater degree, the two 
 central teeth are shed, and attain their full growth when the slieep is two 
 years old. Fig. 2 gives a delineation of the mouth at this age. 
 
 In examining a flock of sheep, however, there will often be very con- 
 siderable difference in the teeth of the hogs, or the one-shears ; in some 
 measure to be accounted for by a difference in the time of lambing, and 
 likewise by the general health and vigour of the animal. There will also 
 be a material difference in different flocks, attributable to the good or bad 
 keep which they have had. 
 
 Those fed on good land, or otherwise well kept, will take the start of 
 others that have been half-starved, and renew their teeth some months 
 sooner than these. There are, however, exceptions to this ; Mr. Price * 
 says that a Romney Marsh teg was exhibited at the show fair at Ashford, 
 weighing 15 stones f, and the largest ever sliovvn there of that breed, and 
 that had not one of his permanent broad teeth. 
 
 There are also irregularities in the times of renewing the teeth, not to be 
 accounted for by either of these circumstances ; in fact, not to be accounted 
 for by any known circumstance relating to the breed or the keep of the 
 sheep. The same author remarks, that he has known tups have four broad 
 and permanent teeth, when, according to their age, they ought to liave had 
 but two X- Mr. Culley, in his excellent work on ' Live Stock,' says — " A 
 friend of mine and an eminent breeder, Mr. Charge, of Cleashy, a few 
 years ago showed a shearing-tup at Richmond, in Yorkshire, for the pre- 
 mium given by the Agricultural Society there, which had six broad teeth ; 
 in consequence of which the judges rejected his tup, although confessedly 
 the best sheep, because they believed him to be more than a shearing : 
 however, Mr. Charge afterwards proved to their satisfaction that his tup 
 was no more than a shearing §." Mr. Price, on the other hand, states that 
 he "once saw a yearling wether, which became quite fat with only one 
 tooth, that had worked a cavity in the upper jaw, the corresponding 
 central tooth having been accidentally lost." 
 
 * Price on Sheep Grazing, &c., p. 84. , , 
 
 f The weights will all be calculated according to the new regulation of 14 lbs. to tlie 
 stone. 
 
 I Price on Sheep Grazing, &c.. p. ^3. V ^l'- P- 21-1- 
 
THE AGE AS INDICATED BY THE TEETH. 5 
 
 The want of improvement in sheep which is occasionally observed, and 
 which cannot be accounted for by any deficiency or change of food, may 
 sometimes be justly attributed to the tenderness of the mouth wlien the 
 permanent teeth are protruding through the gums. 
 
 Between two and three years old the two next incisors are shed ; and 
 when the sheep is actually three years old the four central teeth are fully 
 grown (see fig. 3) : at four years old he has six teeth fully grown (see fig. 
 4) : and at five years old all the teeth are perfectly developed (see fig. 6). 
 This is one year before the horse or the ox can be said to be full-mouthed. 
 The sheep is a much shorter lived animal than the horse, and does not 
 often attain the usual age of the ox. 
 
 The careless examiner may sometimes be deceived with regard to the 
 four-year-old mouth. He will see the teeth perfectly developed — no dimi- 
 nutive ones at the sides, and the mouth apparently full ; and then, without 
 giving himself the trouble of counting tlie teeth, he will conclude that the 
 sheep is five years old. A process of displacement, as well as of diminu- 
 tion, has taken place here, — the remaining outside milk-teeth are not only 
 shrunk to less than a fourth part of their original size, but the four-year-old 
 teeth have grown before them and perfectly conceal them, unless the 
 mouth is completely opened. Fig. 5 represents this deceptive appearance. 
 
 After the permanent teeth liave all appeared and are fully grown, there 
 is no criterion as to the age of the sheep. In most cases the teeth remain 
 sound for one or two years, and then, at uncertain intervals, either on 
 account of the hard work in which they have been employed, or from the 
 natural effect of age, they begin to loosen and fall out ; or, by reason of 
 their natural slenderness, they are broken off. When favourite ewes 
 that have been kept for breeding begin, at six or seven years old, to lose 
 condition, their mouths should be carefully examined. If any of the teeth 
 are loose tliey should be extracted, and a chance given to the animal to 
 show how far, by browsing early and late, slie may be able to make up for 
 the diminished number of her incisors. It will not unfrequcntly happen 
 that ewes with broken teeth, and some with all the incisors gone, will keep 
 pace in condition with the best in the flock ; but they must be well takca 
 care of in the winter, and, indeed, nursed to an extent that would scarcely 
 answer the farmer's purpose to adopt as a general rule, in order to prevent 
 them from declining to such a degree as would make it very difficult after- 
 wards to fatten them for the butcher. It may certainly be taken as a 
 general rule that when sheep become broken-mouthed they begin to decline. 
 
 It will probably appear, when the subjects of breeding and grazing 
 are discussed, that it will be the most profitable course to fatten the 
 ewes when they are five, or at most, six years old, and supply their places 
 with the most likely shearing-ewes. When a sheep gets much older than 
 this, it begins to decline in its wool, and certainly loses much of its pro- 
 pensity to fatten ; while, in the usual system of slieep husbandry, the prin- 
 ciple profit consists in early and quick fattening. 
 
 Causes of which the fariper is utterly ignorant, or ovei which he has 
 no control, will sometimes liasten the loss of the teeth. Mr. Price says 
 that the teeth of " the sheep in Romney iMarsh decay much sooner than in 
 any other part of England*." AUhough this is stated with regard to his 
 native and favourite breed of sheep, it is probably an incautious expression, 
 and an accusation which the Romney Marsh flock do not deserve. One 
 thiftg however is certain, that close feeding, causing additional exercise of 
 the teeth, does wear them down ; and that the sheep of the farmers who 
 
 * Pa.r« 84. 
 
e SHEEP. 
 
 stock unusually and unseasonably hard, lose their teeth much sooner than 
 
 others do * 
 
 The natural age of sheep it is difficult to assign. They will usually 
 five, and breed, and thrive tolerably well, until they are ten years old ; but 
 there are instances of their living and thriving to a much more protracted 
 age. Lamerville speaks of a Spanisli ram, thirteen years old, that died 
 sound and got lambs in his thirteenth year t. Mr. Moore, of Winthorpe, 
 had on his pastures in 1824 a ewe that yeaned a pair of lambs when she 
 was a shearling, had two pairs yearly for fifteen years, and in the last two 
 years pi-oduced single lambs :[. Mr. CuUey has " heard of particular sheep 
 living to nearly twenty years old, — those which the mountain shepherds 
 call guide-sheep, viz., old wethers kept on purpose to guide and direct the 
 bleating flocks upon those unfrequented wilds §." 
 
 The molar teeth or grinders of the sheep are well adapted for lacerating, 
 and reducing almost to a pulp, the grassy or more hardened fibres which 
 compose a great proportion of the food of the animal. They are not only 
 surrounded by enamel, but columns of it sink deep into their substance 
 and rise above the upper surface of them. The faces of these teeth are 
 cut into a number of deep grooves running across them, from without, 
 inwards, and the projecting parts of the teeth of the one jaw are received 
 into the depressed grooves of those of the other. 
 
 The faces of the molars being also slanting, in a direction from- 
 without, inwards in the lower jaw, and from within, outwards in the upper 
 one, and the projecting edges of the enamel being exceedingly sharp, it is 
 almost impossible that, in the lateral grinding motion of the lower jaw in 
 the act of rumination, and the slow and careful manner in which it is per- 
 formed, many of the fibres can escape, or if they do, there is an after 
 provision for reducing them, which will, in the proper place, be described. 
 
 Chapter II 
 
 The autediluvian Sheep — The Offering of Abel — The Sheep probably not at first used 
 tor Food — The First Parents clothed with the Skins of Sheep — Later Improvements 
 on this Species of Clothing — The Origin of the Nomadic Shepherds — The Discovery 
 of Felting — Permitted to be used as Food — The wandering life of the ancient Patriarchs 
 — Their Tents — Great numbers of Sheep and Cattle — The manner of life of the first 
 Shepherds — ^The importance of Water for their Flocks — The old AVells — The labour of 
 the Female in tending the Sheep and Drawing Water— Jacob and Laban— The lirit 
 recorded Improvement in Sheep — The Origin of the White Fleece — Gradually spreads 
 over the Western World — The Primitive Breed of Sheep horned — Characterized by 
 Fatness about the Rump— The Fat-rumped Sheep of the present day — The Persian 
 Sheep — Was there any single Original Breed of Sheep P — Ancient Sheep Husbandry — 
 The Duties ef the Shepherd — His Sufferings from Drought or Cold — His Danger from 
 Wild Beasts — No Dogs to assist in the Management of the Sheep — His own influence 
 over the Fluck — Gives Names to all the Sheep — They know his voice, and follow him — 
 The Origin of the Shepherd's Music — The Humanity of the Shepherd — His care of the 
 Lambs — The plucking of the Wool — The invention of Sheep-shearing — The docility 
 of the Sheep— The Festivities of the Season— Clothing the Sheep— Cottiug— Weaving 
 
 * Mr. Dillon, in his 'Travels in Spain in 1779,' says that "The teeth of the Spanish 
 rams do not fall until the animal is eight years old ; whereas the ewes, from the delicacy 
 of their frame, or from other causes, lose theirs at five years." 
 
 t Lamerville on Sheep, p. 102. J Farmer's Journal, May 3, 1824. 
 
 ^ Culley on Live Stock, p. 212. 
 
THE MILK OF THE SHEEP EARLY USED. i 
 
 — The state of the Manufacture of Wool— Spinning— Embroidery— The Male only 
 usually destroyed— Animal Food seldom indulged in — The favourite parts — The stalled 
 
 Ox — The Milk of the Ewe — Its properties — Cheese and Butter made from it The 
 
 Cave of Polyphemus — Different processes of making Butter — The use of the Ewe's 
 Milk in other Countries — England — Scotland — France — The Rochfort Cheese. 
 
 THE ANTEDILUVIAN SHEEP. 
 
 Although there are few traces of the history of the sheep in the ante- 
 dikivian age, yet mention is made of this animal very shortly after the expul- 
 sion of Adam from Paradise. It is said that '' In the process of time," or, 
 as it might have been rendered, " at the appointed time," showing that it was 
 a custom which either tlie Divine command, or the good feeling and the 
 gratitude of the earliest race of men, had established — " Cain brought of 
 the first fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord ; and Abel, he also 
 brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof" 
 
 Our first parents having been lately driven from Eden, where the earth 
 spontaneously yielded them its fruits, and where, in a state of innocence, 
 and living in a genial clime, the necessity of clothing was unfelt, Cain and 
 Abel seem to have divided between them the future provision of the family : 
 Abel became " a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground." One 
 purpose for which these sheep were kept is sufficiently plain : instead of the 
 insufficient and fragile covering of the fig-leaf, which" they had contrived for 
 themselves, it is recorded that " Unto Adam also and to his wife did the 
 Lord God make coats of skins ;" or he taught them to make coats of skins 
 and clothed them. 
 
 THE FLESH OF THE SHEEP NOT YET EATEN. 
 
 It is probable that the sheep was not then used for food. Ancient 
 history is uniform in asserting, that in the golden or antediluvian age, 
 the use of animal food was unknown*; and the language of Scripture, 
 although not decisive, goes far to warrant the belief that the flesh of 
 animals was not divinely sanctioned as the food of man until after the 
 deluge. When Adam was first " put into the garden of Eden to dress 
 it and to keep it," it is said unto him, " Of every tree of the garden thou 
 mayst freely eat," save one. When he had offended and was expelled 
 from Paradise, this is the sentence — " Cursed is the ground for thy sake. 
 In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, and thou shalt eat 
 the herh of thejidd ; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread f." 
 
 The language to Noah after the deluge is very different : — " The fear of 
 you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon 
 every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the 
 fishes ; into your hand are they delivered : every moving thing that liveth 
 shall be meat for you. Even as the green herb (which was formerly 
 appointed to be your food) have I now given you all things." 
 
 THE MILK OF THE SHEEP EARLY USED, 
 
 As to the other mode in which the sheep has through every period of 
 ancient history, and, in many countries, even to the present day, contri- 
 buted to the support of man — namely, by the milk obtained from the female, 
 
 * See Ovid's Metamorphoses, lib. i. and xv. 
 
 '• Not so the golden age — men fed on fruit, 
 
 Nor durst with bloody meals their hands pollute." 
 Josephus, whose history of the Jews, next to that given by the sacred historians, in 
 most to be relied on, says expressly that " Abel brought the milk of his flock " 
 t Geu. iii. 17, 18, 19. 
 
8 SHEKP. 
 
 *lie sacrifice of Abel may convey more information than the reader at first 
 iraafrines. The Hebrew word, which is liere translated " fat," is in other 
 places rendered " milk ;" as in Gen. xviii. 8, where Abram is said to have 
 taken butter and milk, and set it before his guests. Let it be thus rendered 
 in the account of this offering — " Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of 
 his Hock, even of the milk thereof," or, " he brought the milk belonging 
 to the first-born and best of his flock ;" and it will appear that, even in so 
 early a [)eriod of the world, the value of the sheep, as contributing both to 
 the food and the clothing of man, was already understood, and that almost 
 to the extent in which it is recognized at the present day by most of the 
 shepherds of the eastern countries. 
 
 THE EARLIEST DRESS. 
 
 The dress of the first pair was precisely that of the inhabitants of every 
 country in an early period of civilization, or before civilization can scarcely 
 be said to have commenced. The inhabitants of ancient Greece are 
 described as clothed in the skins of the animals which they had either 
 domesticated or killed in hunting *. The Britons, when their island was 
 first visited by Caesar, were either naked and their bodies fancifully painted, 
 or clad in the skins of animals. Such is still, to a greater or less degree, 
 the clothing of savages every where. At first the skins simply underwent 
 the process of drying, and were then fastened round the neck of the wearer 
 by a simple thorn, or a strip of leather ; and they were worn with the wool 
 within or without, accordingly as the weather was cold or hot, wet or dry. 
 i3y degrees they were fitted to and disposed on various parts of the body, 
 and cut into various forms, or selected of various colours, according to the 
 fancy of the wearer. There was room for the exertion of considerable 
 caprice and ingenuity here. 
 
 THE EARLY IMPROVEMENT OF THE SHEEP. 
 
 Passing over the admixture, in process of time, of other skins of domes- 
 ticated or tame animals, and confining the inquiry to those of the sheep 
 alone, the commencement of the improvement of that animal, although 
 perhaps proceeding very slowly, may be easily anticipated and belifved. 
 The colour would be an object of some importance. The skin would be 
 valued according to its purity or brightness, or fashion (for early must hava 
 been the period of the world when that power had not begun to exert its 
 influence) ; and an attempt would be made to perpetuate this colour in the 
 flock. Individuals would be selected to breed from with an especial regard 
 to this purpose, and the fundamental principles of breeding would be recog- 
 nized and acted upon. The size of the skin would sometimes be a material 
 object, and large sheep would be selected. The warmth of the clothing 
 would be a more important aff"air, and thick and close, or long and shaggy 
 fleeces would be sought after. The unpleasant sensation caused by the 
 contact of coarse wool with the skin would lead to the choice of that of a 
 fine and soft kind. A principle of economy, a desire to make this rude 
 coat last as long as could be effected, would produce attention to the food 
 and to the diseases of the animal, for it would soon be perceived that the 
 adherence of the wool to the pelt was intimately connected with the health 
 of the sheep. Many centuries would not pass without the discovery of 
 
 Uti 
 
 " Pellibus et spoliis corpus vesiire ferarum."— Lucretius, lib. v. 951. 
 On the eastern coast of Tartary there is a tribe whose clothing is fish-skins, whence 
 they derive their name Yvfii, which signifies a " fish-skin." — Diihalde's History of 
 (;hina, vol. iv. p. 148, 
 
FELTING. 9 
 
 some means of clianging the natural colour of the fleece, and then the art 
 of dyeing would commence. The improvement of the sheep may therefore 
 be considered as having commenced even in these early times, and with 
 this rude kind of clothing ; although it would probably proceed slowly 
 enough, and, after all, not be carried to any great extent. 
 
 OTHER ANIMALS UOMESTICATEU. 
 
 The account of the posterity of Cain advances the history of the sheep 
 another and an important step. It is said that" Adah, the wife of Lamech," 
 one of tlie descendants of Cain, " bare Jabal ; he was the father of such as 
 dwell in tents and have cattle ♦." The reader will observe here the use, for 
 the first tune, of the word cattle. It frequently occurs in the after-history 
 of the Patriarchs. It is pleasing to connect with a descendant of Cain 
 — Cain the fratricide — and as a proof that the curse did not rest for ever 
 upon his offspring, the first mention of the domestication of other animals, 
 almost as much connected as the sheep with the subsistence and the comfort 
 of man. 
 
 THE FIRST WANDERING SHEPHERDS. 
 
 Jabal was " the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle ;" or, as 
 it should have been rendered, " Jabal was the father of those who dwell in 
 tents with cattle." He commenced that wandering life in order to find 
 pasture for his flocks which their increasing numbers probably now ren- 
 dered necessary, which was afterwards pursued by Abraham and Isaac, and 
 ail the proprietors of numerous flocks in the East, and which the Arab 
 and Tartarian shepherds continue to the present day. Jabal was the first 
 nomadic shepherd, about five hundred years before the flood. 
 
 THE FLEECE OF THE SHEEP MANUFACTURED INTO THE COVERING OF TENTS. 
 
 " Jabal was the father of such as dwell in tents." This is another 
 extension of the use of the sheep : he furnished the antediluvians not 
 merely with coverings for their bodies, but also for their moveable habi- 
 tations. In what way this was managed the only authentic book of early 
 record does not mention. The tents of the ancient shepherds, and even of 
 those of modern times, are described as very difterenlly constructed in dif- 
 ferent countries and among difterent tribes. They are sjioken of by some 
 authors as consisting of skins sewn together, and by others as made of cloth 
 manufactured by the process of felting. In later times they are said to 
 have been woven, the wool being spun and made into cloth by the wives 
 and daughters of the inhabitants of these tents. Probably these were the 
 three gradations. 
 
 FELTING. 
 
 , The skins of animals, whether domesticated or wild, were rudely sewn 
 together in order to shelter the primitive Asiatic shepherds from the heat 
 of the noonday sun, and from the intense cold of the night, each equally 
 insupportable in that climate. It is, however, scarcely possible to suppose 
 that sixteen hundred years (the interval between the creation and the 
 deluge) coukl pass without the value and use of the wool, when detached 
 from tlie pelt, being to a certain degree observed. Its property of matting 
 together, and forming a compact mass on certain parts of the living ani- 
 mal, would be first taken notice of; and when these portions were separated 
 from the fleece, curiosity or accident would discover that this process might 
 
 * Gen. iv. 20. 
 
12 SHEEP. 
 
 B.C.) recorded that Abram and Lot came from Ur of the Chaldees, and 
 Abram pitched his tent on " a mountain on the east of Bethel*.'' Thence 
 he journeyed into Egypt, and he is said to have had " sheep and oxen, 
 and men servants and maid servants, and asses and camelsf." Returning- 
 towards Palestine he is described as being " very rich in cattle, in silver, 
 and in gold ; and Lot also which went with Abram had flocks, and herds, 
 and tents, and the hind was not able to bear them that they might dwell 
 together}," — there was not sufficient pasture for the numerous flocko of 
 both; wlience arose "strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and 
 the herdmen of Lot's cattle§," and these relatives and friends separated 
 from each other. Lot journeying towards Sodom, and Abram taking his 
 course towards Canaan. After this Abram removed to the plain of Mamre, 
 and there learning that his brother Lot had been attacked and made pri- 
 soner by some of the chieftains of that countr}', " he armed his trained 
 servants," trained for war, " born in his own house, three hundred and 
 eighteen, and pursued " the spoilers and smote them, and rescued his bro- 
 ther and all his property |. 
 
 THE PEREGRINATIONS OF THE ARABS. 
 
 These passages, written more than 3700 years ago, and which will be 
 considered separately, present a singularly correct picture of the present 
 mode of life of the Arabian and Tartar shepherds. Abraham and Lot are 
 living in tents. The Chevalier d'Arvieux, wlio published an account of 
 his travels in the East in the early part of the last century, and the fidelity 
 of whose narrative has never been disputed, thus describes the Arabiiui 
 shepherds: — " These Arabs have no 9ther lodging but their tents, which 
 they call houses ; they are all black, of goat's-hair canvass, and are stretched 
 out in such a manner that the rain easily runs off without ever going 
 through them. Their whole families, and all that they have in the world, 
 even to the stables, are there, particularly in the winter. The tent of the 
 Emir is of the same stuff, and differs only from those of his subjects in 
 bigness." 
 
 • Abram pitched his tent on a mountain. D'Arvieux says that " the 
 Arabs commonly encamp on the toj) of some little hills, where there are no 
 trees to hinder them from discovering a great way off all that come and go, 
 that they may not be surprised, having nothing else to fear." 
 
 • Abram is described by the sacred history as shifting his residence from place 
 10 place. D'Arvieux says that " the Arabs set themselves down wherever 
 they find springs of water, or rivulets in the valleys, and pasture for the 
 subsistence of their cattle, and then decamp, as soon as that is gone, and 
 go and post themselves in another place every fortnight, or at most every 
 month. They live all the summer upon these hills, always advancing to- 
 wards the north ; and when winter begins to come in, they go by degrees 
 towards the south, as far as Ctesarea of Palestine, and on the outside of the 
 mountains of Carmel." 
 
 A traveller thus describes the march of the modern Arabs : — " Their 
 wandering life, williout ambition, brings to the mind of the traveller that of 
 the ancient patriarchs. Nothing is more interesting than their manner of 
 changing their abode. Numerous flocks, which precede the caravan, 
 express, by their bleating, their joy at returning to their former pastures. 
 Some beasts of burden, guided by the young men, bear the little ones just 
 dropped and not able to travel. Then come the camels, carrying the baggage 
 
 * Geii. xii. 8. f Gen. xii. 16. I Gen. xiii. 2, 5,6, 
 
 & Gen. xiii. 7, I! Gen. xiv. 14, l(i. 
 
NUMEROUS FLOCKS. 13 
 
 and the okl and sick women. The rest go on foot, carrying tlieir infants 
 at their backs or in tlieir arms ; and the men, mounted on their horses, 
 armed with lances, ride around and bring up tlie marcli of the cattle which 
 loiter behind, browsing as they slowly move on. In this manner tliey 
 journey, and find their homes, their hearths, and their country in every 
 place*." 
 
 The weary Arabs roam from plain to plain. 
 Guiding the languid herd in quest of food, 
 And shift their little home's uncertain scene, 
 Whh frequent farewell : strangers, pilgrims all, 
 As were their fathersf . 
 
 NUMEROUS FLOCKS. 
 
 The sacred history goes on to state that " the flocks and herds of Abraham 
 and Lot were so great that the land was not able to bear them." Tiiere 
 was not sufficient pasture for the support of their united flocks. Tlie 
 Scriptures often speak of the immense flocks of sheep with which Palestine 
 abounded. Job had 14,000 sheep, besides oxen and camels. The sheep 
 always constituted by far the most numerous part of the shepherd's ])os- 
 sessions. When 12,000 of the Israelites made an incursion into Midian, 
 they brought away, besides other spoils, three score and twelve thousand 
 beeves, aud 075,000 sheep J. When the tribes of Reuben and Gad made 
 war with the Hagarites, they obtained as a booty 250,000 sheep §. The 
 king of Moab rendered a yearly tribute of 200,000 sheep ; and Solomon 
 offered 120,000 sheep at the dedication of the Temple j|. 
 
 There are many circumstances which will readily account for these 
 numerous flocks of sheep. They were the chief possession, — the almost 
 only riches of the people : comparatively few of them were destroyed, for 
 their flesh was rarely eaten, except on solemn sacrifices, or occasions of 
 peculiar rejoicing , and there is reason to believe that the ewes had lambs 
 twice in tlie year. The Jewish writers frequently speak of the first and 
 second yeanings, referring the former to the month Nisan, corresponding 
 to the March of the modern calendar ; and the other to the month Tissi, 
 answering to September. The lambs of the two seasons were distinguished 
 
 * " After this horde I met with a smaller party, consisting of about a dozen families : 
 they were approaching a beautiful little hollow, surrounded on three sides by hills, and 
 which they seemed to have chosen as the place of their encampment. The sheik was 
 the only one of the whole who rode. The rest of the men walked, as did most of 
 the women. The boys drove the flocks of sheep and goats, and the little children the 
 young lambs ; the kids and the poultry were carried in panniers or baskets across the 
 camels' backs. The tents, the cooking utensils, and the provisions and furniture were 
 likewise laden upon these useful animals. As the camels halted every minute to pull 
 a handful of leaves from the bushes, the progress of their march was very slow ; but 
 the patience of all seemed quite in harmony with the tardy movement of the camels, and 
 it was evidently a matter of indifference to every one of the group whether they halted at 
 noon or at sunset, for an hour was time enough to prepare their shelter for the night." 
 — Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, p. 324. 
 
 " It was entertaining enough to see the horde of Arabs decamp. First went the sheep 
 and goats in regular divisions, then followed the camels and asses, loaded with the tents, 
 furniture, and kitchen utensils. These were followed by the old men and the v/omen, 
 and the boys and girls on foot. The children that could not walk were carried on the 
 backs of the young women, and the boys and girls ; and the smallest of the lambs and 
 kids were carried under the arms of the children. The procession was closed by the chief 
 of the tribe mounted on the very best horse, and surrounded by the heads of each family 
 all on horses, with many servants on foot." — Parson's Travels from Aleppo to Bagdad, 
 
 t Dyer's " Fleece," Book I. 
 
 I Numbers xxxi. 32, 33. ^ II. Chron. vli. 5. |' J. Chron. v. 21. 
 
12 SHEEP. 
 
 B.C.) recorded that Abram and Lot came from Ur of the Chaldees, and 
 Abram pitched his tent on " a mountain on the east of Bethel*.'' Thence 
 he journeyed into Egypt, and he is said to have had " sheep and oxen, 
 and men servants and maid servants, and asses and camelst." Returning- 
 towards Palestine he is described as being " very rich in cattle, in silver, 
 and in gold ; and Lot also which went with Abram had flocks, and herds, 
 and tents, and the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell 
 togetherj," — there was not sufficient pasture for the numerous flocko of 
 both ; whence arose " strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and 
 the herdmen of Lot's cattle§," and these relatives and friends separated 
 from each other. Lot journeying towards Sodom, and Abram taking his 
 course towards Canaan. After this Abram removed to the plain of Manire, 
 and there learning that his brother Lot had been attacked and made pri- 
 soner by some of the chieftains of that country, " he armed his trained 
 servants," trained for war, " born in his own house, three hundred and 
 eighteen, and pursued " the spoilers and smote ihem, and rescued his bro- 
 ther and all his property |. 
 
 THE PEREGRINATIONS OF THE ARABS. 
 
 These passages, written more than 3700 years ago, and which will be 
 considered separately, present a singularly correct picture of the present 
 mode of life of the Arabian and Tartar shepherds. Abraham and Lot are 
 living in tents. The Chevalier d'Arvieux, W'ho published an account of 
 his travels in the East in tlie early part of the last century, and the fidelity 
 of whose narrative has never been disputed, thus describes the Arabian 
 shepherds: — " These Arabs have no yther lodging but their tents, which 
 they call houses ; they are all black, of goat's-hair canvass, and are stretched 
 out in such a manner that the rain easily runs off without ever going 
 through them. Their whole families, and all that they have in the world, 
 even to the stables, are there, particularly in the winter. The tent of the 
 Emir is of the same stuff, and differs only from (hose of his sul)j(_-ct!j in 
 bigness." 
 
 Abram pitched his tent on a mountain. D'Arvieux says that " the 
 Arabs commonly encamp on the top of some little hills, where there are no 
 trees to liinder them from discovering a great way off all that come and go, 
 that they may not be surprised, having nothing else to fear." 
 
 ■ Abram is described by the sacred history as shifting his residence from place 
 JO place. DArvieux says that " the Arabs set themselves down wherever 
 they find springs of water, or rivulets in the valleys, and pasture for the 
 subsistence of their cattle, and then decamp, as soon as that is gone, and 
 go and post themselves in another place every fortnight, or at most every 
 month. They live all the summer upon these hills, always advancing to- 
 wards the north ; and when winter begins to come in, they go by degrees 
 towards the south, as far as Caesarea of Palestine, and on the outside of the 
 mountains of Carmel." 
 
 A traveller thus describes the march of the modern Arabs : — " Their 
 wandering life, wiliiout ambition, brings to the mind of the traveller that of 
 the ancient patriarchs. Nothing is more interesting than their manner of 
 changing their abode. Numerous flocks, which precede the caravan, 
 express, by their bleating, their joy at returning to their former pastures. 
 Some beasts of burden, guided by the young men, bear the little ones just 
 dropped and not able to travel. Then come the camels, carrying the baggage 
 
 *GeiLxii. 8. f Gen. xii. 16, J Gen. xiii. 2, 5,6. 
 
 & Gen. xiii.7. 11 Geii. \iv. 14, 10. 
 
NUMEROUS FLOCKS. 13 
 
 and the old and sick women. The rest go on foot, carrying their infants 
 at their backs or in tlieir arms ; and the men, mounted' on tlieir liorses, 
 armed with lances, ride around and bring up tlie march of the cattle which 
 loiter behind, browsing as they slowly move on. In this manner tl)py 
 journey, and find their homes, their hearths, and their country in everv 
 place*." 
 
 The weary Arabs roam from plain to plain. 
 Guiding the languid herd in quest of food, 
 And shift their little home's uncertain scene, 
 With frequent farewell : strangers, pilgrims all, 
 As were their fathersf . 
 
 NUMEROUS FLOCKS. 
 
 The sacred history goes on to state that " the flocks and herds of Abraham 
 and Lot were so great that the land was not able to bear them." There 
 was not sufficient pasture for the support of their united flocks. The 
 Scriptures often speak of the immense flocks of sheep with wliich Palestine 
 .abounded. Job had 14,000 sheep, besides oxen and camels. The sheei) 
 always constituted by far the most numerous part of the shejDherd's iios- 
 sessions. When 12,000 of the Israelites made an incursion into Midian, 
 they brought away, besides other spoils, three score and twelve thousand 
 beeves, aud 675,000 sheep |. When the tribes of Reuben and Gad made 
 war with the Hagarites, they obtained as a booty 250,000 sheep §. The 
 king of Moab rendered a yearly tribute of 200,000 sheep; and Solomon 
 offered 120,000 sheep at the dedication of the Temple j|. 
 
 There are many circumstances which will readily account for these 
 numerous flocks of sheep. They were the chief possession, — the almost 
 only riches of the people : comparatively few of them were destroyed, for 
 their flesh was rarely eaten, except on solemn sacrifices, or occasions of 
 peculiar rejoicing , and there is reason to believe that the ewes had lambs 
 twice in the year. The Jewish writers frequently speak of the first and 
 second yeanings, referring the former to the month Nisan, corresponding 
 to the March of the modern calendar ; and the other to the month Tissr] 
 answering to September. The lambs of the two seasons were distinguished 
 
 * " After this horde I met with a smaller party, consisting of about a dozen families : 
 they were approaching a beautiful little hollow, surrounded on three sides by hills, and 
 which they seemed to have chosen as the place of their encampment. The sheik was 
 the only one of the whole who rode. The rest of the men walked, as did most of 
 the women. The boys drove the flocks of sheep and goats, and the little children the 
 young lambs ; the kids and the poultry were carried in panniers or baskets across the 
 camels' backs. The tents, the cooking utensils, and the provisions and furniture were 
 likewise laden upon these useful animals. As the camels halted every minute to pull 
 a handful of leaves from the bushes, the progress of their march was very slow ; but 
 the patience of all seemed quite in harmony with the tardy movement of the camels, and 
 it was evidently a matter of indifference to every one of the group whether they halted at 
 noon or at sunset, for an hour was time enough to prepare their shelter for the night." 
 — Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, p. 324. 
 
 " It was entertaining enough to see the horde of Arabs decamp. First went the sheep 
 and goats in regular divisions, then followed the camels and asses, loaded with the tents, 
 furniture, and kitchen utensils. These were followed by the old men and the v/omen, 
 and the boys and girls on foot. The children that could not walk were carried on the 
 backs of the young women, and the boys and girls; and the smallest of the lambs and 
 kids were carried under the arms of the children. The procession was closed by the chief 
 of the tribe mounted on the very best horse, and surrounded by the heads of each family 
 all on horses, with many servants on foot." — Parson's Travels from Aleppo to Bagdad, 
 
 f Dyer's " Fleece," Book I. 
 
 I Numbers xxxi. 32, 33. ^ II, Chron. vii. 5. |: I. Chron. v. 21. 
 
14 SHEEP. 
 
 by different names descriptive of tlieir supposed qualities : the first were 
 called keshorim, or hound, on account of tlieir stronger-built or more com- 
 pact frame ; the second cetophim, or dcjicient, because they were feebler 
 and of comparatively less value*. 
 
 These numerous flocks, however, were not confined to ancient times. 
 Sir John Chardin had the opportunity of seeing a clan of Turcoman shep- 
 herds in their march about two days' distance from Aleppo. There were 
 400,000 beasts of carriage, — as camels, horses, oxen, cows, and asses ; 
 and there were more than 3,000,000 of sheep and goats. Dr. Shaw 
 states that several Arabian tribes who can bring no more than 300 or 
 400 horses into the field, are possessed of more than as many thousand 
 camels and oxen, and treble the number of sheep and goats f. 
 
 HOSPITALITY. 
 
 A circumstance, apparently trivial, is soon after recorded, and only men- 
 tioned as showing the minute accuracy with which the historian has 
 depicted this primitive shepherd. " As he sat in the tent door in the 
 heat of the day, he saw three strangers approaching J." The following 
 passage is a sufficient comment. It was the hottest part of the day of 
 which the traveller speaks. " We had in view several fine bays, and a 
 plain full of booths, with the Turcomans sitting by the doors under sheds 
 resembling porticoes, or made by shady trees, surrounded by flocks of 
 goats §." To entertain these travellers, Abram " took butter and milk, 
 and the calf which he had dressed ||," and set it before them. It is merely 
 observed at present, that this is the first time that any particular kind of 
 animal food is spoken of; and that the word translated hutter is some- 
 times rendered fat, and, move frequently, cheese. The manufacture of 
 cheese was indicated by the natural curdling of the milk, — and the mention 
 of it occurs in profane history many centuries before butter was known, or 
 at least spoken of. Both of them were composed principnlly, or almost 
 entirely, of ewes' and goats' milk, mixed together except a small quantity, 
 used only as a delicacy, and made from the milk of kine. It will here- 
 after be shown from otlier passages, that the milk which was presented 
 to the strangers was ewes' milk ; and which, in later times, was changed 
 for that of camels ^. 
 
 * There are several passages of Scripture which lead to the supposition that the 
 Eastern sheep often produced two, and sometimes more than two lambs at a birth. — 
 Ps. cxliv. \'S; Solomon's Song, iv. 2. Sir Thomas Browne observes, in his Miscel- 
 laneous Tracts, " that the sheep of Palestine must not he judged of b}' ours, for they 
 were abundantly more prolific." Bochart has proved this fact, vol. ii. p. 432, 510. See 
 also Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. ii. p. 56. 
 
 f Shaw's Travels, ii. p. 125. t Gen. xviii. 1,2. 
 
 § Chandler's Travels in Asia Minor, p. 180. || Gen. xviii. 8. 
 
 ^ Burckhardt affords an excellent commentary on this. " Ayesh (flour and sour 
 camel's milk) is the usual and universal dish with the Aeneses, and even the richest 
 sheik would think it a shame for his wife to dress any other dish merely to please his 
 own palate. For a common guest bread is boiled and served up with the ayesh ; but for 
 a guest of rank a kid or a lamb is killed. They boil it with bourgal (wheat boiled in 
 some leaven and then dried in the sun) and serve it in a wooden dish, round the edges 
 of which the meat is arranged. A wooden bowl containing the melted grease of the 
 animal (often called butter, or camel's grease, and which is kept in goat skins, and 
 used as butter) is pressed down in the midst of the bom-gal, and every morsel is dipped 
 into the grease before it is swallowed.'' — Page 35. 
 
 Buckingham also, in his ' Notes on Palestine,' well illustrates the conduct of Abram 
 to these strangers. " A poor man, if he is hospitable, always kills a lamb when a 
 stranger arrives, gives coffee to all the guests present, holds his bag of tobacco always 
 ready to supply the pipes of his friends, and sacrifices his last penny to honour his guest. 
 
WELLS. 16 
 
 In the deserts of Arabia, and even in the plains of Judea, water was es- 
 sential, not only to the comfort and thriving of the flock, but to its very 
 existence ; and one of the most important duties of the shepherd was to 
 enable the sheep occasionally to quench their thirst. It was rare that the 
 flowing stream was met with in these sandy regions ; natural pools of 
 water were almost as unfrequent, and a drought of no long duration vv ould 
 cause them to disappear*. To prevent disappointments of this kind, the 
 shepherds, with immense labour, dug, wells at their usual resting-places, 
 and at other spots in the interme'diate distance ; 
 
 " The ancient wells, deep sunk with toil immense. 
 Toil of the Patriarchs, with sublime intent, 
 Themselves and long posterity to serve t." 
 
 These, however, in process of time, decayed, or were choked with sand, or 
 they were wilfully filled by a vindictive enemy ; or the struggle to procure 
 water from them, between the herdsmen belonging to different masters, was 
 productive of quarrels and bloodshed. To prevent these evils, certain 
 usages were gradually established, and acknowledged and respected by all 
 the neighbouring herdsmen, except those who were perfectly lawless. 
 
 It was because Abraham had suffered from some of these inconveniences, 
 and particularly the petty v.'arfare which existed between his herdsmen and 
 those of Abimelech, king of the Philistines, that the following transaction 
 took place. Abraham, after presenting Abimelech with some sheep and 
 oxen, in token of the cessation of their quarrel, " set seven ewe-lambs of the 
 flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these 
 seven ewe-lambs which thou hast set by themselves ? And he said. For 
 these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a 
 witness unto me that I have digged this well J.'' 
 
 Abraham effected a regular and freehold purchase of the well and the 
 ground in which it was dug at the price of these seven ewe-lambs. They 
 were the money which he paid for this spot of ground ; or " they were that 
 commodiiy of known value and general demand which stood in the stead 
 of money," proving how universally they had spread, and how generally 
 their value was acknowledged §, 
 
 or relieve those who want. In his common living the richest sheik does not differ from 
 the meanest of his tribe. They eat every day of the same dish, and never partake of any 
 hixiiry, except on the arrival of a stranger, when the tent of the host is open to all his 
 friends.'' — Page 41. 
 
 * JI. de Brisson, in the Histor}- of his Captivity among the Arabs, describes the 
 drought which occasionally prevails. " The end of the year was now approaching, and 
 a single drop of rain had not yet fallen. The plains and the valleys were entirely burnt 
 up; nothing remained for the nourishment of the flocks, and the month of December 
 had arrived, when the rains generally ceased until the next October. The desolation 
 was universal, when an Arab from a distant part of the country came to inform us that 
 abundant showers had refreshed the earth in some remote districts. Upon the news, joy 
 succeeded lo fear and grief — every one struck his tent, and set out for the regions that 
 had been lately watered."' — p. 37. 
 
 Even in the more temperate clime of Britain, sheep have often severely suffered from 
 want of water. The summer of 1803 was unusually sidtry and dry. •' A flock of sheep 
 at Pevensey, consisting of 300, being driven to a pond, after long thirst, drank so immo- 
 derately that more than a hundred of them died." — Annual Register, 1803. 
 
 f Dyer's Fleece, Book I. 
 
 I Gen. xxi. 27— 31. 
 
 § '•' Wealth used to be estimated bj'^ the number and quality of the cattle. They were 
 the principal instruments of commerce. Thus we read in Homer of a cauldron being 
 worth twenty sheep, and a goblet worth twelve lambs, &c. These animals were the 
 means by which exchange or commerce was originally carried on. The proof of this is 
 convincing enough, as well as very singrdar. The word which signifies the exchange of 
 
16 SHEEP. 
 
 JACOB AND LABAN. 
 
 A hundred years elapse before the scriptural history of the sheep is 
 resumed. Jacob had escaj)ed from tlie justly merited anp^er of his brother 
 Esau, and had liavellcd eastward until he arrived at Haran*, where his 
 uncle Laban had at that time pitched his tents. As he halted by a covered 
 well, Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban, came to water her father's 
 sheep. She is the first shepherdess of whom mention is made in ancient 
 history, and her name, which signified a sheep, was characteristic of her 
 occupation. 
 
 THE FLOCKS TENDED BY WOMEN. 
 
 This meeting of the cousins presents another picture of these early 
 times. Rachel, the daughter of a man of some substance in that part of 
 the country, tends her father's flock f ; and Jacob, the son of a shepherd- 
 prince, rolls away the stone from the well, and afterwards becomes servant 
 to her father for her sake. It is precisely in keeping with the accounts 
 of profane authors some centuries afterwards, when the daughters of nobles 
 and princes are represented as employed at home in weaving garments for 
 the family, or looking after the flocks abroad, and feeding the horses, and 
 fetching water from the fountains. 
 
 THE FIRST GREAT IMPROVEMENT OF THE SHEEP. 
 
 " Jacob served Laban seven years for the sake of Rachel, and they seemed 
 to him but a few days, for the love he had to her ;" and then, being deceived 
 by her father, he served for her yet another seven long years : at the 
 expiration of that time, Laban offering him no wages, he was naturally 
 anxious to return to his father. Laban, however, who was conscious that 
 much of the prosperity that had lately attended him was attributable to the 
 skilful and faithful service of his son-in-law, entreated liim to remain, and 
 Jacob consented on certain strange conditions. The wording of the com- 
 mon translation is not a little obscure ± ; but the meaning, as understood 
 by the parties, was this : that in future, the speckled or ring-streaked sheep 
 and goats — exceptions to the general colour, a brown or dingy black — the 
 sportings rather than the regular productions of nature — should be con- 
 sidered as the wages of Jacob. These could hitherto have been very few, 
 or the selfish and avaricious father-in-law would not have consented to the 
 
 oae kind of goods for another is derived from the Greek word for a iamb, a^vuirircci, from 
 ajvof . A wealthy person is called ' a man of many lambs,' and two rival brothers are 
 represented by Hesiod as fighting about the ' sheep," that _is, the property of their 
 father." — Hunter's Sacred Biography, Abraham. 
 
 * Gen. xxix. 1. 
 
 f In the descriptions already given of the marches of the horde, they have been seen 
 toiling on foot with their children at their backs, and the younger girls taking the prin- 
 cipal share in carrying the infants or the lambs. Biirckhardt shall illustrate their 
 employment when the tribe has arrived at its resting-place : " Among the Arabs of Sinai 
 it is an established rule that neither the men nor the boys should ever drive the cattle to 
 the pasture. A boy would feel insulted if any one were to say, ' Go and drive yoin- 
 father's sheep to pasture ;' these words would in his opinion signity, 'You are no better 
 than a girl.' This is the exclusive duty of the unmarried girls of the camp, who perform 
 it by turns. Thus early accustomed to such fatiguing duties, the Sinai women are as 
 hardy as the men. I have seen these females roaming bare-footed over sharp rocks, where 
 I, well shod, could with ditficnlty step along. Durnig the whole day they continue ex- 
 posed to the sun, carefully watching the sheep, for they are sure to be severely beaten by 
 their father should any be lost."— Notes on the Bedouins. Their brothers or their fathers 
 had indeed the grace to relieve them from their post when the day was passed, and the 
 wild beasts of those uncultivated regions began to be in motion. 
 
 I Gen. XXX. 32. 
 
THE FIRST GREAT IMPROVEMENT OF THE SHEEP. 17 
 
 proposal. The bargain was struck, and all the parti-coloured cattle were 
 separated from the rest, and driven away to a distance of three days' jour- 
 ney, and put under the care of Laban's sons, so that there could be no 
 imposition or dishonesty ; and the sheep of a uniform colour were left with 
 Jacob. 
 
 He had probably witnessed the power of imagination at the moment of 
 the female's conception, and had thought that he might turn this, and not 
 dishonestly, to his advantage, for the compact between them was sufficiently 
 plain : " Jacob therefore took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel 
 and chestnut-tree, and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white 
 appear which was in the rods, and he set the rods which he had pilled 
 before the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs, when" (at the 
 time of the unrolling of the stone, a work of labour, and therefore done 
 as seldom as possible) " all the flocks, male and female, came to drink * ;" 
 and they generally coupled before the watering-troughs, and with these 
 straked and pilled rods before them. When by these means some speckled 
 or ring-straked lambs had dropped, he placed them in the sight of the other 
 ewes — " he set the faces of the flocks towards the ring-straked," in order 
 that they might produce the like. 
 
 It was only when the stronger sheep, those of the first yeaning, were 
 in season, that he resorted to this expedient ; the autumnal and weaker 
 cattle were suffered to take their course. The consequence was, that either 
 from the power of imagination in the mother, carried to an extent the like 
 of which is certainly not seen at the present day, or from some superior 
 over-ruling agency, the flock generally " brought forth cattle, ring-straked, 
 speckled, and spotted." The whole story would induce the belief that 
 some superior power aided the ingenuity of the servant, and rewarded his 
 fourteen years' fidelity to an ungenerous and avaricious master f. 
 
 Laban was, as might be expected, very much dissatisfied, and altered, 
 unjustly altered, the wages of his servant. He limited this change of colour 
 to one kind alone. First he said that the speckled only should belong to 
 Jacob. Perhaps he might have seen or heard of the pilled rods, and ima- 
 gined that he should thus thwart the stratagem of his servant ; but either 
 speckled rods were substituted for those that had been pilled in the form of 
 rings, or this superior agency continued to influence the breeding of the 
 cattle — the lambs were all speckled. Again he affirmed that the bargain 
 extended to the ring-straked alone, and the lambs then were dropped ring- 
 straked ; and so in process of time " the cattle were taken away from 
 Laban and given to him, and the man increased exceedingly, and had much 
 cattle, and maid-servants, and man-servants, and camels and asses J." 
 During the whole transaction, although Jacob did not immediately separate 
 the parti-coloured lambs from their mothers, for a reason that has just been 
 hinted at, yet he continued to breed from those of one uniform colour. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF THE IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 This is the first intelligence which the Scriptures afford of the kind of sheep 
 in these early times, or at least of those of which these flocks were composed : 
 they were of one uniform colour, brown or dingy black, and the exceptions 
 
 • Gen. XXX. 37, 38. 
 
 f Michaclis observes on this passage, that " even in later times a similav method is 
 adopted in order to obtain a similar result, something white beinj^ placed in the water- 
 troiif^hs before the sheep, or white cloths himgiipin the fold ; and even the water-troughs 
 have been made of perfectly white stone, in order that white lambs nii;j;ht be produced." 
 — In loc. 
 
 \ Gen. xxxi. 8, 9, and xxx. 43. 
 
18 THE SHEEP. 
 
 were accidental and few in number. From the experiment or policy of 
 Jacob, sheep of a new colour arose : they formed his numerous flock when 
 he quitted the service of Laban ; some of them afterwards minizled with 
 the lierds of Esau ; they were probably continued among the descendants 
 of Jacob, and the better appearance of the fleece, and the more varied and 
 useful purposes to which it might be devoted, would lead to a selection 
 from those that had the most white about them, until at length the fleece 
 was purely white. It had become so in the time of David, who likens it 
 to snow* ; and Solomon speaks of the teeth of his mistress, as resembling 
 a flock of sheep just come up from the washing t. 
 
 Mr. Luccock, whose researches into everything connected with wool 
 are exceedingly valuable, clearly traces the present colour of the fleece to 
 these proceedings of Jacob. He says that "this new variety of flocks soon 
 established itself in the country where it was produced, and gradually dif- 
 fused itself southward as far as the desert of Arabia, so that in the space of 
 300 (600) years its whiteness had become proverbial J." 
 
 Some of the best principles of breeding must have been steadily and long- 
 pursued before this could have been effected ; and probably in this, as in 
 many other particulars, the ancients have not been far exceeded by the 
 moderns in scientific and useful pursuits 
 
 In the desert, where the numbers of the inhabitants were fewer, and 
 their association with each other less frequent, the change was more slowly 
 effected, or rather, has not been perfectly accomplished at the present day. 
 The Arabs are true to the customs and prejudices of their ancestors more 
 than 2000 years ago. 
 
 Mr. Luccock states, that " this alteration in the colour of wool evidently 
 took the line of the richest soils, and spread its influence more readily 
 through countries where the arts of husbandry had made the greatest 
 progress, and but seldom passed their boundaries. From Persia, descend- 
 ing the Euphrates, and passing over the richer countries of Syria, it reached 
 the borders of the Nile §." In this direction we are enabled satisfactorily 
 to trace it, when, some centuries afterwards, the records of general history 
 are joined to those of the Scriptures. 
 
 Northward, too, it began to spread ; it ascended on either bank 
 of the Euphrates, until it arrived at those of the Phasis, and diffused itself 
 over the fertile country that lay at the feet of the mountains of Colchis, 
 ■now Mingrelia and Georgia. There it seems peculiarly to have established 
 itself, and, more than five centuries afterwards, its reputation had reached 
 Greece. The leading men of the infant states of Greece united together, 
 and, under some fiilse or frivolous pretext, invaded Colchis, defeated and 
 slew its king, and carried away the Golden Fleece. This was a prize not 
 valuable, as some have feigned, on account of the particles of gold which, 
 brought down by the torrents from Mount Caucasus towards the banks of 
 the Euxine, were collected in the fleeces of sheep that were sunk in the 
 streams in order to receive them ||, but from its own intrinsic excellence j 
 and it has ever been, and will continue to be, a mine of gold to every 
 country in which it is found, and its worth duly estimated. 
 
 The foundation of the splendour of the Grecian republics was laid by 
 the celebrated Argonautic expedition ; and in the course of this treatise, 
 the progress and the beneficial results of the breeding of sheep and the 
 maiuifacture of wool will be traced through many a country in the eastern 
 
 * Psalm cxlvii. 16. f Solomon's Soug, iv. 2. J Essay on Wool, p. 30. 
 
 § lb. p. 31. 
 
 II Strabo, lib. xii. p. 199. Appian says, that Pompey, after the defeat of I\Iithndate3 
 was an eye-witness of this fact. 
 
THE ORIGINAL BREED HORNED. 19 
 
 and western worlds. In the meantime the memory of Jacob will be respected, 
 not only from its connexion with sacred story, but because he was the 
 first recorded improver of the sheep, and his improvement has survived the 
 wreck of ages, and will never be surpassed. The superior cheerfulness 
 which sheep and goats with white fleeces communicated to rural scenery, 
 the cleanliness which wool of that description was calculated to promote 
 when used as an article of furniture or of dress, and, above all, the greater 
 variety and vividness of the artificial tints with which it might be imbued, 
 conspired from the beginning, to render it more valuable, and, in every age, 
 more sedulously cultivated than that of a dark or black hue. 
 
 Nature, however, although controlled, cannot be perfectly subdued. In 
 some justly esteemed breeds of sheep we see traces of their original descent. 
 Although, on tlie southern downs, that which was most valuable in the 
 improvement of colour is retained, yet the muzzle and the legs betray the 
 character of the early progenitors. In the Norf'olks this is more deculedly 
 seen ; and now and then a perfectly black sheep betrays, in a manner not 
 to be mistaken, the native hue, and the still lurking primitive tendency. 
 Even where the fleece has, by diligent cultivation, been brought to the 
 purest white, a dusky or a black lamb will occasionally display the colour, 
 if not the other lineaments of the first parents. 
 
 The master and the servant, the father and the son-in-law, could not long- 
 remain together while the prosperity of the one was daily increasing, and 
 the sources of wealth proportionably diminishing with the other ; and accord- 
 ingly it is said, that " Jacob behekl the countenance of Laban, and behold, 
 it was not toward him as before :" and fearing, from the character of the 
 man, and the too frequent practices of the times, that treachery or violence 
 would soon be resorted to, lie took advantage of Laban's absence, and fled 
 towards his native land. The news was quickly conveyed to the father-in- 
 law, vvlio pursued the fugitive, and overtook him before he could reach the 
 tents of Isaac. The explanation which took place throws still further 
 light on the management of the sheep in those days. 
 
 After this the Bible contains only incidental mention of the sheep, its 
 produce, and the treatment to which it was subjected. Patches of infor- 
 mation scattered in various parts of the volume must be compared together, 
 in order to obtain any satisfactory notion of the true character of the hus- 
 bandry of the times. It will therefore be advantageous no longer to follow 
 precisely the order of events, but to bring into one point of view the infor- 
 mation which the Scriptures afford, connecting with this the few gleanings 
 that can be collected from profane history, the earliest authentic records 
 of which do not, however, commence until many centuries after the time 
 of Jacob. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL 15REED HORNED. 
 
 The primitive breed was certainly horned, and those horns were of con- 
 siderable size. When Abraham, in obedience to the Divine command, was 
 about to sacrifice his son Isaac, his arm was arrested by a voice from 
 heaven, " and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a 
 ram caught in a thicket by his horns *." The trumpets used in war were 
 made of rams' horns 1". The polled sheep were probably an accidental 
 variety ; and when first occurring, cultivated partly for their singularity, and 
 more for their utility, whether with reference to the additional closeness of 
 folding of which they were capable, or the fewer accidents that were likely 
 to occur, or, most of all, from the superior docility and quietness of those 
 
 * Gen. xxii. 13 f Joshua vi. 6. 
 
 C 9 
 
m SHEEP. 
 
 to whom nature had not given tliese weapons of olTence, and of the use of 
 which all animals soon become too conscious. There is not, however, a 
 polled breed of the present day in which lam])s are not occasionally dropped 
 with the rudiments of horns : some of these liorns grow to their full size, 
 and others are curiously attached to the skin alone, and either hang loosely 
 down, or drop ofJ". 
 
 THE ORIGINAL BREED. 
 
 From very early times two breeds of sheep have inhabited the countries 
 over which the patriarchal shepherds roamed, and have spread themselves 
 through the neighbouring districts. One has, as its principal characteristic, 
 a lengthened tail, with an accumulation of fat around the superior part of it. 
 These sheep have been found in Arabia and Syria, but most numerous in 
 the interior, and in the southern part of Africa ; and constituting the only 
 native breed of these latter regions. The others have an accumulation of fat 
 commencing at the posterior part of the loins, swelling gradually into a 
 considerable mass towards the rump, and presenting behind two enlarge- 
 ments of a more or less globular form. This kind of sheep is scarcely 
 known in Africa, but it covers both the north and the south of Asia ; it 
 prevails far more than the other in Palestine ; it reaches even to the in- 
 terior, and the northern part of Russia ; and it is the kind of sheep of 
 which the flocks of the Kalmucks and the Turcomans, and indeed of almost 
 all the wandering hordes of shepherds are, to the present day, composed. 
 
 [ Fat-t nmpctl Sheep ] 
 
 The reader is here presented with a cut of it as ii exisis ai die ] .resent 
 day in the north-eastern part of Europe, through the whole of the temperate 
 regions of Asia, and to a greater or less degree from the Baltic Sea to the 
 North Pacific Ocean *. It is purest in the deserts of Great Tartary. and 
 influenced in its form only by pasturage, soil, and climate; no oth(>r 
 variety being near to contaminate its blood. The following is Dr. Ander 
 son's account of this breed ; not so precise, indcc<l, as could be wished, but 
 sufficiently satisfactory. 
 
 * See Pallas's Travels in Russia, and patticulaily Anderson on the Russian Sheep, p. 26 
 
THE PRESENT TARTARIAN SHEEP. 21 
 
 " The flocks of all the Tartar hordes resemble one another, by having a 
 large yellowish muzzle, the under jaw often projecthig beyond the upper ; 
 by long hanging ears, and by the horns of the adult ram being large, 
 spiral, wrinkled, angular, or bent in a lunar form. They have slender legs 
 in proportion to their bodies, a high chest, large hanging testicles, 
 and tolerably fine wool mixed with hair. The body of the ram, and some- 
 times of the ewe, swells gradually with fat towards the posteriors, where a 
 solid mass of fat is formed on the rump, and falls over the anus in place 
 of a tail, divided into two hemispheres, which take the form of the hips, 
 with a little button of a tail in the middle to be felt with the finger." 
 
 The admirers of some of the improved breeds of sheep will find great 
 fault with the large and heavy head ; the comparatively thin neck, and 
 especially at the base, where it proceeds from the chest ; the depth and 
 want of substance from the withers to the elbow ; the deficiency of brisket, 
 its place being supplied by a kind of dewlap ; the want of depth imme- 
 diately behind the elbow ; the tendency to belly posteriorly ; the length of 
 the legs ; the gauntness and muscularity compared with the roundness and 
 compactness of some modern breeds ; but it cannot be denied, that, con- 
 sidering it as belonging to the wandering shepherds, as traversing a vast 
 extent of country, and subject to want and to drought, and to the vicissitudes 
 of the seasons, it is not badly adapted to the situation in which it is found, 
 and there are evident capabilities of improvement, when chance, or the 
 progress of civilization, may give opportunity for its development. 
 
 THE PRESENT TARTARIAN SHEEP. 
 
 The flocks of all the Tartar hordes have much resemblance to eacli 
 other; but climate, soil, &c., produce some small difference in them, 
 whether reared by the Tartars, or by the Russians, in the western deserts 
 of Great Tfirtary, from the river Volga to the Irtish and the Altaic chain 
 of mountains. In all that tract of country the pasturage abounds with 
 acrid and liliacious plants in spring ; while in summer, at least in the 
 open spots where sheep delight to feed, beside the common grasses, bitter 
 and aromatic plants, wormwood, camphorosna, and many species of salt- 
 wort abounding in juices and salts are also found. 
 
 These sheep, liberally fed at first with the mother's milk, and afterwards 
 traversing a rapid succession of saline and abundant pasture, attain a very 
 considerable size. They often weigh more than 200 lbs., and may be con- 
 sidered as the largest of the unimproved sheep ; of which weight the soft 
 oily fat alone that forms on the rump amounts to from 20 to 40 lbs. *' 
 The Uropygmm, or fat rump, which is made up of this oily species of fat, 
 is so large as to incommode the animal in walking ; but when the same 
 sheep are carried into the interior parts of Russia, the tail loses half its 
 size and weight, nay sometimes more than that, from a change in their 
 food and mode of life f. 
 
 On the banks of the Volga below Lamara these saline pastures are 
 
 * The following is a description of one of these Sleatopyga, or fat-rumped Kirguise 
 rams, and that not of the largest size : — " Head rather less than many others of the same 
 variety, and all black, even to the horns. Ears pendent and black, except the outer 
 rim, which was spotted with white, as were the legs. Throat covered with greyish hair, 
 the rest of the animal white. Horns spiral, Uropygium (fat-rump) very large, and 
 divided into two hemispheres. Anus filled with fat, or rather stuffed v/ith it in all parts. 
 iScro/wm covered with hair. Prepuce large. 7Foo/ coarse, and some inches long on the 
 back, sides, and extremities; while it is mixed every where with hair. 
 
 " Total weight of the ram before cut up or skinned, 193 lbs. ; the fat of the uropygium 
 and anus .38 lbs." — Anderson, p. 31. 
 
 f .\nderson, p. 31. 
 
S2 SHEEP. 
 
 wanting : the snow likewise lies rleep during the greater part of the 
 winter, often causing a destructive scarcity of food among those who 
 make no provision for a future day. The same kind of sheep prevail there ; 
 but they are diminished in size, and the fat rump is more than propor- 
 tionably lessened, and even the horns are frequently wanting. On the 
 Janisey they are considerably less. In other parts of these Tartarian re- 
 gions, where the pasture is abundant but there is no saline impregnation, 
 sheep of a size occasionally exceeding that of the Kirguise are found ; but 
 the excrescence on the rump is much smaller, and rarely greater than that 
 which is found on the corresponding parts of some of the improved British 
 breeds when fatted to excess. 
 
 A very intelligent writer gives a similar description of the Kerguise, or 
 Kerguise and Kalmuckian sheep. In the mountainous districts *' they are 
 higher than a new-born calf, and so strong and heavy that the full grown ones 
 weigii between four and five poods. In shape they resemble the Indian 
 sheep. They have the arched front of the old battering-ram, prominent 
 under lips and large pendulous ears. Instead of a tail , they have a monstrous 
 round of fat like a cushion, weighing 30 or 40 lbs., and yielding between 
 20 and 30 lbs. of tallow. Their wool is coarse, entangled together, 
 and strongly mixed with hair. The rams are universally, and the wethers 
 generally, horned ; and some, like the Icelandic, have four, five, or six 
 horns. During the whole winter they seek their fodder under the snow, 
 without losing their condition by it. To this the shortness of the season 
 much contributes, as well as the circumstance that the snow passes away 
 more rapidly on the salt parts of the steeps ; and all animals are fattened by 
 feeding on the vegetables of a saline soil. 
 
 " So rich is the country with sheep, that common Tartars often possess 
 a thousand, and some of the richer ones more than fifty thousand. 
 
 " The Kalmuckian sheep differ from the Kirguise in their smaller size, 
 less curved forehead, lesser although pendulous ears, less hairy wool, and 
 being seldom horned. They are sadly neglected ; indeed it is in a manner 
 impossible to compel the Kalmucks to be good agriculturists *." 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Caucasus and Taurida, the hind-quarters of the 
 slieep are salted as hams, and sent in great quantities to the northern pro- 
 vinces of Turkey. In the south east of European Russia, and particularly 
 in the gover<\ment of Kazan, the wool of the sheep is particularly fine, 
 and' almost without any mixture of hair ; but, generally speaking, it is 
 coarse, and used only for inferior cloths ; but the greater part of the cloths 
 of this description used in Russia are imported. Much of this coarse 
 Russian wool is imported. It is used in the manufacture of carpets, and 
 the list of some cloths is made of it. The present mode of dressing cloths 
 cannot be fully effected except the list is made considerably stronger than 
 the body of the cloth. Low foreign wools are used for this purpose, 
 because they are stronger, and can be procured at less price. Some very 
 fine wool is imported from the south of Russia, and especially from the 
 port of Odessa. The Russian wool is usually very clean and white. It 
 probably is not washed on the back of the animal, but after it is shorn. 
 
 THE POLLED FAT-RUMPED SHEEP. 
 
 A breed of fat-rumped sheep prevails in Persia. Anthony Jenkinson, 
 in his Travels from Moscow to Khorasan, in the 16th century, thus speaks 
 of them : — " The people have great store of cattel, as camels, horses, and 
 sheep, both tame and wild. Their sheep are of great stature, with large 
 buttocks weighing 60 or 80 lbs. in weight t- 
 
 * Agricultural Maj^azine, Dec, 1804. f Hackluyt's Collection, vol. i. p. 329. 
 
THE PERSIAN RAM. 
 
 23 
 
 [ T/ie Persia/) /?a?«,] 
 
 This cut contains the portrait of a Persian ram, belonging to the Zoolo- 
 gical Society of London. It is not of the enormous size just spoken of, 
 but gives a fair representation of the hornless, fat-rumped sheep of the east. 
 The wool, although short, and somewhat curled, is coarse and hairy. This 
 is a fiiult, however, which, with due care, might probably be removed in the 
 course of a few generations. The level back and belly, the rounded car- 
 cass, and the light small leg, would induce the easy belief that from such 
 animal our down and mountain sheep might originally have sprung. There 
 is no irreconcileable difference of form : the only peculiarity is the en- 
 larged buttock. Difference of pasture and of climate might materially 
 effect that ; or, what is much more probable, skilful selection and breeding 
 might convert the disposition to accumulate fat on a particular part into a 
 tendency to acquire general good condition*. * 
 
 The broad or fat-tailed sheep are probably varieties of the fat-rumped 
 ones, and will be presently described. . 
 
 Are there any passages of Scripture which indicate that this breed of 
 sheep, which now mostly prevails in Palestine, and forms the flock of the 
 wandering shepherd there, is the same with that of which the sacred his- 
 torians often speak ? There are passages which seem to have a singular and 
 satisfactory reference to these distinguishing characters of the eastern sheep 
 of the present day. 
 
 * Fraser. in his Travels through Khorassan, gives a very sufficient reason why the 
 Persian sheep-owner should be somewhat careless about the improvement of his flock, at 
 leiist in the neighbourhood of royalty. He says — " The Persian king is a good shot, 
 and delights to shoot at a mark ; but he also loves to make his amusement profitable. 
 The mark commonly made use of is a live sheep, near which stands a furosh ready to 
 tell the success of the shot, and to dispatch the animal, if only wounded. When his 
 majesty is ready to shoot, he challenges his courtiers about him to bet with him about 
 the shot, and it would be the height of rudeness and impolicy to refuse. The king's 
 game, however, is sure; for whether he strikes the animal or not, the furosh, who has 
 had his lesson, and whose property the carcass is to be, rushes on it the moment the shot 
 comes, with a ' Mash Allah ! ' (bravo), knocks it down, and cuts its throat ; and no 
 one, of course, can question the author of its fate. These sheep are always the property 
 of some villager or farmer near the place, and are never paid for by his majesty." 
 
24 SHEEP, 
 
 FURTHER PROOF OF THE PATRIARCHAL BREED. 
 
 Tlic Israelites, at fust in conformity with tlie custom of their forefathers, 
 and afterwards by Divine command, offered in sacrifice different animals, 
 as an acknowledgment of gratitude to that Being from whom they derived 
 every good. Sometimes tlie whole animal was burned ; at other times the 
 fat, or the fattest part, was selected, whether because it was the most delicate 
 and valuable part of the animal*, or that it would most readily take fire, 
 and diffuse itself in the air, and rise a grateful offering to Him wJio was sup- 
 posed to inhabit the heavens. The book of Leviticus arranges the form 
 and ceremony which was to accompany these ofFerings. First, it describes 
 the manner in which they were consecrated to their office who were to 
 conduct and preside over these sacrifices, Aaron was brought before the 
 altar, and the " ram of consecration" was led out and slain. And Moses 
 •' took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards," 
 and " burnt them on the altar upon the burnt-offering f." Aaron, after 
 his consecration, makes the first ofFerings for himself and the people ; and 
 when every thing is prepared, the burnt-offering is placed upon the altar, 
 and Aaron " did wash," cleanse from blood, '• the inwards and the. legs, 
 and burnt them upon the burnt-offering upon the altar J," 
 
 * The substance which was accumulated oa the rumps of these sheep, and formed Ihe 
 broad part of the tail in other sheep, consisted more of the nature of marrow than of fat, 
 and was esteemed one of the greatest delicacies that could be presented at the table. Its 
 almost semi-fluid character is very evident in the Persian sheep belonging to the Zoolo- 
 gical Society of London. 
 
 f Leviticus viii. 25, 28. 
 
 :{: Leviticus ix. 14. The question whether tlie different varieties of the same species 
 of animal have been produced by accidental deviations from one original parent breed, 
 or whether there may not have been, from the l)eginning, several varieties of the same 
 species, endowed with different qualities, and instincts, and propensities, adapting them to 
 the situation in which they are found, is one of considerable interest to the zoologist, but 
 with which the breeder of any species of animal has little to do. It is also a question 
 difficult to solve — it is one that does not admit of demonstrative proof either the one way 
 or the other, and on which it does not become the candid inquirer to speak positively and 
 with arrogance. 
 
 These observations are induced by the careless and presumptuous way in which almost 
 every natural historian at once settles the matter. He does not seem to admit of any 
 doubt respecting the affair, but at once assumes it as a certainty that every species of 
 animal was derived from one original parent, and sets himself to work to inquire which 
 was the parent breed, and, worse than all, derives many fanciful, nay, even some practi- 
 cal conclusions from that which rests at best only on probability. Thus there is 
 scarcely a writer on sheep who does not take the question at once for granted, and 
 describe the Argali, or the Musmon, or some creature of his own imagination, as the 
 common origin of all. 
 
 There is no doubt that one variety of domesticated animals, if prevented from mixing 
 with any other, will in general propagate the same kind without any material change. It 
 is also acknowledged that if, from some unknown or accidental cause, an individual is 
 produced, possessing some unusual peculiarities, his progeny, to a certain degree, will 
 probably possess the same peculiarities ; and if a male and a female are selected with these 
 jieculiarities, and care is afterwards taken to exclude all who have them not, a new and 
 j)ermauent breed maybe established. It is likewise sufficiently clear, that climate, soil, 
 and pasture will gradually effect a considerable change in the form and the quality both 
 of the wool and the flesh of every breed. These changes, however, have their limits; 
 tliey go no farther than producing modifications of the former breed : the essential and 
 distinguishing character may yet be recognised, or, if it should be rendered somewhat 
 obscure, it will burst forth again when the animal regains his native soil and climate. 
 
 The question is, when there are varieties of a species essentially and altogether different 
 from each other ; when the act of man has and could have little to do in effecting such a 
 difference ; when there was nothing to prevent that intercourse which would soon wear 
 down and efface every accidental variety, and restore the primitive character — the question 
 tlieii is, whether these variations are not best explained on the supposition of an original 
 adaptation of each to the situation in which it was placed, and thq functions it was to 
 perfurm, — Sue Price on Sheep, p. 14, 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRIMITIVE SHEEP. 25 
 
 There is reason to suppose tliat tlie breed of sheep which the Israelites 
 tended on their departure from Egypt was essentially tjie same as tliat 
 which Abraham possessed and Jacob improved ; and these were clearly, 
 by comparison of the two passages just quoted from Leviticus, the sheep 
 whose fat was principally deposited, not on the tail, but on the rump, or 
 on the upper part of the legs as connected with, and forming a part of, the 
 rump. 
 
 CAUSE OF THIS PECULIARITY. 
 
 Dr. Pallas has some curious speculations concerning this Uropygivfn, 
 or fatty excrescence. Without once inquiring into the actual origin of this 
 sheep, he traces the peculiarity of the rump to " the hitter saline pastures 
 of Tartary, by the influence of which it has gradually augmented in size 
 through a number of generations, like some diseases ; insomuch, that the tail 
 has gradually decayed and dwindled away to the little button we find 
 remaining, suffocated, in a manner, by fat, as parts of the human body 
 have been found decayed and diminished in certain cases of unnatural 
 accumulation of fat." He also says, that " the diminution of this mass of 
 fat in the sheep of several of the Tartar hordes is owing to the little worm- 
 wood there is in those districts, and the small quantity of salt with which 
 the pasture is impregnated." And he says, that " when these sheep are 
 transported into the south of Siberia, where the pasture is nearly the same 
 as that on which the Kirguise sheep range, the uropygium shrinks to a 
 very diminutive size." 
 
 Certainly, as Dr. Anderson well remarks, this is opening a new and 
 very important question — one that comes home to the business and bosom 
 of the breeder. There is proof enough with regard to every breed, that 
 by luxuriant pasture an animal, and the descendants of that animal, may 
 be forced up far beyond their original size ; but is it possible, by dint of 
 pasture, to increase or diminish the bulk of a particular part of the animal, 
 his general frame being at the same time comparatively unaffected ? The 
 changes which pasture, accident, different systems of breeding, will speedily 
 produce in the animal generally, and which will soon taint or improve the 
 whole flock, may be easily conceived, — of the changes which disease may 
 effect in any particular organ, or part of the frame, there are abundant 
 proofs, and also of the hereditary character of these transformations. The 
 condition and health and size of the animal may be influenced, and that 
 part on which tiie fat is especially disposed to accumulate may appear to 
 be more affected than any other ; but this is not the question here — the 
 condition and health and size remaining the same, can the comparative 
 bulk of any particular limb or organ be influenced? Certainly by breed- 
 ing — certainly by remembering the golden rule, that like produces like ; 
 but permanently in no other way *. 
 
 THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRIMITIVE SHEEP. 
 
 It has already been shown that the sheep-husbandry of the primitive ages 
 was exceedingly simple. It consisted in a continual change of pasture, in 
 a direction, as much as could be contrived, towards the north from winter to 
 summer, and towards the south from summer to winter, and the contriving 
 to pitch the temporary encampment near to some rivulet or well, whence 
 water might be obtained for domestic purposes, and also for the flocks, 
 which could not subsist on the products of a soil generally impregnated 
 with saline matter, without a plentiful supply of this fluid. The driving of 
 the flock to and from the water was the duty of the female part of the family 
 or horde, and often the attending to the sheep during the day, in order to 
 
 ♦ See this question treated more at length in Anderson on Sheep, p. 35, &c. 
 
S8 THE SHEEP. 
 
 prevent their straying too far from the tents. The shepliercl, however, (who 
 was either the head of the family, or his son, or some confidential servant,) 
 was at hand in cases of difficulty or danger ; and, when night came on, the 
 sheep were driven to tlie immediate neighbourhood of the encampment, or 
 enclosed in a fold, and he lay in the midst of them or close by them either 
 in a temporary hut, or exposed to the cold of those regions, more chilling 
 than the heat of the day was oppressive. Jacob expresses in strong terms 
 the occasional sufferings of the shepherd in the discharge of this part of his 
 duty — " In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and 
 my sleep departed from mine eyes*." 
 
 WANT OF WATER. 
 
 The occasional suffering from drought has been already hinted at. A 
 traveller gives, from his own experience, an account of the torture that is 
 felt when the water is exhausted on one of the sandy deserts of Africa. 
 " Many perish victims of the most horrible thirst. It is then that the value 
 of a cup of water is really felt. In such cases there is no distinction : if the 
 master has none, the servant will not give it to him, for very few are the 
 instances in which a man will voluntarily lose his life to save that of 
 another. What a situation for a man — a rich one — perhaps the owner of 
 caravans ! He is dying for a drop of water, no one gives it to him ; he 
 offers all he possesses, no one hears him ; they are all dying, though by 
 walking a few hours further they might be saved. The camels are lying 
 down, and cannot be made to rise ; no one has strength to walk; only he 
 who has a glass of that precious liquid lives to walk a mile farther, and 
 then perhaps dies too. If voyages on seas are dangerous, so are those on 
 land. At sea, one meets with pirates — they rob, we surrender or die ; in 
 the desert, they rob the traveller of his property and water ; they let him 
 live perhaps, but what a life ! to die the most barbarous and agonizing of 
 all deaths. In short, to be thirsty in a desert, without water, exposed to a 
 burning sun, without shelter, and no hopes of finding either, is the most 
 terrible situation a man can be placed in, and I believe one of the greatest 
 suffering that a human being can sustain. The eyes grow inflamed, the 
 tongue and lips swell, a hollow sound is heard in the ears which is followed 
 by deafness ; the brains seem to grow thick, the sufferer is beside himself — 
 mad; all these feelings arise from the want of a little water; and in the 
 midst of this misery the deceitful mirages appear to him. A broad expanse 
 of water, clear as crystal, suddenly opens to his view. Faint and weary 
 under the fierce sunbeam, he gazes on the unexpected relief with ineflable 
 delight, and fondly anticipates a sjieedy termination to his present distress. 
 He sees the foremost cattle enter the lake, and the water dashed about by 
 their feet. He quickens his pace and hastens to the spot, when to his utter 
 disappointment the pool disappears, and nothing remains but the dry and 
 thirsty wilderness f." The reader will hereafter enter into the full force of 
 what is meant by the ' living,'' the real fountains of water, said in the Scrip- 
 tures to be prepared for his flock by the great Shepherd. 
 
 COLD. 
 
 In Europe, the days and nights seem to correspond naturally with the 
 seasons and with each other : but it is quite otherwise in the East. In 
 Lower Asia, in particular, the day is always hot, and as soon as the sun is 
 fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt even in the depth of winter. 
 On the contrary, in the height of summer the nights are intensely cold, 
 and the better sort or the ini\abitants are all clothed in furred garments, as 
 the only means by which they can resist the chilliness of the air. A 
 
 * Gen. xxxi. 40. f Belzoiii's Researches in Egypt, p. 342. 
 
ANCIENT DOGS, 27 
 
 traveller says, " sometimes we lay at night out in the open air, sooner tlian 
 enter a town, on which occasions I found the weather as piercing cold as it 
 was distressingly hot in the day time *." 
 
 WILD BEASTS.- 
 
 Every portion of the country which they traversed was probably as 
 much infested with wild beasts at that period as at the present day or even 
 more so, for fewer caravans then crossed the desert to disturb or destroy 
 these unpleasant inhabitants. Jacob refers to them, and to the ravages 
 which they committed — " That which was torn of beasts I brought not 
 unto thee ; I bare the loss of itf." David also draws a lively picture of the 
 danger to which the shepherd was exposed from this cause — " Thy servant 
 kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb 
 out of the flock, and I went after him, (each of them in his turn), and smote 
 him, and delivered it out of his mouth, and when he arose against me, I 
 caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him, thy servant slew 
 both the lion and the bear J." So, many centuries afterwards, our Saviour 
 speaks of the hireling fleeing and leaving the sheep when he saw the wolf 
 coming, and of the good shepherd giving his life for the sheep§. 
 
 The following passage from Haynes's Travels gives a dreadful account 
 of the present state of a portion of the country over which the flocks of the 
 Patriarchs periodically ranged ; and the reader may form some idea of the 
 dangers to which the ancient shepherd was occasionally exposed, " The 
 approaching to Lene at close of day, as we did, is at once terrifying and 
 dangerous. The surrounding country swarms with wild beasts, such as 
 tigers, leopards, and jackals, whose cries and bowlings would strike the 
 boldest traveller, who has not been frequently in a like situation, with the 
 deepest sense of horror Ij.' 
 
 THE ANCIENT DOG, 
 
 It would seem in early times, as now, the shepherd had his attendant 
 dog. Job speaks of those " whose fathers he would have disdained to have 
 set with the dogs of his flock ^ ;" and Isaiah calls upon " the beasts of the 
 forest to come to devour, for the shepherds cannot miderstand, the watch- 
 men are blind, and they are all dumb dogs that cannot bark, sleeping, lyino- 
 down, loving to slumber**." The duty of the dog, however, extended no 
 further than guarding the flock from the attack of wild beasts : and, like 
 the Spanish sheep-dog of the present day, he had nothing to do with the 
 management of the sheep: on the contrary, he w^s a kind of abomination 
 with the Israelites, and if not carefully watched, was more destructive to the 
 sheep than the beast of whose approach he was to give warning. Taken 
 away from this duty, he was a common pest and destroyer. The Psalmist 
 tefers to this when he speaks of dogs having compassed him aboutft I and 
 it is remarkable that there is not an encomium passed upon the dog in the 
 whole of the sacred volume J J. 
 
 * Sir John Chardin's Travels. See also Burden's Observations on Gen.xxxi. 40. 
 
 f Gen. xxxi. 39. | 1 Sam. xvii. 34—36, § John x. 12. 
 
 II Harmer's Observations, vol, iv. p. 171. f Job xxx l' 
 
 ** Isaiahlvi. 9, 11. f f Ps. xvii. 16. 
 
 + + " The dog loses in Barbary, as in the East in general, a part of those social qualities 
 which make him the friend of man. He is no longer that domestic, mild, insinuating 
 animal, faithfully attached to his master, and ever ready to defend him, even at the 
 expense of his own life. Among the Arabs, he is cruel, blood-thirsty, always hungry 
 and never satisfied. His look is savage, his physiognomy ignoble, and his appearance 
 disagreeable. The Moors grant him inde;^d a corner in their tent, bui that is all. They 
 never caress him, never throw him anything to eat. To this treatment, in ray opinion, 
 
28 SHEEP. 
 
 THE shepherd's COMMAND OVER HIS FLOCK. 
 
 Not possessing the assistance which the modern shepherd in enclosed 
 countries derives from his intelligent and faithful dog, the keeper of the 
 sheep, both in ancient and modern times, thrown upon his own resources, 
 acquired a command over his flock which would be deemed almost incre- 
 dible. Our Saviour, when delineating his own character, gives an in- 
 teresting picture of the Jewish shepherd. " The sheep hear his voice, and 
 he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out, and he goeth 
 before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice *." In a 
 wild and boundless desert, and without his quadruped helper, it was neces- 
 sary that he should have this command over them ; and he acquired it by 
 being always among them, and by treating them kindly. In a country 
 enclosed according to the modern system, and where there are laws to 
 restrain the plunderer, the shepherd may safely leave his sheep by night 
 as well as by day. On our most extensive downs and wildest mountains 
 he depends chiefly on the exertions of his dog to keep the sheep from 
 wandering, to collect them at even, and to drive them to the fold. The 
 eastern shepherd can only accomplish his task by exercising another kind 
 of power over his flock, namely, that of attachment and confidence f. 
 
 " I asked my man," says Mr. Hartley, who was travelling through 
 Greece, "if it was customary to give names to sheep. He informed me 
 that it was, and that the sheep obeyed their shepherd when he called them 
 by their name. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the truth 
 of his account. Passing a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same 
 question that I had put to my servant, and he gave me the same answer. 
 I then bade him to call one of his shecj). He did so, and it instantly left 
 its pasture and its companions and ran up to the hands of the shepherd 
 with signs of pleasure, and with a prompt obedience which I had never 
 seen excelled in any other animal. He told me, also, that many of his 
 sheep were still ' wild,' — that they had not yet learned their names, — but 
 that by teaching they would all learn them. The others which knew their 
 names he called ' tame J.' '' 
 
 Tiiis, perhaps, is a portion of sheep-management somewhat too much 
 neglected. Why not give names to all the sheep, as well as to the prize 
 
 must the indifference of dogs towards their master be ascribed. Very often they have 
 not any master. They choose a tent as a place of refuge ; they remain there, and no 
 further notice is taken of them. Refuse carrion, filth, anything is good enough for them 
 if they can but appease their hunger. They are lean and emaciated, and have scarcely 
 any belly. They seldom bite one another; but they unite against a stranger who ap- 
 l)roaehes the Arab tents, furiously attack him, and would tear him to pieces if he did not 
 seek siilety in flight from this starved troop. If any person were unable to defend himself, 
 or had the misfortune to fall, he would be in danger of being devoured, for these dogs are 
 very greedy after human flesh.'' — Poirefs Travels in Barbary, vol.i. p. •2.')3. 
 
 "During all the long tour through this dreary and melancholy city (Alexandria in 
 Egypt), Europe and its liveliness were pictured to me only by the bustle and activity of 
 the sparrows. I here no longer recognised the dog, that friend of man, the attached and 
 fnithful companion, the lively and honest courtier; he is here a gloomy egotist, unknown 
 to the host under whose roof he dwells, cut off from human intercourse, without being the 
 less a slave; he does not know him whose house he protects, and devours his corpse with- 
 out repugnance." — Denon's Travels in Lower Egypt, p. 32. 
 
 * John X. 3, 4. 
 
 f Our sheepe do not follow their shepherds as they do in all other countries ; for the 
 shepherd goeth before and the sheep follow like a pack of dogs. This disobedience of 
 our sheepe happens to us, because we let them range night and day in the field 
 without a shepherd, which other countries dare not lor feare of wolves and other 
 ravenous beasts, but are compelled to guard them all day with great dogs, and to brmg 
 them home at night, or to watch them in their folds —Samuel Hartlib's Legacie, 1651, 
 p. 07. 
 
 + The Rev. John Hartley's Journal, Penny Magazine. Oct ).1 '^32. 
 
THE SHEPHERD'S COMMAND OVER HIS FLOCK. 29 
 
 ones and the bullocks ? The English shepherd professes to recognize every 
 sheep in his flock, almost as vvell as the huntsman knows every dog in 
 his pack. The latter has long been accustomed to give to each hound his 
 name, and much of the tractability and obedience of the pack depends on 
 each individual of it recognizing first his peculiar name, and, very soon after- 
 wards, the command, or encouragement, or intimation of displeasure that 
 is addressed to him. This mutual recognition between the shepherd and 
 his charge did not, perhaps, extend to every individual, and could not, if the 
 flock was as numerous as it is described to have occasionally been in 
 ancient times; but he selected some of the older rams whom, by feeding 
 from the hand and other kind treatment, he accustomed to come at his call, 
 and gradually" to understand and obey his directions, and whom the rest of 
 the flock woull immediately follow*. By degrees these selected animals 
 would perfectly understand the language or gestures of the shepherd, and at 
 his command, and sometimes of their own accord, would collect the strag- 
 glers, and marshal them in regular order, and direct the march of the flock. 
 Lucian speaks of Polyphemus, the first shepherd of whose management of 
 his sheep profane history gives any account, as ordering the ram what 
 things he ought to do. 
 
 Homer compares Ulysses drawing up his men to a ram ordering his 
 flock— 
 
 From rank to rank he moves and orders all : 
 
 A stately ram thus measures o'er the ground, 
 
 And, master of the flock, surveys them round. 
 
 Pope's TRANSLATioNf . 
 
 "* There is no animal in which the principle of imitation is so s-rong as in the shetp. 
 It seems (o have been wisely and kindly implanted in one of the most valuable and 
 defenceless and wandering of the domesticated animals, in order that it might b(! ob- 
 served and taken advantage of by the intelligence of man. The leaders of the flock 
 having been instructed and rendered manageable, the obedience of the rest is secured. 
 It is often exceedingly difficult to drive a pavcel of sheep into a narrow and unaccustomed 
 passage or way, but if one of them is dragged even with violence into the place, the 
 rest follow without the slightest trouble. 
 
 Mr. Wilson quotes from Dr. Anderson a ludicrous illustration of this principle : — " A 
 butcher's boy was driving some fat wethers through Liverpool, but they ran down a 
 street along which he did not want them to go. He observed a scavenger at work with 
 his broom a little way before him, and called out loudly to him to stop the sheep. The 
 man accordingly did what he could to turn them back, running from side to side, always 
 opposing himself to their passage, and brandishing his broom with great dexterity, but 
 the sheep, much agitated, pressed forward. At last one of them cajr.e right up to the man, 
 who, fearing it was about to jump right over his head while he was stooping, grasped 
 the short broomstick in both hands, and held it over his head. He stood for a few seconds 
 in this position, when the sheep made a spring and jumped fairly over him without touch- 
 ing the broom. The first had no sooner cleared this impediment than another followed, 
 and another, in such quick succession, that the man, perfectly confounded, seemed to lose 
 all recollection, and stood in the same attitude till the whole had jumped over him, not one 
 of them attempting to pass on either side, though the street was quite clear. As this took 
 place during wet weather, the man was entirely bespattered over with dirt before they had 
 all passed, and it is impossible to conceive a more ludicrous appearance than the poor 
 fellow made on the occasion." — Illustrations of Natural History, vol. i. p. 112. 
 
 The Annual Register for 1808 affords two illustrations of this principle, of a very dif- 
 ferent character. " A few days since a serious accident happened to a flock of sheep, the 
 property of Mr. Cooper, of Huilston Hall, who had intrusted them to the care of a boy 
 for that da)', in the absence of the shepherd, who was assisting in getting in the harvest. 
 AboTit the middle of the day the sheep broke from their pasture, when the thoughtless 
 boy hastened them back again over a narrow and deep ditch. The leading sheep fell in, 
 and the remainder passing over them, smothered twenty-five sheep and forty lambs, the 
 whole being worth 70/. or 80/." It is stated in the same volume that " Mr. Sparks, near 
 Guildford, had more than eight hundred sheep in one pasture field, when being frightened 
 by a dog, one of them jumped into an adjoining field, which was on a great descent, and 
 then followed each other over the gap of the hedge so fast, that one hundred and twenty- 
 three of them were killed." 
 
 *■ Even at the present day, and where the use of the sheep-dog is known, Daubentor. 
 
THE SHEEP. 
 
 THE MUSIC OF THE SHEPHERDS. 
 
 Ancient writers ilescrlbe-the shepherds of the early limes as exerting con- 
 siderable influence over their flocks by the power of music. Orpheus was 
 a shepherd, and strange is the account of the magic of his pipe. Apollo, 
 during nine years, kept the flocks of Admetus, and his rival, Pan, was also 
 a shepherd, and, although easily vancjuished when he ventured to contend 
 with the god of music, discoursed eloquently upon the pipe. David was 
 laken from the sheep of his father Jesse, and made the armour-bearer of 
 Saul ; and " when the evil spirit, the fit of melancholy, was upon Saul, 
 David took a harp and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed and 
 was well, and the evil spirit departed from him*." 
 
 The pastures on which the sheep of the olden times fed, consisted of 
 immense plains, or occasionally of abrupt alternations of hill and vale, with 
 many a tangled copse and forest, so that the sheep, or a portion of them, 
 were often out of the sight of the keeper, and occasionally beyond the 
 reach of his voice : he therefore had a horn, or pipe, by means of which he 
 could be heard at a greater distance, and the well-known sound of whicli 
 the leaders of the flock would immediately obey. To while away the time, 
 he would, perhaps, occasionally endeavour to draw other and more pleasing 
 sounds from this instrument so necessary to his vocation, and thus he 
 would naturally, or almost necessarily, become, to a greater or less degree, 
 a musician : therefore the interesting stories of the poets are not all fictions ; 
 and it can easily be imagined that the shepherd would often be found 
 playing on his pipe in the midst of his flock, and they apparently attentive 
 to, and pleased with, the strain, for they would have sufficient intelligence 
 to associate with it a sense of the kindness and protection they experienced 
 from the player. 
 
 Goldsmith gives the following account of the shepherd-musician ; — 
 " Before I had seen them trained in this manner, I hud no conception of 
 those descriptions in the old pastoral poets, of the shepherd leading his 
 flock from one country to another. As I had been used to see these 
 harmless creatures driven before their keepers, I supposed that all the rest 
 was pure invention ; but in many parts of the Alps, and even some provinces 
 of France, the sheplierd and his pipe are still continued with true antique 
 simplicity. The flock is regularly penned every evening, to preserve them 
 from the wolf, and the shepherd returns homeward at sunset with his 
 sheep following him, and seemingly pleased with the sound of the pipe, 
 which is blown with a reed, and resembles the chanter of a bagpipef." 
 
 Some illustrations of the command of the shepherd over his flock will 
 be given when the management of the Spanish flocks in their annual 
 peregrinations is described ; one pleasing instance of it, however, the 
 sheep-husbandry of Messrs. Nowlan, of Kilkenny, will aff"ord. Their 
 stock in 1820 consisted of 600 pure Merinos. During the summer they 
 were pastured upon a farm of good natural herbage improved by grass- 
 eeeds and clover ; in winter they were housed in the day during wet 
 
 thus describes the duty and the practice of the French shepherds. " They select certain 
 sheep from the flock ; they give them particular names, and teach them to come when 
 they are called. In order to accustom them to this, they make the sheep follow them by 
 offering them a piece of bread. When the shepherd wishes to lead his flock through a 
 •lefile, or to make them change the direction in which they are proceeding, he calls to him 
 one of these selected sheep. Those that are nearest to him immediately follow, and the 
 others are not far behind, and so by degrees the whole flock is disposed to obey the call 
 of the shepherd, and to follow him."— Instructions pour les Bergers, p. 15. 
 
 * 1 Sam. xvi. 14-23. 
 
 I Goldsmith's Animated Nature, vol. ii. p 59. 
 
THE MUSIC OF THE SHEPHERDS. 31 
 
 weather. They were all under the charge of one young man. No dog 
 was permitted, all was done by the shepherd himself. At the sound of the 
 horn all the sheep flocked around him if he stopped, and followed him if he 
 moved forward. Salt was the medium by which this docility was chiefly 
 produced, and the reporter adds, — " any shepherd who accustoms his sheep 
 to the use of salt, and carries a little about him as a reward for their 
 attention to his call, will be followed by them wherever he pleases to lead 
 the way." 
 
 The farm is divided by the King's River, at times so rapid and im- 
 petuous as not to be fordable by the strongest horse. A plank bridge, 
 about eighteen inches wide, and one hundred and ten feet long, with a 
 head-rail on one side, is thrown across for the convenience of passengers. 
 When it is necessary to move the sheep from one side of tlie river to the 
 other, the shepherd has only to cross this plank, sounding his horn, and 
 each individual of the flock paces regularly after him in single file, with- 
 out uny instance of casualty, even at the time of the highest floods*." 
 
 This kind of sheep-management is not, however, to be expected in the 
 present day, nor could it be made compatible with the altered and improved 
 state of British husbandry ; but there are several passages in the older 
 writers on agricvdture, which abundantly prove that this part at least of the 
 patriarchal syi>tem was not unknown by the British shepherds. Barnaby 
 Googe, who wrote in 1614, and from whom some excellent maxims will be 
 occasionally quoted, thus expresses himself, — there is, perhaps, a little of 
 the romance of the pastoral life of former times about it, but it was well 
 founded on the habits of the animal, and the customs of the times. 
 " Moreover, the shepherds must deale gently and lovingly with their 
 flocke, and comforting and cheering them with singing and musicke, for 
 this kind of cattel taketh great delighte in musicke, and it doth them as 
 much good as their pasture. Beside, they must be well ware in the driving 
 of them and ruling of them, that they guide tliem with their voice, and 
 shaking of their staff'e, and not hunting of them t." 
 
 THE HUMANITY OF THE SHEPHERD. 
 
 Connected with this is another interesting feature in the character of the 
 nomadic shepherd — humanity. Their frequent change of situation in search 
 
 * The Farmer's Magazine, August, 1820. The use of the horn for the collecting and 
 management of sheep was well known in early times. Polybius says that the flocks in 
 the island of Cyrnon, on the landing of any stranger, always fled into the interior of the 
 country, but when the shepherd blew his horn, they scampered around him and forgot aU 
 fear. — See also Bulkeley's Notes on John x. 4. 
 
 Other domesticated animals have been taught the same obedience to the herdsmen. 
 " In Lithuania and Muscovy, as soon as the sun has risen, the herdsman daily winds his 
 horn. On the well-known signal, the stalls being instantly opened, the horses, mulos, 
 asses, goats, heifers, and bulls obey the signal without reluctance. As soon as they are 
 assembled in a body, he marches at the head of them, while they quietly follow their 
 leader into such meadows as he sees most convenient for them. By a second signal 
 they are led to water, and, by a. third, re-conducted home again, where each repairs 
 to his own proper stall without the least disorder or confusion." — Nature Delineated, 
 vol. iii. p. 25. 
 
 '• The shepherds in Sweden, as well as in Iceland, have horns made of birchwood. 
 Two excavated pieces of birchwood are fitted together, and bound tightly round with the 
 bark of the same tree, so that one circular pipe is formed. The sound made by this horn 
 is shrill, but not luipleasant. The sheep and cattle will come together at certain places 
 and times obedient to this call." 
 
 It is in the same manner that the cattle are collected by the herdsmen of the Alps. — 
 Acerbi's Travels in Sweden and Lapland, vol. i. p. 30. 
 
 f Dyer, in his "Fleece," speaking of the '-airy downs and gentle hills," the open and 
 elevated country, where this system of management might be with most a(2vantage 
 
Sa SHEEP. 
 
 of pasture and of \v;iter, and tlie long marches whicli they were somethiies 
 obliged to take when many of the lambs were newly dropped, or the ewes 
 were big with yoiuiff, compelled them to adopt a system of attention and 
 kindness to tlieir flocks, which, not being required from the modern 
 shepherd, is not practised or understood by him. Thus Jacob addresses 
 Esau — " My Lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks 
 and herds with young are with me ; and if men should overdrive them one 
 day, all the flock will die*." Thus the prophet speaks of the Messiah — 
 " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with 
 his arm, and shall carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those 
 that are with young.'' In the descriptions already quoted of the manner 
 in which encampments of the shepherds are moved, provision is always 
 made for the young lambs. " Some beasts of burden, guided by the 
 young men, bear the little ones just dropped, and not able to travelt-" 
 *• The little children, just able to toddle along themselves, are employed 
 in driving, at their own slow pace, the lambs a little older|." " One 
 evening," says M. de Brisson, in his history of his captivity among the 
 Arabs, *' as I was returning with our flock, one of the ewes brought forth 
 a lamb on the declivity of a little hill ; I took it up in my arms, and, with 
 equal care and tenderness, hasted to carry it to the tents." — P. 3"]. 
 
 " In flowery spring-time, when the new-dropped lamb, 
 Tottering with weakness by its mother's side, 
 Feels the fresh world about him, and each thorn. 
 Hillock, or furrow, trips his feeble feet, — 
 Oh, guard him carefully ! ^ " 
 
 Sir John Chardin, undesignedly, gives a satisfactory comment on Jacob's 
 apology to Esau for not attending him on his journey. " Their (the 
 Arabs') flocks feed down the place of their encampment so quick, by the 
 great numbers which they have, that they are obliged to remove them too 
 often, which is very destructive to the flocks, on account of the young ones 
 which have not strength enough to follow |." 
 
 Tiie parable of Nathan describes the fondness for animals, and the care 
 
 adopted, and describing the usual healthiness of the sheep in such situations, says, that 
 they 
 
 " Nor of halt, 
 Hydropic tumours, nor of rot, complain ; 
 Evils deformed and foul ; nor with hoarse cough 
 Disturb the music of the pastoral pijie ; 
 liut crowding to the note, with silence, soft, 
 The close-woven carpet graze." — Book I. 
 Ellis, in his "Shepherd's Guide," quoting from an old French author, says, "He must 
 accustom himself to two sorts of cries, the one pleasant and shrill, to make them go for- 
 ward ; but another and diverse cry to call them back, that the sheep, hearing these two 
 ditltrent cries, may learn and apply themselves to do tiiat which thereby is commaii<led 
 them. He must sometimes make them merry, cheering (hem up with songs or else by 
 his whistle and pipe, for the sheep at the hearing thereof will feed the more hungerly : 
 they will not straggle so far abroad, but ibey will love him the better." " Hence it is, I 
 suppose," Ellis adds, " that some shepherds divert themselves with playing on the 
 tabur and pipe, as some do at this time in England, and as they did in France when this 
 French author wrote." — P. 3. 
 
 The same quaint but valuable writer describes a person who lived in the neighbourhood 
 of Hempstead in 1747, that was remarkable for the loudness of his whistle, and who was 
 called " I he Whistling Shepherd." " He had by means of it a perfect command of his dog, 
 who left off driving the flock, or a single sheep, and came to him at once from a considerable 
 distance, and who had equal command over his sheep ; for as soon as he appeared at the end 
 of the field or the common, and gave the usual signal, although scattered widely apart, 
 they would immediately form into a close compact body and march towards him," — P. G3. 
 * Gen.xxxiii. 13. f Buckingham's Palestine. 
 
 I Buckingham's Palestine. § Dyer's Fleece, Book I. 
 
 II See also Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 126. 
 
SHEEP-SHEARING. 33 
 
 bestowed on them occasionally exliibited by the people of tliat time. It was 
 evidently a picture of home life. " There were two men in one city, the 
 one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks 
 and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe-lamb, which he 
 had bought and nourished up, and it grew up together with him and with 
 liis children : it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and 
 lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter *." 
 
 SHEEP-SHEARING. 
 
 At what period the grand improvement in tlie management of the sheep, 
 the periodical separation of the wool from the pelt — the shearing — was 
 introduced, is not known. It had probably been observed that in most cli- 
 mates in which there is considerable difference of temperature between the 
 winter and the summer, the fleece is naturally detached during the latter 
 season. As the spring advances, it is no longer needed to defend the 
 animal from the cold — it has become, from its weight and its warmth, a 
 nuisance rather than a comfort — the supply of nutriment is therefore cut 
 off" at the base, the bulb whence it sprung withers away, its attachment to 
 the skin ceases, and it is only held on the back of the animal by the inter- 
 lacing and entanglement of its fibres. Portions of it are now torn off" by 
 every thicket, and become lost or spoiled. The ingenuity of the sheep- 
 owner wouUl be exercised in saving as much of the wool as he could. He 
 would watch the tfme when it was beginning to be thrown off", and he would 
 endeavour to hasten the natural process. The earliest and rudest method 
 was to drive the flocks hastily through a narrow passage, when by their 
 pressure against each other the greater part of the fleece was loosened, or 
 completely detached. 
 
 To this succeeded another mode, which had an appearance of inhumanity 
 about it. The sheep was caught and the fleece was pulled from its back. 
 The animal, however, did not often experience much pain in this operation, 
 for when tlie fleece began to be so loosely attached to the pelt that it was 
 separated by almost everything against which it rubbed, no great force was 
 needed to separate it entirely t. 
 
 Of one of the varieties of the sheep of the patriarchs-^ — the Persian — it is 
 reported that when they feed upon the new grass between January and 
 May, the whole of their fleeces drop ofl^ as it were spontaneously, and the 
 animals are left " as bare " (in the elegant language of the author, Yarrcn- 
 ton) " as a scalded sucking-pig J." There is no proof, 'lowever, that this was 
 the case with the ancient Persian sheep, much less that it could be aflSrmed of 
 the flocks of the patriarchs generally The shepherd watched the time when 
 the outer layer of wool began to separate, and being assured from long 
 experience that it was usually about the same season of the year, a happy 
 thought suggested the use of the shears, in order to secure the whole of the 
 fleece in its most perfect state. 
 
 * 2 Sam. xii. 1 , 2, 3. Bochart gives several ilkiitralions of their humanity to animab. 
 Hieron., p. i. lib. ii. ch. 43. 
 
 + If Mr. Low's account, however, is to be crcditeil, too much cruelty does sometimes 
 accompany this method of obtaining the fleece. He thus describes the practice which 
 prevailed ui the Orkney Islands in his time. "About midsummer there is a particular day 
 published for rowing, when all the men in the parish attend with their dogs, turn out and 
 drive the whole flock, without any preparation of washing, into narrow pens, and from 
 thence 1 may say to the place of execution, where the wool is torn off their backs ; an 
 operation which brings their whole blood into their skin, and is not only disgusting, but, 
 if the season proves harsh, is the cause of great destruction. But, however cruel it may 
 6oem, it is almost the only notice that is taken of these useful animals by their unfeeling 
 masters until that time tvvelvemonth." — Fauna Orcadensis, p. 7. In Iceland, also, the 
 sheep are never shorn, but the wool is pulled off by the hand when it has become 
 hose.— Gill's Technological Repository, \o\, [\., p. 18. 
 
 J Agricultural Magazine, July, 181 C^. 
 
 D 
 
34 SHEEP. 
 
 Most of those who have treated on the early history of this animal have 
 traced the practice of sheep-shearing to the time of Hesiod. By him, in 
 fact, it is first mentioned as having been common among tlie Greel^s, 
 but tlie sacred writings prove that it was of much earlier date. Eighteen 
 hundred years before tlie birth of Christ, and nine hundred before the time 
 of Hesiod, is it recorded that " Laban went to shear his sheep*." 
 
 These wandering shepherds, however inferior they might have been to 
 other nations in many of the arts of civilized life, far excelled them in the 
 management and care of these useful animals. When Rome was founded, 
 two hundred years after the time of Hesiod, the custom of pulling instead 
 of shearing off the wool prevailed. The word vellus, a fleece, was derived 
 from the pulling or tearing away of the wool ; and the part of the Palatine 
 Hill called Velleia was so named on account of its being the spot where the 
 Romans used to pull their wool, before the Etruscan method of shearing 
 was introduced. When Rome was in the zenith of her glory, the more 
 effectual and humane operation of shearing was not universally adopted in 
 Italy. Pliny expressly says, " the sheep are not everywhere shorn, but 
 the custom of pulling off the wool {vellendi mos) continues in some 
 places ;" and he adds, that which was a disgrace to the age, " that the poor 
 animals were kept fasting three days before the 'pulling,' in order that, the 
 sheep being thus rendered languid and exhausted, tlie roots of the wool 
 might be more easily detached." How superior to the conquerors of the 
 world do the patriarchs appear in the noblest art, that of humanity f '• 
 
 It was not every where in the eastern countries that convenience could 
 be found for the washing, which then, as in most places now, preceded, 
 the shearing ; and Laban was compelled to drive his flock to a considerable 
 distance for this purpose; it was not until '-the third day " that " it was 
 told Laban that Jacob had fled|." 
 
 Of the preparation for, and the manner in which the operation was per- 
 formed, it could not be expected that these early records would speak ; but 
 there can be no doubt that when sheep were so numerous, and formed so con- 
 siderable a part of the riches of the owner, every convenience would be pro- 
 vided for the occasion : accordingly a building seems to have been erected 
 for this especial purpose. Jehu " slew the brethren of Ahaziah at the pit 
 of the shearing-house §." This was nearly nine hundred years after that 
 change of colour in the sheep, first introduced by Jacob, which rendered 
 " the pit of the shearing-house," the pool in which the sheep were washed 
 j)revious to the shearing, absolutely necessary. 
 
 Then, as now, the sheep- shearing was the season of peculiar rejoicing. It 
 was the harvest of the shepherd, and when he had gathered it, a good feeling 
 taught him, as it has taught the agriculturist in every country and time, to 
 make glad the hearts of the labourers for a few hours at least. Even churlish 
 Nabal could not refuse this, for he asks of the servants of David, " Shall I 
 take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my 
 shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not wlience they be ? " At a 
 little later period another, but not very pleasing, account is given of the 
 festivities of that season : "And it came to pass that Absalom had sheep- 
 shearers in Baal-hazor, and Absalom invited all the king's sons, and Absalom 
 commanded his servants, saying, When Amnon's heart is merry with wine, 
 then kill him ||." 
 
 * Geu. xxxi. 19 
 
 f See Wilson on the Sheep. Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 365. 
 
 + Gen. xxxi. 22. § 2 Kings x, 13-14. 
 
 j'. 2 Sam. xxiii. 23, 28. The close of harvest was a season of rejoicing in most of the 
 ancient nations, and sheep-shearing was the harvest of the nomadic shepherd. This 
 periodical festival was even enacted by law. Cecrops, the founder of the kingdom of 
 Athens, about the time of Moses, ordained that <' the master of every family should after 
 
SHEEP-SHEARING. 35 
 
 Without entering at present into the question relating to hogget-wool, or 
 the period of the first clipping of the lamb, it may be mentioned that 
 there is a passage in Deuteronomy which may account for the origin of 
 tlie delay of the first shearing. It has principal reference, however, only 
 to the firstlings or the first born of the flock, which were claimed for reli- 
 gious purposes. " All the firstling males that come of thy herd, and of 
 thy flock, thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God ; thou shall do no 
 work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep*." 
 
 One passage more with reference to the shearing of the sheep will place 
 the docility of that animal, and the humanity of the shepherd, in a very 
 pleasing point of view : it is the account given by the prophet Isaiah of the 
 sufferings of the Messiah, and the meekness with which he endured them. 
 " He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a, sheep before her 
 shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth f." He who has witnessed 
 only the noise, and confusion, and frequent brutality of a modern sheep- 
 shearing, can with difficulty picture to himself quietude in the sheep so 
 complete as this. One, however, who witnessed the management of the 
 sheep in Palestine, a philosopher, a Jew, without direct reference to this pas- 
 sage, and without seeming to have it in his mind, gives a perfect commen- 
 tary on it. " Woolly rams laden with thick fleeces put themselves into his 
 liands (the shepherd's) to have their wool shorn, being thus accustomed to 
 pay their yearly tribute to man, tlieir king by nature. The sheep stands in 
 a silent inclining posture, unconstrained under the hand of the shearer. 
 These things may appear strange to those who do not know the docility of 
 the sheep, and shepherds might be much assisted in this government by 
 giving them names while in the state of lambs, and using them to go and 
 come daily by those namesj." 
 
 There are not any passages which indicate tliat the Israelite shepherds 
 were in the habit of clothing their sheep after the shearing. There is no 
 reason to suppose that these animals ever became so excessively fat as to 
 render it necessary for them to be shorn in an early period of the season, 
 and thus be exposed to danger from the cold : and then only could clothing 
 be justified on account of the expense with which it is attended, whatever 
 may be said of its effect on the sheep and the wool§. 
 
 It is certain, however, that the Greeks were accustomed to clothe their 
 flocks. " Pursuing our walk," (in the neighbourhood of Athens,) says the 
 pretended but highly instructive Anacharsis, " we passed by a numerous 
 flock of sheep, preceded and followed by dogs to drive away the wolves 
 (Xen. Memor. lib. ii. p. 757) : a covering of skin was wrapped round each 
 sheep. This practice, which has been borrowed from the Megareans (in- 
 habitants of the Isthmus of Corinth, Lus. in Areopag. p. 136 and 143), 
 defends the wool from the filth which might otherwise defile it, and prevents 
 it from being torn by the hedges. I know not whether it contributes to 
 render the wool finer, but I can aflirm that the wool of Attica is extremely 
 fine II ." (Varr. de Re Ruslica, lib. ii. c. 2.) 
 
 The system of cotting was known and adopted by the Israelites. After 
 repelling the invasion of Sennacherib, Hezekiah applied a portion of the 
 spoil to works of public utility ; lie built " storehouses, for the increase of 
 
 liarvest make a feast for his servants, and eat together with those who had taken pains 
 togL'thor with him in tilling his ground." See Buider's Oriental Literature, vol, ii. p. 77. 
 
 * Deut. XV-. 19. 
 
 f Isaiah liii. 7. 
 
 T Philo-Judaeus on the Creation, c. i. 
 
 § Young's Annals of Agriculture, vol. xli. p. 515. 
 
 !| ravels of Anacharsis the Vounger iu Greece, vol, iv. p. 519. 
 
 D 2 
 
86 SHEEP. 
 
 corn, and wine, and oil, and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for 
 flocks*." This has reference more to the inhabitants of considerable towns 
 or cities than to the wandering shepherds, of whom principally mention has 
 hitherto been made. 
 
 A very curious, but not accurate, account of the earliest system of cot- 
 ting is given by a writer in the Annals of Agriculture. He says that 
 "the ancients were so perfectly satisfied that a variety of climate was 
 absolutely necessary to the production of fine wool, that those people whose 
 situation admitted not of any change, had recourse to art, — housing them 
 from the day to defend them from the too powerful rays of the sun, and 
 exposing them to the cold of night. This was practised by Hezekiali ; 
 Columella informs us that the same conveniences were adopted in Greece 
 and Tarentum, and there is a line in Milton's Lycidas confirming the 
 custom of their nocturnal exposure : — 
 
 * Battening our flocks with the fresh dews of night.' " 
 
 The cotting which has been practised in modern times, Iiovvever, has 
 iiad universally reference to the night. The sheep are collected together 
 in these buildings for the double purpose of defending them from the cold, 
 and preserving their dung as manure ; and, from the accounts which are 
 given of the sheep-husbandry of the remotest times, it is clear that these 
 were the objects of the primitive shepherds. Polyphemus is represented by 
 Homer as driving his flock at eve to his rude cote, a rocky cave f- Virgil 
 expressly describes the cote as designed to " fend the bitter cold, and pre- 
 vent the diseases produced by it J." The same poet furnishes a satis- 
 factory explanation of Milton's dews of night, when, not having the modern 
 fear of the early dew before his eyes, he counsels, — 
 
 "Before the sun, while Hesperus ajipears, 
 First let them sip from herbs the pearly tears 
 Of morning dew §." 
 
 They were to " batten on the fresh dews of night" before these were eva- 
 porated by the rising sun ; and Columella himself speaks of " the folds 
 not being resorted to on account of the great number of wolves, — the 
 hurdles of which they were composed affording a very insufficient protec- 
 tion from these animals, — but, in order that their dung might be saved, 
 buildings were erected into which they were driven every night all the 
 year round ||." 
 
 Of the use of the wool for clothing, in those early times, the scriptures 
 aftbrd many unequivocal proofs. Job, who is supposed to have lived 
 
 * 2 Chron. xxxii. 28. 
 f Odyssey, lib. ix. 
 
 :[: Incipiens sfabulis edlco iu mollibus herbam 
 
 Carpere oves, dum mox frondosa reducitur sestas : 
 
 Kt multa duram stipula, filicumque mauiplis 
 
 Sternere subter humum, glacies ne frigida laedat 
 
 Molle pecus, scabitmque ferat, tiu-pesque podagras. — Georg. III. v. 203, 
 
 First with as'siduous care from winter keep 
 
 ^Vell foddered in tbe stalls thy tender sheep. 
 
 Then spread with straw the bedding of thy fold, 
 
 "Wiih fern beneath, to fend the bitter cold. 
 
 That free from gotit thou may'st preserve thy care, 
 
 And clear from scabs produced by freezing air, — Dryden. 
 & Georgic TIT. 
 f{ Bradley's Synopsis of Columella, &c., p. 59, 
 
WEAVING. 37 
 
 before the escape of the Israelites from Egypt, says, " Let me be con- 
 demned if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor with- 
 out covering ; if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed 
 with the fleece of my sheep * '' : i. e., if his loins did not admonish him 
 to bless me when he felt himself warm by the clothing made from my 
 wool. Woollen cloths, then, furnished a part of the usual dress. But 
 might not this cloth have been produced by the first and rudest process of 
 manufacture, — the beating and compressing of the wool together, — and by 
 means of which the fibres were entangled and adhered, and a coarse, yet 
 comfortable kind of cloth, was made? The same book will settle this 
 question. Job is complaining of his sad estate, and fancies himself near 
 unto death, and he says, " My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle t " ; 
 swifter than its motion through the warp that is stretched across the 
 machine. This atTords an unequivocal proof that the art of weaving was 
 then known, 
 
 A comparison with other passages will show that this art was in no 
 rude state, and therefore, probably, was of no recent invention ; for, 
 in order to repress that pride in gaudy apparel which is the foible of every 
 age, the Jews are forbidden ' to wear clothes made of two different 
 materials, as linen and wool interwoven {. The skill of the manufac- 
 turer is also spoken of in very high terms. Moses alludes to those 
 whom " God had filled with wisdom of art (all human acquirements are 
 naturally traced to Him by whom the spirit of intelligence was originally 
 bestowed) to work all manner of work of the engraver, and of the 
 cunning workman, and of the embroiderer in blue and in purple, in scarlet 
 and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those that devise cunning 
 work §." 
 
 It will now be natural to look back to the history of Joseph, three 
 hundred years before the escape of the Israelites from Egypt, and inquire 
 whether the coat of many colours with which a fond and foolish father 
 decorated a favourite son, was not likewise a proof that the art of weaving 
 woollen cloth then existed, and, even among the wandering shepherds, had 
 attained a considerable degree of perfection. It is at least a proof that 
 the art of dyeing was known and commonly practised. 
 
 Very early in the liistory of the Twelve Tribes after their settlement in 
 Canaan mention is made of the employment of the women in weaving. 
 When Samson slept in the lap of Delilah, she was busily emj)loyed in 
 using his hair as the warp of her loom 
 
 " If," said he to his false mistress, " thou weavest seven locks of my 
 head with the web, I shall be in thy power. And she did so ; and 
 she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him. The Philistines be upon 
 thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep and went away with the 
 pin of the beam, and with the web ||." 
 
 A short time after the period in which Samson lived, it is recorded that 
 the mother of Samuel " made him a little coat, and brought it to him from 
 year to year," when she came up with her husband to off'er yearly sacrifices. 
 And, at a somewhat later period % Solomon thus describes the good 
 wife, — " She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 
 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good. Her household are clothed 
 with scarlet**," 
 
 * Jobxxxi. 20. f lb. vii. 6, 
 
 X Deut. xxii. 11 ^ Exod. xxxv. 35. 
 
 II Judges xvi. 14. 1 Sam. ii. 19. 
 
 *♦ Proveibs xxxi. 13, 18,21. 
 
38 SHEEP. 
 
 THE EARLY SHEPHERDS THE INVENTORS OP WEAVING. 
 
 Moses legislated some centuries before the golden fleece arrived in 
 Greece ; and tlie Patriarchs tended their flocks long ere the inhabitants of 
 that country began to be civilized. The art of manufacturing the 
 fleece of the sheep into clothing was well known by the early shepherds, — 
 not merely the rude process of felting, but the superior pliability, and 
 beauty, and easiness of adaptation, and comfortable feeling which result 
 from the mechanism of the loom and the shuttle. Those primitive shep- 
 herds, however, whose history, as associated with the sheep, has been 
 rapidly traced, were connected with Egypt. Abraham sojourned there ; 
 and the descendants of Jacob were captives in Egypt more than one 
 hundred and fifty years. Modern historians have united in tracing the 
 invention of weaving to the Egyptians, — the weaving not of wool, how- 
 ever, but of flax ; and the fabric of the linen cloths in which some of the 
 Egyptian mummies were wrapped has scarcely been excelled at the 
 present day. Yet it may be questioned whether the claims of the nomadic 
 shepherds have been fairly considered. The cultivation of the sheep was 
 coeval with the expulsion from Paradise ; the cultivation of flax must have 
 been an improveme in husbandry of far later date. When the 
 descendants of Noah were scattered, they pursued their old avocation, — 
 their flocks and their herds accompanied them until they chanced to find 
 some peculiarly fertile and convenient tract, which they gradually made 
 their permanent abode ; and then, building cities for themselves, they 
 by degrees changed their way of life, and applied the arts, which they 
 already possessed, to other and more extensive purposes. 
 
 The children of Mizraim, the ofl"spring of Ham, found in Egypt a soil not 
 well fitted for the prosperous management of the sheep. The Nile over- 
 flowed its banks twice in the year ; and when its waters receded, a surface 
 was left that was soon covered with luxuriant vegetation, but which 
 infected and destroyed the sheep that fed upon it. Accident or experiment, 
 however, soon proved that it was favourable to the cultivation of flax, 
 and that from the fibres of the flax fine linen might be woven. Did the 
 discovery* of the flax lead to the invention of weaving, or was an art, known 
 and practised for many a century before, directed to the manufacture of 
 this new material ? The latter is the more probable supposition, espe- 
 cially if it is recollected, that during the early period of the history of the 
 Patriarchs, some associated tribes, that had previously inhabited the 
 country to the east of Egypt, invaded and conquered the districts bor- 
 dering on the Nile, and established a dynasty there under the appellation 
 of the Shepherd Kings. The Abimelech, with whom Abraham had 
 controversy, and who presented to him sheep, oxen, and slaves, was 
 one of those shepherd kings. 
 
 To Egypt, then, let the honour still be yielded of having first woven 
 the fibres of the stalk of the flax into linen ;• but the invention of weaving 
 — the conversion into cloth of the animal fibres that grow on the back of 
 the sheep — is a claim of yet more ancient date; and belongs either to 
 those who wandered with their flocks . far from the plains of Ararat, or 
 who car'-ied the customs and "arts of their forefathers into the country 
 A'hich they subjugated. 
 
 THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 The simplicity and small bulk of the loom enabled the female, whetker 
 in the tent of the wanderer or the settled residence of the citizen, to 
 employ herself in the manufacture of clothing for her husband and her 
 family. 
 
THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE WOMEN. 39 
 
 A modern traveller thus describes the loom at present found among the 
 Arab shepherds : — 
 
 " The Arab women use a very simple loom ; it is called nutou, and 
 consists of two short sticks, which are stuck into the ground at a certain 
 distance according to the desired breadth of the shaiike, or piece to be 
 worked. A third stick is placed across over them ; about four yards from 
 them throe slicks are placed in the same manner ; and, over the two hori- 
 zontal cross sticks, the woof {sadouli). To keep the upper and under woof 
 at a proper distance from each other, a flat stick, called mensebhk, is placed 
 between tbcm. A piece of wood serves as the weaver's shuttle, and a 
 short gazelle's horn is used in beating back the thread of the shuttle. The 
 loom is placed before the maharrtm or women's apartment, and worked 
 by the mother and her daughters. The distaff (maghezel el soiif) is in 
 general use among the Aenezes. At Palmyra I saw several men using 
 the distaff; and among the Kelby Arabs all the shepherds manufiicture 
 wool*." 
 
 From another traveller it appears, that even a perfect loom is not indis- 
 pensable to the manufacture of woollen cloth ! To this day, inBarbarv, 
 women are employed in the manufacture of their hykes, or blankets, who 
 do not use the shuttle, but conduct every thread of the wool with their 
 fingers f. 
 
 It may now be easily understood how Hannah provided the yearly little 
 coat for her son Samuel. By a singular coincidence, as nearly as pos- 
 sible about the same time, but in other countries, Penelope is described as 
 unravelling at night all that she had woven in the day ; Helen, with ail 
 her faults, is found employed at the loom ; and even Calypso and Circe 
 are spoken of as busied in household duties of this kind % Many cen- 
 turies after this, the unfortunate Lucretia, when visited by Tarquin, was 
 employed in carding and spinning wool with her domestics. Alexander 
 the Great presented the ladies of the Court of Darius with some woollen 
 cloth, the workmanship of liis mother and sisters. It is true, that in his 
 anxiety to treat his prisoners with courtesy, and at the same time to 
 display the excellent qualities, as he supposed, of those who were dear to 
 him, he forgot the debased character of the luxurious and enslaved people 
 whom he had conquered, and gave offence by the homeliness of the 
 present. Still later, however, and returning to the capital of the world, and 
 in its state of greatest luxury, Augustus was not ashamed to boast that he 
 wore the clothes which had been manufactured by his wife and sister and 
 daughters. It will be seen, when the history of the sheep is traced down 
 to the present day, that in every country and in every age, while sim- 
 plicity of manners and the truest virtues of the female character were 
 retained, such was the ordinary and chosen employment. " She maketh 
 herself," says Solomon, " coverings of tapestry; her candle goeth not out 
 by niglit. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the 
 distaff §." 
 
 There is a passage in Virgil which affords a beautiful illustration of 
 this description of the employment of the good wife ; indeed, it bears so 
 
 * Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabites, by Lewis Burckhardt, p. 38. 
 
 t Shaw's Travels, p. 224. 
 
 X Homer's Iliad, iii. v. 25, and Odyss. ii. 94, and vi. 52. 
 
 § See Theocrit. Idyll. 15.; Suetonius, Aug. 73.; and rFIeury's History of the 
 Israelites, p. 72. See also a Tract on Wool, by Mr. Wausey, somewhat erroneous in 
 the principle which it advocates, but full of interesting information with regard to the 
 history of wool. 
 
40 SHEEP 
 
 great a resemblance to it, that it might ahiiost pass for a poetical imita- 
 tion. 
 
 " Night was now sliding in her middle course: 
 The first repose was finished : when the dame 
 Who, by her distaffs slender art subsists, 
 Wakes the spread embers and the sleeping fire. 
 Night adding to her work, and calls her maids 
 To their long tasks by lighted tapers urged*.'* 
 
 EMBROIDERY. 
 
 A passage in the book of Judges shows that the art of embroidery 
 was not only known, but carried to great perfection, at an early period of 
 the history of the tribes. The Israelites had done evil in the sight of the 
 Lord, and were for twenty years oppressed by Jabin, one of the most 
 powerful of the kings of Canaan. At length they rebelled, and Sisera, the 
 captain or commander-in-chief of Jabin's troops, assembled a considerable 
 army to quell the rebellion. Some time elapsed, and he returned not to 
 Ills family, nor had any tidings of him reached them. His mother stood 
 at one of the windows of her house anxiously looking out for him, while 
 her wise ladies (her ladies in waiting) were trying to console her. Their 
 argument is very characteristic. " Have they not sped ?" — It is not pos- 
 sible that they could have failed. " Have they not divided the prey?" — 
 Are they not now delayed by the division of the prey ? " For every niau 
 a slave or two. To Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers 
 colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides meet 
 for the necks of them that take the spoil f '•" 
 
 It is singular that Homer, speaking of the Greeks seventy or eighty 
 years after this, describes the progress of this art among them, — he 
 speaks of the " painted garments " adorned with flowers and trees in 
 beautiful colours. Pliny J says, that after this the Phrygians, not far dis- 
 tant from Canaan, wrought these with needles. Still later they were in- 
 terwoven with various coloured worsteds, and with gold thread ; and at a 
 more distant period, a beautiful kind of embroidery was made at Babylon, 
 called, on account of its execution and value, " Babylonish Garments." 
 It was the sight of one of these, amidst the spoils of Jericho, that tempted 
 Achan, one hundred and sixty years before, to break the Divine com- 
 mand §. It further appears that only the higher class of persons were 
 jjermitted to wear these Babylonish robes |; which are, therefore, by 
 anticipation, appropriated to Sisera as his share of tlie spoil. It is really 
 pleasing to be able to collect these singularly accurate confirmations of 
 tiie sacred history, and likewise to see the arts of various kinds flourishing 
 among the Israelites and in tlieir neighbourhood, at a time when they were 
 perfectly in their infancy in those countries that were afterwards the espe- 
 cial residence of science and philosophy. 
 
 According to the Levitical law, sheep, as well as " all the seed of the land 
 and the fruit of the tree," were tithed. In the last chapter of Leviticus, the 
 method of separating the tenth is pointed out in somewhat obscure terms. 
 " And concerning the tithes of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever 
 passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy (shall be devoted) unto the 
 Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he 
 
 * JEne\ii. viii. v. 407, — Trappe's Translation. 
 
 t .Judges V. 20. t Lib. ui I.e. IS. v Joshua vii. 21 
 
 It Burder's Oriental Customs, vol ii. p. 88. 
 
HOSPITALITY OF THE ARABS RESUMED. 41 
 
 change it *," The explanation of this is curious and satisfactory. " The 
 cattle were all brought into a sheep-cote, in which there Avas but one gate, 
 and that so narrow as to suffer only one to come out at a time. The dams 
 being placed without, and the gate opened, the young ones were invited by 
 their bleating to pass out to them. As they passed by, one by one, a man 
 who stood at the gate with a rod coloured with ochre, told them in 
 order, and when the tenth came out he marked it with his rod as the tithe 
 sheep f." 
 
 THE BREED OF BASHAN. 
 
 Whether tliere were diff"erent breeds of sheep, or different varieties of 
 the same breed, cultivated for particular purposes, cannot be determined. 
 Speaking, however, of benefits that had been conferred on the Israelites, 
 Moses alludes to rams of the breed of Bashan as a peculiar and superior 
 sort J. In other parts of scripture the bulls of Bashan § are mentioned. 
 It was a district that fell to the lot of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, being 
 j)art of the land of Gilead, and celebrated for its rich pasturage. Cattle 
 and sheep probably sooner fattened there and grew to a larger size, but 
 there is no reason to suppose that there was any other peculiarity in the 
 breed. 
 
 THE MALE ONLY EATEN. 
 
 By comparing together various detached parts of scripture, some addi- 
 tional information may be obtained regarding the sheep, as contributing to 
 the food of man. The history of the patriarchs, the regulations of the 
 Mosaic ritual, and a few occurrences of later date, casually mentioned, 
 ])rove that its flesh was eaten, yet not as ordinary food ; it was reserved 
 for occasions of peculiar festivity, or for the hospitable entertainment of 
 the stranger. But the male only was, with few exceptions, destroyed ; the 
 Paschal lamb was a male — those offered in sacrifice were usually males — 
 and Jacob, pleading the fidelity with which he had served Laban, protests, 
 '' the rams of thy flock have I not eaten ||." AVhen such a system was 
 pursued, it will not be surprising that the flocks of the patriarchs were 
 so numerous, and that those of the Arabs of the present day, wlio have 
 nearly the same customs, are numerous too. 
 
 HOSPITALITY OF THE ARABS RESUMED. 
 
 Some facts, related in the continuation of the Old Testament history, 
 give a more extended view of the hospitality of the shepherds. A lamb or 
 kid was usually selected for the entertainment of the stranger. It was 
 roasted or seethed in its own gravy, and often served whole ; and that 
 which remained after the feast, or a part of it, was given to the traveller to 
 support him on his journey. When Gideon was summoned to become the 
 deliverer of Israel, he mistook the heavenly messenger for a prophet, and 
 with all the hospitality of his vocation and of the time in which he lived, 
 " he made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of flour, and he put the flesh in 
 a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under 
 the oak^." Harmer well observes that there is a passage in the narrative of 
 a modern traveller that affords a perfect commentary on this. " Besides a 
 bowl of milk and a basket of figs, raisins and dates, which were presented 
 to us immediately on our arrival, the master of the tent where we lodged 
 fetched us from his flock a kid, a goat, a lamb, or a sheep, according to the 
 
 * Lev. xxvii. 32, 33. f Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. ii. p. 62. 
 
 :J: Dciit. xxxii. 15. ^ Psal. xxii. 12. 
 
 II tJi-n. xsxi. 38. 1 .IiKlges vi. 19 
 
i2 SHEEP 
 
 number of our party, half of which was seethed by his wife and served up, 
 and the rest was made kah-ab, — this is cut into pieces, roasted, and pre- 
 served for our breakfast or dinner next day *. May we not suppose that 
 Gideon, having presented some shght refreshment to tlie supposed prophet, 
 killed a kid, seethed a part of it, and brought the stewed meat in a pot 
 with unleavened cakes of bread, and the kab-ah in a basket, to be carried 
 away with him in order to serve him for some after-repast on his journey ?t" 
 
 THE DELICACY OF THE LAMB. 
 
 When the primitive shepherds indulged themselves with animal food, the 
 flesh of the lamb was considered as an especial dainty. Thus Amos speaks 
 of those " who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their 
 couches, and eat the lambs of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of 
 the stall {." Sir John Chardin, who travelled through Palestine and the 
 neighbouring countries, says that " the lambs of this breed, with the accu- 
 mulation of fat about the haunches, must be eaten in order to form a con- 
 ception of the moisture, taste, and delicacy of this animal." Hence they 
 were used as presents ; Samson sent one to his father-in-law, and Jesse, 
 when he brought his son David to Saul, made him the bearer of some bread, 
 a bottle of wine, and a lamb. It is probably with reference to this deli- 
 cacy that the Psalmist speaks of his soul being satisfied as with marrow 
 and fatness §. 
 
 Particular parts of the lamb were considered as especial delicacies. 
 When Samuel entertained Saul, the future king of Israel, " he brought him 
 into the parlour, and made him sit in the chiefest place among them that 
 were bidden, which were about thirty persons ; and Samuel said unto the 
 cook, Bring out the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, 
 set it by thee ; and the cook took up the shoulder and that which was 
 upon it, and set it before Saul || ." The shoulder of the lamb, of the present 
 breed, before the fat begins to accumulate about it, is no bad dish, although 
 it would not now be selected as quite the favourite one. There is no disputing, 
 however, about tastes. The reader will find a somewhat ludicrous, but a 
 singularly satisfactory illustration of this passage in a note ^. 
 
 The lamb or the kid was not, however, to be seethed in its mother's milk **. 
 This was not because there appeared to be something revolting and unna- 
 tural in employing that with which the mother had nourished her young, in 
 preparing it for the table, but because a superstition, derived from an idola- 
 trous practice, was connected with this method of dressing the lamb. " It 
 was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their 
 fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the dam's milk ; and then, in a magical 
 way, to go and besprinkle with it all their trees, fields, gardens, and orchards, 
 thinking by this means they should make them bring forth more abundant 
 fruit the following year. Wherefore God forbad his people, the Jews, at 
 
 * Shaw's Travels, p. 12. 
 
 f Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 330. $ Amos vi. 4. 
 
 \ Psal. Ixiii. 5. |1 1 Sam. ix. 22, 23, 24. 
 
 ^' " Abdomalek, the Califfh, upon his entering Ciifah, made a splendid entertain- 
 ment. When he sat down, Amron, the son of Haroth, an ancient Mechzumean, came 
 in. He called him unto him, and placing him by him upon his sofa, asked him what 
 meat he liked best of all he had ever eaten. The old Mechzumean answered, an ass's 
 neck well seasoned and well roasted. What say you, says Abdomalek, to a leg or 
 shoulder of a sucking lamb well seasoned and well roasted, and covered over with butter 
 and milk ?" — Oakley's History of the Saracens, vol. ii., p. 277. 
 
 This perfectly explains why it was set apart for the future monarch, and it probably 
 explains too what it was that was upon the shoulder. 
 
 *♦ Exod. xxiii. 19 
 
QUALITIES OF DIFFERENT MILKS. 43 
 
 the time of their ingathering to use any such superstitious or idolatrous 
 rite •." 
 
 It was forbidden to eat any of the fle«h (referring jirincijially to slieep) 
 that had been torn by wild beasts f . There might be two reasons for this, 
 — the Jews were forbidden to eat of any animal that died with the blood 
 in it, and there could be no security that the blood had been perfectly 
 drained away when it was thus found dead. There might be another and 
 not improbable reason, — all Palestine and Arabia abounded with wolves, 
 foxes, and dogs. They are varieties of animals most of all subject to 
 rabies. The sheep might have been worried by a rabid animal ; some of 
 the empoisoned saliva might remain about the wound or fleece, and, the 
 carcase being carelessly handled, hydrophobia might be easily commu- 
 nicated. 
 
 CASTRATION. 
 
 One circumstance more may be hinted at before another part of the 
 subject is taken into consideration. Mention has just been made of " calves 
 out of the midst of the stall," and reference is elsewhere made to the ox 
 and the stalled ox. It must not, liowever, be presumed that the castration 
 of the bull-calf was practised in very early times ; for it is the same He- 
 brew word that is translated indiscriminately ox |, ox at plough §, wild ox||, 
 bullock •[[, bull**, and cattle. It is a generic term: it means the male of 
 the ox genus, or, in some places, and in the last quotation, the ox genus, 
 without distinction of male or female. No word signifying the wether, 
 or castrated sheep, is to be found in the whole of the scriptural historv ; 
 but there are, however, passages in which it is forbidden to offer any except 
 the perfect animal in sacrifice, and even human beings injured in or 
 deprived of the testicles were forbidden to appear in the Temple. It is 
 probable, therefore, that this method of increasing the tendency to fatness 
 in the sheep, and effecting earlier maturity, and also, to a certain degree, 
 improving the wool, was unknown to the Jews both in earlier and later 
 times. Indeed it is not likely with regard to sheep, that, little as these 
 animals were used for food, a practice should be resorted to, the principal 
 influence of which would be to increase the propensity to fatten early. 
 There is likewise no account of the sheep being stalled for this purpose. 
 
 ewe's milk used as food. 
 It- may now be proper to enter more fully into the consideration of the 
 nutriment derived from the milk of sheej). It has been seen tlmt, during 
 the antediluvian age, it was thus alone that the sheep contributed to the 
 food of man. The-miik and the wool were the only products for which this 
 animal was domesticated, and for which, in some parts of the world, he is 
 even at the present day bred. In proportion, however, as agriculture has 
 improved, the milk of the sheep has ceased to be an article of human sus- 
 tenance, and has been appropriated to its natural purpose, the food of the 
 lamb. 
 
 QUALITIES OF DIFFERENT MILKS. 
 
 Ewe's mirk, when freshly drawn, has an appearance very similar to that of 
 the cow, except that it often has a peculiar oiliness about it : it yields how- 
 ever a greater quantity of cream, and forms a very soft kind of butter. In 
 a most learned and useful work on the general properties of milk, by 
 
 * Cud worth on the Lord's Supper, p. 14. 
 
 t Exod. xxii. 31. J Exod. xxi. 28. ^ Deut. xxii. 10. 
 
 II Deut. xir. 5. % Num. xv. 11 ** Gen. xxxii. 15 j Ps. L. 10 
 
44 SHEEP. 
 
 Messrs. Parmentier and Desyeux, the following table is given of the com- 
 parative value of the milk of the domesticated animal, with reference to the 
 several uses to which it may be converted : — 
 
 For Butter. 
 
 Cheese. 
 
 Sugar. 
 
 Wliey. 
 
 The Sheep 
 
 Goat 
 
 Ass 
 
 Ass 
 
 Cow 
 
 Sheep . 
 
 Mare . 
 
 Mare 
 
 - Goat 
 
 Cow 
 
 Cow 
 
 Cow 
 
 - Ass 
 
 Ass 
 
 Goat . 
 
 Goat 
 
 - Mare 
 
 Mare . 
 
 Sheep . 
 
 Sheep 
 
 So that from equal quantities of milk the greatest produce of butter 
 would be obtained from that of the ewe ; of cheese from that of the 
 goat ; and of sugar from that of the ass : but, at the same time, the sheep 
 is inferior to tlie goat only, and superior to the cow, in the production of 
 cheese. If, however, ewe's milk excels that of the cow in the quantity of butter 
 yielded, that butter is inferior in quality; it is less solid; it has an unpleasant 
 oily taste, and it soon becomes rancid. On this account, probably, there 
 are few places in which mention is made of ewe's butter as an article of 
 food, and there is no recorded instance of its having been an article of 
 commerce *. 
 
 CHEESE FROM EWE's MILK. 
 
 Ewe's milk was used in the manufacture of cheese many centuries 
 before there is any record of this article of human sustenance being de- 
 rived from the milk of the cow. Ewe-milk cheese was often made in the 
 early times on a large scale, and was a very material and valued article of 
 food. Butter is frequently spoken of in the sacred scriptures, but it is the 
 opinion of the best commentators that, during the first period of the Jewisli 
 history, the word so translated means the caseous and not the oleaginous 
 product of milk. In one passage, where the mechanism described is too 
 plain to be mistaken, the proper translation is given, and that in the most 
 ancient book in the world, " Hast thou not poured me out like milk, and 
 curdled me like cheese f." There is much reason to believe that this was 
 the product of the sheep, for such was the cheese spoken of by other writers 
 of aremote age ; and the " butter of kine," mentioned in a later period of 
 Jewish record, would seem to be a delicacy of rare occurrence, promised as 
 the reward of obedience. 
 
 THE DAIRY OF POLYPHEMUS. 
 
 Homer, who flourished 900 years before the Christian oera, describes 
 the cave of Polyphemus as it appeared to Ulysses and his companions. 
 It is the earliest record of the process of making ewe-milk cheese and of 
 sheep-management generally, and therefore it is given here at some length. 
 Ulysses is sj)eaking. 
 
 Around the grot we gaze, and all we view. 
 
 In order ranged, our admiration drew : 
 
 The bending shelves with loads of cheeses pressed, 
 
 The folded flocks each separate from the rest. 
 
 (The larger here, and there the lesser lambs, 
 
 The new-fall'n young here bleating for their dams, 
 
 The kid distinguished from the lambkin lies) : 
 
 The cavern echoes with responsive cries. 
 
 The monster now approaches, bringing home the rest of the ewes. 
 
 Now driven before him through the arching rock 
 Come tumbling, heaps on heaps, the unnumber'd flock ; 
 Big-udder'd ewes, and goats of female kind. 
 The males were penn'd in outward courts behind., 
 
 * Recs's Cyclopaedia, Art. Mii.k. + Job x. 10. 
 
ARAB MANUFACTURE OF EWE-MILK BUTTER. 43 
 
 Having driven them all into the cave, he closes the door, and commences 
 his evening occupation. 
 
 He next betakes him to his evening cares, 
 
 AnJ, sitting down, to milk his ewes prepares : 
 
 Of lialf their udders eases first the dams, 
 
 Then to the mother's teats submits the lambs. I 
 
 Half the white stream to hardening cheese he press'd, 
 
 And high in wicker baskets heaped : the rest 
 
 Reserved in bowls, supplied the mighty feast * 
 
 Euripides and Theocritus speak of cheese, but never of butter. Aris- 
 totle gives several directions respecting the manufacture of cheese, but 
 says notliing of butter : in fact it was not known to the early or even tlie 
 later Greeks. St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of the 
 milk or the product of tlie milk of the ewes being eaten by the Greeks in 
 his time, — " Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? 
 or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? f" 
 
 Virgil's manufacture of cheese. 
 
 Nearly 900 years after the time of Homer, Virgil speaks of circuiii- 
 stances connected with the manufacture of cheese from ewe's milk, but he 
 says not a word of that which may be obtained from the milk of the cow. 
 
 Some when the kids their dams too deeply drain, 
 With gags and muzzles their soft mouths restrain. 
 Their morning meal the peasants press at night, 
 Their evening meal before the rising light. 
 To market bear, or sparingly them steep 
 With seasoning salt, and stored for winter keep |. 
 
 ARAB MANUFACTURE OF EWE-MILK BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 Mr. Burckhardt gives the following account of the manufacture of butter 
 from ewe's and goat's milk by tlte Syrian Arabs. " The sheep and goats 
 are milked during the three spring months, morning and evening. They 
 are sent out to pasture before sun-rise, while the lambs or kids remain in 
 or near the camp. About ten o'clock the herd returns, and the lambs are 
 allowed to satiate themselves, after which the ewes belonging to each tent 
 are tied to a long cord, and milked one after another. When a ewe is 
 feeble in health her milk is left wholly for the lamb. The same process 
 occurs at sun-set. From a hundred ewes or goats (the milk of which is 
 always mixed together) the Arabs expect, in common years, about eight 
 lbs. of butter per day, or about seven cwt. in the three spring months. 
 What the Arab's family does not use is sold to the peasants or town's 
 people. The male lambs or kids are sold or slaughtered except two or three 
 which the Arabs keep for breeding. In years of scarcity both sheep and 
 goats prove altogether barren. The Aeneses shear their sheep once a-year 
 near the end of spring. They usually sell the whole of the vvool before the 
 sheep are shorn, at so much per 100 sheep §." 
 
 Several travellers describe the same process among the Bedouins and 
 Moors of Barbary, and which probably, as with regard to every thing else 
 concerning them, does not difl'er much from the ancient custom. " Their 
 method of making butter is by putting the milk or cream into a goat-skin, 
 turned inside out, which they suspend from one side of the tent to the other, 
 
 * Pope's translation of the Odyssey, lib. ix. 
 f 1 Cor. ix. 7. t Georg. III. J3'iyden',s Translation. 
 
 ^ Ni/tes on the liidouins, p. 114. 
 
46 SHEEP. 
 
 and then passing it to and fro in one uniform direction, they quickly occa- 
 sion a separation of tlie unctuous and wheyey parts *." 
 
 " The butter of the Moors in the empire of Morocco, which is bad, is 
 made by putting the milk into a skin, and shaking it until the butter sepa- 
 rates from it t." 
 
 Hasselquist, speaking of an encampment of the Arabs, which he found 
 not far from Tiberias, on the foot of the mountain or hill on which Christ 
 preached his sermon, says, " They make butter in a leathern bag hung on 
 three poles erected for the purpose in the form of a cone, and drawn to and 
 fro by two women X-" 
 
 In the Levant they tread upon the skins with their feet. Does this 
 throw any light on a passage in Job, who, when speaking of his former 
 prosperity, says, " I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me 
 out rivers of oil §?" He or his servants were so constantly employed in 
 manufiicturing butter from the milk which his innumerable flocks yielded, 
 that the rocks or broad stones on which the skins were placed, might be 
 said to pour out rivers of oily matter, and their feet were washed in the 
 semi-fluid butter, for it resembled a kind of concrete oil more than any- 
 thing else. 
 
 There are few of the modern Arabs who, at the present day, use or 
 know the value of the milk of the cow. To this purpose is the testimony 
 of an intelligent traveller. " By the present Arabs the camel's milk is 
 used to drink either alone or mixed with rice and flour, and either sweet 
 or sour ; the butter is made of goat or sheep's milk. It is put into a 
 goat's skin, tied to one of the tent poles, and for one or two hours con- 
 stantly moved backward and forward. The buttery substance then coagu- 
 lates, the water is poured out, and the butter is put into another skin. If 
 after two days they have collected a certain quantity of butter, they place 
 it over the fire, throw in a handful of burgoul (wheat boiled with some 
 leaven and then dried in the sun), and leave it to boil, skimming it care- 
 fully. After having boiled for some time, the bourgoul precipitates all the 
 foreign substances, and the butter remains quite clear at the top. The 
 bourgoul that has been thus used is eaten by the children. They seldom 
 make any cheese, but other Arab tribes, and particularly those of Ohl-el- 
 Shemal, manufacture much cheese and sell it to the other tribes ||." 
 
 He adds that the Bedouins eat butter to excess. Whoever can aff'ord 
 such luxury swallows every morning a large cupful of butter before break- 
 fast, and snuffs up as much as he can into his nostrils, while his whole food 
 swims in butter %. 
 
 The quantity of butter yielded by the flock as reported by Burckhardt, 
 viz. eight pounds a-day by a hundred ewes, or rather more than half a 
 })ound per day by each ewe, would scarcely repay the modern dairyman for 
 his trouble and expense. It appears that, whether from the peculiarity of 
 the breed, or foulty management, or the hardships to which the flocks were 
 necessarily subjected by their frequent journeys and occasional deficiency 
 
 * Shaw's Travels, p. 168. 
 
 f Stewart's Journey to Maquines. 
 
 I Hasselquist's Travels, ]t. 159. See also Biirder's Oriental Customs, vol. i. p. 138, 
 anci Stewart's Travels, vol. ii. p. 35. § Job xxxix. G. 
 
 II Burckhardt's Notes on the Bedouins, p. 35. — M.de Brisson,in his singular history of 
 his captivity among the African Arabs, s.iys, that '• when the butter which is obtained froir 
 sheep and goats, and camel's milk mixed, is churned, they put it into small skins wliere 
 it acquires a rancid smell, which, according to the taste of these barbarians, greatly en 
 hances its value. The women use it in pomatum for their hair, and without this they 
 would think something deficient in their dress,'' — p, 91. 
 
 •jf Burckhardt's Notes, p. 137. 
 
MANUFACTURE OF EWE-MILK CHEESE IN BRITAIN. 47 
 
 of food, that neither the sheep nor the kine in former times were very pro- 
 ductive of milk. There is a passage in Isaiah illustrative of this. The 
 prophet is speaking of a time of extraordinary plenty, " and it shall come 
 to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep, 
 and it shall come to pass that from the abundance of milk that they shall 
 give he shall eat butter*," he shall be able to indulge himself in this 
 favourite luxury of the wandering shepherd. It would seem strange in 
 modern times, if with a cow and two ewes producing milk, he were not able 
 to do this in ordinary years. 
 
 The land of Canaan is, on account of its great fertility, spoken of as 
 
 " flovvii 
 Isaiah, 
 
 ig with milk and honey f:" and it is predicted of the Messiah by 
 " butter and honey shall he eat J." D'Arvieux, being in the camp 
 of the Grand Emir, who lived in much splendour and treated him with 
 great hospitality, was entertained on the first morning with little loaves, 
 honey, newly-churned butter, and cream more delicate than he had even- 
 seen §. In another place he says, one of the principal articles with which 
 the Arabs regale themselves at breakfast is new butter mingled with honey. 
 He adds, that " although these do not seem to suit very well, experience 
 teaches that it is no bad mixture, nor disagreeable in its taste if one is ever 
 so little accustomed to it ||." 
 
 MANUFACTURE OF EWE-MILK CHEESE IN BRITAIN. 
 
 Until a century or two ago, the manufacture of ewe-milk cheese was 
 common in most parts of England. Mr. CuUey says that it used to be a 
 general practice through Northumberland to milk the ewes, after the lambs 
 were weaned, for six, eight, or ten weeks ; and from this milk great quan- 
 tities of cheese were made, which sold for about 3d per lb, when kept to 
 three years old. It was exceedingly pungent, and on that account some 
 persons preferred it to cheese made from the milk of the cow % 
 
 In some parts of Wales, the ewes still continue to be milked. It used 
 to be particularly the case in the lower part of Glamorganshire ; the milk 
 was mixed with that of the dairy, and made a palatable tart cheese ** 
 
 In Scotland it was the universal practice, and still remains so in some 
 parts of tlie Highlands, nor will the memory of it be erased, nor the custom 
 quite cease, while some of the beautiful poetry of these districts remains. 
 The cheese is said to acquire sometimes a smoky flavour, but, where that 
 is not found, it is acknowledged to have a rich taste, with a not unpleasant 
 tartness. The editor of the Encyclopaedia Edinensis says, that it dio-ests 
 more readily than that which has been made from cow's milk, but is less 
 nutritive. He adds, that goat's milk is more easily digested, but is also 
 less nourishing, than either ft- 
 
 * Isaiah vii. 21, 22. 
 
 f Joshua y. 6. It is a proverbial expression denoting plants. So Euripides, speak- 
 ing of a fertile country, says, that " it flows with milk and wine and the nectar of bees " 
 — Baccl). E^roS. v. 8.— So Ovid, 
 
 " New streams of milk, new streams of nectar flowed, 
 And from the oak the yellow honey dropped." 
 —Metamorph. I. V. 111. See also Homer's Iliad, IX. v. 141, and Burder's Oriental 
 Literature, vol. i. p. 110. 
 
 J Isaiah vii 15. ^ Voyage dans Palestine, p. 24. 
 
 II Voyage dans Palestine, p. 197 ; Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 291. 
 
 ^ Report of Northumberland. ** Lloyd and Turner's Report. 
 
 ft Brewster's EncyclopEedia, Art. Cheese.— One of the best accounts of this system 
 of cwe-milking in the north is contained in a ' Letter on Sheep-Husbandry in the North, 
 by Mr. Herbert,' in tbat useful periodical the ' British Farmer's Magazine,' November, 
 1830. " It appears to have been the pretty general practice forty years ago, to milk the 
 ewe flocks, and either make ewe cheese, or mix and churn it with that of the cows, and 
 
48 _ SHEEP. 
 
 In Ireland the practice is as common as in any part of Scotland, and 
 there, probably from want of cleanliness, the milk has a sharper and more 
 emoky taste. 
 
 OBJECTIONS TO THE SYSTEM OF EWE-MILKINO. 
 
 The milking of the ewes and the manufacture of this kind of cheese 
 has now deservedly got into disuse in all except a very few districts. 
 Barnaby Googe was the first and almost the only one of the old agricul- 
 tural writers who had sufficient good sense to perceive the absurdity and 
 mischief of it, where good husbandry, in other respects, prevailed. His 
 condemnation of it is short, but pithy. " In the mean time you must not 
 deale with the milking of ewes, so shall you have them to beare the more 
 vvooll, and bring the more lambes*." 
 
 As for the old practice of commencing the ewe-milking before the lamb 
 was weaned, and thus stealing a portion of the nutriment, rarely or never 
 too abundant, which nature had designed for the young one, it is too 
 absurd, as well as palpably injurious, to merit serious refutation. Now that 
 the value of the wool and the flesh of the sheep is so much increased, it is 
 received as a principle, admitting of no exception, that the lamb should 
 be abundantly supplied with food. If the fleece is to be good, and 
 especially if the animal is to be brought to quick maturity, — if these are 
 now the acknowledged objects of sheep husbandry, the lamb must not be 
 stinted and starved when young. " I don't know," said an experienced 
 farmer to Mr. Marshall, who was asking him by what means he brouglit his 
 young sheep to so high a state of condition, " I don't know, — they were 
 lambed fat, and they have been fat ever since ; though I believe that I have 
 kept them as well as I could keep them f." It is an easy thing to keep 
 young sheep in good condition when they have not been neglected at first ; 
 but exceedingly difficult, if they have been once let down, ever to make 
 them fat again, or, indeed, scarcely worth keeping |. 
 
 The Spaniards, with all their bad management in other respects, appear 
 
 some of the small farmers are said to follow it to this day. The milkincj, which was per- 
 formed every morning and evening, chiefly by women and children, commenced the day 
 after the lambs were taken from the ewes, and continued till about the middle of Sep- 
 tember, when the ewes were dried off. and well fed preparatory to their receiving the 
 ram. They are said to have yielded from a pint to a pint and three quarters, and some 
 a quart per day. They were milked in little stalls made for the purpose, and are said to 
 have set their legs with as much firmness as a gentle milch cow. Some of the milkers 
 would milk twenty-five of them in an hour." Certainly this is the least objectionable 
 mode of ewe-milking : the lambs, at least, were not stinted and starved. 
 
 * Barnaby Googe's Art and Trade of Hnsbaudrie, p. Iii4. 
 
 f Marshall's Rur. Econ. Midi. Counties, vol. i. p. 326. 
 
 I A writer in the Farmer's Magazine for 1807, p. -134, gives a ludicrous account of 
 this species of ewe-milking. " Care is taken to stint the lambs (this is indeed a very 
 appropriate word, both as it regards their present nutriment and their future growth and 
 value) by milking the ewes every evening before the lambs are admitted to them. 
 This is a scene which I well remember to have witnessed more than 30 years ago, when 
 a. boy at school in Perthshire. The maids purposely delayed it luiiil alter sunset, that 
 they might have the assistance of their sweethearts, the unmarried ploughmen, after 
 they had pulled their stated number of back loads of thistles. The ewes M'ere driven 
 in a body into a Inij/tt (or small fold), whence they were taken one by one as wanted to be 
 milked. It was then that the swain's assistance was of use. He dragged the reluctant 
 ewe from the bught, and held her by the horns, while the maid going behind her, ab 
 stracted perhaps two or three gills from her udder. Although a few minutes were 
 usually sufficient for doing this, yet it was seldom performed without something else 
 being added by the ewe to the contents of the pail. Although much of this was 
 skimmed off" by the damsel with her fingers, yet, together with the yolk and grease from 
 her hands, might it not somewhat contribute to impart that aromatic, pungent taste, by 
 which ewe-milk cheese then was, and now is, distinguished ?" 
 
MANUFACTURE OF EWE-MILK CHEESE m BRITAIN. 49 
 
 to be fully aware of the necessity of keeping the Iamb well, in or 'er to 
 insure a fine and plentiful fleece. Every lamb in the migrating flocks 
 has, besides his natural mother, a foster one ; and fc<r this purpose a suRi- 
 cient number, or probably half of the lambs, are quickly weaned and 
 destroyed. 
 
 As for the milking after the weaning of the lambs, there is not so much 
 inconvenience or mischief from the struggles of the ewe, for she feels 
 relieved by the occasional abstraction of the milk with which her udder 
 is overloaded, and soon begins to submit to the operation with tolerable 
 quietness : but there are still insuperable objections to the practice. The 
 lamb must be weaned early in the season, or little profit will be derived 
 from the milk of the ewe; and for the sake of this eaily weaning, the 
 time of lambing must be contrived to be as early as possible, — in the depth 
 of winter, or before the winter has scarcely passed, — and then, some of the 
 ewes, and more of the lambs, will perish by cold. The lamb must also be 
 taken from the mother at a time when her milk is necessary to him; when 
 he lias not yet learned, or has not sufficient strength to obtain nourish- 
 ment enough from other sources for the full development of his form and 
 distinguishing qualities ; and more will ultimately be lost by his diminished 
 value, or by the expense afterwards incurred to get him into saleable 
 condition, than many times the quantity of milk obtained from the dam 
 would repay. The mischief, however, is not confined to the lambs, for 
 when this drain on the mother is protracted beyond the period lliat nature 
 designs, some other produce that she was intended to yield, and probably 
 a more profitable one, must be proportionably diminished. That which 
 should have increased the weight of the fleece, or of the carcase, or given 
 her a disposition to improve, or brought her regularly and effectually into 
 season for impregnation, or given her strength to yean a full-grown and 
 healthy lamb, has been gradually abstracted in the milk. It used to 
 be observed, even at the time when this practice was most common, that 
 he who followed it up too closely was sure to have fewer lambs, and 
 smaller, and leaner, and eventually of less value ; his cast ewes were more 
 out of condition, and more difficult to be prepared for the butcher ; and, 
 in the following spring, he had far more barren ewes than his neighbour, 
 who either did not pursue this system to so great an extent, or did not 
 pursue it at all *. 
 
 Mr. V/. Hogg, wlien treating on the Flesh-fly or Maggot in Sheep, lias 
 an observation that deserves more attention than has been paid to it. 
 He had been saying that a peculiar fetid smell accompanied not only 
 diarrhoea, but the discharge of healthy faeces ; that this lodged among the 
 wool above the anus and round the root of the tail, and that it was within 
 the influence of this odour that the fly always deposited its eggs at the 
 beginning of its appearance. He adds, " nothing can be more dangerous 
 than for the ewe-milker to lay hold of the wool with her wet hand, which 
 she is often obliged to do for the purpose of keeping the ewe steady above 
 the pail t." At the close of the season the flies attack the sheep with 
 greater fury, and alight on any part that appears to be fit for their pi\r" 
 pose ; but the time of mischief is then short, — whereas the ewe-milker, by 
 placing her hand wet, and impregnated with the odour proceeding from 
 the flanks and udders and tail of the animal on various other parts of him, 
 hastens the period of mischief, and probably increases it tenfold. 
 
 * Little oil Mountain Sheep, p. 64. 
 
 f Prize Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society, vul, i. p. 3-28. 
 
 K 
 
50 THE SHEEP. 
 
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH IT MAY BE ALLOWED. 
 
 At weaning time, however, the ewes are occasionally inconvenienced by 
 the fulness of the udder, — local inflammation — the same disease that 
 would be called garget in the cow — ensues : there is enlargement of the 
 udder or of one of the teats, or serious and spreading ulceration of the 
 udder generally. To prevent this, Mr. Parkinson, having kept the ewes 
 for a day and a night after the lambs were taken from them, has them 
 all milked, and a good cheese made of the milk. He adds, " before I 
 adopted this practice, the bag often festered, and some of them had the 
 garget, and lost part of the udder — one pap, or even both. In two days 
 after I had the ewes got up again, and a part of the milk drawn from 
 those that appeared to have too much. Some few of ihe ewes may 
 want milking a third, or even a fourth time. Tliis method has a great 
 tendency to make the ewes fatten quicker : for, when their udders are full 
 of miik, and it is not dr^wn, it causes them great pain ; and at times 
 destroys the constitution of a good ewe, as the best nurses are the most 
 frequently full of milk *." This may be advisable with regard to the ewes 
 whose udders are really inflanied, or with regard to all, if garget seems to 
 be spreading among the flock, or there appears to be a general tendency to 
 inflammation among them ; but, as a usual practice at weaning time, it is 
 scarcely to be recommended. As to the cheese, few would make it, and 
 fewer still would be disposed to eat it, if there were much disease of the 
 udder. 
 
 THE CUSTOM IN ICELAND. 
 
 In some other countries the system of ewe-milking is pursued to a more 
 absurd and injurious extent. The ewes are milked every night ; and not 
 satisfied with what has been obtained at the first milking, every ewe is 
 caught a second time, and the little which she had kept back for her 
 young one, and which, after her first liberation, she had suffered to descend 
 into the bag, is drawn from her. What is to become of the lamb that is 
 afterwards to toil in vain for nourishment, — or of the ewe, whose strength 
 and constitution are nightly so taxed to provide a small and inadequate 
 portion of milk for her young one, — does not enter into their calculation, 
 VVhen such a practice is pursued, it is no wonder that the Icelandic sheep 
 are diminutive in size ; and that tlieir fine wool is mixed with so much that 
 is coarse and almost worthless t- 
 
 FRENCH EWE-MILK CHEESE. 
 
 The French seem to adhere as obstinately as any far less civilized 
 people to this antiquated system of sheep husbandry. Ewe-milk cheese is 
 become so much an article of profitable commerce, that the manufacture of 
 it will not soon be relinquished. 
 
 A kind of cheese in high request, called the Sassenage cheese, is made 
 of the milk of cows, sheep and goats, mixed together. 
 
 In the department of Les Basses Pyrenees, a considerable quantity, said 
 to be peculiarly well-flavoured, is manufactured from ewes' milk alone; but 
 for this purpose the lambs are weaned as early as March : they are, 
 however, generally dropped before Christmas. 
 
 The little cheeses in the neighbourhood of Montpelier are made 
 entirely of ewe's milk, stolen from them during the latter period of their 
 
 * Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 293. 
 t Hooker's Tour in Iceland, p. 144. 
 
FRENCH EWE MILK CHEESE. 51 
 
 suckling their lambs. The little ones are separated from their mothers 
 every night, and do not return to them until the noon of the following day, 
 after the ewes have been milked on their return from pasture. This is 
 cruel work, and would be highly injudicious management too, if the 
 system of husbandry or the habits of the country permitted the farmer to 
 calculate on any tolerable profit either on the wool or the carcase of his 
 sheep. A flock of four hundred ewes will give six or seven dozen of these 
 cheeses every day until the beginning of June, when they are no longer 
 milked, — as well because they may not be too much weakened, as that they 
 may be ready for breeding early in the autumn. 
 
 The most celebrated of these productions is the Rochfort cheese, with 
 an account of which this history of ewe's milk shall conclude. It is either 
 made of pure ewe's milk, or by some persons a portion of goat's milk is 
 added. The srheep are pastured all the year on the barren mountains in 
 tlie neighbourhood, and no peculiarity attends the management of them, 
 except that a considerable quantity of salt is given, which is supposed to 
 impart a certain quality to their milk, but the real effect of which pro- 
 bably is to increase partly their appetite and more their thirst, and thus 
 dispose them to yield a greater quantity of milk. The curdling of the milk 
 is effected in the usual manner, especial care being taken that the rennet 
 has not contracted any unpleasant flavour or smell. When the product 
 has been properly pressed, it is carried to the cheese-room and placed 
 on boards to dry, and, in order to prevent it from cracking, it is tightly 
 bound in a large cloth. 
 
 Having become tolerably dry, it is carried to the caves* where, on two 
 successive mornings, it is sprinkled on both sides with fine salt. It is then 
 rubbed with a coarse cloth, and on the following day well scraped with a 
 knife. The parings are made into a round cheese, and consumed in the 
 neighbourhood. Eight or ten of the cheeses are then piled on each other, 
 and left for fifteen days ; at the end of whicli time they are covered with 
 mouldiness six inches in length. This is scraped off, and the cheeses ranged 
 on the shelves as before. At the expiration of another fifteen days they 
 are again cleaned from the mould, and this is repeated for two months, or 
 until the cheeses gradually change from a white to a green and red colour, 
 with blue or green veins running through the whole of their substance. 
 The loss which takes places in all these manipulations is so great, that 
 100 lbs. of milk will not yield more than 20 lbs. of cheese. 
 
 The butter which is procured from the cream of this milk is said to be 
 finely flavoured ; but, like all other butter from ewe's milk, it is semi- 
 fluid, and is sold under the name of Rochfort cream f. 
 
 * In the middle of Rochfort there is a deep valley, terminating in a cul-de-sac, and 
 surrounded by a range of narrow peaked rocks, hollowed into numerous caverns. The 
 rays of the sun do not penetrate into this valley more than a few hours during th'e longest 
 days of summer. On the sides of these caves shelves are constructed for the cheeses. 
 In different parts of the rock there are certain clefts or cracks, through which a cold 
 wind blows sufficieally strong to extinguish a candle if brought within three feet of 
 them. It is to the coldness of this wind that the property which these caves possess of 
 bringing the Rochfort cheese to so much perfection is justly attributed. There is a con- 
 siderable difierence in the temperature of these caves, according to the degree in which 
 this wind finds its way into and through them. M. Mascorelle found that the tem- 
 perature of these caves was 16 degrees (Fah.) below that of the external air when he 
 examined them in October. M. Le Sage, in the month of September in a certain year, 
 found that in seven or eight of the caves the air was 15 degrees, and in two others it was 20 
 degrees colder than without. It is not often that nature presents these advantages tVr 
 such a purpose, and it would be with much difficulty that they could be obtained 
 artificially. 
 
 f Encycl. Method., art. Fromage. ^ - 
 
52 THE SHEEP. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 The Structure of the Skin— Value of the Pelt— Anatomy of the Wool— Difference be. 
 tween Wool and Hair — The first Sheep probably liairy — Gradual change from Hair 
 to Wool — The Yolk — The form of the tibre — The supposed cause of Felting — Micro- 
 scopic appearance of Hair and Wool — The Discovery of the irregular surface of the 
 Wool — The different appearance of Hair — The properties of Wool — Fineness — 
 The ^Vool-stapler — The influence of temperature — Pasture — Trueness — Soundness — 
 Softness — The influence of the Yolk, Smeariug, Clothing, Soil on this^ — Elasticity — 
 Colour — The Felting projierly resumed — The various theories respecting it — Depend- 
 ent on the curved form and serrated edge of the Wool — Illustrations of it — The dif- 
 ferent structure of different Wools as relating to Felting — The divisions of Wool — 
 i.ong — Middle — Short — ^The operations of Carding and Combing.* 
 
 In order that the peculiar qualities and relative value of the different 
 breeds of sheep may be duly estimated, when more precise descriptions of 
 that animal begin to be found in the records of various countries, and in 
 the narrations of travellers and the works of agriculturists, it will be ad- 
 vantageous to devote a few pages to the consideration of the structure, and 
 varieties, and uses of wool; and especially as, during too long a period, 
 the importance of the sheep, as contributing to human sustenance, was 
 not fairly appreciated, but the attention of the sheep-master was princij)ally 
 and ahnost exclusively directed to the fleece. 
 
 THE STRUCTURE OF THE SKIX. 
 
 The skin of the sheep, and of animals generally, is composed of three 
 textures. Externally is the cuticle, or scarf-skin, which is thin, tough, devoid 
 of feeling, and pierced by innumerable minute holes through which pass the. 
 fibres of the wool and the insensible perspiration. It seems to be of a 
 scaly texture ; but this is not so evident in the sheep as in many other ani- 
 mals, on account of a peculiar substance, the yolk, which is placed on it, ■ 
 to nourish and protect the roots of the wool. It is, however, plainly 
 enough to be seen in the scab, and other cutaneous eruptions to which the 
 is liable. 
 
 Below this is the rete nn/cosum^ a soft structure ; its fibres having 
 scarcely more consistence than mucilage, and being with great difficulty 
 separated from the skin beneath. This seems to be placed as a defence to 
 the terminations of the blood-vessels and nerves of the skin, and these are, 
 in a manner, enveloped and covered by it. The colour of the skin, and 
 probably that of the hair or wool also, is determined by the rete mucosum ; 
 or, at least, the hair and wool are of the same colour as this substance. . 
 
 Beneath is the cutis, or true s/m/, composed of innumerable minute fibres 
 crossing each other in every direction ; highly elastic, in order to fit closely 
 to the parts beneatk, and to yield to the various motions of the body ; and 
 
 * The author begs to acknowledge the great assistance he has received in the compo- 
 sition of this chapter. He particularly refers to Messrs. Hubbard and Goodman of 
 Leeds, and to an unknown but valuable coi-respondent at Bradford. To Mr. Thomas 
 Flint, also, of Ijeeds, he is under obligations which he shall never forget. 
 
 After ail, however, an author has his own views, and will pursue his own course ; and 
 he must abide the consequence. Whatever is confirmed by the experience of the sheep- 
 breeder and the manufacturer, or, in spite of themselves, overturns their long-cherished 
 prejudices and errors, they may divide as they please among him and his friends — that 
 •which will not bear the test of examination and experience, let them place to the author's 
 Hcore. 
 
THE VALUE OF THE PELT. ' 53 
 
 dense and firm in its structure, that it may resist external injury. Blood- 
 vessels and nerves, countless in number, pierce it, and appear on its surface 
 under the form of papilltB, or minute eminences, while, through thousands 
 of litlle orifices, the exhalant absorbents pour out the superfluous or re- 
 dundant fluid. The true skin is composed principally or almost entirely of 
 gelatine, so that, although it may be dissolved by long-continued boiling-, 
 it is insoluble in water at the common temperature. This organization 
 seems to have been given to it, not only for the sake of its preservation 
 while on the living animal, but that it may afterwards become useful to man. 
 
 The substance of the hide combines with the tanning principle, and is 
 converted into leather. 
 
 The skin of the sheep seldom undergoes the full process of tanning, but 
 it is prepared in a peculiar way, and used as a commoner sort of binding for 
 books, or it is manufactured into parchment, and thus on account of its 
 durable nature, becomes most valuable, as connected with the disposal and 
 security of our property. Some of the foreign lambskins are much sought 
 after, as a species of ornamental clothing, as well as on account of their 
 comfort and warmth, and are prepared with the wool remaining on them.. 
 
 THE VALUE OF THE PELT. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Ukraine and Podoli, as soon as the lamb is dropped 
 (which comes into the world with a pretty wavy skin, even without the 
 assistance of art), sew it up in a sort of coarse linen shirt, so as to keep up 
 a constant gentle pressure on the wool, pouring warm water over it every 
 day, in order to make it soft and sleek. They slacken the bandage a little 
 from time to time, as the animal increases in size, but still keep it light 
 enough to lay the wool in beautiful glossy ringlets, and thereby produce a 
 delicate skin in great request in other countries for lining clothes and 
 morning gowns. By this process the fine soft wool of the young lamb 
 takes a beautiful arrangement ; and the animal is killed younger or older 
 according to the material intended to be produced, whether with a short 
 glossy nap, like satin, fit only for delicate linings, or a warm thick fur for 
 winter clothing*. 
 
 The Boucharian Tartars carry this refinement to a greater extent. They 
 will not kill the female, for they look to her for the continuance of their 
 flocks ; but a great number of the male lambs are destroyed as soon as 
 they are dropped. The wavy durls of these fleeces are sometimes remarkably 
 beautiful, the richest damask scarcely exceeding them. They are of a black, 
 blue, or silver-grey colour; the first of which, when thoroughly glossy, are 
 most highly esteemed. - - 
 
 In some districts these fine and valuable furs — they partake more of the 
 nature and appearance of fur than of wool — are produced by other means : 
 the mother is slaughtered a little before her time of pregnancy would 
 have expired, and the little one taken from the womb and destroyed while 
 the carcase is still reeking. The short glcRsy fur, lying close to the pelt, 
 is said to be more beautiful than any that could have been obtained from 
 the same animal after birth f. 
 
 Bell, in his Travels in Russia in 1750, gives a gimilar account: — " At 
 Astrachan they have great quantities of lamb-skins, grey and black, and 
 some waved, others curled, all natural and very pretty, having a fine gloss, 
 particularly the waved, which at a distance appear like the richest watered 
 tabby. They are much esteemed, and are extensively used for the -lining of 
 coats and the turning up of caps in Russia and Persia and other parts. The 
 
 * Dr. Anderson on the Russian and Tartarian Sheep, p. 20, f Ibid, p. 54. 
 
54 THE SHEER 
 
 best of these are brought from Boucharia, Chiva, and the countries adjacent 
 and are taken out of the ewe's belly after she has been killed, or the lamb is 
 killed directly after it is lambed ; for such a skin is equal in value to the 
 sheep. The Kalmucks and other Tartars, who inhabit the desert in the 
 neighbourhood of Astrachan, have also lamb-skins, which are applied to 
 the same purposes ; but the wool of these being rougher and more hairy, 
 they are far inferior to those of Boucharia or Chiva, both in gloss and 
 beauty, as also in dressing, and consequently in value : I have known one 
 single lamb-skin of Boucharia sold for five or six shillings sterling, when 
 one of these would not yield two shillings." 
 
 Professor M'Culloch says that the value of lamb-skins varies according 
 to the fineness, brilliancy, and colour of the wool. Black lamb skins are 
 more generally esteemed than those of any other colour. Some English 
 lamb-skins, perfectly fine and white, and taken from the Anglo-Merino 
 breed, are in considerable estimation. The greater part, however, come 
 from abroad, and the importation of them is immense, having amounted on 
 an average of 1831 and 1832, to 2,365,635, four-fifths of which were sup- 
 plied by Italy. They are mostly used in the manufacture of gloves, 120 
 skins producing, on the average, 18 dozen pairs of gloves*. 
 
 On the skin of most animals, and intended somewhat for ornament, and 
 the better distinction of species, but more for the warmth and comfort of 
 the individual, is placed a covering- of feathers, fur, hair, or wool. They 
 are all essentially the same in composition. They are made up of an ani- 
 mal substance resembling coagulated albumen ; an oily matter of various 
 hues, according to the colour of the feather or the hair ; and sulphur, silica^ 
 carbonate and phosphate of lime, and oxides of iron and manganese f. 
 
 The growth of the feather is different from that of the hair or wool. 
 A small hollow cone first protrudes — the germ of the future quill ; it 
 increases in length and in bulk for a certain time, and then it opens at the 
 apex, and the shaft of the feather pushes forward, with the filaments on 
 either side of it ; and these gradually unfold themselves and increase in 
 size, yet rarely in number, until the feather is perfectly formed. The 
 hair emerges from the skin of the same substance and bulk that it will 
 ever be, and it increases in length only by the protrusion of fresh portions 
 which push the others before them |. 
 
 ANATI>My np THE WOOL. 
 
 In the fatty and cellular substance immediately beneath the cutis or true 
 skin — some say imbedded in the true skin — there are numerous minute 
 vascular bulbs. They arise from .the cellular texture, and penetrate into 
 the true skin ; they consist of a double membrane, the outer one of which 
 stops at the pore, or minute aperture in the skin, and between the two 
 membranes a vascular texture has been traced. From the interior and 
 centre of the inner membrane there proceeds a minute eminence, or papilla, 
 which, surrounded by the membrane, projects into and through the cutis, 
 while numerous fine filaments unite to form or to surround a seeming pro- 
 
 * M'Culloch's Dictionary, art..Gi.ovES, Lambs, Sheep, Skins. 
 
 f Henry's Chemistry, vol. ii. p. 487. 
 
 I Dr. Anderson well ilhistrates this by a circumstance that is familiar to every shep- 
 herd : " About the month of November," says he, "most of the farmers in the south of 
 Scotland cover the whole surface of the body of their sheep with a composition of lai 
 and butter in certain proportions. This makes a black mark, which remains quite per- 
 ceptible as long as the wool remains upon the sheep: but this mark gradually rises from 
 the skin as the wool grows, so that at shearing time it is found to be nearly in the middle, 
 the luiderpurt of the wool which hud grown during the winter and spring being of a pure 
 white below this black ring." — Anderson on Sheep, p. 115. 
 
ANATOMY OF THE WOOL. 55 
 
 longation of the original papilla. In tliis way it gradually penetrates the 
 cutis, and the rete mucosum, from which, as has been already observed, it 
 takes its colour, and then, either pushing its way through the cuticle, the 
 displaced portion of which falls off in the form of scurf, or carrying a part 
 of the cuticle with it as a kind of sheath, it appeals under the form and 
 character of hair. 
 
 Whether it is a perfectly solid body, as some, describing its appearance 
 when subjected to the power of the microscope, have affirmed *, or whether 
 it consists of a hard exterior tube with a medulla or pith within t, has not 
 been demonstratively proved. It is extremely difficult so to bring the 
 hair under the power of a lens with a focus on not more than one-twentieth 
 or one-thirtieth of an inch, as to obtain a knowledge of its internal struc- 
 ture. Those who are most accustomed to the use of the microscope are 
 scarcely yet agreed as to the external form of the hair. That which is con- 
 fidently affirmed of it by some, and which would beautifully explain several 
 phenomena attending it, is as confidently denied by others. It will not, 
 then, occasion much surprise if difference of opinion exists as to its internal 
 conformation^;. 
 
 The fibrous structure of the hair is sufficiently evident : the gossamer 
 filaments of the albuminous gluey substance within the inner membrane at 
 the root have been seen converging in order to form the stump ; and when 
 the hair or wool has been diseased or decaying, or dead, it has been ob- 
 served to split into numerous fibres at its point §. In this it bears an 
 
 * Hooke's Micrographia, vol. iii. fig. 2 ; Young's Nat. Phil., vol. ii. p. 190. 
 
 •)■ Leuwenhoeck in Phil. Tiaus. 
 
 J It is amusing to compare the diflferent testimony on this point given by those who 
 have observed the hair, assisted by the most powerful lenses, who were skilled in the use 
 of the instrument, and who could have no intention to deceive. Leuwenhoeck and Hooke 
 published their microscopical observations about the same time. " The whole hair," says 
 the first of these philosophers, " consists of little strings, whereof there were about a 
 thousand in one hair, fewer or more, according to the thickness of the hair. Whether 
 these strings are hollow, like so many pipes or vessels, I cannot possibly say ; but it 
 seemeth to me that they are, so that I conceive we may not unfitly compare the clods of 
 the hair," (he had been speaking of irregularities on the surface of the hair,) " consist- 
 ing of the aforesaid irregular particles, to the bark of a tree, and the little strings which 
 compose that part of the hair within the clods, to the pipes which make the wood. In 
 larger hairs, as the bristles of a hog, these hairs appear to be hollow. The whole root, 
 except the cuticle, consists of little strings, which I suppose to be veins or vessels; 
 and I have shown the root of a hair with all its fibres so plainly, as if before our eyes 
 we had seen lying a common tree with all its roots, except that these fibres in the root 
 of a hair were all of one thickness." — Philosophical Transactions, 1G78, vol. xii. p. 1004. 
 
 On the contrary, Hooke gives the following account of the hair : — " They," the hairs 
 of his head, " were for the most part cylindrical. Some of them were somewhat prisma- 
 tical, but generally they were nearly round ; they were all along, from end to end, trans- 
 parent, although not very clear; the end nearest the root appearing like a black transpa- 
 rent piece of horn. The roots of the horn were smooth, tapering inwards almost like a 
 parsnip; but I could not find that it had any filaments or any vessels like the fibres of 
 a plant. The top, when split, which is common in long hairs, appeared like the end of a 
 stick beaten until it be all frittered, there being sometimes half a score splinters or more. 
 They were all, so far as I was able to find, solid cylindrical bodies, not pernous, like a 
 cane or bulrush ; nor could I find that they had a-ny pith, or distinction of rind or the 
 like, as I have observed in horses' hair, deer's hair, and the bristles of a cat. Even the 
 bristle of a hog was a large transparent, horny substance; without the least appearance 
 of pores or holes in it. Although I caused the light to tall in all the various ways I 
 could think of, or that was likely to make the pores appear, if there had been any, I was 
 not able to discover any ; those parts that appeared to be pores in one position of the 
 light, I could find a manifest reflection to be cast from them in another."— Micrographia, 
 
 156. 
 
 § Bakewell's remarks on this point of the anatomy of the hair deserve to be quoted. 
 " Hair is frequently observed to split at its points into distinct fibres — a division has also 
 sometimes been seen in the hair of wool. This seems to prove that they are formed of 
 distinct long filaments uniting in one thread or hair. In large hairs I have discerned 
 
56 THE SHEEP. 
 
 evident analogy to the structure of the nail of the human being, the hoof 
 of the horse, and the horn of the bullock. 
 
 Like them it is vascular ; although it grows as they do, principally by 
 additions from the root, it is capable of deriving nourishment from vessels 
 belonging to its pulp, which seem to accompany it to a considerable dis- 
 tance from the root, if not through its whole extent. The Plica Polonica, 
 a disease whose existence is doubted by some, but of the occasional occur- 
 rence of which there is abundant testimony, completely establishes the vas- 
 cularity of the hair; for it is an enlargement of the bulk of the hair itself: 
 an enlargement of the individual hairs, so much so, as, in some cases, to 
 permit the passage of red blood, for the hair will bleed when divided by 
 the scissors *. 
 
 The staunchcst advocate for the solidity of the hair of the human being, 
 and whose observations have just been quoted in a note, acknowledges that 
 in the hair of the horse and the deer he could trace a plain distinction of 
 rind and pulp ; he also has seen the fibres of which the general substance 
 of the hair was made up. Bakewell has divided a hair into numerous 
 fibres ; Leuwenhoeck believed that he had seen hollows in these fibres, 
 proving them to be tubes and vessels. The weight of evidence clearly favours 
 the supposition that it consists of an external rind or tube, and an internal 
 pulp or collection of fibres ; the pulp or pith being found in its young state, 
 or near the root ; and the fibres, like those of a tree, or the branch of a tree, 
 occupying and forming the substance of the liair. The hair liowever pos- 
 sesses the principle of vitality to a very slight extent ; it is formed of those 
 materials which are comparatively little subject to decomposition, and 
 therefore it will preserve its form and properties for a long and indefinite 
 period t. 
 
 WOOL-BEARING ANIMALS. 
 
 Authors have seemed to imagine that the production of wool was con- 
 fined to the sheep; practical men, however, know that there is a numerous 
 list of animals on whom, at some season of the year at least, wool is found. 
 It used to be considered as one distinction between the goat and the sheep 
 that the former was covered with hair and the latter principally with wool. 
 The under hair of some goats, however, is not only finer than the fleece of 
 any sheep, but it occasionally has the crisped appearance of wool. It is, 
 in fact, wool — of different qualities in dift'erent breeds ; in some rivalling 
 or excelling that of the sheep, but in others so coarse as to be of use for 
 the lists an<l edges of cloth alone. 
 
 On many of the undomesticated species of deer a portion of wool is 
 found at the roots of the hair. It is so in the moose-deer, or elk, although 
 not in any great quantities ; on the wapiti deer it forms a thick covering ; 
 and it is plainly perceptible on some parts of the hide of the British red 
 deer in the winter months ; on the fallow deer it is more abundant ; on 
 the axis deer it has not been detected. 
 
 On some foreign breeds of oxen, as the yak of Tartary and the ox of 
 
 a number of divisions from the root to the point. In one hair I distinctly perceived fif- 
 teen of these divisions or fibres Ijing parallel to each other, and in some of the fibres a 
 further subdivision was distinguishable. Probably these subdivisions were each com- 
 posed of others still smaller, which the limited power of our instruments may prevent us 
 from discovering. If such be the structure of the hair of some animals, it is at least 
 probable that t!ie hair of all others may have a similar conformation, although the fibres 
 of which they are composed may be too minute, or adhere too firmly together to permit 
 us to separate or distinguish them." — Bakewell of Wakefield, Observations on Wool, 
 p. 125. 
 
 * Good's Study of Nature, vol. v. p. 678. f Bostock's Physiology, vol.i. p. 50. 
 
WOOL-BEARING ANIl\rALS., 57 
 
 Hudson's Bay, some fine and valuable wool is produced ; on the Brahmin 
 bull and cow it is sought for in vain. 
 
 The gnoo, a species of intermediate genus between the antelope and 
 the ox, has, mixed with and filling up the interstices between the hair, a 
 considerable quantity of wool, which is cast off in large masses in the 
 spring. This is particularly observable in the pair of gnoos belonging to 
 the Zoological Society of London. 
 
 The camel has, at the base of its long hair, a quantity of wool, which, if 
 he were bred and multiplied in the British dominions, would be converted 
 to useful purposes. 
 
 Many fur-clad animals bear upon them a variable quantity of wool. The 
 hare, the rabbit, and the beaver, as will hereafter be more distinctly shown, 
 are illustrations of this. 
 
 Nor is this mixture of hair and wool confined to the herbivorous animals ; 
 the most cursory examination will show it in the sable and the polecat. 
 Some shorter, softer, wavy hair, interlacing with the neighbouring fibres, 
 was found about the mane of a lion bred in confinement, and also on the 
 neck of a tiger ; probably extending over the whole of the frame of these 
 animals when, in their native forests, and exposed to varying seasons, they 
 need this double coating. This, perhaps, must not be called wool ; but the 
 author discovered, with mingled surprise and pleasure, a considerable quan- 
 tity of true wool at the base of the external covering of an Italian wolf-dog. 
 Its spiral curls were too distinct and numerous to be for a moment mis- 
 taken ; and, very soon afterwards, he obtained from a Newfoundland dog, 
 recently imported, and on a bear from Prince Edward's Island, a plentiful 
 under-layer of wool, of the structure and felting properties of which deli- 
 neations will be given. On the spaniel, the pointer, the hound, the grey 
 hound, and the short-haired terrier, he sought for it in vain, but on one of 
 the Isle of Skye terriers a small quantity was found. 
 
 " My opinion," says Mr. Flint, " the result of much thought, is, that with 
 few exceptions, the covering of quadrupeds is a mixture of hair and wool, 
 varying greatly in their proportions to each other. Let us consider them 
 in their native state. They are exposed to the vicissitudes of the seasons, 
 and therefore need a covering at one time to throw off the direct influence 
 of the sun's rays, and at another time to retain the animal warmth, when 
 the surrounding temperature would otherwise rapidly withdraw it. Hair 
 and wool are bad conductors of heat, and admirably adapted for both pur- 
 poses, and they exist in actual and in relative quantity according to the 
 altered situation and wants of the animal. Thus, in summer, the fleece of 
 the arctic hare is thin, as I believe is that of the argali ; in winter, a fine 
 wool fills up the interstices between the hair, and protects the animal from 
 the inclemency of the weather. Here is an admirable provision for the 
 wants of animals generally; but we should stop short of the exact adapta- 
 tion of the fleece to these wants, if we did not remark how necessary it is 
 that the wool, so indispensable to the retention of the warmth cvf the animal, 
 should be protected by a coat of long smooth hair. Just imagine the 
 argali or tlie hare, or, to instance animals of the carnivorous genus, the 
 sable or the polecat, clothed with wool only, and what a miserable plight 
 the poor animal would soon be in ! — the fleece a constant impediment to its 
 movements among underwood, if indeed it were not entirely stripped off the 
 back of the animal." There is a great deal of the true philosophy of 
 zoology in these remarks ; and what a boundless field for future investiga- 
 tion, the employment of human industry, and the extension of commerce 
 and national wealth ia here opened I 
 
6S THE SHEEP 
 
 THE EXTERNAL COAT OF THE FIRST SHEEP PROBABLY HAIRY. 
 
 From what has been stated of the mixture of hair and wool in the coat 
 of most animals, and the relative situation of these materials, it will not 
 appear im])robable that such was tlie character of the fleece of the primitive 
 sheep. There are, at the present day, varieties of this animal occupying 
 extensive districts that are clotlied outwardly with hair of different degrees 
 of fineness and sleekness ; and underneath the external coat is a softer 
 and shorter and closer one, that answers to the description of fur according 
 to most travellers, but which really possesses all the characters of wool. 
 In a very considerable proportion of Tartary the sheep are covered with a 
 sleek and silky hair ; the flocks of the Boucharian Tartars are all of this 
 character. In the eastern districts of India, in several parts of China, and 
 in many of the regions of Africa, the pelt is protected by hair of a longer, 
 coarser, and more shaggy kind *. 
 
 " In the Sahara desert of Africa the sheep are commonly of the height 
 of a doe, and covered with hair like that of a dog ; and the Abb^ Demanent 
 asserts in his new history of Africa, published at Paris in 1787, that two 
 varieties of sheep are reared in Guinea, one of which is covered with wool, 
 and has a long fat tail, (the fat probably accidental,) while the other is 
 larger, stronger, and covered with shaggy hair, like a goat f." 
 
 Dr. Anderson says that he had an opportunity of seeing a night-gown 
 lined with the Boucharian lamb-skin fur, described in page 53, and which, 
 says he, " I find consists of nothing else but hair, without the smallest 
 intermixture of wool J." 
 
 Sir Joseph Banks once imported three sheep from Spain, " which were 
 sleek and smooth as a horse, and never, in any season," according to the 
 representation of this eminent naturalist, " showed the least signs of wool 
 or down in the most minute quantity §." 
 
 Mr. Flint first led the author to doubt the perfect accuracy of these 
 accounts. The careless and superficial manner in which travellers have 
 examined and described the sheep of the countries they visited is well 
 known. These useful animals have scarcely been deemed worthy the 
 tourist's notice ; and even the naturalist has not dreamed of finding in this 
 poor beast, common to every country, any thing worthy of record. In 
 addition to this it may be stated, that the naturalist had rarely a definite 
 conception of the difference between hair, and fur, and wool, or of the extent 
 to which they mingled in the covering of almost every animal. It is there- 
 fore highly improbable that the sheep, which is now become, by cultivation, 
 in some countries, par excellence^ the icool-bearing animal, should, in any 
 country, or at any time, have been perfectly destitute of it. Sheep of 
 almost every known variety have occasionally been inmates of the Gardens 
 of the Zoological Society, but there has not been one on which a portion 
 of crisped wool, although occasionally exceedingly small, has not been 
 found at the bottom of the hair 
 
 * Luccock on Wool. f Anderson on Sheep, p. 18. 
 
 X Bath Society Papers, vol. viiu p. 1 1. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 12. Dr. Anderson says in another publication, " Last summer a Danish 
 East Indiaman put into Leith Roads on her return home. I went on board to see what 
 curiosities she had, and I there found a very fine sheep, which was covered with a close 
 coat of thick short hair, very smooth and sleek, Hke the coat of a well-dressed horse, hut 
 the hairs rather stifFer, and thicker set on tlie skin, the colour a fine nut-brown. I w;is 
 told that it was brougtit from the island of Madao^ascar, and that all the sheep found in 
 the island were of the same sort." — American Philosophical Transactions, vol. iv. p. 14'J. 
 
 II An argali died at the Gardens of the Society a little while ago, and the author, 
 being then confined by illness, requested a very intelligent and observant friend to exa- 
 mine the proportion of wool which grew among the hair. He reported that there was 
 
THE GRADUAL CHANGE FROM HAIR TO WOOL, 59 
 
 In all the regions over which the patriarchs wandered, and extending 
 northward through the greater part of Europe and Asia, the sheep is ex- 
 ternally covered with hair, but underneath is a fine short downy wool, from 
 which the hair is easily separated. This is the case with the sheep at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and also in South America. 
 
 In the volume of the American Philosophical Transactions just quoted, 
 the Jamaica sheep is thus described : — " The Jamaica sheep forms a dis- 
 tinct variety, altogether different from any other I have ever seen. The 
 hair is a substance si/i generis, and is as different from the kemp and 
 stichet hair of Europe as from the long tough hair of the Russians and 
 other hairy breeds. The wool, too, is as different from that of other sheep- 
 wool as the hair ; it is finer than any other, not excepting the Shetland 
 breed, although 1 should suspect that it is scarcely so soft *." It was, 
 however, once asserted of this sheep, that it was altogether devoid of wool ; 
 and it has been still more lately and strangely maintained, that British 
 sheep, transported to Jamaica, would speedily lose their woolly coat, and 
 become altogether hairy. 
 
 THE GRADUAL CHANGE FROSl HAIR TO Vi^OOL. 
 
 The observation of the occasional admixture of wool and hair, and the 
 experience of the superior utility and value of the wool, would probably 
 induce the early shepherds to take serious note of the circumstances that 
 seemed to influence the proportionate quantity of these substances. It would 
 soon be evident that climate and temperature had much to do with this. 
 Tiie argali has been known in Russia from time immemorial, and regarded 
 by many persons as the origin of the various breeds of domesticated sheej). 
 In summer its coat consists of short hair, sleek, and resembling that of a 
 deer; but in winter it is made up of wool mixed with hair, and concealing 
 at its roots a fine woolly down t- 
 
 It is probable, that a change, bearing much resemblance to this, would 
 take place in the primitive flocks, corresponding with the change of seasons. 
 
 This would naturally suggest the conclusion, that the nature of the coat 
 of the sheep was in some measure dependent on the external temperature ; 
 and, that if Providence did not temper the wind to the shorn lamb, it at 
 least suited the defence to the hardship which was to be endured in winter, 
 and the oppressive heat that was to be avoided in summer. Hence pro- 
 bably would follow the experiment, whether, by sheltering from the incle- 
 mency of the one season, and the sultriness of the other, a more uniform, 
 and useful, and valuable fleece might not be procured ; or, if no direct ex- 
 periments were instituted, the continual change of pasture which was ren- 
 dered necessary by the nature of the country and the numerousness of the 
 flocks, and the direction in which the wanderings of the shepherds were 
 performed, from the south to the north until the midst of summer, and from 
 the north to the south until mid-winter, would tend, in some measure, to 
 produce this desired change and improvement in the fleece. 
 
 The working of another agent might not escape attention. Both the 
 quantity and the kind of nutriment — the condition in which the sheep are 
 
 not a particle of wool. The author was surprised at this, as the argali was described as 
 having a winter coat at least of fine woolly down, and he sent and requested a small por- 
 tion of the pelt. The hair was long and coarse enough, but at its base was an exceed- 
 ingly small quantity of crisped wool. There was so little of it that it could scarcely be 
 detected on the pelt, but was clearly seen when a lock of the hair was cut off close to the 
 skin, and held up to the light. This goes far to explain the accounts that have been 
 occasionally given of these perfectly hairy sheep. 
 
 * Vol. V. p. 153, f Anderson on Sheep, p. 9, 
 
60 THE SHEEP. 
 
 kept — have, as will be seen in a thousand instances, much influence in 
 determining the character of the fleece, and in this respect among others. 
 
 Wherever tliese hairy sheep are now found, tlie management of that 
 animal is in a most disgraceful state ; and among the cultivated sheep, and 
 those who are the especial suhjects of this work — the British sheep — the 
 remains of this ancient hairy covering exist, to any very great extent, among 
 those alone that are comparatively neglected or abandoned. Kemps or 
 hairs have nearly ceased to deteriorate the fleece of the South Downs, and 
 they are little seen in the Leicesters, the Cotswolds, or the Bamptons* ; 
 but they are fuund on tlic wilds of Dartmoor, and the mountains of 
 Wales, Westmoreland and Scotland, and, from the perfect abandonment 
 of the Shetland sheep, their fine and silky wool is often mixed with long 
 hairs. Where they have been banished from the fleece, they continue to 
 appear upon the faces and legs, particularly in the Wiltshires, and also in 
 the Norfolks, and to a greater or less degree on the belly of several of the 
 breeds of British and foreign sheep. Here they are of no material conse- 
 quence, for they do not mingle with the prime part of the wool. 
 
 These causes, however, would operate only to a limited extent ; a more 
 powerful principle would, at a very early period of sheep-husbandry, be 
 called into action — that which enables the agriculturist not only to modify 
 the character of his flock, but to change it altogether — the magician's 
 wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever form and mould 
 he pleases — the principle of selection — the fact, that " like will produce 
 like." The early shepherd would therefore select for breeding those ani- 
 mals in which the quantity of hair was smaller than usual, and that of 
 vv'ool correspondingly increased — in which the wool not only afforded 
 warmth in vv'inter, but was becoming a permanent covering ; and by steady 
 adherence to this, the character of the fleece would be gradually yet essen- 
 tially changed. There was a selection, from time to time, of those animals 
 to breed from which bore most wool, until ultimately a breed has been 
 obtained, bearing wool only, or nearly so. 
 
 Tlie filament of the wool has scarcely pushed itself through the pore of 
 the skin, than it has to penetrate through another and singular substance, 
 which, from its adhesiveness and colour, is called the yolk. It is found 
 in greatest quantity about the breast and shoulders — the very parts tliat 
 produce the best, and healthiest, and most abundant wool — and in propor- 
 tion as it extends to any considerable degree over other parts the wool 
 is then improved. It differs in quantity in different breeds : it is very 
 abundant on the Merinos ; it is sufficiently plentiful on most of the southern 
 breeds, either to assist in the production of the wool, or to defend the 
 sheep from the inclemency of the weather ; but in the northern districts, 
 where the cold is more intense, and the yolk of wool is deficient, a sub- 
 stitute for it is sought by smearing the sheep with a mixture of tar and 
 oil or butter. Where there is a deficiency of yolk, the fibre of the wool is 
 dx}', and harsh, and weak, and the whole fleece becomes thin and hairy . 
 
 * Where hairs are found in the long-wooUed fleece they are generally separated in the 
 process of combing ; the remaining wool sufl'ers in some degree from the heat of the 
 comb, or the violence with which i* is used, hut the noyles (or the portion separated by 
 the comb) are very little injured. Even from the short wool, they are removed by the 
 action of the scribbling machine. It is where the kemps are so intermingled, or so 
 ii'jmerous, that they cannot be got vid of, that they are most of all injurious, for by their 
 coarseness and want of elasticity they spoil the cloth before it is dyed ; or, if not altoge- 
 ther so, there is great difficulty in dyeing it of a good and permanent colour. 
 
THE YOLK. 61 
 
 where tlie natural quantity of it is found, the wool is soft, ana oily, and 
 plentiful, and strong. Precisely such, in a less degree, is the effect of the 
 salving in suppling, and strengthening, and increasing the quantity of the 
 wool. 
 
 It is not the inspissated perspiration of the animal ; it is not composed 
 of matter that has been accidentally picked up and that has lodged in the 
 wool ; but it is a peculiar secretion from the glands of the skin, destined to 
 be one of the agents in the nourishment of the wool, and, at the same time, 
 by its adhesiveness, to mat the wool together, and form a secure defence 
 from the wet and the cold*. 
 
 The medium quantity of yolk on a Hereford, Shropshire, or Sussex 
 sheep, is about half the fleece ; and this is the customary allowance to the 
 wool-buyer, if the fleece has been sold without washingf. 
 
 A celebrated French chemist, M. Vauquelin, has made various experi- 
 ments on the composition of the yolk of wool ; the result is as follows • — 
 It is composed, 1st, of a soapy matter with a basis of potash, which 
 formed the greater part of it. 2nd, A small quantity of carbonate of 
 potash. 3rd, A perceptible quantity of acetate of potash. 4th, Lime, 
 whose state of combination he was unacquainted witli. 5th, An atom of 
 muriate of potash. 6th, An animal oil, to which he attributed the pecu- 
 liar odour of the yolk ; and, in conckision, he was of opinion that all these 
 materials were essential to the yolk, and not found in it by accident, for he 
 analysed the yolk in a great number of samples, as well Spanish as French, 
 and found them in all J. 
 
 The yolk being a true soap, soluble in water, it is easy to account for the 
 comparative ease with which the sheep that have the natural proportion of it 
 are washed in a running stream. There is, however, a small quantity of 
 fatty matter in the fleece, which is not in combination with the alkali, and 
 which, remaining attached to the wool, keeps it a little glutinous notwith- 
 standing the most careful washing §. 
 
 '* Luccock on Sheep, p. 81. f Agricultural Magazine, March, 1833. 
 
 J Annal. de Chimie, An. xi. No. 141. See also Philosophical Maf^azine, vol. xix. 
 
 § An annotator on Vauquelin says, with regard to this, although there is nothing new 
 in the practice to the British wool-seller or huyer.that if, " alter this washing in running 
 water, soap, of one-twentieth part of the weight of tlie wool, is dissolved in a sufficient 
 quantity of warm water, and the wool is ofieu immersed in it and the liquid squeezed 
 out, it will be entirely purified from the small quantity of grease which then adhered to 
 it, and will have a softness and degree of clearness which it could not have had with- 
 out this operation." Another somewhat singular passage is quoted — the reader must 
 form his own opinion respecting it. " The yolk itself, when a little concentrated, has 
 an efficacious action en the ])ortion of grease which is not in a saponaceous state, for I 
 have found that in putting to the wool only the quantity of water necessary to cover it, 
 it scours better, particularly with a little heat, than when it.is washed in running water, 
 b\it I have also found that when wool has remained too long in its own yolk, it swells, 
 splits, and loses its strength. 
 
 " Since the solution of the yolk occasions this swelling and splitting of the wool, is it 
 possible that tliis accident may happen on the sheep's hiack, particularly in hot, moist 
 seasons, or when they are shut up in folds in which the litter is not often enough removed P 
 Nor would it be impossible that the acrimony of the yolk may occasion an irritation on 
 their skins, and by that means be the cause of some of the disorders to which this organ 
 is liable in these animals, and which mostly happen in hot and dry weather. Fortu- 
 nately in these seasons they are from time to time exposed to rains, which wash them and 
 carry off at least a portion of this matter : on this subject I cordially agree with those 
 who thiuk that washing sheep in hot and dry weather would be useful to their health 
 and the quality of their wool." 
 
 These are questions which deserve attention; hut the evidence, so far as it has been 
 hitherto adduced, goes to this point, that the yolk, and its-substitute the common salving, 
 liave, in a thousand instances been manifestly beneficial to the sheep and the wool, 
 and in no case been proved to be injurious, and, in cases like these, more regard is to be 
 had to fact than to the most ingenious and plausible theoretical reasoning. 
 
62 THE SHEEP. 
 
 This subject may be summed up in the comprehensive language of Mr. 
 Luccock. " He," the northern sheep-master, after having applied his 
 salving, " finds this dirty coat as indispensably necessary to the good qua- 
 lities of the fleece as it is to the health of the animal ; without it, the wool 
 becomes hairy, thin, and light ; with it, the fleece is full, soft, and rich, pos- 
 sesses a sufficient quantity of healthy yellow yolk, and the qualities and 
 condition of the wool are most wonderfully improved. From these circum- 
 stances we conclude that the yolk is not only necessary to the production 
 of a valuable fleece, but is the very pabulum of wool. The manner in 
 whicli the yolk acts upon the wool is not accurately known. Some have 
 considered it as the superabundance of that substance which forms the 
 filament, and which, by some unknown process, while the pile is growing, 
 is consolidated into a transparent mass ; while others conclude, perhaps 
 more reasonably, that it is a peculiar secretion which exudes through the 
 skin, and, by intermingling with the pile, renders it soft, pliable, and 
 healthy, affecting it much in the same way as oil does a thong of leather when 
 kept immersed in it and perfectly saturated. In general this substance has 
 been noticed without any particular reference to the breed of the animal, or 
 the qualities of the fleece which it bears; sometimes as perfectly diregarded 
 as the sand and the hay-seed which are accidentally mingled with the pile. 
 Yet the disposition to produce this valuable animal soap is certainly as 
 important as some other characteristics of the sheep, and ought not to be 
 overlooked when we describe their different varieties or select them for 
 our farms."* 
 
 THE DIFFERENCE BETVTEEN V^OOL AND HAIR. 
 
 There is considerable difficulty in describing this. They are essentially 
 the same in chemical composition, and to the unpractised eye they bear 
 much resemblance to each other in appearance. The smallness of the 
 fibre, and its softness and pliability, can scarcely be considered as sufficient 
 distinctive characters ; for the hair yielded by some animals is as soft as 
 any silk, while the wool of a few of the favourite breeds of sheep is objected to 
 on account of its harshness. The colour and degree of transparency will not 
 guide the observer; for wool differs in colour on different animals, and dif- 
 ferent parts of the same animal — at the best it is but a semi-transparent object, 
 and some species of hair are as pervious to light, or as beautifully refract 
 the rays of light, as any wool. The degree also of transparency which wool 
 possesses varies materially with the health and keep of the animal, and 
 numerous other circumstances. 
 
 THE PERIODICAL DECIDENCE OF WOOL AND HAIR. 
 
 Wool is distinguished from hair by the manner in which it separates from 
 the animal, and is renewed. Most of those animals whose covering is hair, 
 renew their coat at least once in the year : in the horse it is shed twice — 
 in the spring and the autumn. This is evident enough in the colt, and in the 
 farmer's horse, whose coat is often exposed, almost as much as in a state of 
 nature, to the influence and occasional inclemency of the seasons; but when 
 they are domesticated and stabled, the process is far from being regularly 
 conducted; it appears to be in a manner suspended, but it is, in fact, going on 
 all the year round. In the deer it has its regular period ; less so in the ox, 
 and least of all in the dog : but in all of them, when the pulpy substance 
 at the root of the hair ceases to be supplied, and, losing its support, the 
 hair is detached and falls off, the different fibres separate, as it were, one 
 
 • Luccock on Wool, pp. 82, 84, 85. 
 
THE PERIODICAL DECIDENCE OF WOOL AND HAIR. 63 
 
 by one. The old hair and the new remain together for a season, and 
 no part of the skin is left at any time bare. The period of the repro- 
 duction of the hair is very often connected with disease, and almost in- 
 variably so with loss of power. The human being, however, is not, like 
 these quadrupeds subject to an annual renewal of the covering of the skin ; 
 the hair once produced, continues to grow for many a year, perhaps for 
 life, by prolongation from the root. 
 
 There is considerable difficulty respecting this change of external cover- 
 ing; in the sheep. It has been commonly believed that there is a periodical 
 moulting, or separation of the old fleece from that which is growing un- 
 derneath ; and there is no doubt, that the greater part or the whole of the 
 fleece of the more neglected breeds begins, about the commencement of 
 summer, to detach itself from tlie pelt ; and much of it would be lost if its 
 separation were not anticipated by the application of the shears. On the 
 other hand, the wool of the lamb that was dropped in the winter or spring 
 shows no disposition to separate, but continues to grow ; and the observa- 
 tion of this has introduced a practice, the advantage of which will hereafter 
 be considered, of leaving the hogget wool, for the first sixteen or eighteen 
 months, to acquire additional length of staple. The Merino sheep aff"ords 
 a singular proof how easily the annual change of the fleece — if annual 
 change there is — may be suspended in the domesticated state of that ani- 
 mal. Lord Western has retained the wool of the Merino, without the 
 slightest disposition to separate, during three years. The experiment was 
 also tried at Rambouillet, and the fleece remained on firm and healthy 
 during five years. It had attained its utmost growth at the fourth year, when 
 it was 13 inches long ; but it had no disposition to separate from the skin, 
 and probably it would not have fallen off during the life of the sheep*. 
 There were not merely a few cases of this, but the experiment succeeded 
 in every sheep on which it was tried. 
 
 How is this to be accounted for ? Is it argued, that the sheep, from ex- 
 posure to cold in the winter, throws out a diminished and tender fibre, and 
 that, in the spring, the fleece becoming heavy, and getting entangled in 
 the underwood, is easily torn off", the fibres giving way at the tender part 
 ox joint? This can scarcely be conceded ; for whether the winter is mild 
 or severe, the mountain-breeds, and the neglected breeds of sheep (and the 
 short-wooUed breeds, more than those who carry long wool, and on whom 
 the fleece would hang heaviest) have, at the latter part of the spring of the 
 year, a decided tendency to cast off" their winter clothing. If other wool- 
 bearing animals are examined, there is the same tendency to get rid of that 
 which was given to them for a temporary purpose. The gnoo, the wapiti, 
 the Barbary deer, in our menageries, are striking illustrations of this pe- 
 riodical decidence of the winter coat. The same is familiar to the keeper 
 in every deer-park. The exuviae — the cast-off covering — consists prin- 
 
 * Mr.Luccock very properly remarks that "the decidence of the fleece does not appear 
 to be a characteristic feature of the tribe — an universal law to which all sheep are subject, 
 because some individuals have been observed to retain their coat through two whole years, 
 and a few have carried it even three whole summers. We are not aware that this faculty 
 of retaining the fleece is confined to any particular breed of sheep, nor is it a quality com- 
 mon to every hidividual. The breeds producing a finer kind of wool often peel and lose a 
 portion of their coat early in the spring, and before the summer had passed would probably 
 part with the whole of it. The pile of the long-wooled sheep seems to be much more 
 firmly attached to the pelt than that of the other breeds, for if the animal is kept in good 
 condition and in good health throughout the whole period when the wool is growing, 
 there is no symptom of a disposition to cast the fleece ; while those sheep that have been 
 kept upon commons all the winter, or even in enclosures upon hard fare, will part with 
 it very easily when the food becomes more plentiful, and the condition of the animal is 
 restored to its natural state."— P. 118. 
 
64 THE SHEEP 
 
 cipally of the woolly portion of the coats, mixed with a variable quantity 
 of hair entangled in it as it had slowly worked its way through the external 
 covering. 
 
 This annual separation of a portion of the covering seems to be of almost 
 universal occurrence. It is a consequence of the grand law of nature, 
 that what the comfort and the thriving of the animal requires is, generally 
 speaking, bestowed ; but it begins to be removed as soon as it ceases to 
 be needed. 
 
 It seems to be almost impossible to account for the universal adoption of 
 the practice of shearing, and everywhere at nearly the same period of the 
 year, except in order to anticipate this periodical separation and loss of 
 the fleece. 
 
 The regular peregrinations of the early shepherds from the north to 
 the south, as the summer waned, and from south to north, as the cold be- 
 came less intense — this approacli to equality of temperature all the year 
 round — would, in proportion as the vicissitudes of the seasons were avoided, 
 render an alteration in the fleece less necessary, and the tendency to this 
 periodical decidence less strong. The disposition to part with the wool, 
 which now varies in different breeds, might vary in the sheep of that day ; 
 if there were distinctions of breed (and certainly it would vary in diff'erent 
 individuals) advantage would soon be taken of that fundamental principle 
 of breeding which had been gradually lessening the quantity of hair and 
 increasing that of wool; and those animals would be selected which not 
 only carried the most wool, but which also evinced the strongest dis- 
 position to retain it. Thus, by degrees, a breed would be established, 
 which, if well fed and kept in good condition, and somewhat defended from 
 the inclemency of the winter's cold, would not only retain its wool until it 
 suited the owner's convenience to remove it, but during an indefinite period 
 of time. Still, as takes place in the occasional intermingling of the hair 
 that once formed the outer coat — and the return, even at this distant pe- 
 riod, of the primitive colour of the sheep — accident, neglect, cold, starva- 
 tion, and carelessness as to selection, might, to a greater or less extent, 
 call into action the principle by which the clothing of other wool-bearing 
 animals is governed, and which cultivation and careful selection had sus- 
 pended in the sheep. 
 
 When, before the invention of shearing, the value of the wool had been 
 ascertained, and the occasional falling oiFof the fleece observed, a singular 
 but inhuman method was resorted to in order to loosen the wool, so tliat 
 it might be torn from the sheep nearly in one bulk. The poor creatures 
 were confined for three or four days, until they were in a state of the utmost 
 debihty, and the fibres of the wool, sharing in the general weakness and 
 derangement, might be without difliculty detached from the skin. 
 
 When the fleece of the sheep, either from periodical influence, or some 
 accidental cause, is about to separate from the skin, it does so over the 
 whole or a very considerable part of the body at once ; the filaments seem 
 to be simultaneously acted upon by the same power. AVhile the new crop 
 springs up, the old one falls off" in large patches, or might be removed 
 altogether: so that no sooner does the fleece cease to be of use to 
 the animal than it is ready to be taken possession of by man, entire or 
 nearly so, in which state alone it can be of any value to him, and con- 
 verted to valuable purposes. It is true that the interlacing of the fibres 
 of the wool will prevent them from falling so decidedly one by one as in 
 the horse ; yet a contemporaneous loosening, over large spaces, can alone 
 account for the manner in which it sometimes appears to come away 
 bodily from so great a part of the animal 
 
FORM OF THE FIBRE. 65 
 
 THE FORM OF THE FIBRE. 
 
 The fibre of tlie wool, having penetrated the skin and escaped from the 
 yolk, is of a circular form, (varying in diameter in different breeds, and in 
 different parts of the same fleece,) generally larger towards the extremity 
 and also towards the root, and in some instances very considerably so. 
 
 The filaments of white wool, when cleaned from grease, are semi- 
 transparent ; their surface in some places is beautifully polished, in others 
 curiously encrusted, and they reflect tlie rays of light in a very pleasing 
 manner. AVhen viewed by the aid of a powerful achromatic micro- 
 scope, the central part of the fibre has a singularly glittering appearance. 
 Very irregularly-placed minuter filaments are sometimes seen branching 
 from the main trunk like boughs from tlie principal stem. This exterior 
 polish varies much in different wools, and in wools from tlie same breed 
 of sheep at different times When the animal is in good condition and 
 the fleece healthy, the appearance of' the fibre is really brilliant ; but when 
 the sheep has been half-starved, the wool seems to have sympathized with 
 the state of the constitution, and either a wan, pale light, or sometimes 
 scarcely any, is reflected. 
 
 If any great and injudicious alteration lias taken place in the manage- 
 ment of the sheep during any period of the year, although the fibre may 
 continue to preserve a portion of its briWiancy, a very considerable dif- 
 ference in its appearance will be immediately detected. Some have said 
 (but our microscopical observations on wool will show that to be scarcely 
 possible) that occasionally the change in the structure of the filament is 
 so great that a certain length of hair is interposed between two portions 
 of wool ; often, however, close observation will discover a remarkable 
 diminution of the bul'k of the fibre, a withered and opaque surface, and a 
 ])artial loss of the characteristic serrations and cones. These wools are 
 much deteriorated in value; they will give way under the operation of the 
 comb, and will injure or spoil the manufacture in which they are used. 
 A microscope is not always needed in order to discover this change in 
 the wool ; but if such an instrument is at hand — and no wool-stapler or 
 wool-grower should be without one — the semi-transparency of the wool, 
 and tlie opacity of the hair, — and the roundness and fulness of the healthy 
 fibre, and the withered appearance of the joint, or breach, as it is called, 
 will form a singular contrast. 
 
 As a general rule, the filament is most transparent in the best and most 
 useful wools, whether long or short. It increases with the improvement of 
 the breed, and the fineness and healthiness of the fleece ; yet it must be 
 acknowledged that some wools have different degrees of transparency and 
 opacity which do not appear to affect their utility or value. In the Vigo- 
 nian wools the staj)le is nearly opaque, but the wool is remarkable for 
 its smooth and silky texture. It is, however, the difference of transpa- 
 rence in the same fleece or in the same filament that is chiefly to be 
 noticed as impairing the value of the wool. 
 
 Mr. Luccock speaks of some families of sheep in which the pile is flat 
 and smooth like a small bar of finely-polished steel. A few filaments of 
 wool of this kind the author has observed, but they have seldom been 
 sufficiently numerous to be regarded as constituting the character of the 
 fleece, and in the decided number of cases the appearance has been alto- 
 gether deceptive. It has arisen from the direction in which the light 
 has fallen on the object ; and the lamp being raised, or lowered, or drawn 
 on one side, the seemingly flattened bar assumed its circular but withered 
 form. These sheep had been cruelly neglected, the secretion of the woolly 
 
 P 
 
C6 SHEEP. 
 
 fibre had never been healthily discharged, and the whole fleece, or a great 
 portion of it, might be said to have assumed a breachy character. 
 
 THE PROPERTIES OF WOOL. 
 
 A consideration of the most important properties of wool, now taken in 
 a very general way, and to be hereafter applied to the different breeds of 
 sheep, cannot be better introduced than in the words of one to whom the 
 agriculturist, whatever department of husbandry may chiefly occupy his 
 attention, is much indebted. He is speaking of the size of the fibre, or 
 the fineness or coarseness of wool. " Fine and coarse," says he, 
 " are but vague and general descriptions of wool ; all fine fleeces have 
 some coarse wool, and all coarse fleeces some fine. I shall endeavour, for 
 the information of my readers, to distinguish the various qualities of wool 
 in the order in which they are esteemed and preferred by the manufac- 
 turer. First, fineness with close ground, that is, thick-matted ground. 
 Second, pureness. Third, straight-haired when broken by drawing. 
 Fourtii, elasticity, rising after compression in the hand. Fifth, staple not 
 too long. Sixth, colour. Seventh, what coarse is in it to be very coarse. 
 Eighth, tenacity. Ninth, not much pitch-mark : but this is no other disad- 
 vantage than the loss of weight in scouring. 
 
 " The bad or disagreeable properties are — thin, grounded, toppy, curly- 
 haired, and, if in a sorted state, little in it that is very fine ; a tender staple, 
 no elasticity, many dead white hairs, very yolky. Those who buy wool 
 for combing and other light goods that do not want milling, wish to 
 find length of staple, fineness of hair, whiteness, tenacity, pureness, elas- 
 ticity, and not too many pitch-marks*." These supposed good and bad 
 qualities will not be taken in the order here enumerated, for the propriety 
 of some of them may admit of doubt; few, however, will be entirely omitted. 
 
 That property which first attracts attention, and which is of greater im- 
 portance than any other, is the fineness of the pile — the quantity of fine 
 wool which a fleece yields, and the degree of that fineness. Of the abso- 
 lute fineness little can be said. It varies to a very considerable degree in 
 different parts of the same fleece, and the diameter of the same fibre is 
 often exceedingly different at the extremity and the centre. The micro- 
 meter has sometimes indicated that the diameter of the former is five times 
 as much as that of the latter ; and consequently, that a given length of 
 pile taken from the extremity would weigh twenty-five times as much 
 as the same length taken from the centre and cleansed from all yolk and 
 grease f. 
 
 That fibre may be considered as coarse whose diameter is more than the 
 five-hundredth part of an inch; in some of the most valuable samples of 
 Saxony wool it has not exceeded the nine-hundredth part of an inch ; yet in 
 some animals, but whose wool has not yet been used for manufacturing 
 purposes, it is less than one-twelve-hundredth part of an inch. 
 
 The fineness of the wool differs greatly on the different parts of the sheep. 
 That running down the side of the neck and covering the shoulders, the ribs, 
 and the back, is the finest ; the next covers the superior part of the legs 
 and the thighs, and extends up to nearly the hauncli and the tail ; and a 
 still inferior portion runs along the upper part of the neck, the throat, the 
 breast, tlie belly, and the lower part of the legs. There is considerable 
 variation in this respect in different breeds, and in individuals of the same 
 
 * Young's Annals of Agriculture, vol. xviii., p. 329. 
 t Luccock, p. 178. 
 
THE WOOLSTAPLER. 67 
 
 breed ; and, although a fleece, taken generally, may be said to be adapted 
 to a particular use, yet a portion of it may be employed in the manufacture 
 of a much more valuable article ; and at the same time a greater quantity 
 will be thrown aside as not sufficiently fine for the originally intended pur- 
 pose. 
 
 THE WOOLSTAPLER. 
 
 This is the business of the woolstapler, — the middleman between the 
 breeder and the manufacturer. He purchases the fleece, and occasionally 
 sells it in the same state, but oftener assorts it ; dividing it into differ- 
 ent parcels, according to their degree of fineness principally, or the pos- 
 session of some property which fits it for a certain manufacture. The 
 sorter, vvho ought to have a delicate sense of touch and a quick eye, has 
 several baskets around him, distinguished, at least in his mind's eye, by a 
 certain number according to the fineness of the staple, and into which, 
 with a rapidity that would surprise the inexperienced observer, and with 
 an accuracy that can seldom be disputed, he divides the wool. There are 
 seldom fewer than six divisions, and sometimes more tlian double that 
 number, according to tlie quality of the fleece, or the expected demand for 
 wools of a certain kind. The manufacturer, vvho knows precisely v/hat 
 wool will suit his purpose, and to whom the remainder would be useless, 
 is thus enabled to obtain from the stapler, without trouble or risk, the 
 quantity and the sort that he requires *. 
 
 The short wool fleeces are usually distributed into ten parcels. The 
 picklock — as its name, the picked locks, would imply — is the very best and 
 choicest wool of the kind, and many fleeces of inferior wool are sometimes 
 assorted before any great quantity is thrown into this basket. The 
 prime, an excellent wool, and but in a slight degree inferior to the first. 
 The two next divisions, the choice and the svper, are good wools, but 
 the fineness or the trueness of the staple gradually decreasing. The greater 
 part of a good Down fleece would, on assortment, be chiefly thrown into 
 one or the other of these compavtments, but some proportion even of the 
 best would find its way into the baskets yet to be mentioned. The head, 
 this title either indicates the part of the sheep whence the wool is usually 
 procured, or that it is at the head of the inferior sorts. The sixth division 
 is — the downrights, an honest, sound wool ; but that is all that can be 
 said about it. Next comes the seconds — the best of the wool from the 
 throat or breast. The eighth is — the abb, a disputed and unintelligible 
 term, meaning a still inferior wool. The livery — princijjally the skirtings 
 and edgings, and i/ie short coarse or 6?'eec/^ luoo/, that which comes from 
 the breech of the animal. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE. 
 
 Various causes afl'ect the fineness of the pile ; and temperature, if not 
 the most powerful of them, deserves more attention than has been paid to 
 it. It has already been observed, and it is a matter of common remark, 
 that the extremities of the wool, and, frequently, those portions which are 
 near to the root, are larger than the intermediate parts. The extremity of 
 the fibre has generally the greatest bulk of all. It is the product of summer, 
 
 * Nimbly, with habitual speed, 
 
 They sevtr lock from lock, and long and short, 
 
 And soft, and rigid, pile in several heaps. ^ 
 
 This the dark hatter asks ; another shines 
 
 Tempting the clothier ; that the hosier seeks ; 
 
 The long bright lock is apt for airy stuffs. 
 
 Dier's Fleece, b, ii, 
 f2 
 
68 SHEEP. 
 
 soon after the sliearing time ; when the secretion of the matter of wool is 
 increased, and when the pores of the skin are relaxed and open, ami 
 permit a larger fibre to protrude. The portion near the root is tlie growth 
 of the spring, when the weather is getting warm ; and the intermediate 
 part is the offspring of winter, when, under the influence of the cold, the 
 pores of the skin contract, and })ermit only a finer hair to escape ; while, 
 probably, some of the cutaneous glands concerned in the growth of the 
 fibre cease to act*. 
 
 If, however, the animal is well fed, the diminution of the bulk of the 
 fibre will not be followed by weakness or decay, but in proportion as the 
 piie becomes fine, the value of the fleece will be increased ; but if cold and 
 starvation should go hand in hand, the woolly fibre will not only dimi- 
 nish in bulk, but in health and strength and worth. 
 
 The variations in the diameter of the wool in different parts of the fibre 
 will also curiously correspond with the degree of heat at the time the respec- 
 tive portions were produced. The fibre of the wool, and the record of the 
 meteorologist will singularly agree, if the variations in temperature are suf- 
 ficiently distant from each other for any appreciable part of the fibre to 
 grow t. 
 
 * The wool of the lamb — whether shorn in the first summer, or remaining until the 
 Becond under the denomiucation of hogget wool— is an exception to tliis : the extremity 
 of the fil)re '\s pointed. It is easy to suppose that this would be the natural form of the 
 fibre when it first pierces the suuimit of the bulb ; but at a very short distance from the 
 exiremity it begins to obey the same law which governs the other wool, and varies in 
 diameter, according to the temperature of the season. 
 
 Some of the French philos(.phers account for the pointed extremity of the wool in the 
 lamb, and its increase of bulk m older shee]) in a very curious way. " The fibre of wool 
 continues to derive nourishment from the iluid contained in the bulb whence it sprang ; 
 soma part of this fluid it assimilates for its own growth, and the superabundant part it 
 excretes or throws off. In the first wool of the lamb, the extremity of which has not been 
 cut, this excretion can only take place by means of the pores in the tissue of the hair; hut 
 when, in the shearing, the canal of the tube is opened, an easier and more abundant secre- 
 tion will be established, and the fluid will take the habit of flowing towards the newly- 
 eflfected aperture. It may also be added, that the porous tissue of the wool possessing 
 the jiroperty of absorption, that function will be exerted more efficaciously towards the 
 exterior extremity of the fibre, which lies on the surface of the fleece, than on the part 
 near the root which is closely covered, and thus the fibre increases in bulk towards its 
 exterior extremity." — Nouvenu Traite sur la Lome par Le Vicomte Perraui.t de Jotemps 
 et MM. Fabky (fii.s) et F. Giiion de L'Ain. 
 
 f Dr. Anderson was the first who noticed this self-registering animal thermometer, 
 and his account of it ought to be recorded. " This phenomenon appeared to tally so 
 exactly with the idea I had preconceived, as to make me afraid lest 1 might become the 
 dupe of my own prejudices, which might make me imagine that I actually perceived 
 things that only existed in my own imagination. 
 
 " To satisfy myself, however, experimentally, as to the difference in these respects be- 
 tween the wool of this and the former year (1773 and 1774-5), I was at pains to procure 
 some wool of the last year's growth. 
 
 " 1. The ditference between the point and the root of the filament of wool of crop 
 1773-4 was much greater than between the two ends of the filament that grew in the 
 year 1774-5; and 
 
 " 2. The difference between the root end and the smalhu- part of the filament was 
 much greater in the wool or crop 1774-5 than in that of the former season. This was 
 perceived and acknowledged by others besides myself, as before, to prevent my being 
 deceived. 
 
 " These phenomena were the natural consequences of the two different seasons in which 
 the separate filaments were produced ; for the summer of 1773 was very warm and com- 
 fortable, and the winter of the same year imcommonly mild ; the spring of the year 
 1774 having been the coldest and most uncomfortable that was almost ever known. 
 
 " Hence the points of the wool were coarse and the roots fine to as great a degree as 
 may ever be expected to happen in this climate ; and as there was little variation between 
 the temperature of the winter 1773-!, and the spring 1774, there was likewise little 
 variation between the roots and the finest parts of the filament. 
 
 But 
 
INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE. 69 
 
 It will follow from this, lliat the natural tendency to produce wool of a 
 certain fibre being- the same, sheep in a hot climate will yield a compara- 
 tively coarse wool, and those in a cold climate will carry a finer, but at the 
 same time a closer and a warmer fleece. In proportion to the coarseness 
 of the fleece will generally be its openness, and its inability to resist either 
 cold or wet ; while the coat of softer, smaller, more pliable wool will admit 
 of no interstices between its fibres, and will bid defiance to frost and 
 storms 
 
 The natural instinct of the slieep would seem to teach the wool-grower 
 the advantage of attending to the influence of temperature on him. He is 
 evidently impatient of heat. In the open districts and where no shelter is 
 near, he climbs to the hii:hest parts of his walk, that if the rays of the sun 
 must still fall on him he may nevertheless be cooled by the breeze ; but if 
 shelter is near, of whatever kind, every shaded spot is crowded with sheej). 
 
 Lord Somerville says, "The wool of our Merino sheep after shear-time is 
 hard and coarse to such a degree as to render it almost impossible to suppose 
 that the same animal could bear wool so opposite in quality, compared to 
 that which had been clipped from it in the course of the same season. 
 As the cold weather advances, the fleeces recover their soft quality*." 
 Enough will be said in the course of the work respecting the duty and the 
 ])ropriety of giving these useful animals, when placed in exposed situations, 
 some shelter from the driving storms of winter; and the alteration in the 
 Hbre of the wool shows that it would also be advisable to provide tlie 
 flock with a shade and defence against the fervid rays of a meridian sun 
 in the summer-rnonths. 
 
 A writer of high authority thus expresses himself: ** Sheep carried 
 from a cold to a warmer climate soon undergo a remarkable change in 
 the appearance of their fleece. From being very fine and thick, if be- 
 comes thin and coarse ; until at length it degenerates into hair. Even if 
 this change should not take place to its full extent in the individual, it will in- 
 fallibly do so in the course of one or two generations. The sheep that we see 
 covered with hair are not therefore in reality a difl'erent species from those 
 that are woolly, nor is wool in its nature specifically different from hair — 
 it is only a softer and finer kind of hair. The effect of heat is nearly the 
 same on the hairs of other animals. The same species that in Russia, 
 Siberia, and North America, produce the most beautiful and valuable furs, 
 have nothing in the warmer climates, but a coarse and thin covering of 
 hairt." 
 
 It will be evident from what lias been already said of tlie gradual 
 change from hair to wool, that this account must be received with very 
 great limitation. Temperature and pasture have influence on the fineness 
 of the fibre, and one which the farmer should never disregard ; but he may, 
 in a great measure, counteract this influence by careful management, and 
 selection in breeding. The original tendency to the production of a fleece 
 of mixed materials existing, and the longer coarse hair covering and defend- 
 ing the shorter and softer wool, nature may be gradually adapting the 
 animal to his new locality ; the hair may increase and the wool may diminish, 
 if man is idle all the while ; but a little attention to breeding and manage- 
 ment will limit the extent of the evil, or prevent it altogether. A better 
 
 " But as the heat of the spring 1775 was gieater than we almost ever experienced, the 
 roots of the wool of that year's growth were uncommonly coarse, so as to iliffer much 
 more than usually happens from the small parts of the filament produced in winter, 
 which was proljably the cause of my remarking it so readily that year although it had 
 escaped me before." — Anderson on Wool, p. l-'4-127. 
 
 * See his note on the effect of temperature. Baktwell, p. 26. Ibid. p. 15-1. 
 
 t Account of Pegu, by Mr. Hunter. 1785. 
 
70 SHEEP. 
 
 illustration of tins cannot be found, than in the fact that the Merino has been 
 transplanted to every latitude on the temperate zone and to some beyond 
 it — to Sweden in the north, and Australia in the south, and has retained its 
 tendency to produce wool exclusively, and wool of nearly equal fineness 
 and value. 
 
 Mr. Luccock's summary of the effect of temperature on wool is so 
 much to the purpose in the present state of knowledge, or rather compara- 
 tive ignorance, of this subject, that it is quoted here. " If the manner 
 in which wool is produced were more accurately noticed — if the effects of 
 changing seasons were more diligently noted — if care were taken to 
 preserve the fleeces which an individual had afl'orded in diff'erent situ- 
 ations and under varied treatment, so that they might be compared with 
 each other — and if the staple were either measured or marked at regular 
 intervals of time, we should ascertain a number of fiicts respecting the 
 production of wool, which we are at present ignorant of; and perhaps 
 might be able to procure it in a much more perfect state. Until our 
 knowledge becomes more perfect, we must consider the influence of 
 temperature as reduced to one point, which requires only that the shep- 
 herd do not unnecessarily expose his flocks to the extremes of heat or of 
 cold, nor to any capricious changes." This last sentence cannot be fully 
 assented to, but the former remarks are invaluable. 
 
 PASTURE. 
 
 Pasture has a far greater influence on the fineness of the fleece. The 
 staple of the wool, like every other part of the sheep, must increase in 
 length or in bulk when the animal has a superabundance of nutriment ; 
 and, on the other hand, the secretion which forms the wool must decrease 
 like every other, when sufficient nourishment is not aftbrded. 
 
 When" little cold has been experienced m the winter, and vegetation 
 has been scarcely checked, the sheep yields an abundant crop of wool, but 
 the fleece is perceptibly coarser as well as heavier. When the frost has 
 been severe and the ground long covered with snow — if the flock has 
 been fairly supplied with nutriment, altliough the fleece may have lost a 
 little in weight, it will have acquired a superior degree of fineness, and a pro- 
 portional increase of value. Should, however, the sheep have been neglected 
 and starved during this prolongation of cold weather, the fleece as well as 
 the carcase is thinner, and although it may have preserved its smallness 
 of filament, it has lost in weight, and strength, and usefulness. These are 
 self-evident facts, and need not to be enforced by any laboured argument; 
 and therefoi'fe it is that since the sheep-breeder, living in a populous 
 countiy, has begun, and judiciously so, to look more to the profit to 
 be derived from the carcase — since the system of artificial feeding has 
 been brought to so great perfection — and a larger and better animal has 
 been earlier sent to market, and a far greater number of sheep can now be 
 fed and perfected on the same number of acres, the wool also has been 
 somewhat altered in character — it has grown in length, and it has 
 increased in bulk of fibre. It has not deteriorated, but it has changed. 
 If no longer fit for the purposes to which it was once devoted, it has 
 become suited to others. If it no longer brings the extravagant price it 
 once did, it meets with a readier sale. The increase of the number of 
 fleeces, and the increase of weight in each fleece, go far to compensate 
 for the diminution of price, while the improvement of the carcase more 
 than supplies the deficiency, if in truth there were any : so that, con- 
 sidering the badness of the times, and the state of agriculture generally, 
 the sheep is comparatively more valuable to the breedei than he was 
 
PASTURE. 71 
 
 before. This will be touched on at greater length when the various 
 breeds of British sheep pass in review, and their present state and produce 
 is compared with what tliey were half a century ago. 
 
 Wool is .now the subject of consideration, and there can be no doubt 
 that in Great Britain it has materially changed its character since the 
 introduction of artificial food, and the adoption of the forcing system. 
 Mr. Nottage states, of the Western Down sheep, that he used to get 
 one-eighth part of the finest English wool from each fleece ; but that 
 now the quantity is so small that he does not throw it out : he does not 
 set a basket for it at all. Mr. Sutcliffe says, that " Thirty years ago 
 there was, in some South Down flocks, nearly as good wool grown, as the 
 fine German that now comes into our country." Mr. Varley adds, that 
 " he used to throw his wool extremely high to the sort — very good to the 
 sort — but he found that the qualities generally were getting so low, that if 
 he continued that sort of practice, he should have been looking into two of 
 his best bins without finding a bit of wool in them.'' Mr. Fison states of 
 the Norfolks, that " in 1780, 4201bs. of clothing wool grown in Norfolk 
 would produce 200ibs. prime — in 1828, it would produce only 141bs*.'' 
 
 These are convincing proofs of the effect on the fleece of high keep, and 
 the breeding for larger sheep. 
 
 In the early estabhshment of the improved Leicesters, it was an accusa- 
 tion, which their most zealous supporters did not attempt to deny, that tho 
 wool was sacrificed to tlie carcase ; nay, the very founder of that breed of 
 sheep stated to his namesake of Wakefield that " he had no doubt that fine 
 wools might be grown on rich pastuie lands by overstocking them, and pre- 
 venting sheep from obtaining more nourishment than they had been accus- 
 tomed tof." 
 
 Dr. Parry, whose observations on sheep-husbandry always deserve atten- 
 tion, and whose opinions, except when he was deluded by his fondness for the 
 Merinos, are very correct, says that sheep-breeders " had observed a sort of 
 gross connexion between the food and the quality of the fleece. On the one 
 hand, the staple of a sheep that was starved was weak, and the wool dry 
 and unprofitable in the manufacture. On the other hand, the wool of 
 sheep on deep inclosed pasture, or on artificial food, was found to be 
 coarser and more intractable than that from the downs. On these two 
 simple facts they thought themselves qualified to reason, and, as is 
 unavoidable from insufficient premises, they reasoned falsely. They 
 concluded that the fine herbage of the downs necessarily produced fine 
 wool ; and that none but coarse wool could spring from gross luxuriant 
 food. Neither of these conclusions is precisely true. The fineness of a 
 sheep's fleece of a given breed is, within certain limits, inversely as its 
 fatness, and perhaps also (although I am not certain of this point) as 
 the quickness with which it grows fat. A sheep which is fat has usually 
 comparatively coarse wool, and one which is lean, either from want of 
 food or disease, has the finest wool ; and the very same sheep may 
 at diff"erent times, according to these circumstances, have fleeces of all the 
 intermediate qualities from extreme fineness to comparative coarseness J." 
 
 All this is very true and very important ; except that opinion, of the 
 truth of which Dr. Parry confesses that he is not certain, " that coarseness 
 
 * Examinations before the House of Lords in I82S. f Bakewell on Sheep, p. 84. 
 
 J Columella, whose sheep were cultivated principally for their fleece, mentions the 
 hungry lands about Pavma and Modeua, as feeding the most valuable sheep ; and 
 Virgil was perfectl)^ aware of the influence of luxuriant pasture in giving coarseness to 
 the fleece when he warns against the "pabu/a Icela,'' — 
 
 Nor in too rank a pasture let them live. 
 
72 SHEEP. 
 
 of wool ami disposition to grow fat are connected. Tlie experience of the 
 British sheep-master would prove that liic finest woolled sheep will 
 maintain themselves in tolerable condition where coarser ones will starve ; 
 and that when both are placed in a situation to exhibit their tendency 
 to fatten quickly, and to a great extent, the fine woolled sheep will beat 
 his rival out of the field. 
 
 " There used to be great controversy with regard to the influence of parti- 
 cular kinds of food on the wool. There are no decisive proofs as to this. 
 Between diversities of food wholesome and nutritious, there will be 
 little to choose ; or rather experience will prove that an occasional change 
 of food is not only grateful but advantageous to the sheep*." 
 
 TRUENESS. 
 
 Connected with fineness is trueness of staple — as equal a growth as 
 possible over the animal — a freedom from the shaggy portions, here and 
 there, which are occasionally observed on poor and neglected sheep. 
 These portions are always coarse and comparatively worthless, and they 
 indicate an irregular and unhealthy action of the secretion of wool, and which 
 will probably weaken or render the fibre diseased in other parts. 
 
 Comprised in trueness of fibre is another circumstance that has been 
 already alluded to — a freedom from coarse hairs which project above the 
 general level of the wool in various parts, or, if they are not externally seen, 
 mingle with the wool and debase its character. 
 
 In the same term, and most important of all, is a freedom from those 
 irregularities in the bulk of the fibres of the wool, which render it difficult 
 at times to give it a definite name and character, and which must mate- 
 rially interfere with its usefulness ; and also those breaches in the wool so 
 singular in their appearance, which have been already described, and the 
 distance of which from the extremity or the root will enable the observer, 
 as has been already stated, to calculate the time when the imperfection 
 occurred, and which may generally be traced to cold or starvation, or to some 
 malady of the skin itselft." 
 
 SOUNDNESS 
 
 Soundness is intimately connected with " trueness ;" it means strength 
 of the fibre generally, and also a f-eedom from those breaches or withered 
 portions to which allusion has been made. The unassisted eye, or at least 
 the eye of the wool- stapler or sorter, will readily detect the breaches; but 
 the hair generally may not possess a degree of strength proportionate to 
 its bulk. This is ascertained by drawing a few hairs out of the staple, and 
 grasping each of them singly by both ends, and pulling them until they 
 break. 
 
 Soundness is a very important property in wool, and was absolutely indis- 
 pensable in long wool when that alone was subjected to the operation of 
 the comb. If it broke in pieces in the act of combing, the shreds (termed 
 
 * Bath Society Papers, vol. xi. p 211. 
 
 It ■oft deceives the artist's care, 
 
 Breaking unuseful in the steely comb ; 
 
 For this lonii; spongy wool no more increase 
 
 Receives, while winter petrifies the fields. 
 
 The growth of autumn stops ; and what though spring 
 
 Succeeds with rosy finger and spins on 
 
 The texture ; yet in vain she strives to link 
 
 The silver twine to that of autumn's hand. 
 
 Be then the swain advised to shield his flocks 
 
 From winter's deadening Iro^ts and whelming snows. 
 
 Dvek's Fkece, b. ii. 
 
SOUNDNESS. 73 
 
 noils) were useless in the worsted manufactory, and, indeed, were regarded 
 as litile better than refuse : wlien it is recollected that the clothing- 
 wools are not required to possess so great a degree of strength as the old 
 combing ones, but, on the contrary, would be less useful if they had this 
 strength ; and that now, many short wools being made to undergo the 
 process of combing, — the sound portion of one part of the staple may be 
 mixed with the tenderer fibre from another part or another fleece, and, 
 possibly, even a denser pile may be raised on the surface of the cloth. 
 There is, however, a limit to the tenderness of that clothing-wool, wliich 
 may pass muster with the manufacturer. Not only the pile may be pro- 
 perly broken under the operation of the card, but it may become so com- 
 minuted that it will either be driven away, dissipated by the action of the 
 cylinders, or it may afterwards break, and the fabric of the cloth be de- 
 stroyed under the beating of the fulling-mill. 
 
 The wool of sickly or murrain sheep is generally not only finer than in 
 a healthy sheep of the same breed, but it possesses this tender quality, not 
 to be detected by the eye, nor even by the microscope ; unless that it may 
 be suspected by a slighter degree of polish, and not having so full and 
 round an appearance. 
 
 Age has often much effect in deteriorating the fleece. The yolk lessens 
 in quantity after the sheep, and especially the ewe, is six years old ; and, to 
 tiie decreass of the yolk, there soon follows a hard, inelastic, unyielding 
 character of the wool, that renders it useless for several purposes for which 
 the younger, and especially the wether-wool, is sought. Mr. Luccock ajj- 
 ])lies a very singular, but appropriate word, to this old ewe- wool — " it dies 
 in the bowl*" — it sinks in the water in which it is washed — and acquires 
 there a shrivelled and dead-like appearance. It is difficult to spin, and it 
 materially injures the manufacture in which it is employed. 
 
 The wool often becomes considerably injured by felting while it is on 
 the sheep's back. This is principally seen in the heavy breeds, especially 
 those that are neglected and half starved. It generally begins in the 
 winter season, when the coat has been completely saturated with wet; and 
 it increases until shearing time, unless the cot separates from the wool 
 beneath and drops off. The colliug of wool is only an injurious extension 
 of the process of felting — ihe wool forms into a hard thick knot that can 
 scarcely ever be unravelled. 
 
 Some breeds are more subject than others to this defect : the Morfe 
 sheep and the Cheviots have been especially accused of possessing this 
 barling property in the wool. It occurs before the wool has begun to 
 separate from the skin ; but then by its weight, and the manner in which 
 it acts on tlie portion below, the wool begins to be gradually detached 
 from the back and connected only by a few scattered hairs, while a new 
 crop grows underneath. 
 
 (Jullections of a similar kind are frequently seen under the ears of long 
 and fine-haired spaniels. 
 
 Mr. Parkinson speaks of two diseases, or rather defects of wool f. The 
 first he calls a. feathery wool, set very thinly upon the pelt, and falling very 
 closely together. " When shorn it laps up in very small bundles, and 
 weighs heavy, according to its substance, but the whole fleeces are of light 
 weight ; it also is weak and curled, and breaks much in combing." This, 
 with bis wonted prejudice against the improved Leicesters, he affirms to be 
 the usual character of their wool. 
 
 The other defect he calls icalery wool, — " it is so full of grease that it 
 looks damp ; and a stranger to tbis kind of wool would be assured that it 
 * Luceock, p. 131. f I'arkinsuii on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 2G]. 
 
74 SilEEP. 
 
 had been wetted, and the proper smell of the wool will alone undeceive 
 him." This wool, according to him, is frequently seen on the coarse 
 Lincolns. He says that this tcatery wool is a very bad sort, and on 
 poor sheep is frequently cotted, and at all times is of an objectionable 
 quality for the manufacturer. 
 
 Wool is generally injured by keeping. It will probably increase a little 
 in weight for a few months, especially if kept in a damp place ; but after 
 that it will somewhat rapidly become lighter, until a very considerable loss 
 will often be sustained. This, liowever, is not the worst of the case ; for, 
 except very great care is taken, the moth will get into the bundles and 
 injure and destroy the staple ; and that which remains untouched by them 
 will become considerably harsher and less pliable. If to this the loss of 
 the interest of money is added, it will be seen that he seldom acts wisely 
 who long hoards his wool, when he can obtain what approaches to a fair 
 remunerating price for it. 
 
 If the pile is sound, there are few qualities in wool of so much conse- 
 quence as softness. Fashion has done much in eS'ecting this. Since the 
 importation of the soft wools of Spain and Saxony, even the farmer him- 
 self will no longer wear the good, but somewhat harsh clothing with 
 which he used to be content. He does not examine, and the manufacturer 
 is not anxious to exhibit, the fineness or the trueness of the threads of the 
 cloth ; but his judgment is guided by the softness, and at the same time 
 the substance of the material, and he is perfectly right: for no clothing is 
 BO comfortable or so durable as that which the increased pliability and soft- 
 ness of the woolly fibre, and the application of the fuUing-machine, and the 
 improvement of machinery generally, have produced. 
 
 The old manufacture of cloth could not be carried on to any degree of 
 perfection, except the material on which the workman operated was soft 
 and pliable. A stubborn and a brittle substance would perish under the 
 manipulations to which it was necessarily subjected ; or, after the exertion 
 of his greatest skill, the fabric would do the workman little credit : for the 
 thread would not be firm, nor would the surface of the cloth be pleasing to 
 the feeling. It is now admitted that the pile can scarcely be too soft and 
 silky, if the strength is not impaired * ; and it has been affirmed, that two 
 packs of sorted wool being taken, possessing the same degree of fineness, 
 but the one having the soft quality in an eminent degree, and the other 
 being harsh, the cloth prepared from the first, at the same expense, will be 
 worth more to the manufacturer than the other by full 25 per cent. 
 
 The cause of this softness of pile, or the means by which it may be in- 
 duced or increased, are not yet sufficiently known. It may hereafter 
 appear that the mechanical structure of the wool, — those irregularities of 
 surface, — those joints possibly — of which we shall presently catch a 
 glimpse — have much to do with it ; and their number, or their action, al- 
 though depending mostly on the breed, may yet be influenced by circum- 
 
 * The opinion that softness was essential to the woolly fibre is of no recent date. 
 Varro speaks of the wool, — " Quae multa sit et mollis, villis altis, et densis toto corpore," 
 — wool, great in quality, and soft, long in the fibre, and equally diffused over the whole 
 of the body. It must not, however, be hastily concluded that they were long-woolled 
 sheep that were then mostly prized; but that comparative length, as well as softness of 
 fibre, were essential qualities. 
 
 Palladius, another valuable writer on ancient husbandry, recommends the sheep, — 
 " Vasti corporis, et prolixi velleris, ac moUissimi,'' — of large size, with long wool, and that 
 of the softest character. 
 
SOFTNESS. 75 
 
 stances over which the sheep-master has considerable controh There can 
 be no doubt that this quahty is mainly dependent on the fineness of the 
 fibre. A tliread must be more flexible than a cord. It is also evidently 
 connected with the breed : tliere are some slieep to whose fleece no degree 
 of neglect can communicate a decidedly harsh character, while the wool 
 of others has many valuable properties, but there is a stubbornness about 
 it which the sheep-farmer has tried in vain to eradicate. 
 
 Softness of tlie pile is evidently connected with the presence and quan- 
 tity of yolk. There is no doubt that this substance is designed, not only to 
 nourish the hair, but to give it richness and pliability. In what way is the 
 growth of the yolk to be promoted ? By paying more attention than our 
 agriculturists are accustomed to give to the quantity and the quality of this 
 substance possessed by the animals which they select for the purpose of 
 breeding. The quantity and the quality of the yolk, on which many 
 farmers now scarcely bestow a thought, and the nature of which they 
 neither understand nor care about, will, at some future time, be regarded as 
 the very essential and cardinal points of the sheep. 
 
 Bad management, neglect, exposure, starvation, impair the pliability of 
 the woolly fibre, but chiefly so because they arrest the secretion of the 
 yolk, or change its properties. It is because the salving of the sheep eitlier 
 increases the production of the yolk, where it was comparatively deficient, 
 or acts as a substitute for it, and that of no mean power, that the northern 
 breeders so univei-sally have recourse to it. Mr. Bakewell's testimony 
 deserves recording here. " I was led to the application of it," says he, 
 '* by observing the well-known effect produced on human hair when daily 
 washed with soap and water, and comparing it with the same hair less 
 frequently washed, and sometimes rubbed with an ointment; by the 
 former practice it became hard and bristly, by the latter it was rendered 
 soft and pliable. A little time after, an intelligent clothier in my neigh- 
 bourhood who kept a small flock of fine-woolled sheep, informed me he 
 had adopted the practice of rubbing the sheep with a mixture of butter and 
 tar. He could speak decidedly to the improvement the wool had received 
 by it, having superintended the whole process of the manufacture. The 
 cloth produced was superior to what ungreased wool could have made, if 
 equally fine ; it was remarkably soft to the touch, and had what he called 
 ' a good bottom, a good top, and a good hand and feel ' — i. e., the appear- 
 ance of the threads was nearly lost in a firm even textui'e, covered with a 
 soft full pile." Mr. Bakewell, adds, " a further investigation has given me 
 the most ample and satisfactory proofs, that by the application of a well- 
 chosen unguent, wool may be defended from tlie action of the soil and 
 elements, and improved more than can be effected by any other means, 
 except an entire change of breed." These are strong assertions, but no 
 less strong than true, with regard to those breeds, and situations where 
 salving is indicated 
 
 On the effect of clothing, the evidence is strangely contradictory : this, 
 however, is not the place to enter fully into the consideration of it. Therg 
 can be no doubt that it is indispensable with regard to the choice speci- 
 mens of the New Leicester breeding rams. On account of their fatness it 
 is often necessary to shear them early in the season ; and, in order that the 
 supposed beauty of their form may be more perfectly displayed, it is usual 
 to shear them exceeding closely ; there would, consequently, be danger of 
 catarrh, or many sad chest affections, if they were at once "exposed to the 
 firequently piercing cold of a spring night. This artificial covering is, 
 however, in the majority of cases, left off as soon as the woo) is a little 
 grown. The expense of clothing, supposing, which is doubtful, that its 
 
76 SHEEP. 
 
 influence on the fineness ami softness of tlie wool were eslablislied, would 
 be an insuperable objection to its general use*. 
 
 Tliere is no doubt that soil has much influence in producing harshness of 
 the pile. A chalky soil notoriously deteriorates the softness of the wool 
 on the sheep that graze tliere. Minute particles of the chalk being neces- 
 sarily brought into contact with the fleece, and mixing with it, have a 
 corrosive effect on the fibre, and liarden it and render it less pliable. Many 
 well-known facts render this highly probable. The business of the fell- 
 monger furnishes a striking elucidation of this : his first proceeding is to 
 separate the wool from the pelt ; and in order to effect this he exposes it to 
 the action of lime-water, and in a very short space of time the hair is 
 shrivelled, killed, and easily scraped away. 
 
 In the living animal a process of the same kind may be more gradually 
 going forward, aided also by another, little suspected, yet highly injurious. 
 The particles of chalk come in contact with the yolk — there is a chemical 
 affinity between the alkali and the oily matter of the yolk — they imme- 
 diately unite, and a true soap is formed. The first storm washes away a 
 })ortion of it, and the wool, deprived of its natural pabulum and unguent, 
 loses some of its vital properties, and its pliability among the rest. The 
 slight degree of harshness which has been supposed to belong to the South 
 Down wools may be accounted for in this way. 
 
 Mr. Bakewell, to whose work, full of useful information, the author is 
 proud to acknowledge himself frequently and deeply indebted, gives an 
 illustration of this which will put an end to all doubt that could possibly 
 remain about it. In the northern parts of Derbyshire the mineral strata 
 are so abruptly broken, that two adjoining farms, separated by a small 
 brook, would not unfrequently be found, the one on limestone, and the 
 other on a siliceous grit or sandstone. The difference of the wool on those 
 two farms, and from the same breed of sheep, and particularly with regard 
 to its harshness or softness, is so distinctly marked, and was, even twenty 
 years since, so well known, that the farmer would demand and obtain Is. 
 or Is. 6d. per tod more for his wool when grown upon the latter soil. 
 
 ELASTIC IT y. 
 
 There are two antagonist principles continually at work in every part of 
 the frame of every animal ; and it is on the delicate adjustment and" balance 
 
 * The reader is presented with a strange and almost ludicrous contrariety of opinion 
 on this point, expressed in different volumes of the same work, now out of date hut valu- 
 able in its lime. 
 
 "The other experiment, that of clothing sheep, was tried on a small scale by Mr. Bro- 
 die at Upper Keith, near Edinburgh. The improvement in regard to the quality of the 
 wool was very great, and fully justifies the accounts handed down to us by ancient writers 
 respecting the advantages of that practice. It is believed that clothing the long-wooUeu 
 sheep, and clipping them tlirice a j-ear, is the greatest improvement practicable with regard 
 to that breed. It converts combing into clothing wool, and while it increases the quantity 
 and improves the quality of the fleece, it is of essential service to the carcass. Common 
 unbleached or green linen done over witli Lord Dundonald's tar, by which the bad effects 
 of wet, more prejudicial to the sheep than cold, are prevrnted, is the best cuvering. The 
 expense is trifling, not exceeding Td. each, and the covering will probably last, with com- 
 mon attention, two or three years." — Young's Annals of Agriculture, vol. xv. p. 436. 
 
 Now ' audi alteram partem :' " Clothing the sheep must, I imagine, be prejudicial both 
 to the sheep and the wool. Without sun, air, or dews, the v/ool would not grow to more 
 than two-thirds of its usual length, if so much, and the hair would 1 1; weak and rotten, 
 and not possess sufficient strength to undergo the different operations of carding, skinning, 
 &c. As to the sheep itself, it is more than probable that its constitution would be much 
 weakened by having the external air kept from its body, and that the flesh would 
 acquire a rancid, unpleasant flavour ; as we find that a small degree of heat before a 
 sheep is shorn has a surprising effect on the' taste of the flesh, and that it does not acquire 
 its usual flavour in less tlian three weuks or a rnvnth after the fleece is taken off'." — 
 Young's Annals of Agriculture, vol. xU. p. 615. 
 
COLOLR. 77 
 
 of power between Uiem, that nil healthy and useful action depends — the 
 disposition to give way, or to submit to some alteration of form when 
 pressed upon, and an energy, by means of which the original form is 
 resumed, as soon as the external force is removed. It has been observed 
 that a fibre of wool closely examined presents a succession of minute spiral 
 curves. It may be extended between the fingers, but, as soon as one end 
 is free, the hair resumes the corkscrew-form which it had before. Until 
 some of its properties are impaired by art, it will pertinaciously resume its 
 curved appearance whenever it has liberty so to do. It is the union of its 
 pliability with this principle of elasticity — the facility of extension and the 
 tendency to take on again its crumpled form, and each of them modified 
 by various circumstances, that constitutes the usefulness, and, consequently, 
 the value of wool. 
 
 The i)lay of these powers is differently adjusted in different wools. In 
 the finer sorts, and that were destined to form the thinner and more 
 delicate fabrics, the balance between the yielding and elastic power is 
 curiously and beautifully adjusted : hence, the softness and the fineness of 
 the thread, and of the cloth — the facility widi which it is shorn — the ease 
 with which it yields to pressure, and yet the tendency to assume its natural 
 form, and to cover the surface of the cloth with a dense nap, or innume- 
 rable minute curves. It is true tliat many of tiiese are formed, or their 
 formation is aided, by art — the scissors may cut away superfluous spirals 
 — the heated plate may re}>ress more of them ; but to this modification 
 of the principle of elasticity, ihis mysterious disposition to return to or 
 resume the natural curve, the beauty and the value of the modern cloth 
 is principally owing, 
 
 [n coarser kinds of goods the elasticity of the fibre is more required, and 
 it seems to have its full play. Without it, how would the manufacturer 
 obtain the long and luxuriant nap with which the blanket is covered, or which 
 are found on the thicker coatings that are made to brave the inclemency of 
 the weather / If the natural direction and curve of the wool is changed, and 
 kejjt so for a considerable time, the fibre seems to adopt the figure which 
 is forced upon it, and the principle of elasticity is called into exercise to 
 njaintain the artificial curve. This is particularly the case if heat has 
 been applied to produce the new direction in the hair. In this way the 
 fanciful naps in various cloths are raised, some of which will maintain the 
 form that has been forced upon them with all the pertinacity with which 
 the fibres previously returned to their native drooping ringlet-like construc- 
 tion. The principle of elasticity is one of very great moment : there are 
 many pleasing illustrations of its singular and beautiful modification, but 
 there is much obscurity connected with its manner of acting, and it has 
 not received the attention which it merits, 
 
 COLOUR. 
 
 This is of minor, and yet of no trifling importance. The alteration 
 of the colour was the first recorded improvement of the sheep — and its 
 purity — its perfect whiteness — should never be lost sight of by the sheep- 
 master of the jircsent day. Very commendable attention has been paid to 
 this. The South Down sheep has driven from his fleece the grey hue which 
 his face and legs continue to wear; the Norfolk no longer retains on his 
 back the negro stain which he carries on his front; and although the 
 colour of these breeds cannot quite compete with the pure white of some 
 of the long-woolled sheep, there is little now to complain of so far as every 
 useful purpose is concerned. It must, however, be confessed that the 
 breeder is not, in every respect, so careful as he ought to be. 
 
78 SHEEP. 
 
 To a certain extent the fleece is frequently stained with the colour of the 
 soil on which tlie animal grows. In some parts of Gloucestershire the wool 
 acquires an orange colour ; in Hertfordshire and Warwickshire it is of a 
 brownish red, and in the fens of Lincoln and Cambridge it has a dark blue 
 tint *. 
 
 The particles of the soil mixing with the fleece gradually stain it of their 
 own colour. In some cases the acquired dingy or other hue may be 
 removed by careful scouring ; but this entails additional trouble and 
 expense : in other instances the tint is permanent. It does not seriously 
 interfere with the process of dyeing, except in a few cases of rare occur- 
 rence ; but the wool is injured for other purposes where whiteness is 
 required. 
 
 In some districts, and particularly in the west of England, the farmer 
 needlessly uses a considerable quantity of ochre or ruddle, either in the 
 composition of his salving mixture, or to gratify a foolish fancy. In either 
 case he applies that which cannot produce any good effect, and which occa- 
 sionally leaves a tint on the wool that the most careful scouring will not 
 efface. The tar gives consistence to the oil or butter, and although it 
 is often with considerable difficulty washed away, yet while it remains on 
 the fleece it gives a permanency (o the smearing process ; not one plea, 
 however, can be offered in favour of the ruddle. 
 
 The yolk sometimes leaves a permanent stain on the fleece. It rarely 
 does so when this secretion has been plentiful and healthy : the stain is 
 usually left when the yolk has been deficient in quantity, or altered in 
 quality, or when the weather has been sultry, and too long time has been 
 suffered to elapse between the washing and the shearing. 
 
 FELTING. 
 
 It has been stated, when describing the patriarchal sheep, that although 
 the clothing of the primitive family consisted of the skins of animals, and 
 probably of the sheep, no very lengthened period would elapse before the cir- 
 cumstance of the felting or the matting of the wool on the back of the sheep 
 would attract attention. When these matted portions were separated from 
 the fleece, experiment — rude enough perha})s, or accident — would discover 
 that these matted portions or others that were not previously harled, might, 
 by moisture and pressure, or beating, be worked into a soft and pliable sub- 
 stance of almost any size or form, and from which a covering far more 
 comfortable than any skin might be contrived. This has been the pro- 
 gress of improvement in dress, and in the manufacture of wool in every 
 country, and almost every age. The wandering shepherds, who at the 
 present day traverse regions similar to those in which the Patriarchs 
 sojourned, thus manufacture the carpets that defend them from the cold 
 and dampness of the ground. The Tartars spread two or three layers of 
 wool moistened, and tread it under foot for a few hours, and form their 
 carpets without tlie aid of the loom or the modern invention of cylinders t. 
 " This latent property of felting,'' says Mr. Luccock, " seems to have been 
 first excited by the pressure obtained by the weight of the human body. 
 The cloth in its rough state being placed beneath the feet of the workmen, 
 they continued to trample upon it until sufficiently thickened ; hence, the 
 person engaged in this employment was called a walker or welter of cloth, 
 and the machine afterwards introduced to answer the same purpose u as 
 denominated a walking-mill I." 
 
 * Bakewell on Sheep, p. 31. f Ibid., p. 16. 
 
 * Luccock on Wool, p. 165, quoting from Mrs. Guthrie's Toiur through the Taurida. 
 
SPIRALLY-CURLING FORM OF WOOL. 79 
 
 The first improvement consisted in substituting a sitting posture for an 
 erect one, thus enabling the work-people to perform their task more rajjidly 
 and with greater ease. Mr. Pennant gives the following account of this 
 as he saw it performed in the Isle of Skye : '* On my return I am enter- 
 tained witli a rehearsal, I may call it, of the luagh or walking of cloth. 
 Twelve or fourteen women, divided into two equal numbers, sit down on 
 each side of a long board, ribbed lengthwise, placing the cloth upon it. 
 First they begin to work it backwards and forwards with their hands, sing 
 ing at the same time: when they have tired their hands every female^ises 
 her feet for the same purpose, (still sitting,) and six or seven pair of naked 
 feet are in the most violent agitation, working one against the other. As 
 by this time they grow very earnest in their labours, the fury of their song 
 rises; at length it arrives at such a pitch, that without breach of charity 
 you would suppose a troop of female demoniacs to have assembled*." 
 
 The practice of making cloth by t*he felting process was not soon super- 
 seded by the invention of weaving, even among the most polished people. 
 Pliny thus speaks of its continuance in his time : *' Moreover, wool of itself 
 driven into a felt -without spinning or weaving, serveth to make garments 
 with ; and if vinegar be used in the working of it, such felts are of good 
 proof to bear off the edge and point of the sword ; yea, and more than that, 
 they will check the course of fire f." 
 
 The felting property of wool may be defined to be a tendency in the 
 fibres to entangle themselves together, and to form a mass more or less 
 difficult to unravel. The consideration of the causes of the felting of 
 wool will lead to the explanation of other differences, and those the most 
 important and characteristic, in the structure of that material. 
 
 THE SPIRALLY-CURLING FORM OF WOOL. 
 
 The most evident distinguishing quality between hair and wool is the 
 comparative straightness of the former, and the crisped or spirally-curling 
 form wliich the latter assumes. If a little lock of wool is held up to the 
 light, every fibre of it is twisted into numerous minute corkscrew-like 
 ringlets. This is seen es])ecially in the fleece of the short-woolled sheep ; 
 but, although less striking, it is obvious even in wool of the longest staple. 
 The subjoined cut will sufficiently illustrate this point. 
 
 The upper figui-R represents a lock of Saxon wool ; the lower one is the 
 delineation of a lock of Leicester wool, from a sheep of the im})roved 
 breed. 
 
 * Pennant's Tour to the Hebrides. 
 
 t Pliny, Nat. Hist., Book VIII. Ch. 48. The author speaks of the use of felted goods 
 a very little hefore his time, even among the higher classes of society in Rome. " As 
 or our mantles, fvized deep both within and without, they were invented, and came to 
 use first, no longer since than in my father's days, as also those hairy counterpanes and 
 carpets: for the stufTed cassocks that senators and noblemen of Rome do wear begin but 
 newly to be woven." — Ibid. 
 
80 SHEEP 
 
 The spirally-curling form of wool used, but erroneously, to be considered 
 as the chief distinction between the covering of the goat and the sheep ; 
 but the under coat of some of the former is finer than any sheep, and it 
 is now acknowledged frequently to have the crisped and curled appear- 
 ance of wool. In some breeds of cattle, particularly in one variety ot 
 the Devons, the hair assumes a curled and wavy appearance, and a few 
 of the minute spiral ringlets have occasionally been seen. It is the 
 same with many of the Highlanders, but there is no determination to take 
 on the true crisped character and throughout its whole extent, and it is 
 still nothing but hair. On some foreign breeds, however, as the vak of 
 Tartary, and the ox of Hudson's Bay, some fine and valuable wool is pro- 
 duced. 
 
 There is an intimate connexion between the fineness of the wool and the 
 number of the curves, at least in sheep yielding wool of nearly the same 
 length ; so that whether the wool of difierent sheep is examined, or that 
 from different parts of the same sheep, it is enough for the observer to take 
 notice of the number of curves in a given space, in order to ascertain with 
 sufficient accuracy the fineness of the fibre. M. Lafoun has published an 
 account of the management of the German Merino sheep at Hohenheim in 
 Wurtemburg, and Schleisheim near Munich. He says that the whole flock 
 is inspected three times in the year — before winter, when the selection of 
 lambs is made, in the spring, and at shearing time. Each sheep is 
 placed in its turn on a kind of table, and examined carefully as to the 
 growth, the elasticity, the pliability, the brilliancy, and the fineness of the 
 wool. The latter is ascertained by means of a micrometer. It being found 
 that there was an evident connexion between the fineness of the fibre and 
 the number of the curves, this was more accurately noted, and the follow- 
 ing table was constructed. The fleece was sorted in the manner usual in 
 France. The fineness of the superelecta, or picklock, is represented by a 
 space corresponding with the number 7 on the micrometer; if this is 
 (which will hereafter appear to be the case) equivalent to 1 -840th part 
 of an inch, and that fibre contains from 27 to 29 curves, the table will 
 easily be understood : — 
 
 Sort 
 
 Name. 
 
 Curves in an incli. 
 
 
 Diameter of fibre. 
 
 
 1 
 
 Superelecta 
 
 27 to 29 
 
 7 
 
 or 1- 840th of i 
 
 in inch 
 
 2 
 
 Electa 
 
 24 to 28 
 
 8 
 
 or 1 -735th 
 
 J 
 
 3 
 
 Prima 
 
 20 to 23 
 
 9 
 
 or l-660th 
 
 j| 
 
 4 
 
 Secunda Prima 
 
 19 io 19 
 
 10 
 
 or 1..5S8fh 
 
 J, 
 
 5 
 
 Secuiitla 
 
 IG to 17 
 
 11 
 
 or 1 -534th 
 
 J, 
 
 6 
 
 Tertia 
 
 14 to 15 
 
 Hi 
 
 or 1 -510th 
 
 . * 
 
 7 
 
 Quarta 
 
 12 to 13 
 
 
 
 
 Sufficient attention has not been paid by the breeder to this curhnl 
 form of the wool. It is, however, that on which its most valuable 
 uses depend. It is that which is essential to it in the manufactory of 
 cloths. The object of the carder is to break the wool to pieces at the 
 curves — the principle of the thread is the adhesion of the particles 
 together by their curves ; and the fineness of the thread, and consequent 
 fineness of the clotli, will depend on the minuteness of these curves, or the 
 number of them which are found in a given length of fibre. 
 
 The wavy line in the above cut has a pretty appearance, even in the 
 Leicester; but the close spiral curls of the Saxon wool deserve particular 
 attention. The person most uninformed on these subjects will see at once 
 why the Leicester wool is unadapted to clothing purposes. The particles 
 into which it is broken by the card could have little or no coherence — the 
 greater part would be dissipated in the operation — and the remaining por- 
 * Annales de 1' Agriculture Fraugaise, 1832. 
 
TELTING PROPERTY OF WOOL. 81 
 
 tions could not be induced so to hook themselves together as to form a 
 thread possessing the slightest degree of strength. On the other hand, 
 the close curls of the Saxon explain the reason why, on one account at 
 least, it is placed at the head of clothing wools. 
 
 It will readily be seen that this curling form has nnicli to do with the 
 felting property of wool. It materially contributes to that disposition in 
 the fibres which enables them to attach and entwine themselves together ; 
 it multiplies the opportunities for this interlacing, and it increases the diffi- 
 culty of unravelling the felt. Still, however, ft is only that form of the 
 fibre which affords the fairest opportunity for the exertion of the true felting 
 power. It assists, and very effectively, in producing the phenomena of 
 felting, but it is not the principal agent concerned. 
 
 THE FELTING PROPERTY OF WOOL RESUMED. 
 
 A reference to some well-known process in the manufacture of wool will 
 be advantageous. The hatter takes a certain quantity of wool cut into 
 short lengths, and with an instrument resembling a bow, he beats and 
 tosses tliem about until he has completely separated them from each other, 
 and they lie in all kinds of directions, and he has got a layer of them of 
 sufficient thickness for his purpose. He then moistens them and covers 
 them with a cloth, and presses them and moves them about backwards and 
 forwards in every direction, until he finds that they are working themselves 
 into a compact mass. In proportion as this mass is formed, he increases 
 the pressure until it ac«[uires the firmness that he wis'.ies. 
 
 The cloth merchant weaves his cloth ; but he has been compelled to use 
 a considerable quantity of oil in the manufacture of it which must be got 
 rid of; and, at the same time, his fabric is too open and the threads are 
 too apparent to suit with the fashion of the times, or to be as smooth and 
 soft and comfortable in wearing as it is required to be. He sends it to the 
 fulling mill. It is put into a large trough with water, in which some 
 argillaceous earth has been dissolved, and which combines with the oil, and 
 gets rid of it in the form of soap. In order that this argillaceous earth 
 may penetrate every part of the cloth, and every particle of the grease be 
 removed, the fabric is passed rapidly and repeatedly through tight rollers, 
 and then, fresh water being let in upon the cloth, (the process through the 
 rollers still continuing,) it is washed perfectly clean. 
 
 The cloth is now put into the fulling-mill or stock, a certain quantity of 
 soap being first carefully and evenly laid on it. By the joint influence of 
 the moisture and the pressure, certain of the fibres of the wool are brought 
 into more intimate contact with each other ; they cohere : not only the 
 fibres but, in a manner, the threads cohere, and the cloth is taken from 
 the mill shortened in all its dimensions ; it has become a kind of felt, for 
 the threads have disappeared, and it can be cut in every direction with very 
 little or no unravelling ; it is altogether a thicker, softer, warmer fabric. 
 
 One more illustration from domestic life. The worsted stockings and 
 the flannels ! — for a while after their purchase they are observed to undergo 
 a slow process of shortening or contracting every way at each washing ; 
 but the good housewife, taking care that they shall never soak long in 
 water, and that no very hot water shall, by any chance, come in contact 
 with them ; and that, a liberal quantity of soap being allowed, they are 
 washed as quickly as it can be effectually done, and immediately wrung 
 well, and heartily shaken and stretched, and suspended by their extremi- 
 ties, instead of being carelessly thrown across the line — contrives they shall 
 be tolerably worn out before they shrink to any inconvenient degree. In 
 her absence, however, or contrary to her directions, the washerwoman, in 
 
 a 
 
82 SHEEP 
 
 order to save herself some labour, suffers them to soak durhig some hours 
 in hot water, or perhaps boils them. The immediate consequence of this is, 
 that they all at once shrink to such an extent as to be nearly or quite use- 
 less ; and when the articles are examined the threads are jfound to have 
 been brought closer together, the material has been tliickened, and a kind 
 of matted or felted substance lias been produced. 
 
 THEORIES OF FELTING. 
 
 Many an ingenious theory has been brought forward in order to account 
 for this process. To the natural philosopher nothing was more easy of 
 explanation. It was the attraction of cohesion ; it was that power by which 
 the particles of all bodies, when brought within insensible distances, are 
 held together ; it was an illustration of that universal law by which the sys' 
 tem rolls entire. Take two leaden bullets ; scrape a small portion from 
 each ; bring the smooth surfaces, although but of little extent, together ; 
 press them together with a kind of twist, and they cohere. Bring two 
 plates of glass together perfectly level and clean, and they will adhere with 
 considerable force. So the fibres of the wool, in these manipulations, were 
 supposed to be brought within the sphere of each other's attraction, and to 
 have cohered. " The reason of the contraction of the cloth in felting," 
 says Dr. Young, " is probably this, that all the fibres are bent by the 
 operation of the hammers but not equally, and those that have been the 
 most bent are prevented by their adhesion to the neighbouring fibres from 
 returning to their original length."* In another place his language is 
 stronger and more intelligible. " Monge thinks that the hairs are united 
 by projecting serrations or filaments ; but tliis supposition is not necessary in 
 explaining the adhesion of felts, which may be deduced from the force of 
 friction alone. "t Mr. Luccock is inclined to adopt this opinion. He 
 says, " We know too little at present to enable us to assign the cause of 
 this permanent contraction ; but conjecture that it is owing to the particles of 
 the thread which are brought into actual contact with each other, cohering 
 exactly upon the same principle as the leaden balls do in the common expe- 
 riment, so often exhibited in lectures upon natural philosophy to illustrate 
 the attractive power of bodies." 
 
 It was forgotten, however, that this attraction of coliesion can take place 
 only at insensible distances, and tliat the interposition of the smallest sub- 
 stance, a single hair, or the minutest film of water, prevented the display 
 of it; yet the felting property of the wool, if the presence of moisture were 
 not absolutely necessary to it, was best displayed when the fabric was im- 
 mersed in water. There was no answer to this, and the philosophical 
 explanation of the felting of wool was abandoned by every practical man. 
 
 The presence of some fluid is connected with the usual development of 
 the felting property. It was said to be the effect of moisture to shorten 
 both the vegetable and animal fibre. This, however, is not the fact ; single 
 filaments, whether vegetable or animal, lengthen under the influence of 
 moisture. The hygrometer is sometimes composed of a single hair attached 
 to a delicate string ; and even a collection of straight fibres obey the same 
 law. The husk of the oat— the principle of the weather-house — is an illus- 
 tration of this; a leathern thong also is extended by being wetted. The 
 moisture enters into the pores of these bodies, and forces the particles of 
 which they are composed farther from each other. 
 
 On a twisted cord the effect is different ; by the very entrance of the 
 moisture between the pores of the fibres of which the cord is composed, the 
 
 ='' Young's Natural Philosophj^, vol, i. p. 186. 
 t Ibid., vol, ii. p. 190, 
 
GLIMPSE AT THE TRUE PRINCIPLE. 83 
 
 diameter of each coil must be increased and the cord must consequently be 
 shortened. The village hygrometer — no bad indicator of the weather 
 — the piece of cord that has been soaked in salt water, and the little 
 weight appended to the centre of it, will illustrate the present subject. 
 When the air is parting with a portion of its water, and rain is likely to 
 follow, the salted cord absorbs the moisture and contracts, and the weight 
 rises. So also the animal twisted fibre — the string of the violin, or of the 
 piano-forte — contracts in wet weather so forcibly that it breaks. In this 
 way the felting of the cloth in the fulling-mill, and the contraction of the 
 flannel and the stocking, may be readily accounted for ; the twisted thread 
 does contract, its coils enlarge, and the whole is shortened. The manu- 
 facturer, therefore, very naturally calls in the aid of moisture, in order to 
 increase the effect of his pressure and beating, or to commence that motion 
 among the fibres of the wool which he afterwards carries to a greater 
 extent. 
 
 Still the phenomena of felting are not accounted for. The weather 
 becomes dry, and the husk of the oat again shortens, and the cord of the 
 village hygrometer lengthens, and the weight again descends, the string of 
 the musical instrument, if it has not been broken by the violence of the con- 
 traction, lengthens and gives a graver sound ; but nothing can restore the 
 former length and elasticity of the stocking, or unravel the felting of the 
 hat or the cloth. The forming of these dense masses may have been assisted 
 by the action of moisture and pressure and beating on the woolly fibre or 
 the threads or little accumulations of it, but there is another principle at 
 work for which search must be made. 
 
 A GLIMPSE AT THE TRUE PRINCIPLE. 
 
 There is one circumstance of very common observation : if a filament, or 
 a small collection of filaments of the finest wool, is drawn through the finger 
 and thumb, in a direction from the root to the extremity, it is evident that 
 the surface of the fibre is smooth and polished; but if the direction is re- 
 versed, a little more force is requisite, and it seems as if some rough, and 
 bristled, and serrated body were drawn through. This simple experiment 
 has been made a thousand times, and invariably with the same result ; yet 
 when the fibre was examined by means of the best microscope, not the 
 slightest irregularity of surface could be discovered 
 
 It could not, however, be doubted that this peculiar sensation communi- 
 cated to the fingers, when a fibre of wool or hair was drawn between them 
 in a direction from the extremity to the root, was connected with the felting 
 property of wool ; and a few of those who were concerned with the manu- 
 facture of this material, and some philosophic inquirers who condescended 
 to apply the principles of science to the elucidation of facts so humble as 
 this, anxiously employed themselves in developing the principle on which 
 the felting of wool was founded. 
 
 Mr. Bakewell imagined that the roughness, or tremulous motion felt in 
 drawing a hair through the fingers, might "(be caused by minute vibrations, 
 more easily excited in one direction than another, owing to the peculiar 
 arrangement of the particles, or of the small filaments which compose the 
 substance of wool or hair." This motion he compared to that of an " ear 
 of barley placed under the sleeve of the coat, with the points of its beards 
 downwards. By the action of the arm the ear is moved in a retrograde 
 direction, until it has advanced from the wrist to the shoulder*." 
 
 It is sufficient to observe that this account of the matter is exceedingly 
 
 * Bakewell on Wool, p. 105. 
 
 a 2 
 
64 SHEEP. 
 
 unsatisfactory. It explains neither tiie cause of tlie vibrations, nor the faci- 
 lity with which they are propagated in one direction rather tlian anotlier ; 
 and tlie uniform progression of tlie ear of barley, in a direction from tlie 
 point to the base has nothing to do with any vibratory motion whatever. Tlie 
 extremities, or the serrated edges of the beard, entangling wiili the clothes, 
 or burying themselves in the flesh, forbid any progression forward, wlien, 
 by every action of the arm, the ear is pressed between it and the clothes, 
 and it elongates in the direction of the stem alone, where there is no ojipo- 
 sition. The pressure ceasing, and the ear, by means of its inlierent elastic 
 power, recovering, or endeavouring to recover, its former curved form, is 
 drawn back a portion of the way that it had travelled, but the beard is also 
 drawn forward, neither the points nor tlie serrated edges now offering- 
 opposition, and thus a little ground is gained ; and by the repeated action 
 of the arm, the barley travels in a direction towards the stem. This onward 
 journey of the ear, in one direction only, and that with the root forwards, 
 is attributable to the points and serrated edges of the beard, and to them 
 alone. 
 
 Reflections of a similar nature induced those who had anxiously studied 
 the phenomena of felting to imagine that the fibres of wool, when brought 
 into close contact with each oilier, moved with facility in one direction 
 alone; and having been pressed to a certain distance into a mass of other 
 fibres, were in a manner fixed there : and they thought that they could best, 
 or could only account for this, by the supposition that the fibres had an 
 irregular and serrated surface. 
 
 " Respecting," says Mr. Thomas Flint, in a letter to tlie author, " the 
 application of the microscope to the examination of the fibre, J am de- 
 cidedly of 0])inion that a careful and minute examination of wools differing 
 in their felting properties would issue in the detection of some specific 
 difference of structure. This property is altogether inexplicable, at least in 
 iny mind, except on the supposition that the extreme surface of the fibre is 
 irregularly yea^Aerec?, and that, by compression, these feathered edges be- 
 come entangled and locked together. These feathers must also point in 
 one direction, viz., from the root to the extremity of the fibre ; and if we 
 suppose the feathered edge, or, more properly speaking, the individual 
 tooth or feather, to be of a firm texture, it is evident that one tooth being 
 pushed into another, would fasten like a wedge ; and if we further suppose 
 that the tooth or feather has a barb, similar to that on a whale-harpoon, 
 the phenomena of felting are explained." 
 
 M, Monge, a French chemist, was the first who ventured to assert that 
 this must be, and is, the actual structure of wool ; that " the surface is 
 formed of lamellae, little plates v/hicii cover each other from the root to the 
 point, pretty much in the same manner as the scales of a fish cover that 
 animal from the head to the tail, or like rows placed one over the other, as 
 is observed in the structure of horns*." Considering this to be not only 
 probable, but in a manner certain, he goes on to describe the mechanism of 
 felting as accurately as if he had seen the serrated edge of the wool. The 
 workman is supposed to be preparing to make the felt wbich is to consti- 
 tute the substance of the hat. " He presses the mass with his hands, moving 
 them backwards and forwards in various directions. This pressure brings 
 the hairs against each other, and multiplies their points of contact. The 
 agitation gives to each hair a progressive motion towards the root ; 
 but the roots are disposed in difterent directions — in every direction ; and 
 the lamellue of one hair will fix themselves on those of another hair, which 
 happens to be directed a contrary way, and the hairs become twisted toge- 
 * Annal, dc Chimie, vol. vi. p. 300. 
 
IRREGULAR SURFACE OF THE WOOL. 85 
 
 ther, and tlie mass assumes that compact form which it was the object of 
 tlie workman to produce. In proportion as the mass becomes compact, 
 the ])ressure of the hands must be increased, not only to make it closer, 
 but also to keep up the progressive motion and twisting of tlie hairs which 
 then takes place with greater difficulty. Throughout the whole of this 
 operation the hairs fix themselves only to each otlier, and not to the cloth, 
 the fibres of wliich are smooth, and not disposed to felting ." 
 
 One extract more from Monge, for he should not be robbed of a particle 
 of the honour which is his due. The cloth is supposed to be carried to the 
 fulling-mill. " The scouring of the cloth is not the only object in fulling 
 it. By the alternate pressure given by the mallets to a piece of cloth, 
 especially when the scouring is pretty far advanced, an eft'ect is produced 
 analogous to that pf the hands of the workman on the felt of the hat. The 
 fibres which compose one of the threads, whether of the warp or the woof, 
 assume a progressive movement ; they introduce themselves among those 
 of the threads "nearest to them, and thus by degrees all the threads become 
 felted together, the cloth is shortened in all its dimensions, and partakes 
 both of the nature of cloth and of felt*." 
 
 MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF HAIR AND WOOL. 
 
 Since the arrangement of the lenses in the achromatic microscope has so 
 much increased the power of defining, if not of magnifying things by 
 means of that instrument, the intimate structure of many interesting objects 
 has been discovered and depicted. The long hair of the bat has exhibited 
 a cylinder, round which a spiral projection lias run like a riband, from the 
 root to the extremity. The shorter hair or fur, or, more properly speak- 
 ing, wool of the same animal, has been shown to resemble a succession of 
 joints in the form of inverted cones — the apex of the superior one being 
 
 * This explanation of the feltiiif^ principle was, however, far from being generally 
 received by the French philosophers, MM. Perrault de Jotemps, Fabry, and Girod de 
 r Ain, in their work on wool already referred to (p. 68), brii]g furward a very different and 
 unsatisfactory theory. " Felting," say they, " is the property which certain hairs and 
 vegetable hlaments have of attaching themselves more and more to each other in pro- 
 jioition as the fabric in which they are united is beaten. The action of the hammers 
 produces three effects — to straighten, to force out, or to break the filaments of which it 
 is composed ; the consequence of which is the development of that kind of elasticity which 
 consists in Ihe disposition or attempt of the fibre to regain its previous undulated form — 
 that elasticity by which it returns to its original length, and especially excited by the 
 fragments when the fibre is broken under the hammer. The effect of the hammer will 
 Le felt by the fibres in the interior of the thread. The hammer being raised, they will 
 endeavour to regain their iirevious form ; and the various circlets all acting under the 
 influence of the same principle of elasticity, will entangle themselves with one another ; 
 and so the felting process will commence in the centre of the thread. In the same way, 
 the outer filaments, compressed and lengthened under the hammer, will unite with each 
 other, as, by their elastic power they are endeavouring to regain their former shape ; and, 
 the threads being close to each other, the filaments of one will become entangled with 
 those of its neighbour, and thus felting will extend through the whole substance of the 
 cloth. If it should so happen that any of the filaments are broken by the hammers, the 
 felting power will be more strikingly apparent; for the fragments, loosened from their 
 adhesions, and springing into their former curves, cannot fail of entangling themselves 
 intimately and deeply with all the particles around them.*' — Nuuvrau Traitt, p. 52. 
 
 Felting, then, according to these gentlemen, depends on the curved form of the wool, 
 and the elastic principle by which it endeavours to regain that form, after having beeir 
 straightened under the hammer. The ciiived form of wool doubtless assists materially 
 in the production of felting, for it multiplies the opportunities for the entanglement of 
 the fibres ; and the tendency to take on again the crumple shape, when that has been 
 forcibly changed, is another agi;nt to which much may fairly be attril)uted : but these 
 will not alone satisfactorily account for the phenomena that take place. They afTord, 
 as has been already observed, opportimity for the exertion of the felting power; but 
 that power is yet to be sought for, or was first rightly guessed at by Monge. 
 
8t SHEEP. 
 
 received into the cup or half-excavated base of the inferior one : and thus 
 most satisfactorily accounting for the great pliability of this material, and for 
 the perfection of its felting property when tried on the small scale of which 
 it is capable. This is plainly shown in the first figure of the cut at p. 88. 
 
 The hair of the human being has been very carefully examined. Mr. 
 Gill gives a figure of it, as being of a cylindrical form, and covered with 
 acalei or roughnesses*; but Dr. Goring thus describes it: — " a hair viewed 
 on a dark ground is seen to be indented with teeth, somewhat resembling 
 those of a coarse, round rasp, but extremely irregular and rugged. These 
 incline all in one direction like those of a common file, — viz., from the 
 origin of the hair towards its extremity t," thus accounting well for the oc- 
 casional harling or matting of the hair when subject to pressure, especially 
 towards the poll of the head. It is to be regretted that Dr. Goring did 
 not make a drawing of this appearance of the hair; for his account of it 
 would then have had much greater weight. It is singular that, although 
 nine years have passed, and the microscojie has been considerably im- 
 proved since Dr. Goring observed this structure of the hair, and almost 
 everv one who possessed an instrument of much power has been eager 
 to gaze on this new discovery, no person has been so fortunate as to detect 
 a single serration on its edge. 
 
 These philosophers, however, seem scarcely to have directed their ex- 
 aminations and inquiries to those useful purposes which ought at once to 
 have suggested themselves to their minds. The fur of the mouse, with its 
 singular openings through the external crust, — the inverted cones of the 
 bat were admired ; but the woolly covering of the sheep, the basis of the 
 staple manufacture of the kingdom, — evidently possessing such difterent 
 properties in different breeds, and producing fabrics so strangely ditferent 
 in their substance and their use, — attracted no attention. It would have 
 been unpardonable if the writer of this treatise had not anxiously inquired 
 what assistance could be derived, by means of the newly improved optical 
 instruments, on these points of paramount importance, — the intimate struc- 
 ture of the filaments of wool — the possibility of obtaining a clue to the 
 cause of the felting property generally, and the various degrees in which 
 it existed in the numerous domestic and foreign breeds. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF THE IRREGULAR SURFACE OF THE WOOL. 
 
 Although the microscope which he used was well constructed, and of 
 great power, and the optician to whom it belonged had the kindness to su- 
 perintend the adjustment of the lenses and the objects and the more diffi- 
 cult management of the light, the author was completely disappointed in 
 his first attempts to discover the minute structure of the fibre. Nothing 
 was to be seen but a semi-transparent polished trunk, with a few branches 
 sprouting from it, and beautifully reflecting the light, — a little larger in 
 some places than in others, and particularly where these branches sprouted ; 
 there were several wavy, indistinct marks, but not sufficient to authorize him 
 to conclude, or even suspect, that they were connected with irregularities, 
 much less serration of surface. He tried various wools — those remarkable 
 for their felting property, and others that possessed it in a much slighter 
 degree, — and there was no difference but in the bulk of the fibre, the de- 
 gree of transparency, and the occasional enlargements of the trunk where 
 the offsets grew. After having wearied the optician and himself, the au- 
 thor retired, having previously obtained a promise from this gentleman 
 that he would subject the fibres to the test of another instrument possessing 
 
 * Gill's Technological Repositoiy, vol. iv. p. 130. 
 t Brande's Quarterly Journal, 1826, p. 433. 
 
LONG MERINO WOOL. 87 
 
 even superior power of defining objects. A few clays afterwards ne liad the 
 mortification to receive a letter from the optician, containing the following 
 passage : — " Agreeably to your request, I have again examined the speci- 
 mens of wool, and with a still higher power than when you were here. The 
 result is precisely the same ; there is no appearance whatever of indenta- 
 tions upon the edges, and the only difference I found was, that the mark- 
 ings we observed upon the surface were more distinctly made out, and had 
 more the wavy appearance than before. I am satisfied that the hair is 
 round and cylindrical. If there were any indentations upon the edges, they 
 would surely be seen by the microscope I now used." 
 
 The author would now have probably relinquished the inquiry in despair, 
 and contemplated this portion of his subject as necessarily unsatisfactory, 
 and probably erroneous. Speculation — perhaps idle, and unsubstantial 
 theory — would mingle with that which ought to be a plain narration of facts. 
 In the mean time, however, he had been introduced to an artist extensively 
 engaged in the manufacture of achromatic microscopes, the lenses of 
 which were ground and polished under his own immediate inspection — 
 Mr. Powell, of Clarendon-street, Somers Town, London. With much good 
 nature he devoted a portion of his valuable time to the pursuit of this new 
 inquiry ; and, after various trials, and much skilful management, succeeded 
 in displaying the irregular edges of a fibre of Merino wool. The power 
 wliich was then used was not sufficiently high ; and, although the serrated 
 edge was evident — it was impossible that we could be deceived — yet the 
 irregularities were minute, and the outline faint. The further examination 
 of the subject was adjourned until a lens had been procured of less focal 
 distance and greater defining power. 
 
 THE FIRST PUBLIC VIEW OF THE SERRATED EDGE OF WOOL. 
 
 The author of this work may have formed somewhat too sanguine expec- 
 tations of the important consequences that will result from the discovery of 
 the structure of the fibre of wool ; at all events, he is anxious to place the 
 record of it beyond the possil)ility of denial or doubt. 
 
 On the evening of the 7th of February, 1835, Mr. Thomas Flint, woollen 
 manufacturer, resident at Leeds ; Mr. Symonds, clothing agent, of Cateaton- 
 street, London ; Mr. T. Miilington, surgeon, of London, an esteemed 
 friend; Mr. Edward Braby, veterinary surgeon, at that time assisting the 
 author in his practice ; Mr. William Henry Coates, of Leeds, veterinary 
 pupil ; Mr. Fowell, the maker of the microscope, and the author himself, 
 were assembled in his parlour. The instrument was, in Mr. Fowell's opi- 
 nion, the best he had constructed ; he had sold it to a gentleman, but now 
 borrowed it for this purpose. A fibre was taken from a Merino fleece of 
 three years' growth ; the animal was bred by and belonged to Lord Wes- 
 tern. It was taken without selection, and placed on the frame to be exa- 
 mined as a transparent object. A power of 300 (linear) was used, and the 
 lamj) was of the common flat-wicked kind. The focus was readily found ; 
 there was no trouble in the adjustment of the microscope ; and, after Mr. 
 Fowell, Mr. Flint had the first perfect ocular demonstration of the irregu- 
 larities in the surface of wool, — the palpable proof of the cause of the most 
 valuable of its properties, — its disposition to felt. 
 
 The fibre thus looked at assumed a flattened riband-like form. It was 
 of a pearly grey colour, darker towards the centre, and with faint lines 
 across it. The edges were evidently hooked, or more properly, serrated 
 — they resembled the teeth of a fine saw. These were somewhat irregu- 
 lar in different parts of the field of view, both as to size and number. The 
 area of the field was now ascertained ; it was one fortieth of an inch in dia- 
 
88 SHEEP. 
 
 meter. By means of tlie micrometer we divided this into four, and \Ve then 
 counted tlie number of serrations in each division. Three of us-counted all 
 four divisions, for there was a difference in some of them. The number 
 was set down privately, and it was found that we had all estimated it at 
 fifteen in each division. Having multiplied this by four, to obtain the 
 whole field, and that by forty, the proportionate part of an inch of which 
 the field consisted, we obtained a result which could not be disputed, that 
 there were 2400 serrations in the space of an inch, and all of which pro- 
 jected in the same direction, viz., from the root to the point. Then, before 
 we quitted the examination of the fibre as a transparent object, we endea- 
 voured to ascertain its actual diameter, and proved it to be 7-Jo^th of an 
 inch. 
 
 [77(6 Bat's Hair and fVool. The. Lony Merino mo/.] 
 
 1. The hair of a bat, as exhibited by the microscope. 
 
 2. The wool of do. 
 
 H. A fibre of lonji; Merino wool, viewed as a transparent objict, 
 4. Ditto, as an opaque one. 
 
 We next endeavoured to explore the cause of tliis serrated appearance, 
 and the nature of the irregularities on the surface, which might possibly 
 account for the production of these toolh-like projections ; we therefore 
 took another fibre, and mounted it as an opaque object. There was con- 
 siderable difficulty in throwing the light advantageously on the fibre, so 
 small a space only as -g-Vth of an inch intervening between the lens and 
 the object. At length Mr. Powell perfectly succeeded, and we were pre- 
 sented with a beautiful glittering column, with lines of division across it, 
 in number and distance seemingly corresponding with the serrations that 
 we had observed in the other fibre that had been viewed as a ti-ans])arent 
 object. It was not at once that the eye could adapt itself to the brilliancy 
 of the object; but by degrees these divisions developed themselves, and 
 could be accurately traced. These were not so marked as the inverted cones 
 which the bat's wool presented, but they were distinct enough ; and the 
 apex of the superior one, yet comparatively little diminished in bulk, was 
 received into the excavated base of the one immediately beneath, while the 
 edge of this base formed into a cuj)-like shape, projected, and had a ser- 
 rated, or indented edge bearing no indistinct resemblance to the ancient 
 crown. All these projecting indented edges pointed in a direction from 
 root to point. 
 
 Whether these, like the cones of the bat, are joints, or at least points of 
 comparative weakness, and thus accounting for the pliancy and softness of 
 the fibre, or regulating the degree in which these qualities exist, may 
 perhaps be better determined by and by : one thing, however, is sufficiently 
 
SOUTH DOWN WOOL. 8» 
 
 plain, that tliesc serrated edges in tlie transparent object produced (wlien 
 the fibre was-resolved into its true form as an opaque one) by the projectin"' 
 edges of tlie cups, or hollowed bases of the inverted cones, afford the most 
 satisfactory solution of the felting principle that can be given or desired. 
 The fibres can move readily in a direction from root to point, the projec- 
 tions of the cups offering little or no impediment, but when they liave been 
 once involved in a mass, and a mass that has been pressed powerfully to- 
 gether, as in some part of the manufactory of all felting wool, tlie retraction 
 of the fibre must be difficult, and in most cases impossible*. 
 
 THE USE OF THE MICROSCOPE EXTENDED. 
 
 The felting property of wool is the most important as well as the dis- 
 tinguishing one ; but it varies essentially in difl'erent breeds, and the use- 
 fulness and the consequent value of the fleece, at least for clothino' piw- 
 ])oses, depends on the degree in which it is possessed. Will our micros- 
 copical observations be useful here ? It is a very curious and interesting 
 point that has been established, — the existence of an irregularity of form in 
 the vvool, accounting for and necessarily giving it a felting power, — is there 
 a variation in this structure corresponding with the degree of felting power ? 
 If there is this difference in the form of the fibre, a method has been dis- 
 covered, expeditious and certain, and superior to any yet known, of judoing 
 of the qualities of different samples of wool, — or rather, it is the only niode 
 by which those properties of wool, on which its value chiefly depends, 
 can be thoroughly ascertained. This inquiry was commenced very cautiously, 
 and with <a degree of anxiety of which the reader will now be able to form 
 some adequate conception. 
 
 COMPARISON OF THE STliUCTTJRB OF DIFFERENT WOOLS WITH THE FELTING 
 PROPERTY, 
 
 A fibre of Saxon wool was set up as a transparent object. This sheep 
 is originally a Merino, but the fleece is much improved by careful manan-e- 
 ment. Its felting property is superior to that of the Merino, and for some 
 l)urposes it is more highly valued. The following cut exhibits the result. 
 
 3 £3i3S^;?St55Ssr^s^S?f;^==s 
 
 SJiaxonij //eo/.] 
 
 1. A fibre of SaxoniwaoJ as a transparent object. 
 
 2. Ditto, opaque. 
 
 3. Ditto, combe<l, transparent. 
 
 4. Ditto, combed, opaque. 
 
 * The discover)' of the real strncture of wool wil! throw much light on a circumstance 
 familiar to every reader, viz., the dilFerent sensation imparted by the contact of linen and 
 woollen cloths with the skin. No one would be so absurd as to apply fianuel to a wound 
 
90 > SHEEP. 
 
 It is evidently a finer wool than the Merino ; it is -rlo*^ par*^ of an inch 
 in diameter. The serrations are as distinct; they are not quite so pro- 
 minent, yet there is not much difference in this respect, and certainly not 
 greater than the difference in the bulk of the fibre would produce. There 
 is a little more irregularity in the distribution of the serrations ; and after 
 careful counting, there is an average of seventeen in each of the four divi- 
 sions of the fibre. This number multiplied by four will give sixty-eight as 
 the whole number in the field of view, and tkat multiplied by forty will 
 yield a product of 2720, the number of irregularities in the edge of the 
 fibre in the space of an inch. 
 
 It is next viewed as an opaque object, and presents nearly the same 
 appearance as the long Merino. The cups answer in number to the serra- 
 tions, their edges project, and there is also an indication of a serrated 
 edge ; but as the fibre, and consequently the cup is smaller, it is not so 
 deep as in long Merino. 
 
 The next cut gives the microscopical appearance of some South Down 
 wool of a very fair and good quality. This is an exceedingly useful wool ; 
 but, on account of its inferior felting power, rarely used in the manufacture 
 of fine cloths ; in fact, it has been superseded by that which has been just 
 described, and others of a similar quality 
 
 "l^Soulh Down H'ooi.] 
 
 1. A fibre of South Down wool as a transparent object. 
 
 2. Ditto, ditto, as an opaque. 
 
 3. Ditto, combed, transparent. 
 
 4. Ditto, combed, opaque. 
 
 The fibre is evidently larger ; it is the e-|oth part of an inch. The ser- 
 rations differ in character ^ these are larger, but they are not so acute, they 
 almost appear as if they had been rounded ; they have a rhomboidal, and not 
 a hooked character, and they are evidently fewer in number in the same 
 space. There are thirteen in each division, making, according to the mode 
 of multiplication already pursued, 2080 serrations in an inch, or 640 less 
 than the Saxon. 
 
 It is made an opaque object ; the cups answer in number to the serra- 
 
 or excoriated surface; not from anj' chemical effect that the wool has on the sore, but 
 because the sharp and hooked edejes, furrowing the wound, could not fail of increasing 
 the irritation of the part to a painful and dangerous degree. It will no longer be sur- 
 prising that new flannel, and especially when manufactured from a harsh species of 
 wool, is often so unpleasant to wear, until either the skin gets accustomed to the irrita- 
 tion of ail these protruding hooks, or they are gradually lilunted or broken off'. The 
 advantage frequently derived from wearing flannt'l will also be apparent, for the earduii) 
 produced by all these tiny points cannot fail of producing a glow on the skin, and a 
 healthy determination of blood to it. 
 
CONCLUSIONS. 91 
 
 tions ; they are more regularly distributed, — they are not so prominent ; and 
 they show, what is now seen for the first time — the fibre being larger — tliat 
 the cup is not composed of one continuous substance,but of numerous leaves, 
 connected together, and probably overlapping each other. The serrations 
 which were observed in the edge of the cups in the long Merino and the 
 Saxon, are here resolvable into small leaves (three are visible) ; the vacancy, 
 or angle between the tops of them not being of any considerable depth. 
 
 The next wool that was subjected to examination was the Leicester ; the 
 unrivalled British long wool, and as useful, as indispensable for some pur- 
 poses, as the finer wools already described are for others ; and possessing, 
 and therefore the better adapted for its own purposes, the felting property, 
 to a comparatively little extent. 
 
 [Ue Leicester fVool.} 
 
 1. A fibre of Leicester wool, as a transparent object. 
 
 2. Ditto, ditto, an opaque one. 
 
 3. Ditto, combed, transparent. 
 
 4. Ditto, ditto, opaque. 
 
 The fibre is considerably larger; it is ^hih of an inch. On account ot 
 its bulk, the little wavy lines about it give more decided indications of irre- 
 gular external structure. The serrations are superficial, — irregular, dif- 
 ferently formed in different parts — a few like small spines, not projecting 
 far from the surface, but running along it ; other prominences are more 
 rounded, and occasionally they give the idea of lying one upon another, as 
 if two rods had been spliced together, with the end of one projecting beyond 
 the other. They were evidently fewer in number ; each quarter of the field 
 contained but eleven, amounting to only 1860 in the space of an inch, or 
 220 less than the Southdown. 
 
 As an opaque object, the cups corresponded in number with the serra- 
 tions and the construction of the cup is more evident. It consists of from 
 four to six leaves, rounded at the extremity, and with only a short point 
 or spine protruding, and the leaves evidently lying closer to the body of 
 the fibre. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 There can no longer be a doubt with regard to the general outline of the 
 woolly fibre. It consists of a central stem or stalk, probably hollow, or 
 at least porous, and possessing a semitransparency not found in the fibre ot 
 hair. From this central stalk there springs at different distances, in differ- 
 ent breeds of sheep, a circlet of leave- shaped projections. In the finer 
 species of wool these circles seemed at first to be composed of one indented, 
 
92 SHEEP. 
 
 or serrated ring ; but when life eye was accustomed to them, this ring was 
 resolvable into leaves, or scales. In the larger kinds the ring was at once 
 resolvable into these scales, or leaves, varying in number, shape, and size, 
 and projecting at difi'erent angles from the stalk, in the direction oi' the leaves 
 of vegetables, from the root to the point, or farther extremity. In the bat 
 there seemed to be a diminution in the bulk of the stalk, immediately above 
 the commencement of the sprouting of the leaves, and presenting the appear- 
 ance of the apex of an inverted cone received in the hollowed cup-like base of 
 another immediately beneath. The diminution in the fibre of the wool at 
 these points could be only indistinctly perceived ; but the projection of the 
 leaves gave a somewhat similar cone-like appearance. The extremities of the 
 leaves in the long Merino and the Saxon wool were evidently pointed, with 
 acute indentations or angles between them. They were pointed likewise in 
 the Southdown, but not so much, and the interposed vacuities were less deep 
 and angular. In the Leicester the leaves are round, with a diminutive 
 point or space. Of the actual substance and strength of these leafy or 
 scaly circles nothing can yet be affirmed ; but they appear to be capable of 
 dilferent degrees of resistance, or of entanglement with other fibres, in pro- 
 portion as their form is sharpened, and they project from the stalk, and in 
 proportion likewise as these circlets are multiplied. So far as the examina- 
 tion has hitherto proceeded, they are sharper and more numerous in the 
 felting wools than in others, and in proportion as the felting property exists. 
 The conclusion seems to be legitimate, and indeed inevitable, that they are 
 connected with, or, in fact, that they give to the wool the power of felting, 
 and regulate the degree in which that power is possessed. 
 
 If to this is added the curved form which the fibre of the wool naturally 
 assumes, and the well-known fact, that these curves differ in the mot^t 
 striking degree in different breeds, according to the fineness of the fibre, 
 and, when multiplying in a given space, increase both the means of en- 
 tanglement and the difficulty of disengagement, llie whole mystery of 
 felting is unravelled. A cursory glance will discover the proportionate 
 number of curves, and the microscope has now established a connexion 
 between the closeness of the curves and the number of the serrations. The 
 Saxon wool is remarkable for the close packing of its little curves ; the 
 number of serrations are 2720 in an inch. The South Down wool has 
 numerous curves, but evidently more distant than in the former sample; the 
 serrations are 2080. In the Leicester the wavy curls are so far removed 
 from each other, that a great part of the fibre would be dissipated under the 
 operation of the card, and the serrations- are 1860 ; and in some of the wools 
 which warm the animal, but were not intended to clothe the human body, 
 the curves are more distant, and the serrations are not more than 480. 
 The wool-grower, the stapler, and the manufacturer, can scarcely wish for 
 better guides. 
 
 Yet there is no organic connexion between the curve and the serration ; 
 the serrations are not the cause of the curve, nor do the curves produce the 
 serrations ; the connexion is founded on the grand principle that the works 
 of nature arc perfect, that no beneficial power is bestowed without full 
 scope for its exercise. The curves of the smooth fibre might entangle to 
 a considerable degree, but some of the points would be continually unra- 
 velling and threatening the dissolution of the whole felt. The straight 
 fibre, however deeply serrated, its root being introduced into the mass, 
 would often pass on and pass through the felt and be lost. It is by the 
 curved form of the jagged fibre that the object can be accomplished per- 
 tainly and perfectly. 
 
 Future observers may possibly detect in wool the apparent coned and 
 
OTHER WOOL-BEARING ANIMALS. 93 
 
 jointed structure of the liair of the bat, aiid then a third and powerful prin- 
 ciple would be called into action, the pliability of the fibre, the ease witli 
 which it is bent in every different direction, and in each becomes more 
 inexplicably entangled. A great point, however, is gained by the knovv- 
 ledo-e that in proportion as the auxiliaries in the felting process are multi- 
 plied, the direct agents are also increased. 
 
 As the work proceeds, the author will endeavour to give the microscopic 
 character of the wool of the different varieties of British sheep, and of most 
 of the foreign ones ; it will be for the breeder and the manufacturer to 
 build on the foundation which he is attempting to lay, and to draw those 
 practical and valuable inferences which such statements will naturally 
 suggest*. 
 
 OTHER WOOL-BEARING ANIMALS. 
 
 It has been stated (page 56) that the number of wool-bearing animals 
 is much greater than has been commonly imagined. The consideration of 
 the clothing of one or two of them, most frequently employed in the ma- 
 nufiicture of certain articles of dress, will show the im[)ortance of the 
 inquiry into the structure of wool, and the immense extent to which it 
 may hereafter be carried. 
 
 The fur, as it is called, of the hare, the rabbit, the beaver, the otter, and 
 a variety of animals, used in tlie manufacture of hats, and various other felts, 
 is composed, like the covering of the wild or undomesticated or neglected 
 sheep, of a mingled mass of hair and wool : the hair being of different 
 lengths in different animals, but in all of them extending over, and lying 
 upon, and protecting the wool ; and the wool differing in length, closeness, 
 and value in different animals, and differing as materially, or even more 
 so, in the same animal, according to the season of the year, the degree of 
 cold, and the general state of the weather. " The weather,'' says an intel- 
 ligent writer, "has great influence on the quality and quantity of furs imported 
 from all quarters of the globe ; and this circumstance renders the fur trade 
 more difficult, perhaps, and precarious, than any other: not only the quality, 
 and consequently the price of many furs, will differ every year ; but 1 have 
 often seen the same article rise and fall 1 00, 200, ami 300 per cent, in the 
 course of a twelvemonth : nay, several instances in the space of one month 
 onlyt." 
 
 * " I am of opinion," says Mi. Flint, in one of the kind and valuable letters which the 
 author received from him, " that if you had samples of different species of wool, Saxony, 
 Spanish, and Odessa, as foreign wools ; and of Norfolk, Southdown, and Ryeland, as 
 English wools, with an accurate statement of the respective properties of each, you might 
 then, by a careful examination of the fibre, discover some peculiarity of structure on 
 which the properties respectively depended. The greater your variety of wools, and the 
 more accurate the description of the manufacturing properties, the more likely would you 
 be to come at some general conclusions. For instance, I am inclined to think that you 
 would find the felting properties greatest in wools the fibres of which had a great number 
 of curves; and I apprehend, also, that the feathered, or jagged eharacttr of the fibre has 
 a close connexion with the number and character of the curves." 
 
 The discovery has been made. Many pleasing feelings will be associated with the 
 recollection of that evening when the serrated edge of the fibre of wool was first, seen by 
 a small circle of the author's friends, and among whom, as has been already stated, was 
 Mr. Flint, who happened then to be in London. If a veterinary surgeon chanced to be 
 the fortunate discoverer, why, it will show that he is, or is capable of'being, far more inti- 
 mately connected with the agriculture and the prosperity of his country, than many have 
 supposed him to have been, or than perhaps he actually has been ; and it will more 
 plamly point out to him the path of duty. That path will be pursued in the present 
 work, so far as opportunity will serve; but it will be for some more practical man (:md 
 who bt tter than Mr. Flint himself i*) to take up the theme, and follow it through all iU 
 important, invaluable consequences. 
 
 t M'CuUoch's Dictionary, Art. " Fur Trade." 
 
94 SHEEP. 
 
 [The Wool of the Rabbit.] 
 
 1. The wool of the rabbit opaque. 2. The hair of the rabbit, transpaient. 
 3. Ditto opaque. 
 
 This is selected, as most easy to be obtained, and the use of the fur 
 being best known. When the skin is examined, the long, straight, strong, 
 and yet fine and soft, hairs, constituting tlie apparent coat of the animal, 
 are sufficiently evident ; but when this external covering is blown aside, a 
 shorter, softer, crisped, curved fibre is immediately perceived, with every 
 characteristic of true and perfect wool. 
 
 These substances were put to the test of the microscope. The wool is 
 beautifully fine. It does not exceed ^^th part of an inch in diameter. 
 The edges — the fibre being viewed as a transparent object — was decidedly 
 serrated ; the serrations are regular and sharp, — in a direction from root 
 to point, — 18 of them were found in each division of the field, and con- 
 sequently there were 2880 in the space of an inch, being 160 more than in 
 the highly felting and valuable Saxon wool. There were, however, compa- 
 ratively few curves. 
 
 It was next viewed as an opaque object, and is depicted in the above cut 
 — the cups answer in number to the serrations, — they extend horizontally 
 across the fibre, and the upper edge is indented or crowned. 
 
 The hair varies in diameter from -^th part to the ^th part of an inch. 
 The hair, as a transparent object, has a very clear outline, with some few 
 faint cloudy irregularities on its surface, but without any serration — as an 
 opaque object, it is covered with a scaly incrustation, but cannot be said to 
 be serrated. 
 
 It is not for the author to pursue this inquiry to any greater extent, but 
 when it has been determined on which of these substances the chief value 
 of the skin depends, and by what circumstances the character and value of 
 it is influenced or changed, it is easy to perceive what incalculable im- 
 provement may be introduced here by breeding and careful management, 
 and how probable it is that this material may, in process of time, be devoted 
 to purposes at present unthought of. 
 
 Another wool-bearing animal, a frequenter of the British coasts, is the 
 seal. His coat is thus described in one of the most valuable of our works 
 on Natural History :— " The hairs are all silken, flat, pointed, harsli, and 
 
SEAL'S HAIR AND WOOL. 95 
 
 compact *." This is true of the external coat ; but if this is turned aside, 
 a variable quantity of wool is immediately discovered. No fewer than 
 748,78b of these skins were imported into Great Britain in 1831. In the 
 specimen whence the hair and wool delineated in the annexed cut was taken 
 —the yellow-spotted seal, often seen on the Dutch coast — the wool was 
 abundant in quantity. The curves were not very thickly set, which induced 
 the suspicion that serrations would not be numerous. 
 
 [Searn Hair and Wool.'] 
 
 It is viewed as an opaque object. The wool is exceedingly fine — 
 not more than ~ th part of an inch in diameter — and if other things had 
 corresponded, it would have been invaluable, but the serrations were few 
 and far between ; they did not exceed three in each of the divisions, or 
 480 in an inch : they were little more than a sixth part as numerous 
 as in the Saxony fleece, and the serrations were not of a decided character ; 
 it was more an overlaying, or splicing of the parts, and a hooked formation. 
 The hair, ^^th of an inch in diameter, about nine times as much as the wool, 
 forms a singular contrast with the wool. It is beautifully covered with 
 scales, but there is not the vestige of a serration. 
 
 Two other cuts are given as illustrations of the previously unsuspected 
 presence of wool in the coats of animals both wild and domesticated. 
 
 While the author was engaged in inquiries connected with this work, he 
 observed a North American brown bear, in the gardens of the Zoological 
 Society, changing a portion of his coat, — a matted substance was working 
 its way through the hair, and became detached in large flakes. He secured 
 one of these flakes, and found that it consisted cffiefly of wool, in which 
 a few hairs were involved. He wondered not at thisi although no na- 
 turalist had spoken of the wool of the bear. It was the defence given by 
 nature against the extreme cold to which this animal was necessarily ex- 
 posed : it was evidently identified with the locality and the habits of the 
 bear. It yet remains to be seen how far the skill and perseverance of the 
 manufacturer will convert it, and that which is found on the back of many 
 an animal that had not been dreamed of as a wool-bearer, to the purposes 
 of man. 
 
 The author submitted it to the test of the microscope. It stood 
 high in point of fineness. The diameter of the fibre v/as only the -^th 
 part of an inch, — the precise diameter of tlie Picklock Merino ; but it had 
 few curves, and few serrations, — four only in one of the divisions of the 
 field, or 640 in an inch. These serrations had a curious character : they 
 
 * Griffith s Edit, of " Cuvier's Animal Kingdom," 8vo., vol. ii. p. 49','. 
 
96 
 
 SHEEP 
 
 resembled so many spires projecting at irregular distances, anci at an ex- 
 ceedingly acute angle. The fibre here rejjresented was viewed through 
 lenses of a higher power, in order to bring out its peculiar structure. 
 
 [Bear cnid Ifo//-Do</'s JVoo/.] 
 
 1. The wool of the Bear. 2. Ditto, Wolf-Dog, transparent. 3. Ditto, opaque. 
 
 He did not, however, expect to find wool on the Italian wolf-dog. Al- 
 though an inhabitant of the Alps, the individual from whose back he 
 obtained the specimen had been domesticated in his native country, and, 
 when afterwards removed to a more northern clime, had been sheltered 
 from the vicissitudes of the weather. He, however, had a very considera- 
 ble proportion of short wool beneath the hair. The curves, although few 
 compared with tliose in the short-wooled sheep, were more than doubly as 
 numerous as in the bear, and the serrations were increased in the same 
 proportion. They amounted to nine in one of the divisions, or 1440 in an 
 inch. Had the wool been long, it might have been said that it occupied an 
 intermediate rank between the Leicester and the Lincoln, displaying some- 
 what fewer serrations than the former and more than the latter. The serra- 
 tions were superficial and irregularly placed, some of them resembling 
 small spines and others looking like rounded prominences. When viewed 
 as an opaque object, the cup was composed of two and sometimes three 
 leaves with rounded extremities. 
 
 The last illustrative cut that will be given represents the wool and hair of 
 the tiger. 
 
 [The Woolniid Hairnflhe Tiger.] 
 1. The hair of the tiger, opaque. 2. The wool of ditto, transparent. 
 
 The wool is beautifully fine ; it is only the thousandth part of an inch 
 in diameter. Tlie serrations are likewise numerous, amounting to sixteen 
 in each division, or 2560 in the space of an inch ; they were small and 
 somewhat confused ; and, more to neutralize the felting principle, the num- 
 ber of curves are few. 
 
 The hair is covered with scales, resembling those on the back of a sole, 
 and with no serration. 
 
 The fineness of the woolly fibre on these animals, compared with that 
 which grows even on the Saxon sheep, is a circumstance deserving atten- 
 tion. 
 
97 
 
 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAIR, WOOL, AND FUR. 
 
 Now perhaps we should endeavour to set these points at rest, at least 
 until further improvements in the microscope tlirow fresh light on tlie 
 subject. Dr. Goring fancied he saw some toothed processes on the surface 
 of the human hair. He has not figured this appearance ; but the mi- 
 croscope, which developed the serrations of wool, has in some animals 
 shown a similar appearance on the edge of the hair. On the hair of the 
 seal and the tiger there are slight roughnesses, incrustations on the surface, 
 but no serrated edge. The spiral projections on the surface of the bat's 
 liair (fig. 1, p. 88), and the circular ones on that of the rabbit (fig. 3, 
 p. 94), cannot be considered as serrations, and in the majority of the 
 specimens of hair, the incrustations on the surface are too slight to give 
 any decided serration to the edge. 
 
 The hair of the rabbit, the seal, and the tiger are illustrations of this ; 
 but, on the other hand, it will be seen that, in some neglected breeds of 
 sheep, as the Wallachian and the Jamaica, there are decided, although slight, 
 serrations. 
 
 The fibre of wool is crisped or curled, the curls increasing according to the 
 fineness and felting property of the wool : hair is often disposed to curl, but 
 in an inferior degree. The distinction, therefore, between these substahces is 
 more in degree than intent. IFool is decidedly crisped and serrated ; hair 
 is sometimes curled, but to an inferior degree, and the irregularities of its 
 edge, in some few cases, assume the form of slight serrations. Wool will 
 fell; hair will only entangle and harle to a limited extent. 
 
 This will, for every practical purpose, characterise these two substances, 
 both of them referable to the influence of cultivation. The blood-horse 
 has not a particle of wool about him — the neglected Shetlander is half 
 covered with it. The fleece of the cultivated sheep has none of the hair 
 that once deteriorated it, and is composed of wool. The uncultivated 
 coat of all animals is composed of fur — a mixture of wool and hair — and 
 either preponderating according to tlie localities and habits of the animals. 
 The fur merchant, therefore, is right when, from the leopard to the sable, 
 he applies the term fur to the covering which nature has given them : it 
 is neither hair nor wool, but a mixture of both. 
 
 THE DIVISIONS OF WOOL. 
 
 The old and apparently simple division of wooi was into long and 
 SHORT, or, according to the purposes to which it was devoted, combing 
 and CLOTHING wool; but there was considerable difficulty in arranging 
 some fleeces which were of intermediate lengths, and convertible to either 
 purpose. The almost incredible improvement in machinery within the last 
 few years, and the change which had long been gradually taking place in 
 certain wools, unobserved even by the owners of tbe sheep, and stoutly 
 denied by them when it was first exposed to public attention, and also the 
 revolution that has since been effected in the character of other wools, 
 and the purposes to wliich they are devoted, have rendered this divibion 
 totally inapplicable. 
 
 In the classification of wools, at least of such as are of British growth 
 and are consumed in British manufactures, the author adopts the arrange- 
 ment proposed by an intelligent correspondent at Bradford, whose name he 
 regrets that he is not permitted to divulge, viz., long, middle, and shori", 
 
 LONG WOOL. 
 
 The most valuable of the long-wooUed fleeces are of British origin. A . 
 
 H 
 
98 SHEEP. 
 
 considerable quantity is produced in France and Belgium, but the manu- 
 facturers in those countries acknowledge the superiority of the British wool. 
 It is to them what the foreign clothing wools have become to the English 
 manufacturer. It is indispensable in many of their goods ; and it is that by 
 mixture with which, they are enabled to use the produce of their own 
 country. In 1833, 1,424,208 lbs. of long wool were exported from Eng- 
 land to France ; and 3,275,448 lbs. to Belgium*. Long wool is distin- 
 guished, as its name would import, by the length of its staple. The 
 average is about eight inches. It has much improved of late years both 
 in England and in other countries. Its staple has, without detriment to 
 its manufacturing qualities, become shorter ; but it has also become finer, 
 and truer, and sounder. The long-vvoolled sheep has been improved more 
 than any other breed ; and, since the close of Mr. Bakewell's valuable life, 
 who may justly be considered as the father of the Leicesters, the principal 
 error which he committed has been repaired, and the long wool has pro- 
 gressively risen in value, at least for combing purposes. Some of the breeds 
 have staples of double the length that has been mentioned as the average 
 one. Pasture and breeding are the principal agents here. 
 
 Probably, because the Leicester blood prevails in, or, at least, mingles 
 with every other long-woolled breed, there has been rapidly increasing, a 
 great similarity in the appearance and quality of this fleece in every district. 
 The short- wooUed fleeces are, to a very considerable degree, unlike in 
 fineness, elasticity, and in felting property ; the sheep themselves are still 
 more unlike : but the long wools are losing their distinctive points — the Lin- 
 coln has not all of his former gaunt carcase, and coarse and entangled wool ; 
 the Romney Marsh has got rid of a little of the roughness of his form, and 
 the length of his leg, while his wool, possibly a little thinner, has become 
 truer and finer ; the Teesvvater has, in a manner, disappeared ; the Cotswold 
 and the Bampton have become varieties of the Leicester : in fact, all 
 the long-woolled sheep, both in appearance and in fleece, are becoming 
 of one family ; and rarely, except from culpable neglect in the breeder, the 
 fleece has not been injuriously weakened, or too much shortened, for the 
 most valuable purposes to which it is devoted. 
 
 In addition to its length, this wool is characterized by its strength, its 
 transparency, its comparative stoutness, and the little degree in which it 
 possesses the felting quality. 
 
 Since the extension of the process of combing to wools of a shorter 
 staple, the application of this wool to manufacturing purposes has under- 
 gone considerable change. In some respects the range of its use has been 
 limited ; but its demand has, on the whole, increased, and its value is more 
 highly appreciated. There are certain and important branches of the 
 woollen manufacture in which it can never be superseded, and connected 
 with which it will be considered to be the staple produce of Great Britain. 
 " If any wool, peculiar to our isle, 
 Is j^iven by nature, 'tis the comber's lock ; 
 The soft, the snow-white, and the long-grown flake f." 
 
 This long wool is classed under two divisions, distinguished both by the 
 ength and the fineness of the fibre. The first, the long combing wool, is 
 used for the manufacture of hard yarn, and the worsted gootls for which 
 that thread is adapted, and requires the staple to be long, firm, and little 
 disposed to felt. The short combing wool, has, as its name implies, a 
 shorter staple, and is finer, and more felty. The felt is also closer, and 
 softer, and is chiefly used for hosiery goods. The middle wools are now 
 
 • MacCulloch'8 Dictionary of Commerce, Art. " Wool." 
 f Dyer's Fleece, book ii. 
 
MIDDLE WOOL. 99 
 
 usurping the place of the short-combing ones, and the short-combiug 
 approaches nearer to the quality and purposes of the Jong-combing wool. 
 
 MIDDLE WOOL. 
 
 The middle wool is almost a new article, but it is rapidly increasing in 
 quantity and value. It will never supersede, but it will only stand next in 
 estimation to the native British long fleece. It is yielded by the half-bred 
 sheep, a race that will become more numerous every year, being a cross 
 of the Leicester ram with the South-down, or the Norfolk, or some other 
 short-wooUed ewe ; retaining the fattening property and the early maturity 
 of the Leicester, or of both ; and the wool deriving length and toughness 
 of fibre from the one, and fineness and feltiness from the other. 
 
 Norfolk and Suffolk are taking the lead in the cultivation of this valuable 
 breed ; but the practice is establishing itself in every part of the kingdom, 
 where the pasture a«d other circumstances will permit the introduction of 
 such a breed. The average length of staple is about five inches. There 
 is no description of the finer stuff-goods in which this wool is not most 
 extensively and advantageously employed ; and the noils (the portions 
 whicli are broken oft" by, and left in the comb, whether belonging to this 
 description of wool or to the long wool) are used in the manufacture of 
 several species of cloth of no inferior quality or value. 
 
 Under the head of middle wools must now be placed those, that, when 
 there were but two divisions, were known by the name of short wools ; 
 and, if we were treating of British productions alone, would still retain the 
 same distinctive appellation. They are the South-down, Norfolk, Suffolk, 
 Dorset, Ryland, and Cheviot wools ; together with the fleece of several 
 other breeds, not so numerous, nor occupying so great an extent of country. 
 From the change, however, which has insensibly taken place in them all, 
 — the lengthening, and the increased thickness of the fibre, — and more es- 
 pecially from the gradual introduction of other wools possessing delicacy of 
 fibre, and pliability, and felting qualities, beyond what these could boast of, 
 and, at the same time, being cheaper in the market than the old British 
 wools ever were, or could be, these have gradually been losing ground in 
 the manufacture of the finer cloths, and now cease to be used in the pro- 
 duction of them. On the other hand, the change which has taken place in 
 the construction of machinery has multiplied the purposes to which they 
 may be devoted, and very considerably enhanced their value. It may be 
 a little mortifying to the grower of the British short wool, to find that 
 neither the superior, nor even the middle classes of society, will condescend 
 to wear the cloths produced from his material ; but human ingenuity has 
 not only brought good out of evil, but has increased the advantages pre- 
 viously possessed, and has placed the interests of the grower and the 
 manufacturer of wool on a basis which no changes in fashion or com- 
 merce can ever more materially affect. 
 
 A few years ago the grower of the British short-wools considered them 
 as devoted to clothing purposes alone. He not only would have thought 
 them disgraced, if the comb had l;een applied in the preparation of them 
 for the loom ; but, if pressed on that point, he would have confessed that 
 they would not bear the action of the comb. Now they rank among the 
 combing-wools : they are prepared as much, and in some places more, by 
 the comb, than by the card. On this account they meet with a readier sale ; 
 and although, perhaps, they will never more obtain an extravagant price, yet, 
 considering the increased weight of each individual fleece, and also the in- 
 creased weight and earlier maturity of the carcase, they will, in proportion 
 
 H 2 
 
100 SHEEP. 
 
 to the value of other agricultural produclions, and uninfluenced again by 
 the changing character of the times, yield a fair remunerating price. 
 
 The qualities of these respective wools will be hereafter considered. 
 The Soulb-down sheep yield nearly seven-tenths of the pure short wool 
 grown in the United Kingdom, the Dorsets, Rylands, Norfolks, &c., 
 furnishing the remaining three-tenths : but tliese proportions vary in dif- 
 ferent districts, and, as has been already intimated, the half-bred sheep is, 
 in some parts of the country rapidly, and in all of them gradually, en- 
 croaching on the pure short- wooUed one — beautiful and valuable as the 
 latter is. 
 
 The average staple of the British sliort-wooUed, or rather, now, of this 
 description of middle-vvooUed sheep, is 3^ inclies. 
 
 Mr. Goodman, of Leeds, whose kindness the author particularly acknow- 
 ledges, says, that "these wools are now employed in flannels, army and 
 navy cloths, friezed coatings. Petershams, bear-skin and other coatings, 
 heavy cloths for calico-printers and paper-manufacturers, woollen cords, 
 coarse woollens, blankets. East India army cloths, and other woollen 
 articles, many of them adapted to the trade of the United Kingdom, and 
 largely exported to North and South America, the East and West Indies, 
 Germany, and other places ; besides, for the same purposes, being partially 
 used in cassinets, baises, bockings, long ells, carpets, druggets, &c." ' Let 
 the mosc enthusiastic admirer of the old short wools read this list, and say 
 whether he has any reason to regret or to be ashamed of the change that 
 has taken place. 
 
 SHORT WOOL. 
 
 From this division every wool of British production, save the Anglo- 
 merino, may be considered as now excluded. It consists chiefly of a ra- 
 pidly increasing importation from our colonies of New Holland and Van 
 Diemen's Land, a smaller quantity from Russia, a decreasing one from 
 Spain, and an amount very great, but now ceeming to be stationary, from 
 Germany. A Table to explain these importations will be found in the next 
 page. 
 
 These wools are employed unmixed in the manufacture of the finest 
 cloths, and combined with a small proportion of British wool, in others of 
 some inferior value. The ])roperties of the two kinds of wool will be 
 slightly noticed when the history and present state of the manufacture of 
 wool in Great Britain come under notice. The average length of staple 
 is about two and a half inches. 
 
 Even these wools may now be submitted to the action of the comb. 
 There may be fibres only one inch in length, but if there are others from 
 two and a half to three inches, so that the average of the staple shall be 
 two inches, then a thread sufficiently tenacious may, from the improved state 
 of machinery, be spun, and many delicate and beautiful fabrics, unknown a 
 few years ago, readily woven. 
 
 THE MANUFACTURING USES OF WOOL. 
 
 It is necessary to the completion of this chapter, that tlie principal uses 
 of wool, long the most important manufacture of Great Britain, should be 
 touciied upon ; and the more especially as an opportunity will thereby he 
 afforded of briefly describing the respective processes of the woollen and 
 worsted manufactures, and of ])ointing out more directly and clearly those 
 pecuiiarities of conformation in wools of different breeds, vvliich fit them for 
 the one or the other purpose. The breeder cannot fail to derive some 
 valuable hints from a carciul consideration of the uses of wool ; inasmuch 
 
TABLE OF WOOL IMPORTED. 
 
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102 SHEEP. 
 
 as a more definite and precise aim will be given to his attempts at altera- 
 tion or improvement in any particular breed on which he may be ex- 
 perimenting. 
 
 For the sake of brevity, the two grand divisions of the woollen trade — 
 the manufacture of cloth and the manufacture of stuffs — will alone be 
 explained: the manufacture of hosiery goods being dismissed with this 
 observation — that the wools best adapted to it should possess the 
 properties which discriminate combing-wools, combined with softness. 
 The shorter and finer combing-wools are, in fact, the best wools for the 
 hosiery trade. 
 
 THE MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH. 
 
 In tliis manufacture, the wool, being first dyed, (unless destined for black 
 or such colours as either would not endure the after-process of milling and 
 finishing, if dyed in the wool — in which case the cloth is made and jjavtly 
 finished ere it is dyed,) is subjected to the operation, of the scribbling and 
 carding-machines. In order to understand these operations, the intention of 
 which is to break down the fibres of the wool, to arrange them in an even 
 mass or flake of a fibry texture, and to clear away all small particles of 
 foreign matter, such as the substance of the dye-woods, &c., it is ne- 
 cessary to describe the machines. 
 
 THE SCRIBBLER. 
 
 The scribbler consists of a number of large wooden cylinders, placed 
 horizontnlly on a frame, and almost touching each other, with smaller 
 cylinders placed above them, and also nearly touching. To these cylinders 
 a rotatory motion is communicated by straps, which receive their impulse 
 from the power — be it of steam or of water — by which the mill is wrought. 
 The reader has now to imagine that these cylinders are covered with iron 
 teeth, very minute and closely set, and slightly bent ; and that these teeth, 
 as the cylinders revolve in opposite directions and in very near contact, 
 work against or within each other. It will be obvious that, if any sub- 
 stance of a fibrous nature like wool is placed between them, it will be torn, 
 and separated into minute portions. Now this is just what is done by the 
 scribbler. The wool is placed on a cloth (receiving its motion from the 
 same source as the cylinders) which delivers it between two rollers, and 
 then to the first large cylinder, the fine iron teeth of which catch it up as 
 they rapidly pass the opening of the rollers. 
 
 By a peculiar and ingenious contrivance, the wool is transferred from 
 one cylinder to another, until it is thrown off from the last in a flake of the 
 most gauze-like texture — the wool adliering by means of its hooked or 
 curved formation. In this state it is taken to the carder. 
 
 THE CARDER. 
 
 This is a machine precisely similar to the scribbler in principle, but with 
 numerous cylinders, and with wires or teetli of a finer-texture. On this 
 machine the business of breaking down the fibre, which varies greatly ac- 
 cording to the fineness of the wool and the purpose for which it is destined, 
 is still further carried on ; but the wool, instead of being thrown off, as on 
 the scribbler, in a thin flake, is formed into small rolls or cirdings, as they 
 are technically called, of about 30 inches in length. These are placed by 
 young children on the Bili.y to be slubbed, the lengths being slightly 
 joined by a dexterous movement of the hand. 
 
 To the clubbing, which i?, In ffttft, ft rough of pf^pttmtory spinning, ewe- 
 
THE CLOTH MANUFACTURE, 103 
 
 ceeds the spinning — properly so called — and the thread is formed and 
 ready for weaving. 
 
 Let us imagine this process complete, and the cloth delivered by the 
 weaver into the hands of the miller or fuller. It is first cleaned from the 
 oil and other impurities attaching to it from the processes it has previously 
 undergone ; and then being placed in the fulling-stock, and liquid soap 
 being thinly laid upon it, the process of felting, already described, com- 
 mences, and is carried on until either the piece will felt no longer, or is as 
 close and stout as the manufacturer requires. 
 
 FINISHING. 
 
 When milled it is subjected to the action of the teazle, which draws the 
 nap upon the surface ; and that being cut down by the shears or knife, as 
 close as the taste or the judgment of the finisher may think needful, form 
 the short and silky pile, which is so much admired in woollen cloths. 
 
 It will be obvious, on a moment's consideration, that the closeness and 
 richness of the pile or nap must depend on the fineness of the wool, and 
 on the minuteness of the portions or fragments into which it will admit of 
 being reduced on the carder and scribbler: the operation of the teazle 
 being to draw out from the thread, and arrange in one direction on the 
 surface, the ends of the broken fibres. 
 
 It will further be obvious, that in order to bear the action of the teazle 
 without loosening the texture of the cloth too much, the wool should pos- 
 sess in a high degree the felting property ; in other words, that it should 
 possess numerous curves, causing the broken portions of the fibres to 
 adhere by their mutual entanglement, and numerous and deep serrations 
 on its surface, — the one multiplying the points of contact, and the other 
 causing the adhesion of the fibres, when brought into contact, to be firm 
 and tenacious. The degree, indeed, in wliich these two properties are pos- 
 sessed, discriminates the comparative value of clothing wools; other 
 qualities, such as softness, fineness, &;c., being equal. 
 
 On these properties tlie perfection of each process depends. The 
 scribbling would dissipate the fibres, if they were deficient in the curved or 
 hooked formation, and the thread could not be drawn out to a sufficient degree 
 of fineness, — and if the serrations were few and superficial, the process of 
 felting would leave the cloth loose in hand, and presenting on the surface, 
 not that compact, close, and leathery appearance, which is so much sought 
 after by the manufacturer, but a rough and shaggy nap, almost as oppo- 
 site to the former as the rough pelt of the Shetland Galloway to the sleek 
 skin of the race horse. 
 
 The process of the worsted manufacture shall now be described as 
 briefly as possible, and some plain and palpable conclusions drawn from 
 what has been stated. 
 
 THE WORSTED MANUFACTURE. — COMBING. 
 
 The wool having been scoured and oiled, the comb is employed. It con- 
 sists of a handle, with a transverse piece of wood attached to it, in the 
 form of a rude T ( ""f ). Three rows of long sharp steel teeth are placed 
 in the transverse piece. On these the wool is hung until the comb is filled 
 or loaded ; and the ends of the wool are either tied or hung over the 
 transverse piece, in order to be securely attached to it. The workman, 
 holding this comb on his knee, takes another that has been heated in a 
 
104 SHEEP. 
 
 comb-pot which stands by him containing ignited charcoal, and draws it 
 through these locks of wool. It is the common combing of the head, and 
 precisely for the same purpose, in order to separate and smooth the hair, 
 and remove the portions that are entangled and knotted. Jt often requires 
 the exertion of considerable strength to force the comb through the wool, 
 and there would be hazard of breaking a great number of the fibres. In 
 order to prevent this, the wool is previously oiled, to facilitate the passage 
 of the comb, and the comb is heated that the oil may be perfectly fluid. 
 
 When the workman has succeeded in arranging the fibres in a direction 
 parallel to each other, and made what is called a sliver, which is a long, 
 loose, flowing stripe or lock of wool, it is transferred to the drawing and 
 spinning frames, which, by their operation, elongate or draw out the sliver, 
 (a rough thread, like the roll, or carding, described under the last head,) 
 until the yarn is sufficiently fine for the intended purpose ; and the web 
 being woven, cleaned, and dyed, is ready for use, without any felting or 
 raising of the pile or nap on the surface. These two processes, in fact, could 
 not be carried on very easily, and in some goods, hardly at all, on account 
 of the length, and the peculiar arrangement of the fibres in the thread of 
 worsted yarn ; and in which it diff'ers entirely from woollen yarn ; but the 
 threads of both are brought to the requisite fineness by a force causing the 
 fibres to slide over each other in the direction of the length of the thread, 
 which, at the same time, is twisted so as to bind the fibres together. 
 
 This drawing out of the thread, which all, who have seen the common 
 operation of spinning hempen bund, will easily understand, is regulated, 
 in part, by the fineness of the wool, and, in part, by the purpose for which 
 the yarn is intended. The ultimate limit to which the spinning can be 
 carried, is, of course, determined by the former, as a certain number of fibres 
 must cohere to give any tenacity to the thread *. Woollen and worsted 
 yarns, however, differ, even when of equal fineness, in this important par- 
 ticular — the fibres in the former being placed in every possible direc- 
 tion, relatively to each other: those of the latter being all arranged 
 in a parallel direction. It is evident that this formation of the latter 
 originates with the combing, and is transmitted through all the subsequent 
 stages of worsted spinning. The very different arrangement of the fibres 
 in the woollen thread remains to be explained. 
 
 When the wool is wrought on the scribbler and carder, it ig, of course, 
 drawn very much in one direction of its fibres, but they are too short and 
 minute for the finest cards to succeed in placing them in a strictly parallel 
 direction ; a fact quite evident from the circumstance of the wool adhering 
 in a sort of light web, or loosely formed net-work, as it comes from the 
 scribbler. On the carder, a certain portion of this filmy net-work is 
 broken off" by an ingenious contrivance, and rolled up into the carding on 
 short threads. In this state the general direction of the fibres is across 
 the thread, or in the line of its thickness. In the worsted thread, the 
 
 * The fineness to which the woollen thread has been spun almost exceeds belief. The 
 following account is extracted from the Commercial and Agricullural Magazine for 
 June, 1800. 
 
 A hec of woollen 3'aru measures in length 8 yards. 
 
 A hank of ditto, by the custom of Norwich, consists of seven hecx. 
 
 Twenty-four hecs in the pound, 13,440 yards, or about 7J miles, is esteemed good 
 spinning in schools. 
 
 Seventy hanks in the pound, 39,200 yards, or about 22J miles, is esteemed superfine 
 spinning at Norwich. 
 
 Three hundred hanks in the pound, 168,000 yards, or 95^ miles, have since'been sptm 
 by Miss Ives, of Spalding, in Lincolnshire. This wool came from a sheep reared by Sir 
 Joseph Banks. It was a cross breed by a Spanish ram out of one of the finest wooUed 
 Lincoln ewes. — Luccock on Wool, p. 154. 
 
WOOLLEN AND WORSTED GOODS. 105 
 
 direction of the fibres is in the length of tlie tliread, or just the very reverse 
 of the former. In the process of spinning tlie latter, the points of the 
 fibres are, in a great measure, covered ; and the fibres themselves being 
 long, and almost untouched, cause the thread to have a snjooth, hard, and 
 unbroken surface. The fibres, also, lying not merely parallel to each 
 other, but in the same direction relatively to the position of the root and 
 the point, there is no possibility, or a very slight one, of that hooking 
 together, — that junction of the serrated edges, — on which, it has been 
 shown, felting depends *. 
 
 Further, this formation of the fibre of worsted yarn opposes almost in- 
 surmountable obstacles to the action of the teazle, because the thread is 
 compact ; and if a nap is raised, the thread must be broken or torn up — a 
 purpose for which it is obviously not formed. 
 
 Very different is the process of spinning woollen yarn. The fibres 
 lying, as has been seen, across the thread, are, by the action of the 
 spinning-frame, partially drawn into tlie direction of the length of the 
 thread ; and being very numerous from the breaking down of the carding- 
 machine, present innumerable points on the surface of the thread, — the ru- 
 diments of the pile afterwards to be raised upon the cloth 
 
 But this is not the only difference betwixt the two threads. The fibres 
 of the woollen thread are commingled, so that the serrated edges come into 
 contact, — it being obvious at once that, in the process of scribbling, the 
 locks of wool are separated and broken up, and the individual fibres mixed 
 and arranged in all possible directions. By this arrangement of the fibres 
 in the thread of woollen yarn, two results are secured — the firm felting of 
 the cloth, and the raising of a rich pile in the dressing of it. 
 
 The reader will now be prepared for another observation, viz., that the 
 distinction betwixt woollen and worsted goods does not consist in any 
 absolute difference or contrariety of nature in the wool of which the one or 
 the other is made, but primarily in the mode of preparing the respective 
 yarns ; and secondarily, and consequent upon the peculiar formation of the 
 thread, on the felting and raising of those fabrics only which are made of 
 woollen y.irn. True, worsted yarn must be made of wool of a certain 
 staple or length ; but, that difference apart, any wool may be made into 
 woollen or worsted goods, indifferently, though the quality or excellence of 
 the article will be greatly affected by the degree of suitableness or unsuit- 
 ableness of the wools to the specific purpose to which they are applied. It 
 needs no deep discrimination to discover the impropriety of breaking up on 
 the scribbler, the long, rigid fibre of the Lincoln or Leicester wool for 
 clothing purposes. It requires only a moment's glance at its formation 
 
 * Bakewell (of Wakefield) demonstrated the assertion here made — that the serrations 
 must meet in order to the felting of wools, by a very simple and beautiful experiment. 
 He took a lock of wool from the fleece, and tied it within a short distance of each end 
 with silk, by which means the lock was divided into three portions ; he then applied a 
 minute quantity of soap, and worked the lock quickly betwixt his hands — in fact, he 
 felted it by the compression of the hands — on precisely the same principle on which felt- 
 ing by the fulling or milling stock is effected. In a short time the two ends of the lock 
 were formed each into a hard and solid button ; the centre, betwixt, the threads, was un- 
 felted. He drew the conclusion, that wool will not felt unless the fibres are reversed 
 relatively to each other, instead of lying, as on the sheep's back, in parallel lines — root 
 to root, and point to point. The feathered or serrated edges could not meet or become 
 entangled or locked together in the centre of the lock of wool, and therefore it did not 
 felt — the ends being at liberty, the serrated edges met, and the felt was perfectly formed. 
 Bakewell inferred the serrated or feathered formation from the experiment, and he rea- 
 soned rightly ; we may now reason from the formation to the fact of felting, not more 
 correctly, aUhough a more strictly scientific, because more demonstrable, datum — 
 Bakewell on Wool, p. 102. 
 
106 SHEEP. 
 
 (page 91) to perceive that it could not be formed into a tliread at once 
 soft, fine, and having numerous loose points or ends of fibres standing out 
 on its surface : neither does it demand any great sagacity to discover the 
 folly of diverting the close and deeply serrated fibre of Saxony wool to 
 worsted stuffs, where any other wool of equal fineness, but deficient in the 
 serrated edge, would be quite as valuable. The two fabrics, to be made in 
 perfection, demand wools greatly differing in the degree of their curved and 
 serrated formation ; but the difference is one of degree only, — there is no 
 opposition of structure, and each may be applied to either purpose, though 
 with very opposite results, — in the comparative excellence of the ma- 
 nufactured article. 
 
 That the differences of adaptation to the one or the other great branch 
 of the woollen trade was early discovered in wools of different families is 
 perfectly evident from the fact of the very high antiquity of the comb *, 
 and the more simple processes of felting, viz., by compression of the hands 
 and of the feet. Hence a distinction originated of long and short, — or, 
 combing and clothing wools ; and hence, also, the confusion which must 
 pervade any present arrangement of wools, whilst the very same kinds and 
 qualities are used indiscriminately for both purposes. Hence, too, the 
 necessity for that explanation of the different modes of spinning or forming 
 the thread of woollen and worsted yarn respectively : upon which, in 
 many fabrics, far more than on the peculiar length or formation of the fibre 
 
 * The invention of the comb and of the worsted manufactory is involved in great 
 obscurity. From the simplicity of the preparation of the thread, it is not improbable 
 that, although of somewhat later date than the art of felting, it was the first application 
 of the loom to the manufacture of v/oollen goods. They who, in the time of the patri- 
 archs, were skilled in the making of fine linen, woidd not fail of applying similar ma- 
 chinery to the conver.-ion of the fibre of the fleece to kindred purposes. Ancient writers 
 make no distinction between these essentially different preparations of different wools. 
 Even when the spinning of worsted yarns, and the conversion of them into the peculiar 
 kind of goods to which they were adapted, was established in the Netherlands, the 
 writers of these days make no distinction between the different kinds of woollen articles. 
 —Liiccock, p. 63. 
 
 There is, however, no doubt that worsted goods were, like the other preparations of 
 wool, first known in the East, and tradition has fixed on Armenia as the country whence 
 they were transmitted to the regions of the West. Popular legends assign the inven- 
 tion of the comb to Bishop Blaise, who is said to have used it in Alderney. He lived, 
 however, in Armenia, and suffered martyrdom under the tyrant Dioclesian. Dyer, in 
 the second book of " The Fleece," has some pretty lines about him and his supposed 
 discovery. 
 
 " Thus in elder time, 
 
 Tl^e rev'rend Blasius wore his leisure hours, 
 
 And slumbers broken oft ; till fill'd at length 
 
 With inspiration, after various thought, 
 
 And trials manifold, his well-known voice 
 
 Gather"d the poor, and o'er Vulcanian stoves. 
 
 With tepid lees of oil and spiky comb, 
 
 Showed how the fleece might stretch to greater length, 
 
 And cast a glossier whiteness. Wheels went roimd ; 
 
 Matrons and maids with songs relieved their toils ; 
 
 And every loom received the softer yarn. 
 
 What poor, what widow, Blasius, did not bless 
 
 Thy teaching hanil ? thy bosom like the morn 
 
 Opening its wealth ? What nation did not seek 
 
 Of thy new-modelled wool'the curious webs ? 
 What concern he really had in the improvement of the manufactory of wool it is im- 
 possible to say ; but he was, like many of the Christian martyrs, cruelly tortiued before 
 he was put to death, and bis flesh was torn from him with iron combs. The art of 
 combing having bei-u introduced into Europe by some merchants or travellers from 
 Armenia, and every guild or fraternity of workmen having its tutelar saint, Bishop Blaise 
 wfti selected as the patron of the wool-combersi— See Luccock, p. 38. 
 
COMBING. 107 
 
 of the wool of which they are made, the distribution into the one or the 
 other class of manufactures is founded. The merinos— a very beautiful 
 fabric — manufactured of late years in enormous quantities at Bradford, are 
 made of the best Saxon wool, — the very same as is extensively used in tlie 
 neighbouring town of Leeds in the best woollen cloths : but in the manu- 
 facture of the former, the felting principle is not called into action ; and is, 
 indeed, partly forbidden by the arrangement of fibres, already described, as 
 well as partially injured by the combing * ; and in the latter, that principle 
 is called into action, and expressly provided with the means of its fullest 
 development, by the commingling and breaking of the fibres before the 
 thread is formed. 
 
 It would, however, be erroneous to conclude that the distinction of 
 combing and clothing wools is incorrect ; on the contrary, wool which is 
 soft, yielding, and, in proportion to its fineness, full of curves and deeply 
 serrated, is adapted, by conformation, for the application of tlio fulling 
 stock, and is misapplied when it is diverted to any other use. A wool, on 
 the other hand, which is hard, unyielding, stout, or tenacious, and, in pro- 
 portion to its fineness, deficient in curve and slightly serrated, is adapted 
 to the comb, and can never be applied to the manufacture of cloth without 
 serious disappointment. A clothing wool may be applied, with perfect 
 propriety, to combing purposes, when of sufficient length and strength ; 
 but a combing wool is rarely, if ever, applied judiciously to clothing 
 purposes. 
 
 The discovery of the serrated edge having now been happily made, an 
 additional test of the fitness of wools for particular purposes is furnished 
 to the manufacturer ; whilst the breeder may learn to avoid a wrong or bad 
 formation of the fibre, or to encourage a proper and good one. Tlie 
 former will either avoid mistakes in his a])])ropriation of wool, or, better 
 acquainted with the structure of the fibre, will discover new means of 
 applying it to the fabrication of hitherto unknown articles of clothing. 
 The latter will be able readily to discover the capabilities of particular 
 breeds of sheep to produce wools of specific qualities of form and struc- 
 ture, and thus either reject or encourage, or modify, as prudence and 
 judgment may suggest. Thus we may eventually arrive at a forma- 
 tion of the fibre of wool, in each of the two grand divisions of that valuable 
 commodity, which shall combine all the qualities and excellencies de- 
 manded by the manufacturer, — each kind having all its own proper 
 qualities, and being free from any one of those specifically belonging to, 
 or only requisite in the other. The distinction, then, of clothing and 
 combing wools will be accurate and scientific, because the appropriation of 
 the wools will be restricted, necessarily and inevitably, to that branch of 
 the manufacture, and to that only, under which they are respectively 
 classed. 
 
 The change in the surface of the fibre, the obliteration of some of the 
 serrations and the rounding of others, must necessarily lessen the felting 
 property of the wool ; the points of attachment will not be so numerous 
 
 * That the fibre of combed wools is partially injured in its feltinj^ property by that 
 process is evident from the inspection of the cuts given in pp. 90 and 9i. The serrated 
 edge is partially destroyed. It is least apparent m the Saxon wool, p. 89 ; but in the 
 South Down it cannot be mistaken when viewed either as a transparent or as an opaque 
 object. In the transparent object the character of the serrations is altogether different ; 
 they scarcely project from many parts of the fibre, and some of them are ni-arlj' lust : 
 in the opaque one the edj>;es of the leaves that form^the cups are smoothed or planed 
 down. In the opaque fibre of the Leicester wool this is, if possible, yet clearer, and the 
 sharp spines of the transparent fibre are changed into so many steps surrounding the 
 column or pillar. 
 
108 SHEEP. 
 
 nor so firm, nor can the cloth be rendered so close and compact. The sliver, 
 however, may on this account be better formed, the fibres may be brought 
 closer to each other — they may assume more perfectly a parallel direction 
 with each other — they may be more correctly arranged, and a finer, and at 
 the same time a stronger yarn may be spun, and with less of that after- 
 disposition to contract, which the manufacturer of worsted goods is so 
 solicitous to prevent. The curves are diminished by nature in the wools 
 devoted to the comb, and the comber diminishes and planes down the ser- 
 rations ; for, in the language of Luccock, " if tliese hairs contracted — and 
 they are twisted in a spiral form, something like the threads of a compound 
 screw — if these hairs contracted their length in any considerable degree, 
 they could not be correctly arranged nor drawn out in that regular order 
 which the work requires, but would be twisted into the tliread in an irre- 
 gular and crumbled form, a circumstance injurious to the yarn and to the 
 goods which are made from it*.'' 
 
 Although the injury done to the felting property of wool, by the combing 
 process, is undeniable, still it is not so material as to prevent even combed 
 wool from being scribbled and felted. The noyles — those portions of 
 combed wools which are retained in the comb, either because they are too 
 short, or too much entangled, or too tender to pass into the sliver — are all 
 used for the manufacture of cloth, and constitute a very important branch 
 of the woolstapler's trade in all worsted districts. These wools felt well, but 
 they have always what the clothiers call a wild or coarse top, — that is, 
 they do not felt close on the surface of the cloth, — a circumstance 
 which the character of the serrations and the injury done to them by 
 combing readily accounts for. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 The History of the Foreij^n Breeds — Models — The Skeleton — The Leicester — South 
 Down— Cheviot— The Fat-tailed Sheep— The African Sheep— The Egyptian— Ethi- 
 opian — Abyssinian — Madagascar — Cape — The Merinos at the Cape — The Angola 
 Sheep — Guinea — Bearded — Barbary — Fezzan — Morocco — Tunis — The Tunis in 
 America — The Asiatic; Sheep — Persian — Thibet — East Indian — Ceylon — Javanese — 
 Tartarian — The Argali — The Musmon — The American Sheep, 
 
 Before the history of the Sheep is commenced, and he is traced, so far as 
 imperfect records will permit, through the different changes he seems to 
 have undergone in different periods and countries, it will be advisable to 
 give a sketch of him in his more perfect state, and as the gradual improve- 
 ment of agriculture and of sheep-husbandry has made him. There would, 
 however, be considerable difficulty attending this, if one kind of sheep alone 
 was selected ; for there is scarcely more difference between the hill and the 
 vale country, than the practised eye perceives between the mountain and the 
 lowland sheep. An outline of each of them must for the present suffice — 
 the manner in which they have been bred up to their present state, and a 
 
 * One hundred and fifty hank* in the pound, 84,000 yards, or nearly 48 miles, were 
 spun by Mary Pringle, of East Deriton, Norfolk ; and this was thought so extraordinary 
 that it was rcgistertd at the Royal Society. 
 
SKELETON OF THE SHEEP. 
 
 109 
 
 lengthened account of the character and importance of the pai-tieular points 
 of each, will be reserved for an after part of the work, when each breed will, 
 in its turn, come under consideration. Enough will be given for the pur- 
 pose of reference and comparison, as the early history of this animal proceeds. 
 The following skeleton is that of a Leicester sheep, but, perhaps, not of 
 the best breed. 
 
 [Skeleton of the Sheep.'\ 
 
 The Head. 
 
 . The inter-maxillary bone. 
 
 . The nasal bones. 
 The upper jaw.' 
 
 The union of the nasal and upper jaw 
 bones. 
 
 . The union of the malar and lachrymal 
 bones. 
 
 . The orbits of the eye. 
 
 . The frontal bone. 
 
 . The lower jaw. 
 
 . The incisor teeth, or nippers. 
 
 . The molars, or grinders. 
 The Trunk. 
 
 . 1. The ligament of the neck, support- 
 ing the head. 
 
 . 2. 3. 4. .5. 6. 7. The seven vertebrae, or 
 bones of the neck. 
 
 — 13. The thirteen vertebrae, or bones of 
 the back. 
 
 — f). The six vertebrae of the loins. 
 
 . The sacral bone. 
 The bones of the tail, varying in dif- 
 ferent breeds from 12 to 21. 
 
 . The haunch and pelvis. 
 
 —8. The eight true ribs with their car- 
 tilages. 
 
 — 13. The five Hilse ribs, or those that 
 are not attached to the breast-bone. 
 
 . The breast-bone. 
 
 Tke Fore Leg. 
 1.' The scapula, or shoulder-blade. 
 2.__The humerus, bone of the arm, or 
 lower part of the shoulder. 
 
 3, The radius, or bone of the fore-arm. 
 
 4. The ulna, or elbow. 
 
 ."). The knee, with its different bones. 
 C. The metacarpal, or shank-bones — the 
 larger bones of the leg. 
 
 7. A rudiment of the smaller metacarpal. 
 
 8. One of the sessamoid bones. 
 
 9. The two first bones of the foot — the 
 
 pasterns. 
 10. The proper bones of the foot. 
 
 The Hind Leg. 
 
 1. The thigh-bone. 
 
 2. The stifle-joint and its bone— the pa- 
 
 tella. 
 
 3. The tibia, or bone of the upper part of 
 
 the leg. 
 
 4. The point of the hock. 
 
 O. The other bones ol the hock. 
 
 6. The metatarsal bone, or bone of the 
 
 hind leg. 
 
 7. Rudiment of the sipall metatarsal. 
 
 8. A sessamoid bone. 
 
 9. The two first bones of the foot— the 
 
 pasterns. 
 10, The proper bone of the foot. 
 
no SHEEP. 
 
 As a lowland sheep, and destined to live on good pasture, the New Lei- 
 cester is without a rival — in fact he has improved, if he has not given the 
 principal value to, all the other long-woolled sheep. 
 
 The head should be hornless, long, small, tapering towards the muzzle, 
 and projecting horizontally forwards. The eyes prominent, but 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 gra- 
 dually 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, witli the sliglitest possible deviation, one continued hori- 
 zontal 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 
 legs small, standing wide apart, no looseness of skin about them, and com- 
 paratively 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 quar- 
 ters long and full, and, as Vv'itli the fore -legs, the muscles extending down 
 to the hock ; the thighs also wide and full. The legs of a moderate length, 
 the pelt also 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. 
 
 [The New Leicester.'] 
 
 Tiiis account combines tlie main excellences both of Bakewell's own breed 
 and Culley's variety or imi)rovement of it. It is precisely the form for a 
 
THE SOUTH-DOWN SHEEP. Ill 
 
 sheep provided with plenty of good food and without any great distance 
 to travel or exertion to make in gathering it. 
 
 The principal recommendations of this breed are its beauty and its ful- 
 ness of form, comprising, in the same apparent dimensions, greater weight 
 than any other sheep; an early maturity, and a propensity to fatten 
 equalled by no other breed ; a diminution in the proportion of oflal, and 
 the return of most money for the quantity of food consumed *. 
 
 The sheep whose portrait is represented in the previous cut belonged to 
 his Grace the Duke of Bedford. 
 
 The next is the hill sheep, adapted to more elevated situations and 
 shorter feed on the natural and permanent pastures ; able also to travel, 
 without detriment, a considerable distance to the fold and to the down. 
 There can be no hesitation in fixing on the South-Down as the model here. 
 
 The following is the substance of the description of this sheep by Mr. 
 Ellman, who, if he may not be considered, like Mr. Bakewell with regard 
 to tlie Leicesters, as founder of the breed, yet contributed more than any 
 other man to its present improvement and value. 
 
 The head small and hornless ; the face speckled or grey, and neither too 
 long nor too short. The lips thin, and the space between the nose and the 
 eyes narrow. The under jaw, or chap, fine and thin ; the ears tolerably 
 wide, and well covered with wool, and the forehead also, and the whole 
 space between the ears well protected by it, as a defence against the fly. 
 
 The eye full and bright, but not prominent. The orbits of the eye — the 
 eye-cap, or bone, — not too projecting, that it may not form a fatal obstacle 
 in lambing. 
 
 The neck of a medium length, thin towards the head, but enlarging 
 towards the shoulders where it should be broad and high, and straight in its 
 whole course above and below. The breast should be wide, deep, and pro- 
 jecting forwards between the fore legs, indicating a good constitution, and a 
 disposition to thrive. Corresponding with this, the shoulders should be on 
 a level with the back, and not too wide above ; they should bow outward 
 from the top to the breast, indicating a springing rib beneath, and leaving 
 room for it. 
 
 The ribs coming out horizontally from the spine, and extending fiir back- 
 ward, and the last rib projecting more than the others ; the back flat from 
 the shoulders to the setting on of the tail ; the loin broad and flat ; the 
 rump long and broad, and the tail set on high and nearly on a level with the 
 spine. The hips wide ; the space between them and the last rib on either 
 side as narrow as possible, and the ribs, generally, presenting a circular 
 form like a barrel. 
 
 The belly as straight as the back. 
 
 The legs neither too long nor too short. The fore-legs straight from 
 the breast to the foot ; not bending inward at the knee, and standing far 
 apart both before and behind ; the hocks having a direction rather outward, 
 and the twist, or the meeting of the thighs behind, being particularly full ; 
 the bones fine, yet having no appearance of weakness, and of a speckled or 
 dark colour. 
 
 The belly well defended with wool, and the wool coming down before 
 and behind to the knee, and to the hock ; the wool tihort, close, curled, and 
 fine, and free from spiry projecMng fibres. 
 
 The South- Down is aciaptet' to almost any situation in the midland part 
 of England ; it has a patience of occasional short keep, and an endurance 
 of hard stocking, equal to any other sheep ; an early maturity, scarcely 
 
 * CiiUey on Live Stock, and Marshall's Midland Counties. 
 
112 
 
 SHEEP 
 
 [TAe South-Down Ewe.J 
 
 inferior to that of the Leicesters, and the flesh finely grained, and of pecu- 
 liarly good flavour.* 
 
 The inhabitant of a still more elevated region and a colder clime, occa- 
 
 [T/u Cheviot Sheep.] 
 * Baxtoi's Agiiciiltural Libraryj p. 403. 
 
THE FAT-TAILED SHEEP. 113 
 
 sionally exposed to the severest storms, yet enduring them and thriving, 
 will complete the list of models ; and among the British sheep, the Cheviot 
 most deserves to be selected. 
 
 A description of them by a writer in the Farmer's Magazine, who had 
 studied and known them well, is selected as a faithful representation of 
 what they were, or what a good Cheviot should be, even before this breed 
 had received the last improvement from the Leicesters : — 
 
 " The head polled, bare and clean, with jaw bone of a good length. Ears 
 not too short. Countenance of not too dark a colour. (Repeated crossings 
 with the Leicester have now made both the face and the legs white.) Neck 
 full, round and not too long; well covered with wool, and without any beard 
 or coarse wool beneath. Shoulders deep, full, and wide-set above. Chest full 
 and open. Chine long, but not too long ; straight, broad, and wide acrpss 
 the fillets. Hams round and plump. Body in general round and full, and 
 not too deep or flat in the ribs or flanks. Legs clean, of a proportionable 
 length, and well clad with wool to the knee-joints and hocks. Fleece fine, 
 close, short, and thick set ; of a medium length of pile, without hairs at the 
 bottom, and not curled on the shoulders, and with as little coarse wool as 
 possible on the hips, tail, and belly. A sheep possessing these properties 
 in an eminent degree may be considered as the most perfect model of the 
 Cheviot breed." * 
 
 These sheep, notwithstanding the strong prejudice that was entertained 
 against them, have established themselves in every part of the South High- 
 lands, almost to the exclusion of the native horned and short breed ; and 
 when their wool is become a little finer in the pile and somewhat shorter in 
 the staple, in order to make it at the same time more portable by the 
 animal and fitter for the cloth manufacturer ; when the pelt is a little thicker, 
 better to ensure, if need be, the hardihood of the breed, and the wool is a 
 little more equal in point of quality on every part of the sheep, the Cheviot 
 will extend itself also through the Northern Highlands, and there, too, the 
 value of the sheep-farm and the comfort ofHhe peasant will be more than 
 doubled. The native black-faced breed — the short sheep — with which the 
 Cheviot is still contending far in the north, and which he is gradually dis- 
 placing, might, perhaps, deserve a place in the catalogue of models ; but, 
 valuable as he is, he must gradually give way, and in a manner disappear. 
 
 THE FAT-TAILED SHEEP. 
 
 Several breeds of sheep, that seem to be derived from a variety of the 
 primitive race, are found in the countries which the patriarchs traversed. 
 In Syria, the chief residence of the early shepherds, a sheep is cultivated, of 
 which Dr. Russell, in his History of Aleppo, gives the following account : 
 " Tlie dead weight of one of these sheep will amount to 50lbs. or 60lbs, of 
 which the tail makes up 15lbs. or 161bs. ; but some of the largest that 
 have been fattened with care weigh 150lb3., the tail alone composing one- 
 third of the whole weight. This broad, flattish tail is mostly covered with 
 long wool, and, becoming very small at the extremity, turns up. It is en- 
 tirely composed of a substance between marrow and fat, serving very often 
 in the kitchen instead of butter, and cut into small pieces, makes an ingre- 
 dient in various dishes. When the animal is young, it is little inferior to 
 marrow." 
 
 This race of sheep is found scattered over almost as large an extent of 
 
 country as the fat rumps. They diff"er in the comparative accumulation of 
 
 fat, compared with the general weight of the animal, and in the situation 
 
 of the fat. In some, as in the sheep of Syria, it accumulates about the 
 
 * Farmer's Mag. 1810, p. 143. 
 
 I 
 
114 SHEEP. 
 
 upper part of the tail, and may very readily be consideredjas a variety of 
 the Steatopyga already described. This strange collection of adipose 
 matter has only shifted its situation a very little way, viz., from the posterior 
 part of the haunch — the very rump — to the superior part of the tail. This 
 variety might have been at first accidental, and perpetuated either by acci- 
 dent or design. Others have two large lobes of fat at the sides of the tail, 
 reaching as low as the hocks. This is an extension of the first deviation. 
 In a third variety, the masses of fat not only extend to, but chiefly occupy, 
 the inferior part of the tail, which is naked and almost flesh-coloured. 
 This further deviation presents nothing more remarkable than is found in 
 other breeds. Sheep of one or the other of these varieties extend over 
 Syria, Egypt, Southern Africa, Russia, India, and China*. 
 
 Dr. Russell thus continues his account of the Syrian sheep: — "Animals 
 of tliis extraordinary size (1501bs.) are, however, very rare, and kept up in 
 yards, so as to be in little danger of hurting their tails as they walk about 
 but in the fields, in order to prevent injury from the bushes, the shepherds 
 in several places of Syria fix a thin piece of board to the under part, which 
 is not, like the rest, covered with wool, and to this board are sometimes 
 added small wheels ; whence, with a little exaggeration, we have the story 
 of the oriental sheep being under the necessity of having carts to carry 
 their tails. But the necessity of carriages for the tails of the African sheep, 
 mentioned by Herodotus, Rudolphus, and others, is real. The tail of that 
 animal when fat actually trails, not being tucked up like those of the 
 Syrian sheep." 
 
 Tlie following cut contains the delineation of a rather unusual variety of 
 the fat-tailed slieep that formed part of the collection in the Jardin des 
 Plantes in Paris. The profusion of long wool and hair, extending from the 
 lower part of the neck to the brisket, gives it a singular, and not unplea- 
 sant, appearance. 
 
 [ 77ie Fal-Udled S/ieep.] 
 * The Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 328. 
 
THE EGYPTIAN SHEEP. 115 
 
 Dr. Anderson, from Pallas, gives a more satisfactory account of the 
 form and qualities of tliis sheep, as found among the Boucharian Tartars. 
 He says that " it is seldom larger than the common Russian sheep : the 
 liead is like that of the fat-rumped, but the muzzle sharper, the body rather 
 smaller than that of the fat-rumped ; the ears large and pendent. They 
 have a small collection of fat on the rump (a further corroboration of their 
 being merely varieties of the steatopyga), a tail fat and broad at the base, 
 with a long narrow appendage ; and the wool compact and thick, soft and 
 elastic, (so far, he of course means, as elasticity is compatible with soft- 
 ness — the elasticity of the fme-woolled Saxony fleece, each fibre of which, 
 when cut into shreds, obstinately retains its native curls ; accordingly he 
 adds) regularly formed into frizzled circles*." 
 
 In the Iamb (see p. 53) it appears like little delicate circular waves, 
 which seem as if they were pressed close to the skin by art, and elegantly 
 marbled, with feathered waves like silk damask. 
 
 Dr. Anderson well observes here that there cannot be a clearer proof of 
 the pureness and trueness of the wool ; for if any hairs mingle with it, 
 they are always observed at the birth of the lamb : they are tlien more 
 fully grown than the wool, and often give to the fleece an unsightly, 
 shaggy appearance f. He adds, that a fleece of this character might be 
 rendered exceedingly valuable under proper management ; but that from 
 a Tartar tribe it would be fruitless to look for improvement which must be 
 purchased at the expense of patience and labour; and especially when, in 
 their estimation, so ample a remuneration can be obtained by the slaughter 
 of the lamb. 
 
 THE EGYPTIAN, ETHIOPIAN, AND ABYSSINIAN SHEEP, 
 
 Travellers give a very unsatisfactory account of the sheep near the 
 eastern coast of Africa, and on the borders of the Red Sea. The fat-tailed 
 sheep prevail in Egypt, and both varieties of them are found ; but those 
 with long tails, nearly or quite reaching to the ground, are more numerous 
 than the broad-tailed kind. They are of large size, mostly with black 
 heads and necks, an external coat of hair, and their flesh well-flavoured J. 
 
 In Nether Ethiopia the sheep begin to be more numerous ; they are 
 large — some of them with tails from ISlbs. to 25lbs. in weight — with black, 
 heads and necks, and the remainder of their bodies white ; others are quite 
 white, with tails reaching nearly to tlie ground, and becoming curved at 
 the extremity §. Here also the fat-rumped variety again begins to be 
 found — smaller — more compact than those with long tails — with. black 
 heads and necks, and bearing resemblance to, but being of rather smaller 
 size than the Persian sheep(|. 
 
 Proceeding farther southward, they are, according to Bruce, taller and all 
 black ; their heads large, and with ears remarkably short and small. They 
 
 * Anderson on Sheep, p. 53. 
 
 f Speaking of the possibility of obtaining any of the Boucharian sheep for tlie pur- 
 pose of experimental breeding, Dr. Anderson observes that it would be attended with 
 almost insuperable difficulty. The southern provinces of Siberia, which border on the 
 Kirguise country, where the best fat-rumped Russian sheep are found, are at least 2000 
 miles from Petersburgh, and the cattle which are sent from Siberia to the capital of 
 Russia occupy about two years in completing their journey, passing through the hands of 
 several diflerent merchants by the way : it is therefore probable that a great proportion 
 of them would die or be lost on the journey. Boucharia is at least. 1000 miles beyond 
 the Kirguise country, in the same route. The first destination of the Boucharian sheep 
 and skins is the Siberian market j their after route is a hazardous speculation. — Ander 
 sou, p. 154, 
 
 J Anderson, p. 55. § Dapper's Africa, p. 86. 
 
 II Ogilby's Africa, 1670. Pp 232 and 538. 
 
 2i 
 
116 SHEEP. 
 
 also, like all the native sheep within the tropics, have an external covering 
 of hair ; but that hair is sometimes remarkable for its lustre and softness. 
 The tail is neither large nor fat, and the mutton is remarkable for its plea- 
 sant flavour*. The smaller sheep, resembling, and, except in size, identical 
 with, the Persian or primitive breed, is more prevalent. The cut given in 
 p. 23, faithfully represents the usual Abyssinian sheep, but of a somewhat 
 larger size. Here, too, pursuing this route through the African peninsula, 
 we begin to find the many-horned sheep. When the usual number of 
 liorns is exceeded, most of the animals have four : travellers, however, men- 
 tion one variety that has six — but the existence of tlifise does not rest on 
 unquestionable authorityf. 
 
 There are few countries in which the rot is, at certain seasons of the year, 
 more prevalent and destructive than on the banks of the Nile, from the 
 Delta to Abyssinia, and yet there is no country in which it seems to be 
 so much under control. As soon as the Nile returns to its bed, the Egyp- 
 tians and the Bedouin Arabs drive their sheep to feed on the luxuriant 
 pasturage which seems to spring up as it were by magic : but the soil is 
 yet replete with moisture, and exposed, in Ethiopia and Abyssinia at least, 
 to a tropical sun ; and those deleterious miasmata are developed, which are 
 now generally acknowledged to be the sole cause of the disease. 
 
 The sheep fatten on this new and succulent herbage with a rapidity 
 almost incredible ; but the poison soon begins to display its baneful influ- 
 ence. The Bedouins are watchful for the first indication of the rot, and 
 they lose not a moment. They collect their flocks and drive them back to 
 the deserts ; and there, in the midst of the sands, and their principal food 
 being of a dry and stimulating nature, the symptoms of the malady gra- 
 dually disappear, and the sheep regain their former health. The Bedouins 
 know not any other curative treatment — they want no other ; or, if deluded 
 by the rapidly increasing condition of the sheep, they loiter a little too long 
 in the neighbourhood of the river, and this simple mode of treatment fails, 
 they destroy the animal before he has wasted too much. When, however, 
 the rot appears in that portion of the Nile, in Lower and in part of Upper 
 Egypt, where despotism has established her throne, the inhabitants are 
 indifferent to the progress of the pest. They know well the cause of it ; 
 but they attempt not to combat it. Their sheep and their wool belong not 
 to them, and why should they occupy themselves with the amelioration of 
 their flock, or endeavour to preserve them in health J ? 
 
 At Cape Guarda, a little way south of the Straits of Babel mandel, the 
 sheep are white, with rather small black heads. They are a large, hand- 
 some breed, resembling the Abyssinian and the Persian, except that they 
 have broad, fat tails, six or eight inches in length §. 
 
 THE MADAGASCAR SHEEP. 
 
 The eastern coast must now be pursued almost to the Cape of Good Hope 
 before we can gather from travellers any authentic account of the character 
 and value of the sheep. In the 13th degree of south latitude, however, 
 the northern promontory of Madagascal- presents itself, at no great distance 
 from the African coast. The sheep resemble those on the opposite con- 
 tinent: they have large, broad tails |j , and nothing more would be said of 
 them, had not Dr. Anderson % given a long description of one of them, 
 
 * Bruce's Travels, vol. iv. p. 277. f Dapper's Africa, p. 17. 
 
 t The Veterinarian, vol. iii. pp. 538, 590. § Anderson on Sheep, p. 59, 
 
 II Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1781. Vol. ii. p,399. 
 11 Americau Phil. Trans., vol. iv, p. 144. 
 
CAPE SHEEP. 117 
 
 and drawn some important, yet not altogether correct conclusions from his 
 examination of the animal. He says, " A Danish East Indianian put into 
 Leith roads on her return home. I went on board to see what curiosities 
 she had, and I there found a very fine sheep, which was closely covered 
 with a close coat of thick, short hair, very smooth and sleek, like the coat 
 of a well-dressed horse, but the hairs rather stiffer, and thicker set on the 
 skin, and the colour a fine nut brown. This sheep, I was told, was 
 brought from the island of Madagascar, and that all the sheep found on the 
 island were of the same sort. Along with it was another sheep, brought 
 from India, carrying a very close fleece of good wool, which," as he very 
 properly remarks, and it is a principle that should never be forgotten by 
 the sheep owner, " clearly proves the influence of breed in overruling 
 that of climate." 
 
 Dr. Anderson had not examinea tne coat of this animal so closely as he 
 might have done, and therefore, overlooking the wool (sometimes short, 
 and small in quantity), which may always be found beneath its hairy coat, 
 and wliich, at the period of moulting, is evidently separating from the pelt, 
 and working its way through the hair, he draws the erroneous conclusion 
 that " the sheep is not necessarily a wool-bearing animal, and that there 
 are those that carry short, stiff" hair only, and nothing that resembles wool, 
 or that can be employed in manufactures for the same uses as wool ; and 
 others that carry long hair, that has been generally confounded with wool, 
 and that may be shorn and employed in coarse fabrics in the place of 
 wool." This cannot possibly be maintained. The sheep is essentially u 
 wool-bearing animal. Nature has superadded another coat where the 
 climate or other circumstances seemed to demand it ; but man, by pursuing 
 a judicious system of breeding, is able, in defiance of climate, not only to 
 lessen, but completely to remove the hair 
 
 THE CAPE SHEEP. 
 
 The desert and almost unknown coasts of Adal and Ajan, and Mara- 
 catos, having been passed, the marshy district of Zanquebar, with its 
 abundance of elephants, presents itself, with its city of Melinda, inhabited 
 principally by Mahometans, but nominally dependent on the Portuguese. 
 To this follows the Portuguese kingdom of Mozambique, and other various 
 uncivilized tribes ; and it is not until we reach the Dutch settlements north 
 of the Cape that any authentic account of the sheep can be found. 
 
 The native Cape sheep are of the broad-tailed breed. Barrow gives one 
 of tlie best descriptions of them *. He says that " they are long-legged, 
 small in the body, and thin in the fore quarter and across the ribs. They 
 have little internal or external fat, but it is all collected on the rump and 
 on the tail t, proving them to be either a variety of the steatopyga, or a 
 mixture of them and the broad-tailed sheep. The tail is short, broad, flat, 
 naked on the under-side, and weighing from six to twelve pounds. The 
 fat is of a semi-fluid nature, or rather having the consistence of a thick oil, 
 and is frequently used as a substitute for it and for butter t." 
 
 * Barrow's Southeru Africa, vol. i. p. 116. 
 
 t A writer of considerable talent, but evidently under the influence of much prejudice, 
 says, that " they are -wretched beasts ; the other parts of the body seem drained to 
 supply the acciunulation of fat on the tail. They are lanky, sinewy beasts, more shaped 
 for racing than roasting, and without an ounce of fat to encumber their speed." — Far- 
 mer's Magazine, Aug., l8'21. 
 
 I From this description of Barrow, and whose fidelity cannot be doubted, it would not 
 have been expected that the C:ipe sheep would have been very profit.ible feeders ; yet 
 another traveller writes, " It was not without much astonishment that we beheld the 
 considerable number and unparalleled fatness of the sheep here, compared with the horrid 
 drouijht and aridity of the land. In this part of the country they always look out for the 
 
118 SHEEP. 
 
 They are of every variety of colour — black, brown, bay, but mostly 
 spotted ; their necks are small, their ears long and pendulous ; they weigh 
 from 60 to 70 lbs. on their inland pasture, but when brought to the barren 
 country about the Caj)e, they often dwindle down to 40. They are covered 
 with strong frizzled hair, of which little use is made, except for cushions 
 and mattresses. The sheep are neither washed nor shorn, but the wool is 
 suffered to drop oft" of its own accord, which it does in September and 
 October. The skins clothe the Hottentots and the children, or make bags 
 for various household purposes." 
 
 These observations of Barrow refer to the native sheep alone, whether the 
 property of the Hottentots, or of the European settlers, English or Dutch. 
 Burchell gives a fuller history of the purposes to which the skin of the Cape 
 sheep is devoted. " When these skins are properly dressed and cleaned, 
 and a number of them sewed together, they form a much warmer covering 
 than could be made from any other materials. The richer inhabitants, and 
 those of Cape Town who can aff'ord themselves more expensive coverings, 
 affect to dislike the cheaper koombaar (the name given to these garments), 
 because, they say, it smells of mutton ; but the boor (the Cape farmer) is 
 enabled, by his immense flocks, to select such only as have a smooth fur, 
 and so he obtains a handsome coverlet, so unlike what a European could 
 imagine for sheep's-skins, that it may be doubted whether many persons 
 would even guess from what animal it was made. Those that have been 
 brought to Europe have been viewed as the skins of some unknown quadru- 
 ped. Few furs can be more beautiful than the selected skins of lambs thus 
 prepared *." 
 
 When the Dutch began to settle in the neighbourhood of the Cape in 
 1650, the Caffers, notwithstanding their wild and savage life, were, to a 
 considerable extent, shepherds. The country abounded with cattle, and 
 more especially with sheep. The employment and the wealth of the boors, 
 until they devoted themselves to the cultivation of the vine, consisted in the 
 rearing and pasturage of oxen and sheep. Burchell sketches the following 
 evening scene : — " It was an amusing and interesting sight to behold, a little 
 before sunset, the numerous flocks streaming like an inundation over the 
 ridges and low hills, or moving in a compact body like an army invading 
 the country, and driven forwards only by two or three Hottentots, with a few 
 dogs. At a great distance the confused sound of their bleating began to be 
 heard ; but as they approached nearer and nearer, the noise gradually in- 
 creased till the various cries of the multitude mingled with the whole air, 
 and deadened every other sound. The shepherds seldom returned home 
 
 leanest in the flock ; the tail alone of one of these sheep (which is thick, and of a trian- 
 gular shape, being from a foot to a foot and a half in length, and sometimes above five 
 or six inches thick near the rump) will weigh from 8 to 12 pounds, and mostly consists 
 of a delicate kind of fat, which is eaten with bread instead of butter, and is used for 
 dressing victuals." — Sharrman's Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, vol. i. p. 300. 
 
 It is to be hoped, for the sake of humanity, that the Hottentot method of butchering 
 the sheep is not now in use. " They tie his fore-legs together and then the hind-legs, 
 and then stretch him on his back, and rip up his belly, so that the entrails appear ; then 
 with one hand they gently tear them from the carcase, and with the other liand stir the 
 blood that flows into the belly, in order to keep it from congealing. While the butcher is 
 doing this, he avoids as much as possible the breaking of any of the large blood-vessels, 
 V)y which means the animal is at least a quarter of an hour dying. Having torn away 
 the intestines, another hastily cleans them, and lays a part of them on the fire to broil ; 
 and such dispatch is made, that this is generally deroured before the sheep is dead. 
 The blood is then scooped out of the carcase with sea-shells, and put in pots, mixed with 
 the remainder of the intestines, minced very small, and that forthwitU is set a stewing. 
 When the sheep is quite dead, he is skinned and eaten up." — Kolhen's Cape of Good 
 Hope, p. 226. 
 
 * BurcheU'a Travels iu Africa, vol, ii. p. 175. 
 
CAPE SHEEP. 119 
 
 without bringing under their arms a lamb or two which had been dropped 
 in the course of the day, and as yet too weak to follow their dam. The 
 faculty which the Hottentots possessof distinguishing the features, as it were, 
 and characteristic appearance of each sheep, is almost incredible, and they 
 seldom mistake the ewe to which each lambkin belongs*." 
 
 Dreadful was the system of oppression pursued by the European invaders. 
 The native inhabitants were all massacred or enslaved, or driven into the 
 interior, whence they often returned to annoy and avenge themselves on their 
 tyrants. It had been hoped that, when the colony at the Cape was permanently 
 ceded to the British, the condition of the original possessors of the country, 
 debased and strangely changed in form and in mind, would have been ame- 
 liorated ; and so it doubtless would and will be, but the sense of oppression 
 and injury rankled in the minds of the Bushmen, and, instigated by some 
 runaway slaves, and infuriated by some, perhaps too severe, acts of legal 
 justice, they have turned on their masters ; and although the eventual secu- 
 rity of the colony is not, perhaps, endangered, more than 80,000 head of 
 cattle, and sheep almost innumerable, have lately (1834) been driven 
 away or destroyed by the natives. 
 
 When the value of the Merino wool began to be acknowledged, a few of 
 the Spanish sheep were sent to the Dutch colonies at the Cape of Good 
 Hope ; but the native sheep seemed, from the nature of its covering, to be 
 so plainly adapted to the situation in which it was placed ; and the prejudice 
 was so strong, and so universal, that it would be useless to attempt to 
 preserve the fineness of the Merino wool in the torrid clime of Southern 
 Africa ; and, perhaps the prevailing motive, the use of the fat obtained 
 from the tail of the Cape sheep, was so various, and so identified with the 
 likings and habits of the colonists, that few of the Dutch farmers could be 
 induced to give the new-comers even the shadow of a trial. The experi- 
 ments that were made were confined chiefly to the Government farms, and 
 a few others in their immediate vicinity. It is needless to say that they 
 were, to a great degree, unsuccessful. 
 
 When these colonies were ceded to Britain, a more extensive and a fairer 
 trial was given to the Merino sheep at the Cape ; and even then, though 
 neither pains nor expense were spared, the success was at first far from 
 being encouraging. Owing to bad management of various kinds, the wool 
 actually seemed to have degenerated, and it was so much clogged with sand 
 and small vegetable substances, as greatly to deteriorate its value in manufac- 
 ture. A very intelligent traveller, and a colonist at the Cape, Mr. Thompson, 
 
 * Biirchell's Travels, vol. i, p. 242. " I saw," says Sharrman, " an old Boshie«- 
 mau and his wife, who, I was informe* by a farmer, had, a few months befure, reigned 
 over a tribe of Boshiesmen. They were now translated from their former royal or patri- 
 archal dignity to the station of shepherds over a few hundreds of sheep. On the whole, 
 he gave them great commendation, as being exact in their business, and suiting their 
 inclination to their fortunes, yet he indignantly reprobated that system of spoliation and 
 oppression which could scatter a whole community ,and degrade and enslave its sovereign.'" 
 — Sharrraan's Voyage, vol. i. p. 300. 
 
 Priugle had some such scene in his mind's eye, when he thus describes the Hottentot. 
 " Mild, melancholy, and sedate he stands, 
 
 Tending another's ilocks upon the fields — 
 
 His father's once — where now the white man builds 
 
 His home, and issues i'orth his proud commands. 
 
 His dark eye flashes not; 
 
 be yields 
 
 Submissively his freedom and his lands. 
 
 Has he no courage ? Once he had — but lo ! 
 
 The felon's chain hath worn him to the bone 
 
 No enterprise ? Alas, the brand, the blow 
 
 Have humbled him to dust." — African Sketches 
 
120 SHEEP. 
 
 confirms tliis statement. " This I am fully aware of, liaving sent home 
 some wool esteemed of good quality, which lost above half its weight in 
 washing, and produced a cloth about 12s. per yard in value, which I sold 
 at the Cape, and the result paid me little more than 5 per cent, on the 
 capital *." 
 
 The difficulties which at first opposed the establishment of the Merino 
 sheep have now been conquered, and wool of excellent quality from almost 
 every part of the colony, and particularly from the eastern districts,, has 
 been sent to England. Some British sheep have also been tried, particu- 
 larly the South Downs ; but there, as in their native clime, these have 
 yielded to the Merino, so far as the manufacture of fine cloth was con- 
 cerned. In 1804, there were in the colony 536,634 sheep. In 1811, there 
 were 1,293,740, being an increase of 757,106 in seven yearsf. In 1810, 
 29,717 lbs. of wool were imported into Great Britain from the Cape of 
 Good Hope. In 1833, the importation had increased to 93,325 IbsJ. 
 
 As to the actual state of the fleece, M. Lasteyrie, the unwearied advocate 
 of llie Merinos, uses this remarkable language, and which should never be 
 forgotten by the breeder of every kind of sheep and everywhere : — ' The 
 preservation of the Merino race in its utmost purity at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, in the marshes of Holland, and under the rigorous climate of Sweden, 
 fiiriiish an aildilional support of this, my unalterable principle, Jlne-u'ooled 
 sheep may be kept wherever industrious men and intelligent breeders 
 exist §.' 
 
 ANGOLA SHEEP. 
 
 Skirting the south-western coast towards Guinea too little is known ofthe 
 Africans, their habits, or their possessions, to justify any detailed account of 
 their sheep. A very singular sheep, however, is found in Angola, called the 
 Zunil. Its legs are long and slender, but the arms and shanks are muscular 
 and strong.. There is a slight elevation at the withers, the chest is narrow 
 and flat, and falling in between the arms ; the false ribs project, and give to 
 the carcase a strong resemblance to that of the zsbu. It is not the form 
 which would promise much general thriftiness, and accordingly the fat is 
 most singularly disposed. It is taken from the tail or rump, and is distri- 
 buted over three parts of the animal. A small portion of it is spread over 
 the posterior part of the loin and the commencement of the hauncli. A 
 more decided accumulation is found on the i)oll, and precisely of the 
 semi-fluid character which the fat assumes in the tail, or the rump of other 
 eastern sheep. This mass commences from the base of the ears, and ex- 
 tends backwards, in the form of a rounded projection, half way down the 
 neck. Under the jaw, and commencing a little behind the angle of the 
 mouth, and extending downwards and covering the superior part of the 
 larynx, is a third collection of soft fatty matter, obtaining for the sheep, 
 according to some naturalists, but improperly, for the tumour is too high 
 and too forward, the name of the goitred sheep. This may be truly termed 
 a curious variety of sheep ; it is not found in any other part of the world. 
 
 The horns are very small, drooping at first, and then turning inwards 
 and upwards ; the tail, slender and almost naked, reaches very nearly to the 
 ground. The whole animal is covered with short close hair, giving a very 
 curious appearance to the tail. The neck and upper part of the carcase and 
 tail are of a pale-brown colour ; the head, throat, legs, belly, and the infe- 
 
 * Thompson's Travels in Southera Africa, 1827, vol. ii. p. 291. 
 
 f Burchell's Travels, p. 144. 
 
 + See Table, p 101. 
 
 ^ Lasteyrie ou the Merino Sheep, p. 101. 
 
GUINEA SHEEP. 121 
 
 rior part of the tail are white ; the forehead is unusually prominent, the 
 eyes small and sunken, the ears exceedingly large and pendulous *. 
 
 Other sheep, occupying the kingdom of Congo, are also covered with hair 
 of a pale-brown colour, not close like the zunu, but loose and open, and with 
 two wattles beneath the throat. The Coquo is also an inhabitant of 
 Angola, having a greater proportion ci wool under the hair, and of a finer 
 quality, and white, with spots of a light-brown colour : the tail Ion"- and 
 slender, but otherwise more resembling some of the European breeds. The 
 long fat-tailed sheep, however, generally prevails. Anthony Hartvvell, 
 writing in 1597, thus describes them : — " Their muttons or shee^pe are 
 twice as grate as the sheepe of our countrey, for they divide them into five 
 quarters (if a man may so call them), and reckon the tayle for one which 
 commonly waveth some twentie-five or thirtie pounds f." 
 
 THE GUINEA SHEEP. 
 
 There are two kinds of sheep on the Slave coast. One is of a small size, 
 and not unlike the prevailing European sheep, but of not more than half 
 their size. " They have no wool, but,'' says the old Dutch traveller. Bos- 
 man, " the want is supplied with hair, so that here the world seems inverted, 
 for the sheep are hairy and the men are woolly. The flesh is dry and 
 unpalatable :}:." Barbot gives a similar account. *' The sheep are not so 
 large as ours, and have no wool, but hair like a goat, with a sort of mane 
 like a lion on the neck, and so on the rump, and a bunch at the end of the 
 tail. They are indifferent meat, but serve here for want of better §." 
 
 The most numerous breed of Guinea sheep is of a very different character. 
 The male is horned, the horns generally forming a semicircle, with the 
 points forward : the females are hornless. Accor ing to Major Hamilton 
 Smith, there is usually some black distributed a out the sides of the head 
 and on the neck, and in proportion as this co'our spreads, the horns decrease 
 in size, the ears become pendulous, and ? attles are found under the throat. 
 He saw a large Guinea ram white, bu'^ with large black spots on the head, 
 shoulders, flanks, and legs. On th neck there was a beautiful mane of 
 long, silky white hairs |. 
 
 A modern traveller says th t " the sheep in Guinea have so little resem- 
 blance to those in Europe that a stranger, unless he heard them bleat, could 
 hardly tell what animals they were, being covered with white and brown 
 hairs like a dog *|[.' 
 
 In the early par*^ of the seventeenth century the Guinea sheep were 
 introduced into the islands near the Texel and into Groningen, and called 
 the Mouton Flandrin or Texel sheep. Some strangely exaggerated accounts 
 were given of them by the writers of the day. Corneille says in his Dic- 
 tionary that " they produced lambs twice in the year, and usually three 
 lambs at a time, sometimes four and five, and, occasionally, although 
 rarely, seven at one yeaning." This is quite incredible, and Corneille him- 
 self acknowledges that it was only on their first arrival from the East, that 
 they were thus prolific, but it will be shown, when the European sheep are 
 described, that the Friezland and Texel breeds were, and still are, justly 
 valued for their size, beauty of form, and abundant produce of long and 
 fine wool, milk, and lambs. 
 
 * Ammal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 327. 
 
 f Akeport of > the Kingdom of Congo, translated by An. Hartwell, from Odoardo 
 Lopez, p. 202. + Bosman's Description of the Gold Coast of Guinea. 
 
 ^ Churchill's Collection, vol. v. p. 133. || Animal Kingdom, p. 326. 
 
 •If Smith's Voyage, p. 147. 
 
122 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 THE BEARDED SHEEP. 
 
 This part of Africa presents an apparent exception to the generic cha- 
 racter of the sheep. This animal was said (page 1) to have no beard, b«t a 
 small variety of the Guinea sheep has a considerable quantity of long hair 
 flowing down towards the brisket. It is not, however, a beard, a growth of 
 hair from the face or the jaw, as in the goat, but proceeding from various 
 parts of the neck, and sometimes as low as the middle of it, and therefore 
 the character of the sheep being preserved. M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, in 
 his grand work on the Antiquities and Natural History of Egypt, de- 
 scribes it as not larger than a common sheep, and the throat furnished with 
 long pendulous hairs. The horns are near to each other at the base, of a 
 square form, turning inwards, and more than usually sharp. The knees are 
 covered with long hair hanging all round them, with an appearance some- 
 what resembling ruffles, and hence it has been called the " Ovis ornata,^' 
 or Movflon a manchettes. It was shot in the neighbourhood of Cairo, but 
 is said to be more eommon in Upper Egypt,, and to be found in all the 
 rocky'portions of the deserts of Northern Africa*. 
 
 The " Bearded Sheep" of Pennant and Shaw, tlie " Ovis Tragelaphus" 
 of Desmarest, is a different animal, and a goat rather than a sheep. It is 
 sufficient to say that it is described as having hair on the superior parts of 
 the cheeks and upper jaws extremely long, forming a divided or double 
 beardf. > 
 
 BAUBARY SHEEP. 
 
 Still pursuing the western coast of Africa in a northward direction, and 
 traversing the kingdoms of Morocco and Fez, and then turning eastward 
 
 ^J/f$«% 
 
 \_Fezzan Sheep.] 
 
 * Diet. Classique d'Hist. Nat. torn. xi. p. 264, and Wilson's Essays on the Origin and 
 Natural History of Domestic Quadrupeds, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 
 May, 1830. 
 I f Pennant's Zoology, in loc 
 
MOROCCO SHEEP. 123 
 
 within the Straits, and examining the productions of Algiers, and Tunis and 
 Tripoli, the history of the sheep is indistinct and unsatisfactory. The long- 
 legged, hairy sheep of Guinea is found in all these districts. It is largest 
 and most numerous in the oases, or little islands of delightful verdure which 
 are scattered over the ocean of sand that reaches from the western coast of 
 Northern Africa to Egypt and Abyssinia. Fezzan is one of the largest 
 of them, and has been most thoroughly explored. The preceding cut 
 presents a portrait of one of them, in which the arched forehead, the 
 pendulous ears, the shaggy hair, the dewlap beneath the throat, the 
 disproportionate length of the legs, and the general characteristic gaunt 
 and thriftless appearance of the animal, cannot fail of being recognised. 
 This sheep belonged to the Zoological Society of LondonJ 
 
 MOROCCO SHEEP. 
 
 Major Hamilton Smith* says that the Morocco breed has long wool, the 
 hair on the neck rather shorter and more undulating, and of a rufous brown ; 
 the ears small and horizontal ; the horns small, but turning spirally out- 
 wards ; the scrotum forming two separate sacs ; the general colour white, 
 with some marlis of liver colour. A specimen sent by one of the princes of 
 Morocco was in the possession of Sir Joseph Banks. 
 
 This is the first African sheep that in the least approaches to the expec- 
 tations that are naturally raised respecting it by several undoubted his- 
 torical facts. Columella, the uncle of him to whom we are indebted for a 
 scientific and instructive work on agriculture (it is not a little disgraceful 
 that it has never appeared in an English dress), lived near Cadiz during 
 the reign of the Emperor Claudius. He happened to see some African 
 rams, that were destined for exhibition, and probably cruel death, by wilder 
 animals in the Roman Amphitheatre. He bought some of them, and he 
 crossed his Spanish ewes with them ; and his nephew tells us that the con- 
 secjuence was that he obtained a breed that resembled the sire in increased 
 size and beauty of form, and the dam in the softness of the wool. 
 
 This is a proof, not to be disputed, of the value of the Barbary sheep at 
 that time ; and if it really possessed any good qualities, they would have been 
 discovered and diligently cultivated, when some portion of the North of 
 Africa had rivalled the metropolis and the mistress of the world in civiliza- 
 tion and its attendant arts, and had not only been superior to her in extent 
 of commerce, but had been the general emporium of the eastern and 
 western worlds. 
 
 Of the high state of civilization to which the inhabitants of Northern 
 Africa had risen, long before the importation of the first Barbary sheep into 
 Spain, history contains sufficient proof ; and even in the interior of Cen- 
 tral Africa the traveller occasionally finds traces of ancient magnificence 
 on which he gazes with wonder, but of the founders of which all memory 
 has ceased. For many an age after the barbarians had swept away almost 
 every vestige of civilization in the countries of Europe, literature and the 
 arts, and doubtless the art of agriculture among the rest, found refuge 
 among the dusky inhabitants of these regions ; and the travellers who have 
 lately penetrated deeply into Central and Southern Africa have given 
 accounts altogether unexpected, and, therefore, for a while disbelieved, of 
 many a district rich in all the productions of nature, and the resources of art. 
 
 More than tliirteen hundred years after the time of Columella, Pedro IV. 
 
 of Spain, whether judiciously or otherwise does not clearly appear, imported 
 
 several Barbary rams for the supposed improvement of the Spanish sheep ; 
 
 and two hundred years subsequently, the Cardinal Ximenes had recourse to 
 
 * Animal Kingdom, vol. iv, p. 326. 
 
134 SHEEP. 
 
 the African rams for the same purpose. The whole of the northern coast 
 of Africa has, however, been now explored, and with the exception of the 
 Morocco breed, described by Major Smith, scarcely a native African sheep 
 has been met with that deserves cultivation. 
 
 What is the evident conclusion from this, but that the sheep is the child 
 of cultivation ? It may be bred and managed so as to become almost all 
 that the agriculturist and the manufacturer could wish it to be ; and if 
 habitually neglected and abused, every good quality will gradually disappear. 
 
 In this Morocco breed, however, with its long wool and prevalent white 
 colour, some capability of former or of future improvement may be easily 
 imagined ; and the ingenious naturalist to whom reference has just been 
 made gives a description of another variety of African sheep, more plainly 
 developing the inherent tendency to improvement. " The last African 
 race," says he, " we shall notice, is found in Barbary, and even in Corsica. 
 It is policerate (more than two horns), with pendulous ears, and the tail 
 not much widened ; white in colour, posterior parts covered with wool ; 
 and from the head to the shoulders, with loose, soft hair. A crossed breed 
 of this race with the Guinea sheep, and brought from that country, was in 
 the possession of R. Wilding, Esq. It was entirely covered with soft, silky 
 hair, of a silvery whiteness ; on the fore and hind part of the neck the 
 hair was of great length, especially in front ; half of the nose was jetty 
 black ; on each knee and each thigh a black spot ; the fetlocks and feet 
 white. In the month of November, it began to assume a soft, woolly coat, 
 like that of the English sheep*." 
 
 THE TUNIS SHEEP IN AMERICA. 
 
 A still more satisfactory account of the capability of the Barbary 
 sheep is given by Mr. Peters, of Lancaster county, in the United States. 
 It is extracted from the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, of which 
 he was President. He imported some sheep from the neighbourhood of 
 Tunis. They were hornless, and their bones small. A ewe that was killed 
 fat, weighed 182 lbs. The fat was laid on the profitable points; it was 
 mingled with the flesh, which was marbled in a striking degree. The 
 mutton was acknowledged to be among the finest and best in the market; 
 and the proportion of flesh to the size of the animal was remarkably great. 
 The tail weighed from six to eight pounds, and, says Mr. Peters, " if 
 properly dressed, is a feast for an epicure. The tail of a young beaver, 
 which I have enjoyed when I dared to indulge in such food (when free 
 from a fishy or sedgy taint, to which at certain seasons the flesh of am- 
 phibious animals is subject), is the only rival I know." 
 
 The sheep were hardy, would bear cold and heat well, would fatten with 
 little food, and much quicker than most other breeds. They were kept in 
 condition on coarse food, and their character was that of gentleness and 
 quietude. The lambs were dropped white, red, tawny, bluish, or black, — 
 but the fewest of the latter. All, except the black, grevv white in the colour 
 of their fleece, although some few spots were generally left. The cheeks 
 and shanks, and sometimes the whole head and face, were either tawny or 
 black. 
 
 Of the fleece, he says that these sheep were better set with wool than 
 any others that he knew in America, — the weight from 5 lbs. to 5^ lbs. 
 and useful for a variety of purposes. He never saw better home-made 
 cloth than the selected parts of the Tunis fleeces, and especially the cut 
 next the pelt afforded ; and, alluding to their peculiar management, or 
 
 * Animal Kingdom, vol. iv, p. 329. 
 
TUNIS SHEEP. 125 
 
 sorting of the fleece, he says, — " some of them will bear three cuts of an 
 mch and a-half, or two inches long, fine. Many of the fleeces are of this 
 description, and more are short and fine. Of worsted and fleecy-hosiery, 
 I have not seen any wool producing superior fabrics for common use. I 
 have seen some fleeces apparently furry next the pelt, like the beaver, but 
 consisting of very fine-fibred wool." 
 
 Almost the only African woollen manufacture, that can be considered as 
 an article of commerce, is found at Tunis ; and a very curious one it is. It is 
 the skull-cap so common in the Levant, and which is worn by every 
 Greek, and almost by every Barbary sailor, and by all the artisans and lower 
 classes on shore. Mussulmen, Jews, and Christians, all shave their heads 
 and wear the oriental dress in the Levant, and on the Barbary shore. Be- 
 fore these caps were imitated at Leghorn and Marseilles, more than 
 50,000 persons were employed in the regency of Tunis in the manufacture 
 of them. Those made in Africa are, however, still most valued for their 
 brilliancy of colour, their fineness and durability*. 
 
 THE FAT-TAILED SHEEP IN ENGLAND. 
 
 With a quotation from Ellis, describing the African fat-tailed sheep 
 in England, the account of that breed shall conclude : — " The Turkey- 
 sheep is of the large, heavy sort, and the more so because their broad tails 
 are of a considerable weight. It is reported that one of their tails has 
 weighed 14^ lbs., and that the whole sheep was sold for 60s. I have 
 heard of a gentleman that lives within twenty miles of London, who keeps 
 about thirty Turkish ewes and a Turkish ram; — that the ewes are all 
 polled, and the ram a horned sheep, — that all of them have broad tails, 
 with white fleeces, speckled with black spots, and mottled like a leopard, 
 
 * An account of the apparently rude manufacture of these caps in Tunis may not be 
 uninteresting to some of the readers of this treatise. The wool (the proportions of 
 native Tunisian and of Spanish wool varying according to the intended fineness and 
 price of the article) is combed and spun into a fine soft thread, and woven, or oftener 
 knit, into caps of a conical form like a night-cap. These are soaked in oil, and then, a 
 kind of form being placed on the knee of tlie workman, they ai-e milled by rubbing the 
 sides together, frequently turning the caps. By this process they are reduced to about 
 one-half of their original size. Wlien the cap is sufficiently thickened, it is brushed 
 with a bur from a kind of thistle, in order to bring out the nap ; the fibres which pro- 
 ject too far, being cut off with a pair of shears. The caps thus reduced, napped, and 
 clipped, are in the form of a semi-globe. In this state they are sent to Zawan, about 
 thirty miles from Tunis, in order to be dyed of a deep crimson colour. The water at 
 this place is supposed to possess the quaUty of giving a peculiar richness and pei-manence 
 to the dye. Being now returned to the manufacturer, they undexgo a second milling, 
 are dipjied, and dressed with the greatest care, until the surface has the appearance of 
 the richest velvet. A neat tassel of mazarine blue silk thread is then sewed to the top, 
 and the cap is considered to be finished — Mac Gill's Account of Tunis, p. 152. 
 
 The same writer gives a curious account of the trickery of the African wool-growers 
 and dealers. " The wool of the diiferent i)arts of the regency is c^ various kinds and 
 qualities ; but the greatest difference results from the quantity of dust and sand that 
 are mixed with it, in order to increase its weight, and each' district having its own 
 peculiar method of thus adulterating it. The shepherds in one part of the country, a 
 little before sheep-shearing, hunt their flocks upon the sands until they are in a high state 
 of perspiration ; when the sand, flying in clouds, mixes with the woof, and adheres to it. 
 This is repeated for several days, until, sometimes, a greater weight of sand is driven 
 into the fleece than the real weight of clean wool, and the loss on washing is conse- 
 quently very great. In some plac-es the loss is from 50 to 55 per cent. In the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of Tunis it is 40 per cent. 
 
 The time for buying wool is the month of June, when the Arabs bring it to market. 
 The price is somewhat higher if it is bought of them in the small quantities that each 
 brings, than if it were purchased wholesale from the merchant ; but the first is the best 
 and the cheapest method, for the merchants not only take out the wool of finer quality, 
 but mix mire, and sand, and filth with the residue, iu order to increase its weifitit.— 
 Ditto, p. 146 ^ 
 
126 SHEEP. 
 
 but their wool is long, and of a very coarse nature. Another gentleman in 
 Hertfordshire kept three or four of these Turkey-sheep ; one of their tails 
 weighed 8 lbs. ; and one of their lambs at shearing-time weighed 16 stones 
 alive*." 
 
 THE ASIATIC SHEEP. 
 
 Returning to Asia, — the character of the sheep, in early times, in Pa- 
 •pstine and Syria, and that part of the Eastern country over which the 
 primitive shepherds wandered, has been already sufficiently described; and 
 it remains only to say, that although three thousand years have since 
 elapsed, they have not materially changed. A few of the fat-rumped, but 
 more of the broad-tailed, variety are seen. In the latter, the carcase is 
 in a great degree neglected : the hairy or woolly covering of the animal 
 being coarse, is comparatively valueless ; while the fatty portion of the tail 
 is increased to one-fourth, and sometimes to one-third, of the weight of the 
 whole animal. 
 
 In Stony Arabia, and the still more southern part of Arabia, the fat- 
 rumped species is almost exclusively found ; and the wool was once highly 
 prized, and is still valuable. 
 
 THE PERSIAN SHEEP. 
 
 In Persia, more of the fat-tailed sheep are found than of the fat-rumped 
 already described (p. 23) ; but although they constitute one of the chief 
 sources of the wealth and property of a large class of the inhabitants, no 
 care is bestowed on their improvement. The shepherds still follow the 
 wandering life of their ancestors three thousand years ago. Fraser gives 
 a singular account of the march of one of the tribes. It will be interesting 
 to compare it with the peregrinations of the primitive keepers of sheep 
 already described. 
 
 " When the pastures are bare, they shift to some other spot. The march 
 of one of these parties is a striking spectacle. The main body is generally 
 preceded by an advanced guard of stout young men, well armed, as if to 
 clear the way ; then follow large flocks of all kinds of domestic animals, 
 covering the country far and wide, and driven by the lads of the community. 
 The asses, which are numerous, and the rough, stout yaboos (small horses), 
 are loaded with goods, tents, clothes, pots and boilers, and every sort of 
 utensil, bound confusedly together. On the top of some of the burdens 
 may be seen mounted the elder children, who act the part of drivers ; and 
 on others the lesser urchins not able to speak, yet quite at their ease, neither 
 seeking nor receiving attention, but holding on manfully with feet and 
 hands, A third class of animals bear the superannuated of the tribe, bent 
 double with age, and hardly distinguishable from the mass of rags that 
 forms their seat. The young men and women bustle about, preventing, 
 with the assistance of their huge dogs, the cattle from straying too far. 
 The mothers, carrying the younger infants, patiently trudge on foot watch- 
 ing the progress of their domestic equipage. The men with sober, 
 thoughtful demeanour, armed to the teeth, walk steadily on the flanks and 
 rear of the grotesque column, guarding and controlling its slow and regular 
 movement f." 
 
 Much wool is grown in those districts of Persia, where the majority of 
 the inhabitants lead a pastoral life ; the best is found in the province ot 
 Kerman. This is a very mountainous country, hot and dry in summer, 
 and intensely cold in winter. The wool of the sheep is fine in quality, and 
 tl»t which grows at the roots of the hair of the goat is nearly as fine, 
 Ellis on Sheej., p. 4,9. f Fraser's Persia, p. 370. 
 
PERSIAN SHEEP. 127 
 
 The latter is spun into various fabrics, wliich almost vie with the beautiful 
 shawls of Cashmere. The mimitds, or fine felt carpets, for which Persia 
 is so celebrated, are manufactured from the wool of the sheep, either in 
 Kerman or Khorasan*. These districts are far distant from each other, 
 but the sheep in both of them " is remarkable for the fine spirally-curled 
 wool, of a grey, or mixed black and white colour, which is obtained from it. 
 The sheep are below the ordinary size, the horns of the ram curved back 
 and spiral at the tip, the ears pendulous, the colour dirty white with a fine 
 grey wool beneath, and the tail not very broad. The fine furs are from 
 the lambs slaughtered with their dams a few days before yeaning f." 
 
 At Kabooshan, in the mountains north of Khorasan, is a celebrated 
 manufactory of sheep-skin pelisses, called posteens. The skins, having been 
 dressed with the wool on, are cut into narrow stripes ; the coarser and in- 
 ferior portions are rejected, and the others sewed together with the wool 
 outside, and made into pelisses, which are almost universally worn in the 
 winter. The best are formed from the skins of unweaned lambs, and are 
 exceedingly fine and hght : the price of these is often enormous. The 
 next in value are from the skins of selected sheep, not more than a year 
 old ; the coarser skins are used for the poorer people J. 
 
 The singular difference in the colour and brilliancy of the fleece of the 
 Persian sheep contributes to give greater variety and value to these gar- 
 ments. In some breeds of sheep, the hair is only sufficiently long to admit 
 of one curve, which lies close on the skin, and has a pleasing appearance ; 
 in others the fibre, although three inches long, is scarcely curved, except at 
 the extremity ; and some have long, grey, shining wool, falling in number- 
 less ringlets, and appearing behind like strings of i)earls§. 
 
 Wild sheep frequent many of the mountains of Persia, and especially 
 those in the neighbourhood of Nishapoore. Eraser thus describes one of 
 them : — " AVhile I was in the village a ram of this description was killed by 
 one of their hunters, and brought to me as a present. It was a noble 
 animal, just what it might be conceived the finest sort of domestic ram would 
 be in a state of nature ; bold, portly, and very strong ; thick like a lion 
 about the neck and shoulders, and small in the loins ; covered with short 
 reddish hair that curled closely about the neck and fore-quarters, and bear- 
 ing an immense pair of crooked and twisted horns. Its flesh, of which we 
 ate a part, was remarkably well-flavoured ||." 
 
 TIBET SHEEP. 
 
 The sheep of Tibet are numerous. They are chiefly a small variety of 
 the fat-rumped Persian and Abyssinian, with black heads and legs. Some 
 of them have a small portion of wool at the root of short hair, but in other 
 breeds the wool is long, soft, and fine. Many of the costly Indian shawls 
 are made of the long wool. The skins of the others are usually prepared 
 with the wool on them, and form, like the skins of the Persian sheep, very 
 comfortable winter clothing. The inhabitants of Tibet are too indolent to 
 take any advantage of the excellent materials which their country pro- 
 duces, and a considerable projjortion of their wool is sent into Persia and 
 British India to be manufactured. 
 
 The flesh of the Tibet sheep is said to be peculiarly well-flavoured, but 
 
 * Fraser's Travels on the banks of the Caspian, p. 359. 
 
 f Animal Kingdom, vol.iv., p. 329. 
 
 X Frascr's Journey through Khorasan, p. 5/3. 
 
 § Ogilby's Asia, p. 38. 
 
 II Fraser's Journey through Khorasan, p. 421. 
 
128 SHEEP. 
 
 the inhabitants mostly eat it dried and raw ; it is said, however, thai when 
 cured in the frosty air, it is not disagreeable to the most fastidious European 
 palate. 
 
 The Tibet sheep are occasionally employed as beasts of burden. Captain 
 Turner says, that he has seen whole flocks of them in motion, laden with 
 salt and grain, each carrying from 12 to 20 lbs*. 
 
 EAST INDIA SHEEP. 
 
 Descending from Tibet towards tlie south, the British East Indian posses- 
 sions occur. The history of the native and imported sheep in that exten- 
 sive country is very defective. All that can be certainly gathered is, that 
 in many of the northern districts the animal is small, and the fleece con- 
 sists of coarse and frequently black wool and hair, altogether unsuitable 
 for clothing purposes. Small rugs or coverlets are made from it, prin- 
 cipally used by the shepherds and the most inferior castes. The greater 
 part of them are of the fat-rumped and fat-tailed breeds, and the first more 
 especially prevail in the upper districts. Mr. Hodgson, however, describ- 
 ing the northern division of Nepal, (Nepaul,) and giving a long account 
 of a variety of the Musmon, and to which allusion will again be made, 
 when the Argali and Musmon are described, says, that " the wool of the 
 Huniah or Bhotean domesticated sheep is superb, but it is suited only to 
 the northern region of Nepal, suffering much from the heat of the central 
 district," He suggests that attempts should be made to naturalize this 
 breed in England f. Many sheep are found with considerable resem- 
 blance, in form if not in fleece, to the Persian in the peninsula, and par- 
 ticularly in the Mysore country. They are without horns ; they have 
 small and drooping ears, and the wool fine, with numerous curves, and 
 adapted to many clothing purposes. Sir Joseph Banks had a specimen 
 which belonged to the park of Tippoo Sultan at Seringapatam |. 
 
 Colonel Sykes thus describes the variety of sheep most extensively bred 
 in Dukhun (the Deccan). It has short legs, short thickish body, and 
 arched forehead. The wool is short, crisp, and harsh, and is almost 
 universally black. In most individuals there is a white streak or line from 
 the anterior angle of each eye towards the mouth, and a white patch on 
 the crown of the head §. 
 
 This sheep is smaller than any of our English breed, and often not 
 weighing more than eight or ten pounds a quarter. The mutton is ex- 
 ceedingly good. By the kindness of Colonel Sykes the author -vas enabled 
 to examine a small portion of the wool. The following is a aelineation of 
 it as developed by the microscope. 
 
 \^fVool of the Deccan Black Sheep.'\ 
 
 1. The wool seen as a transparent object ; the serrations very indistinct 
 and small, as if the cups scarcely projected. There were only eight ser- 
 rations in the field of view, and consequently only 1280 in the space of an 
 
 * See Captain Turner's Account of an Embassy to Tibet, p. 302, &c., and Pinker* 
 ton's Geography, article Tibet. 
 
 •}• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1834. Part II. 99. 
 
 \ Animal Kingdom, vol. iv., p. 330. 
 
 § Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1830-31. Part I, p. 105. 
 
CEYLON SHEEP. ^129 
 
 inch. The curves were also very few. Tlie fibre, howcverj was not more 
 than -roVrtl^ P^^t of an inch in diameter. 
 
 2. The wool seen as an opaque object. On account of its black colour 
 it was very difficult to bring out its true structure ; nevertheless a few of the 
 leaves constituting the cups may be seen bearing a near resemblance in 
 shape to the bay-leaf. They are very irregularly scattered. It will be 
 evident, that on account of the fewness of the curves, and also the paucity 
 and shallowness of the serrations, this wool can never be valuable as a 
 clothing wool ; it is only used in the manufacture of blankets, carpets, 
 and coarse goods of this description. 
 
 THE CEYLON SHEEP. 
 
 At the point of the peninsula is the island of Ceylon. Very contradic- 
 tory accounts have been given of the breeding and keeping of sheep in this 
 island. Some have asserted that it is almost impossible long to preserve a 
 flock of sheep in Ceylon ; and, in fact, it is only at Jafnapatam that they 
 have ever been bred or pastured with success. The difficulty, however, does 
 not seem to consist in any deficiency of pasture, or any noxious quality that 
 it generally possesses, or any deleterious atmospheric influence prevalent 
 in the island; but Ceylon abounds with bears, jackals, alligators, and 
 enormous serpents, by whom so many sheep are occasionally destroyed, 
 that the sheep-owner abandons the cultivation of that animal in despair. 
 Some particular spots, nevertheless, are said to abound with poisonous 
 plants, and whole flocks of sheep straying there have been lost *. 
 
 THE JAVANESE SHEEP, 
 
 Of these there are two varieties. They are both of a moderate size, 
 but some have a pendulous growth beneath the jaw; the coat consisting 
 principally of hair ; the tail unusually large and fat, and weighing occasionally 
 forty or fifty pounds : they are short-legged, and of a red and white colour. 
 The other variety is white, with exceedingly long and pendulous ears ; it 
 yields much milk, so as to be useful for the purposes of the dairy, and 
 is clothed with prettily curled woolf. 
 
 The other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, containing principally, 
 and some of them exclusively, the Spanish sheep, will be passed over until 
 the peregrinations of that excellent breed are traced. 
 
 Of the Island of Japan, situated more northerly on the western coast of 
 Asia, Thunberg (strangely, and probably truly) says that there are no 
 sheep to be found in the whole of it {. There is scarcely another part of 
 the globe, of any considerable size, of which this could be affirmed. 
 
 CHINESE SHEEP. 
 
 Returning now through the interior of Asia, the immense empire of China 
 first presents itself; and, as might be naturally expected in such an extent 
 of country, breeds of sheep, differing much from each other, are found. 
 First is the Long-legged Sheep, resembling the African Adimain 
 breed. They are not quite so high on their legs as the African sheep ; the 
 horns are middle-sized, and curved ; the forehead is arched ; the neck 
 short, with a collar of hair reaching from the nape of it to the shoulders ; 
 the head, the legs, and the mane are of a red brown colour ; the tail is long, 
 and the wool short and coarse §. 
 
 * Agricultural Magazine, November, 1805. 
 
 t Niehoffs Travels (Churchill's Collection), vol. ii. p. 320. 
 
 I Thunberg's Travels, vol. iv. p. 95, 
 
 § Animal Kingdom, vol. iv, p. 330. 
 
 K 
 
130 SHEEP. 
 
 More to the south the fat-rumped sheep prevail, yielding every variety of 
 wool ; and in the same districts are found a smaller, lower sheep, of a more 
 European character, and producing a fine and very useful long wool. The 
 Chinese manufacture some good serges from it, not so close as those made 
 in Europe, but thinner and finer, and having a peculiar silky appearance. 
 They likewise prepare a considerable quantity of felts of various co- 
 lours. The largeness and beauty of the Chinese carpets have often 
 been praised. An old traveller says, that " when the Dutch presented the 
 Emperor of China with some scarlet and other cloths made jn Europe, he 
 asked how, and what they were made of? Being told, he replied that his 
 subjects could make them, and, therefore, there was no need to bring 
 them so far *.'* 
 
 tartarialN sheep. 
 
 The wilds of Central Asiatic Tartary present nearly the same breeds of 
 sheep, and the same management and the same modes of life in the owners, 
 that have been already described when those districts were considered 
 that bordered on the country which the primitive shepherds traversed. The 
 fat-rumped sheep chiefly occupy Southern Tartary — the broad-tailed ones 
 are found in Northern and Middle Asia. In the former there is considerable 
 variety in the shape, and size, and fleece, and particularly in the number 
 of horns. The four-horned sheep are numerous in several parts, and 
 a few have six horns ; the forehead is convex, and there are wattles 
 under the throat. In the latter there is some, but less difference of size, 
 and of accumulation of fat on the loins. They are more disposed to general 
 good condition, and the quality of the fleece is better. 
 
 THE ARGALI. 
 
 Amidst the highest mountains of Central Asia lives the Argali, deemed, 
 by some authors, but erroneously so, the parent of all the varieties of the 
 domestic sheep. He is one of the few remaining wild sheep ; and as such, 
 and on account of his superior size and beauty, as well as the relation in 
 which he has been supposed to stand to sheep generally, deserves particular 
 notice. The account given by Pallas will be chiefly followed, for he 
 describes that which he had actually seen. 
 
 Before Siberia was colonised, the Argali used to frequent the lofty 
 mountains extending from the river Irtisch to Kamtschatka ; but now, shun- 
 ning the neighbourhood of man, it has retreated to the more perfect deserts 
 of Kamtschatka in the north, to the Mongolian and Songarian moun- 
 tains towards the centre of Asia, and to the steeps of Caucasus in the 
 south. 
 
 When it is found, it is usually on some barren but not very lofty rock, 
 where it can bask itself in the rays of the sun, and see the possible approach 
 of danger on every side. It does not, however, occupy the highest part of 
 the mountains on which it grazes. The ibex, an inhabitant of the same 
 rocks, ranges far above it. Although it flies to these precipices for security, 
 it does not, like the ibex, dehght in the cold, but seeks as warm a situation 
 as such desert regions can afford. 
 
 The Argali is about the size of the fallow deer, but is very differently 
 formed. Its legs and its neck are shorter, and the muscles of its limbs are 
 stouter ; it displays more bulk than the deer, and promises more strength 
 than speed. The male is considerably larger and stouter than the female ; 
 he is three feet high at the withers, and sometimes weighs more than 200 
 pounds. 
 
 * Navarette's Account of China (Churchill's Collection), vol i. p. 45 
 
ARGALI SHEEP. 131 
 
 The head is that of a ram, but tlie ears are small in proportion to the 
 development of the head, and erect. The horns are of an enormous 
 size, nearly four feet in length, and with a hollow so considerable, that 
 young foxes occasionally conceal themselves in those that have been accident- 
 ally shed. According to Major Smith, " they rise near the eyes, before the 
 ears, occupying the greater part of the back of the head, and nearly touching 
 above the forehead, bending at first backwards and downwards, then to the 
 front, and the points finally outwards and upwards ; the base is triangular ; the 
 broadest side towards the forehead, the surface wrinkled crossways to beyond 
 their middle, and the extremity more smooth*". The horns, however, as in the 
 subjoined cut, differ materially in different animals. The horns of the Argali of 
 Caucasus are rounder, heavier, and larger throughout their whole course. 
 The horn of either species, witli its bony basis, will weigh 141bs. or 15 lbs, 
 
 Tlie following is a cut of the head and horns of the Asiatic Argali, taken 
 from a specimen in the collection of the Linnaean Society. 
 
 [Asiatic Arffali.'\ 
 
 The summer coat consists of short hair, smooth, and resembling that of a 
 deer. The winter coat has a longer external coat of hair, but concealing a thick 
 and soft layer of wool. The colour is of a reddish-brown in summer, changing 
 to a brownish-grey in winter; and the inner coat of wool is always white. 
 Both in winter and summer there is a large disk of a buff colour on the haunch. 
 
 The horns of the feinale are shorter and smaller, and nearly straight ; her 
 colour is likewise paler, and there is no buff coloured spot on the haunch. 
 The throat is covered with longer hair, and the tail is very short. 
 
 The Argalis are generally found in flocks of eight or ten in number. The 
 males during the rutting season fight furiously ; but otherwise this is a timid, 
 or cowardly animal, and rarely offers resistance when pursued. They are 
 said to breed twice in the year, viz., in spring and in autumn. The female 
 seldom produces more than one at a birth, and the young lamb is covered 
 with a soft, gray, curling fleece, as in many of the half-domesticated breeds 
 of sheep, and wliich, by degrees, exhibits the usual mixture of hair and wool 
 in these animals. From the commencement of the spring to the approach 
 of winter, they pasture in the little secluded valleys, among the mountains 
 and become very fat, and in high request. As winter approaches they 
 descend lower, and there, from scarcity of food and constant fear and alarm, 
 they lose all their condition, and when the time arrives for their return to 
 * Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 317. 
 
 k2 
 
132 SHEEP. 
 
 the mountains, they are, except for the sake of their sldns, comparatively 
 worthless. When pursued they exhibit all the fear ajid peculiar gait and 
 manner of the sheep ; they run from side to side, and stop every moment 
 to look at their pursuers ; yet, as their flight is uniformly towards the 
 most inaccessible parts of the mountains, the chase of them is frequently 
 attended by no little danger. The young ones are very easily tamed, but no 
 severity or kindness will render the adult animal tractable*. 
 
 A variety of the Argali is found in North America, and was long known 
 by the name of the sheep of California. The Canadian free traders recog- 
 nized it by the title of Culblane. The Abb«5 Lambert gives the following 
 account of it : — " Besides several sorts of animals known among us, there are 
 two sorts of fallow beasts unknown in Europe. They call them sheep, 
 because they have the figure of our slioep. The first species is as large as 
 a calf one or two years old. Tlieir head has a great resemblance to that of 
 a stag, and their horns to those of a ram. Their tail and hair, which are 
 speckled, are shorter than those of a stag, their flesh is very good and 
 delicatet." 
 
 Mr. M'Gillivray, in liis account of his travels in the Rocky Mountains, 
 gives tlie first scientific account of it. He describes it as resembling the 
 Asiatic Argali in size and form, but having still larger horns, not quite so 
 close at their roots, covering the greater part of the forehead, proceeding at 
 first decidedly upwards, then turning suddenly downwards for nearly one 
 third of the length of the neck, after this once more bending upwards, and 
 terminating in a sharp point. The face and moutli white, the cheeks, neck, 
 back, and limbs of a grey and rufous dun colour, and the tail and buttocks 
 of a white buff. 
 
 They are found in troops of thirty or forty, on the steepest ridges of the 
 mountains, but in winter they descend nearer to the plain. 
 
 The following cut is delineated from a specimen in the Museum of the 
 Zoological Society of London. 
 
 [American Argali.] 
 Major Hamilton Smith adds, that " if the Amf^rican species be the same 
 as the Asiatic, which appears very probable, it can have reached the New 
 World only over the ice by Behring's Straits ; and the passage may be con- 
 jectured as comparatively of a recent date, since the Argali lias not spread 
 
 * Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 318 ; Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 369 ; 
 Illustrations of Natural History, vol. i. p. 14G ; and Anderson on Sheep. 
 f Lambert's Observations on Asia, Africa, and America, vol. i. p. 130, 
 
MOUFLON SHEEP. 
 
 133 
 
 eastward beyond the Rocky Mountains, nor to the south farther than 
 California*." 
 
 THE MOUFLON OR MUSMON. 
 
 Buffon and Wilson have considered this sheep as identical with the 
 Argali, Major Smith seems to regard it as a variety of the Argali. It 
 will therefore be necessary, although travelling into another quarter of the 
 world, to describe the mouflon. It inhabits the mountains of Corsica and 
 Sardinia, and has been found in Crete, Cyprus, and some other of the islands 
 of the Grecian Archipelago. It formerly abounded in Spain, and it was 
 known to the early naturalists; Pliny describes it under the names of 
 musmon and ophion. He says that " there is in Spain, but especially in 
 the Island of Corsica, a kind of musmones not altogether unlike to sheep, 
 having a shag more like tlie hair of goats than a fleece with sheep's wool. 
 Tiie kind which is engendered between them and sheep, they called in old 
 time j/mbri.'' 
 
 --^^ 
 
 [ The Moi/JJon.] 
 
 Mr. Wilson gives the most correct account of this animal. It is usually 
 about two feet and a half in height, and three feet and a half from the nose 
 to the commencement of the tail. The horns never exceed two feet in 
 length ; they are curved backwards, and the points turn inwards ; the roots 
 of the horns are very thick and wrinkled ; the ears are of a middle size, 
 straight and pointed ; there is the rudiment of a lachrymal opening as in 
 the deer; the neck is thick ; the body round ; the limbs muscular ; and the 
 tail short. The colour is generally of a dull, or brownish-grey, with some 
 white on the fore part of the face and on the legs ; a tuft of longer hair 
 beneath the throat ; a dark streak along the back ; and the upper part of the 
 face black, with black streaks along the cheeks : the mouth, the nostrils, 
 and the tongue are also black, and a spot of pale yellow is on the sides. 
 
 * Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 319. 
 
134 SHEEP. 
 
 The forehead of this sheep is particularly arched. The females are generally 
 without liorns, and where they do appear, they are considerably less than 
 those of the male. 
 
 The musmons rarely quit the highest parts of iheir native mountains; but 
 the temperature of the countries in which these slieep are usually found does 
 not admit of perpetual snow. They congregate in herds, seldom exceeding 
 a hundred individuals, and, in the winter, the herds divide themselves into 
 lesser groups, consisting of a male and a few females. The young ones are 
 generally dropped in April or May, and are carefully attended to by their 
 dams. 
 
 The musmonis covered by a fine hair of no great length, having beneath 
 it a thick, grey-coloured wool, short, but full of spirals, and the edges 
 thickly serrated*. 
 
 Cuvier says that domestication has little effect in developing any good 
 quality in tliese animals, and that they rarely exhibit either intelligence 
 confidence, affection, or docility. He speaks of those that were in the 
 Menagerie at Paris, of which he was the director ; and his account very 
 much coincides with observations made by the author of this work in the 
 gardens of the Zoological Society of London. They were by many degrees 
 more stupid and mischievous than any of the other breeds of sheep which 
 that Menagerie contained. Major Hamilton Smith says, that their skins are 
 used for various purposes ; and in the islands of Corsica and Sardinia the 
 mountaineers still convert them into vests, and a kind of cloaks, which may 
 be the present representatives of those noticed in the Commentaries of 
 Caesar, as made from the skin of the musmo (musmon) — a dress that was 
 much worn by the inland robbersf 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN SHEEP, 
 
 ^ Until the introduction of the Merinos into North America little that was 
 satisfactory could be affirmed of the sheep of any part of thai country. Many 
 portions of the United States, and even of Canada, possessed advantages for 
 the breeding of sheep that were not surpassed in Europe. The country was 
 undulating or hilly, — the hills covered with a fine herbage, — the enclosures 
 more extensive than in the best breeding districts of England, — almost 
 every pasture furnished with running water, and sheltered, more or less, by 
 trees, against the summer's sun ; yet the sjreep were of the cqinmonest 
 kind: there was a prejudice against their meat ; a prejudice against them 
 altogether ; and there was scarcely a district in which the wool was fit for 
 any but the coarser kind of fabrics J.'X' 
 
 It might have been thought to be the policy of the mother country to 
 foster a prejudice of this kind, in order that her colonies might be as de- 
 pendent as possible upon her ; and particularly that her woollen manufac- 
 tures might there find a ready sale: accordingly the American sheep, 
 although somewhat differing in various districts, consisted chiefly of a 
 coarse kind of Leicester, and these were originally of British breed. The 
 "American Husbandry," published in 1776, describes the New England wool 
 as " long and coarse, and manufactured into a rough kind of cloth, which 
 is the only wear of the province, except the gentry, who wear the finer 
 cloths of Britain." 
 
 Wilson ou Domestic Animals, in Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 359. 
 See also the Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 322. 
 f Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 324. 
 •^ I A writer lu the Farmer's Magazine thus expresses himself: — " In the western parts 
 of Virginia iheep are well managed, for there is no prejudice against mutton. In the 
 North Eastern States there are good sheep pastures, and a moderate dislike of mutton ; 
 but in Kentucky, the farmer would dine upon dry bread rather than taste his own mutton." 
 
NORTH AMERICAN SHEEl'. i:j5 
 
 A writer in the Farmer's Journal, March, 1828, confirms this account, 
 and appUes it, but somewhat unfairly and unjustly, to tlie American sheep 
 at that late period. " In a very few instances in British America 1 found 
 a small number of the Leicester breed, but no good ones ; but on my crossing 
 the United States, I fouml none but ordinary, or what we should term very 
 bad ones. The best American fleece I ever saw was not better than a 
 middling Cambridge one, and in no place did I find any that would do for, 
 or that could be applied to bombazine, or even fine stuff." 
 
 Mr. Livingston, who wrote in 1811, describes some exceptions to this 
 general character of the American flocks. Tlie first is a very singular one. 
 " The Otter sheep were first discovered on some island on the eastern 
 coast, and have spread to the adjoining states. The sheep are long bodied 
 rather than large, and weigii about 15 lbs. a quarter. Their wool is of a 
 medium fineness, and a medium length ; but that which particularly cha 
 racterises these slieep is the length of their bodies, and the shortness oi 
 tlieir legs, and which are also turned out in such a manner as to appear 
 rickety. They cannot run or jump, and they even walk with some diflSculty. 
 They appear as if tlieir legs had been broken, and set by some awkward 
 surgeon. They can scarcely exist in a deep country, and they cannot pos- 
 sibly be driven to a distant pasture or market*." 
 
 The Arlington long-woolled sheep, originally bred by General Wash- 
 ington, descended from a Persian ram and some ewes of the Bakewell flock. 
 The sheep retain much of the form of the" Improved Leicester, and the 
 staph of the wool is occasionally 14 inches long; it is soft, silky, and white, 
 and calcidaled for hose, camblets, serges, and other fine woollen fabrics. 
 
 A peculiar breed of siieep is found in Smith's Island, on tiie Eastern 
 Cape of Virginia, and supposed to be the indigenous race of that part of the 
 country. The size and form and fattening quality of the animal is far su- 
 perior to those of the Merino — the fleece is heavier, being from five to nine 
 inches in length, and it is so fine, as to be adapted for every purpose to which 
 the Spanish wool can be applied. This account is given on the authority of 
 Mr. Custis, the proprietor of the island; but further examination, although 
 proving that the breed is valuable, both on account of its carcass and its 
 wool, does not justify the high terms in which they have been frequently 
 spoken of. 
 
 Since the prohibition of the exportation of British sheep has been re- 
 moved, the finer Leicesters and other breeds have found their way across 
 the Atlantic, and materially changed the character of some of the American 
 flocks. The Merinos have also reached the United States, and have been 
 used in several of the northern provinces in improving some of the best 
 American breeds. Mr. Livingston was very zealous in effecting this, and 
 the system has been extending with decided advantage : it has reached 
 even to the British colonies. Mr. M'Gregor calculates the number of sheep 
 in Canada and the other northern transatlantic colonies to be 1,247,638 ; 
 and a writer in the Onondago Journal says that " it would not be wide of 
 the truth to put the whole number of slieep in the Union at thirteen millions, 
 which, yielding an averages lb. of wool per head, will give a product of thirty- 
 nine millions of pounds, and constitute not an unimportant item in the esti- 
 mate of national wealth." An increasing quantity of wool begins now to be 
 imported by the mother country from her American Colonies, and from the 
 United States. In 1833 it amounted to 335,649 lbs. ; but on the other 
 hand the exports of woollen manufactures from England to those countries 
 amounted to nearly three millions of pounds sterling t 
 * Essays on Sheep, p. 61. 
 t M'CuUoch's Dictionary of Commerce, Art, Wool. 
 
13G SHEEP. 
 
 WEST INDIAN SHEEP. _ -. ^ 
 
 The Jamaica sheep have /already been described (p. 59), They have* 
 been bred there since the first discovery of the island. They are small ; but 
 the flesh is good, and the wool, although deteriorated by admixture of hair, 
 is peculiarly fine and soft. On account of this admixture, however, it has not 
 been applied to any valuable manufacturing purpose. Little attention is 
 paid to the cultivation of sheer) in many of the West Indian Islands. ^^ 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN WOOL. 
 
 Almost the whole of the South American wool is the production of 
 Spanish sheep that have been taken over there, and that have multiplied to 
 a very great extent. Both the sheep and the fleece have considerably dege- 
 nerated, and too many hairs having begun to mingle with the wool, and 
 to over-top it. It is very little valued, and is used chiefly for making list 
 for broad-cloths, carpets, and a few other coarse articles*. The natives 
 of South America use it in tlie manufacture of mattresses, pouches, baizes, 
 friezes, &c. 220,000 lbs. of it were imported into England in 1S33, but on 
 the other hand, the exports to South America in woollen manufacture were of 
 the declared value of 658,000;.t In a report made to the French Agricul- 
 tural Society respecting Brazil, a singular circumstance is mentioned 
 respecting the sheep, which are said to be very much deteriorated, viz., 
 that if any flock is kept ten years on the same pasturage, disease breaks out 
 amono- them, and great numbers die, — but if they are transported to another 
 soil, although at a very inconsiderable distance, they renovate and flourish 
 anew t. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The History of the European Breeds— the Russian— Wallachian—MulJavian—Greek 
 
 Cyprus — Siciliau — Italian — Piedmontese — Savoy — Swiss — Spanish, Stationary 
 
 and Migratory — the Spanish Sheep in other countries — the Swedish sheep — 
 
 French Norwegian — Danish — Feroe — Iceland — Azores — German — Saxon — 
 
 Silesian— Prussian — Hungarian — Hanoverian — Flemish — Anglo Merinos— Aus- 
 tralian— Van Diemen's Land— Cape. 
 
 The survey of European sheep will commence in those districts that lie 
 nearest to the habitation of the primitive breeds. Russia, therefore, will 
 first be considered, the greater part of lier extensive territory being to the 
 present day traversed by wandering shepherds. 
 
 THE RUSSIAN SHEEP 
 
 Far more attention continues to be paid to the breeding of sheep, than 
 that of cattle, through almost the whole of this immense empire. All the 
 wandering tribes possess a great number of sheep. Many of the inferior 
 Boors and Cossacks in southern Russia have flocks consisting of many hun- 
 dreds of these animals. 
 
 The characters of the sheep differ materially in the various districts. 
 Towards the north they are small, short-tailed, and bear a coarse and harsh 
 wool. About the river Don, and still more towards the centre, and on the 
 banks of the Dneiper, and in some districts of the Ukraine, they yield a 
 better wool ; and thence the greater part of the material for the inland cloth 
 
 * Walton on Peruvian Sheep, 1811. + M'CuUoch, Art, Wool. 
 
 + Annales de I'Agric. Fran, Jeuillat, 1834. 
 
RUSSIAN SHEEP. 137 
 
 manufactories is supplied. In the neiti^hbourhood of tlie Baltic a still superior 
 breed is found, and the Dago and Oesel islands near the gulf of Finland 
 are celebrated for their wool. The half-cloths that are manufactured from it 
 have often as fine and close a substance as that which is imported from 
 Great Britain. The finest of the Russian wools are exported from Odessa on 
 the Black Sea. It is the produce of all the neighbouring provinces, but 
 princi])ally of the Crimea. There is no district in the empire so fitted by 
 nature for the pasturage of shee^. 
 
 There are three kinds of sheep in tlie Crimea and in Taurida. The com- 
 mon breed is white, or blacl?, or grey, with very coarse wool, and a long tail 
 covered with fat. They are kept in exceedingly large flocks. A rich 
 Tatar will frequently possess 50,000 sheep. They wander from the moun- 
 tains to the sea- coast, according to the season of the year. The grey sheep 
 produce the grey lambskins, 30,000 of which are exported every year. 
 During the independence and prosperity of that country, they were destined 
 principally for Poland, where they were sold at a very high price. Fifty or 
 sixty thousand black lambskins, which are also much valued, arc exported 
 from the Crimea. 
 
 The mountain sheep are smaller than those on the plains. Their wool is 
 beautifully fine, and, even before the improvement which many of the 
 flocks have undergone, used to find its way to the French manufactories. 
 The Crimea was scarcely in the possession of Russia ere many attempts 
 were made to improve the sheep, naturally so valuable. The Merinos were 
 in process of time introduced here, as into every other part of Europe. A 
 few have been cultivated as a pure flock; more have been employed in im- 
 proving the native breeds, and the consequence is that the wool exported 
 from Odessa is increasing in quantity and value every year. In 1828, 
 184,000 lbs. of wool were shipped from this port; in 1831 that quantity 
 had increased to more tlian 1,260,000 lbs.* 
 
 The following is a delineation of a fine sample of Odessa wool : — 
 
 E 
 
 [Odessa Wool — Transparent and Opaque.'] 
 
 The staple was from four to six inches in length ; the curves numerous j 
 and the general feeling of the wool very soft. 
 
 When viewed as a transparent object, the diameter of the fibre is 7^5 th 
 of an inch, 1 eing the same as that of Lord Western's Merino wool, deli- 
 neated in page 88. Theserrati<jns arc] 3 in the field of view, or20S0 toan inch 
 — not so numerous as Lord Western's Merino, and much less so than the 
 Saxony wool, page 89. 
 
 The serrations are distinct, and nearly at right angles, b;it not very 
 hooked or prominent. 
 
 As an opaque object the leaves of the cup are beautifully distinct. They 
 are long, and rather rounded, with a little peak in the centre, like the leaves 
 of an artichoke. 
 
 This wool evidently possesses very high felting properties, and is a va- 
 luable material ; but it is inferior to the Merino, and most decidedly so to 
 the Saxony. 
 
 * M'CuUoch's Dictionary, Art. Odessa. Pallas's Voyage in Russia, vol. i. p. 402- 
 
188 
 
 SHEEP 
 
 THE WALLACHIAN SHEEP. 
 
 Proceeding down the coast of the Black Sea, the Wallachian sheep de- 
 serve attention. The great size and spiral form of the horns, and the long 
 and silky-looking fleece, give them a noble appearance. 
 
 The following is the portrait of one of them in the Menagerie of the 
 Zoological Society of London. 
 
 IThe Wallachian Sheep.'] 
 The horns differ as materially in the two sexes as they do m some of the 
 British sheep. In the ram they usually spring almost perpendicularly from 
 the ridge of the frontal bone, and then take a beautiful spiral form. In the 
 female they protrude nearly at right angles from the head, and then become 
 twisted in a singular way. The Wallachians are about the size of the Dorset 
 sheep, but not so tall : — they are usually white, the ears are small and pen- 
 dent, and the tail long ; the fleece is also long — it is composed of mingled 
 wool and hair — the bair having a few curves, and these producing a pleas- 
 ing appearance on the back of the animal*. The wool of this sheep was sub- 
 mitted to the power of the microscope. 
 
 ^^^^m 
 
 \^Hair and f fool of the Wallachian Sheep.] 
 * Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii, p. 542. Livingstoa on Sheep, p. 19. 
 Illustrations of Nat. Hist. p. 145. 
 
WALLACIIIAN SHEEP. 139 
 
 The hair is here viewed as a transparent object. It is systb of an inch 
 in diameter. It is decidedly serrated. Tliereare 1600 serrations in the space 
 of an inch. These are very irregularly placed, and there is a line running 
 up the centre, giving the idea of a tubular structure. 
 
 The wool is deficient in curves ; but it has 2080 serrations in an inch, 
 and it is the .? th part of an inch in diameter : the serrations are distinct 
 and nearly at right angles. Viewed as an opaque object, it has a beautiful 
 appearance, twenty or thirty little leaves or scales combining to form each 
 cup. 
 
 In its native state, and with the great quantity of hair covering and 
 diminishing the growth of the wool, the fleece of this sheep cannot be of 
 much value for manufacturing purposes, but breeding would effect a great 
 alteration. The hair could here, as on other sheep, be diminished — eraui- 
 cated ; the fineness of the fibre might be retained ; the number of serrations 
 increased, and the all-important spii-al curve appended. Much of this has 
 been done. The sheep now under consideration had spread from Wal- 
 lachia through Hungary, Bohemia, and some other of the Austrian states. 
 Its wool was not always shorn. Many of the Iambs were killed, that fine 
 cloaks, and other articles of clothing might be made of their skins with the 
 wool on them. The skin of the adult sheep, with its wool on, was em- 
 ployed to make dresses for the peasantry. It was covered with oil or grease, 
 and converted into a rude, but effectual mantle, clothed in which the 
 sliepherd or the woodman could brave any storm, and even sleep in the 
 midst of snow. In many places these sheep have been shamefully neglected, 
 and fed on the worst pastures ; but since the introduction of the Merinos, 
 much improvement has taken place in the fleece ; and, what is of great 
 importance, the old Wallachian sheep has disappeared over a great part of 
 the country, and has been superseded by the Spanish one. 
 
 THE MOLDAVIAN SHEEP. 
 
 These differ from the Wallachians chiefly in the length of the tail, the 
 form of the horn, which is not so decidedly spiral, and the quality of the 
 fleece. They carry two distinct species of wool, or rather a coat of hair, 
 and another of wool. The hair is coarse — coarser than that of the Walla- 
 chian, and is 1 1 inches long. The wool is from 3 to 7 inches in length — 
 finer than the hair, but not so fine as that yielded by the Wallachian. 
 
 The Moravian sheep are larger ; they have a small head, — a back 
 somewhat bowed, and they carry long wool, finer than that yielded by the 
 AVallachian or Moldavian*. The change effected in all of them by the in- 
 troduction of the Merino will be considered hereafter. 
 
 M. Lasteyrie speaks in strong terms of the bad management of the sheep 
 in those countries before the recent improvements commenced. He says 
 that these animals, when protected at all, were housed in confined buildings, 
 without apertures, and from which the ([ung was removed only twice in the 
 year. This treatment, and bad food during winter, occasioned frequent 
 diseases in the flocks and herds, so that there were few countries where the 
 murrain was so frequent or so disastrousf. Arthur Young confirms this. 
 He is speaking of the Bohemian sheep: — " Wool generally sells well, but 
 the price does not induce the farmers to increase their flocks, owing- to the 
 severe losses they are liable to, through all the imperial hereditary countries ; 
 forfi00or700 in a flock will die in one night. The nature of the distemper 
 is not known, but it is attributed to the excessive heat of the sheep-houses in 
 which the animals are lodged]:." The far greater value of the Merino sheep, 
 
 ■ Lasteyrie on the Merino Sheep, p. 194. f Ditto, p. 196. 
 
 X Annals of Agriculture, vol.vi. p. 170. 
 
UO SHEEP 
 
 and the consequent improved system of sheep-liusbandry, have now banished 
 this pest from the wliole of the Germanic states. 
 
 THE GREEK SHEEP. 
 
 The few fragments which related to the Grecian sheep were collected 
 when the early history of this animal was considered. The present cha- 
 racter and management of the sheep are in keeping with the oppressed and 
 debased state of modern Greece. The Arcadian sheep seem to have retained 
 most of their primitive excellence. They are 30 or 36 inches long, 16 or 
 18 high ; weigliing about 10 or 12 pounds the quarter ; the head large, the 
 countenance lively, the back broad, the chest round, the legs small, the wool 
 thick, soft, and much curled *. This, with proper management, would seem 
 to be a useful and profitable animal. 
 
 The flocks consist of about 500 sheep in each, under the care of 
 three men and a boy. For the pasturage of each animal the owner pays 
 one asper and a half t to the spahi of the village, who claims all the land as 
 his property. Government demands another asper and a half per annum, 
 and three aspers on each fleece. No provision is made for the food of the 
 sheep during the winter, but they wander from one pasturage to another, 
 according to the slate of the season or the weather. 
 
 The profits of the flock are derived, firstly, from the lambs, which are 
 contrived to be dropped near the coast in December, and among the hills 
 in January. They are fed almost entirely on milk for two or three months ; 
 and at Easter, when there is a great consumption of lamb among the fol- 
 lowers of the Greek church, they are worth from four to six piastres each 4:. 
 
 In March the ewes are separated from the lambs, and for the three fol- 
 ■ lowing months are milked twice daily, then once a day for a month, and in 
 July once in two or three days. A good ewe yields a pint of milk at 
 each time. From this the Greeks ingeniously contrive to extract all the 
 profit that it will yield. First, after having stood twenty-four hours in 
 or>ler to become sour, the milk is beaten in a narrow cask with a stick until 
 the butter swims on tlie top. An equal quantity of fresh milk is then added 
 to the buttermilk, and the manufacture of cheese commences. The first 
 curd being removed, a tenth part of fresh milk is added to the whey ; and, 
 after a short boiling, a second coagulum is formed on the surface, termed 
 misithra, and which is both palatable and nutritious. A superior variety of 
 curd or cheese, and highly valued, is manufactured from the best new milk 
 either of sheep or goats. A kind of rennet is prepared of the juice of a 
 lemon mixed with flour and water that had been suiTered to become sour, 
 and then mixed with boiling milk. The new milk is boiled, and when it 
 has cooled so as to bear a finger to be dipped into it, a small cupful of the 
 rennet is poured into several quarts of the milk, and in three hours the 
 curd is formed and fit for use. 
 
 The sheep-shearing season lasts from the middle of April to that of May. 
 No washing or preparation is deemed necessary. The ewes yield three and 
 the rams four pounds of wool, which sells for about ten paras § a pound. 
 The greater part of this wool is exported, and the remainder is worked into 
 coarse cloaks or carpeting. The skin, when sold unshorn, is worth from 
 thirty to forty paras, and when converted into leather supplies most of the 
 neighbouring islands. 
 
 * Agricuit. Mag., April, 1802. 
 t An asi)iT is about an eighth part of a pennj-. 
 I The piastre of 1810 is in value about 9\d 
 § A para is ilirec aspers, or three-eighths of a penny 
 
GREEK SHEEP. 
 
 141 
 
 These sheep are subject to a pustular eruption (tlie claveau of the French), 
 which destroys a great number of them. Inoculation with the matter of the 
 pustule has been introtlucecl with much success : a milder and more trac- 
 table disease is thus substituted. The rot is also very fatal in the Morea. 
 Beef is little used for food in this part of Greece, but the mutton is much 
 valued*. Only a very small number of sheep are found on any of the 
 islands of the Greek Archipelago ; but the inhabitants are principally de- 
 pendent on Greece or Turkey for the supply of wool and hides, and mutton 
 and beef. 
 
 THE CYPRUS SHEEP. 
 
 The fat-tailed sheep are found in considerable numbers in this island, 
 large in size, and the tail frequently weighing moi'e than 50 pounds. They 
 are of various colours, the white being most esteemed. The greater part of 
 the wool used to be exported to Leghorn and to the south of France, in 
 order to be used in the coarser manufactures. 
 
 Many of these sheep are policerate (having more than two horns). They 
 all spring from the frontal bones, the crest of which is elevated in a peculiar 
 manner, in order to form their base. The central horns are usually straight, 
 or somewhat divaricating — occasionally they are spiral ; the lateral ones 
 assume almost every possible variety of curve. The following cut repre- 
 sents the most frequent appearance of the Cyprus four-horned sheep. This 
 
 [C//prus, or fuur'horned Sheep.\ 
 * Leake's Travels in the Morea. 
 
142 SHEEP. 
 
 multiplicity of horns is not found in any breed intrinsically of much value. 
 It is generally accompanied by great length and coarseness of the fleece, 
 and which, in the majority of these cases, assumes more the form of hair 
 than of wool*. 
 
 SICILIAN SHEEP. 
 
 An account, extracted from the earliest poet, has already been given of 
 the supposed primitive management of the sheep in Sicily (pages 48, 49). 
 A valuable breed of sheep is still found in this island, and, with regard to 
 which, the same system of migration is pursued as in the Spanish flocks ; 
 but the wool is far inferior to tliat of the Merino. Livingston imagines 
 that they are descendants from the stock of the ancient shepherds, and 
 which had undergone all the improvement of which that race of animals 
 was capable when Sicily was in its highest state of civilization f. 
 
 ITALIAN SHEEP. 
 
 When Rome was in the zenith of her glory, the sheep of Italy seemed to 
 be worthy of the soil on which they fed. " The best wool, of all others," 
 says Pliny, " is that of Apulia (on the south of Naples) ; then that which 
 in Italy is called the Greek sheep's wool, but in other countries is named the 
 Italian (still more to the south, being that part of Italy which was particu- 
 larly colonised by the Greeks). The Milesian (Asiatic) sheep and wool 
 carry the third prize. The wool of Apulia is of a very short staple, and 
 especially in request for cloaks and mantles about Tarentum (Taranto) and 
 Canusium (Canosa) ; and as for whiteness, there is none better than that 
 which groweth along the Po and in Lombardy+." 
 
 If we are to credit the accounts of ancient authors, the Italian sheep and 
 the Italian wool were cultivated with a care and assiduity which leaves all 
 the precautions of modern times far behind. The reason of this was plain. 
 The clothing of the richest and most refined people then in the world was at 
 first made of wool : but at length the silk and cotton of the East gradually 
 introduced themselves into Europe, and the Italians found the fabrics com- 
 posed of these materials to be better adapted to the heat of the climate in 
 which they lived. The consequence was that sheep began to be cultivated 
 more for the carcass and less for the fleece ; and the breeds of Apulia and 
 Tarentum were rapidly deteriorated, and at length disappeared, and were 
 succeeded by a larger, coarser, and hardier, but, under the altered circum- 
 stances, more profitable race§. 
 
 When, after the middle ages of darkness were passing away, the arts and 
 manufactures again revived, Italy took the lead in the production of the 
 
 * Mariti's Travels in Cyprus, vol. i., pp. 35, 225. Anderson on Sheq), p. 41. 
 
 i" The argument by which he enforces this opinion is at least a very ingenious one. 
 " Those," (the sheep of Sicily,) « with most of the sheep 1 have seen in Italy, have 
 pendent ears. From this circumstance I presume that they have been longer domesti- 
 cated than those of Spain or the other parts of Europe ; and as this country was origi- 
 nally settled by the Grecians, it is highly probable that the present race is from the 
 stock of the first colonists : for, extraordinary as it may appear, notwithstanding the 
 various changes which that country has undergone, its agriculture seems at the present 
 to be what the poets describe it to have been two thousand years ago, and the implements 
 of husbandry dug up at Pompeii and Herculaneum are evidently the models of those 
 now in use in the vicinity of Naples. 
 
 " I consider pendent ears as a proof of very ancient domesticity, because I believe all 
 wild animals carry theirs erect; and most, if not all of them, have the power of moving 
 them to the point from which the sound is derived. When they cease to be their *A> 
 protectors, and rely upon man both for defence and support, the organs given them wmj 
 a view to these objects are gradually impaired, and the debility which results from their 
 inaction changes their very form." — Livingston ou Sheep, p. 44. 
 
 J Plin. Secund., lib. viii., cap. 48. § Bath Papers, vol. ii., p. 216. 
 
ITALIAN SHEEP. 143 
 
 finest and most costly woollen fabrics ; but she no longer worked on "her 
 own materials, for her sheep would no longer yield her the means of 
 competing with, much less surpassing, other countries. She had then 
 recourse to the wools of Spain : thus Damianus, speaking of the exporta- 
 tion of wool from Spain, says that "those used in Italy, being the choicest, 
 were sold for from forty to fifty gold ducats per sack." It would even seem 
 that not a particle of her own wool was enwoven or capable of being en- 
 woven in the fabric, for Richelius, in his ' Political Testament,' printed in 
 1635, speaking of the woollen manufactures of France, says that " they 
 were preferred to those of all other countries except Venice, where they 
 were made of Spanish wool*." 
 
 An extract from a modern work will show the altered and debased cha- 
 racter of the Italian sheep previous to the introduction of the Merinos, of 
 which mention will be presently made. " The sheep in the hill country 
 near Rome are handsome, but of that kind whose fleece grows only on the 
 back and half way down the sides. Black sheep are rather encouraged 
 here for their wool, and the clothing of the friars is of this undyed wool. 
 The clothing of the galley-slaves, which is partly worn without dyeing, is of 
 a dark brown and white stripe. A kind of hard sourish cheese is made 
 from the milk of the sheep, and they are profitable for the market, as they 
 fatten easily. The goats, however, are the most usefid domestic animals-^.'" 
 
 Although the old Tarentine sheep produced a wool unequalled in early times, 
 they were not without their defects, and very serious ones too. They were 
 called by the agriculturists of those days pellitm and tecta, from the skins 
 and other clothing with which they were covered ; and also molles, not only 
 from the softness of their fleece, but from the delicacy of their constitution, 
 and the constant care that was required in order to preserve them from inju- 
 rious vicissitudes of heat and cold. They are described as a most voracious 
 breed ; and any considerable or long-continued diminution of their food was 
 attended with certain destruction of the flock. As there was no sale for the 
 lambs, nor any profit from the milk, half of the young ones were destroyed 
 at their birth, and each of the remaining ones suckled by two ewes — a 
 sufficient proof that, like their probable descendants the Merinos, they were 
 bad nurses. The ram-lambs were chiefly reared, and were castrated and 
 killed at two years old, when, by means of constant clothing and compres- 
 sion, like the black lambs of liucharia (see p. 53), an undulating gloss was 
 given to the fleece, and it was sold at an advanced price. Notwithstanding 
 this however, they are uniformly described as an unprofitable breed, for 
 their carcasses were comparatively of little value, and they could not endure 
 want or hardships, or the slightest neglect. 
 
 The preparation of this fleece was a work of great labour. It was fre- 
 quently uncovered, not only to ascertain its condition, but for the refresh- 
 ment of the animal ; it was drawn out, and parted and combed, if it was 
 beginning to mat ; it was frequently moistened with the finest oil, and even 
 with wine ; it was well washed three or four times in the year ; the sheep- 
 houses were daily and almost hourly washed, and cleaned, and fumigated. 
 The flocks were necessarily small, and the attendance and care expensive ; 
 and therefore it is not to be wondered at if, in the later periods of the Roman 
 empire, and when the irruption of the barbarians commenced, they were 
 gradually lost, or intermixed with the coarser- wooUed native and unculti- 
 vated flocks of the country |. 
 
 ♦'Encyclopaedia Londinensis, Article Wool, 
 f Graham's Three Months in Rome, 1821. 
 
 t The reader may see this subject well treated in a very ingenious pamphlet, 
 ntitled " On the Name and Origin of the Breed of Merino Sheep," published in 1811. 
 
144 SHEEP. 
 
 THE PIEDMONTESE SHEEP. 
 
 Piedmont, and the country near the Alps, is celebrated by Pliny tor it& 
 breed of grey fnie-wooUed sheep, and vvliich vied with the choicest black wool 
 of Spain, or white of Italy, or red of Asia*. These sheep never entirely 
 degenerated; or rather, amidst the degeneracy of others, it was acknow- 
 ledged that the wool of Piedmont and the Alpine region of Italy was ex- 
 celled only by that of Spain t. The estabhshment of the Merino hi Piedmont 
 will be an interesting subject. 
 
 THE SAVOV SHEEP. 
 
 Few sheep are kept in the valleys of Savoy, as it is necessary to house 
 them during the winter, and no better food can be obtained for them than 
 the dried leaves of trees. Poor families keep a few sheep to supply them 
 with wool. " These little flocks," says Bakewell, " are driven home every 
 evening, generally accompanied by a goat or a cow, a pig or an ass, and 
 followed by a young girl spinning with a distaff. As they wind down the 
 lower slopes of the mountains, they form the most picturesque groups for 
 the pencil of the painter, and carry back the im.agination to the ages of 
 pastoral simplicity sung by the poetsj." 
 
 SWISS SHEEP. 
 
 The Cantons of Switzerland produce various breeds of sheep, according 
 to the mountainous character of the country and the richness of the pasture. 
 In some of the valleys there are sheep not much unlike the long-wooUed 
 English breeds. They have been imported, or sheep to improve them have 
 been procured, from Swabia, Flanders, and Great Britain. They average 
 from 24 to 36 pounds the quarter when fatted. The rams yield from 10 to 
 14 pounds of wool in the grease, and the ewes from 6 to 8 pounds. This 
 wool is somewhat, but not much inferior in quality to the Lincolnshire 
 wool. 
 
 On the more irregular, yet not abrupt parts of the country, and wjiere 
 wheat and especially clover are grown, and particularly in the neighbour- 
 hood of Thun, a smaller breed of sheep is found. They produce a shorter 
 wool, more adapted, at least according to the old system of manufacture, 
 for the card than tlie comb. Those of a brown or black colour yield the 
 finest wool. 
 
 Consistent, however, with the character of the country, the mountain 
 sheep are the most numerous, and, on the whole, the most profitable. 
 They are of a still smaller size, and they have much improved since tlie in- 
 troduction of the Merinos into Switzerland ; for their wool has not only 
 increased in fineness, but it has doubled or tripled itself in weight. They 
 are hardy, little susceptible of rot; they live and thrive longer than other 
 breeds, and do not lose their teeth until they begin to get very old. They 
 are from 20 to 24 inches in height, and from 3 feet 4 to 8 inches in the 
 girth. They are shorter in the leg than mountain sheep are generally 
 found to be, and will average, when fatted, from 20 to 24 pounds tlie 
 quarter. Tlie wool is fine, short, and proper for the card. 
 
 There are also several flocks of the pure Merinos, and of others between 
 the Merinos and the native sheep, although the prejudice against this breed 
 now happily overcome, was perhaps greater in Switzerland than in any 
 other part of Europe §. 
 
 * Plin. Secund., lib. viii., cli. 38. f Lasfeyrie on the Merino Sheep, p. 105. 
 
 X Bakcwell's Residence in Tarantasia, vol. i., p, 327. 
 & Lullin sur les Betes il I^aine dans les Environs de Geneve, 1807. 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 145 
 
 THE SPANISH SIlliEP. 
 
 Before the sheep of the other European states are described, it will be 
 proper to consider tlie Spanish sheep, the spread of which in different 
 countries has, either directly or indirectly, effected a complete revolution in 
 the character of the fleece. 
 
 The early writers on agriculture and the veterinary art describe various 
 breeds of sheep as existing in Spain: they were of different colours — 
 black, and red, and tawny. The black sheep yielded a fine fleece — the 
 finest of that colour which was then known ; but the red fleece of Bijelica — 
 Granada and Andalusia — was of still superior quality, and " had no fellow*." 
 
 These sheep were probably imported from Italy. They were the Taren- 
 tine breed, already described, and which had gradually spread from the coast 
 of Syria and the Black 'Sea, and had now reached the western extremity 
 of Europe. Many of them mingled with and improved the native breeds 
 of Spain, while others continued to exist as a distinct race ; and, meeting 
 with a climate and a herbage suited to them, retained their original cha- 
 racter and value, and were the progenitors of the Merinos of the present 
 day. Columella, a colonist from Italy, and uncle to the writer of an 
 excellent work on agriculture, resided in Baetica in the reign of the Em- 
 peror Claudius (a. d. 41). He introduced more of the Tarentine sheep 
 into Spain, and he otherwise improved on the native breed ; for, struck 
 with the beauty of some African rams which were brought to Rome to be 
 exhibited at the public games, he purchased them, and conveyed them 
 to his farm in Spain. Hence, probably, the better varieties of the 
 CJiunahy or long-woolled breeds of Spain, that will presently come under 
 consideration. 
 
 Previous, however, to the time of Columella, Spain possessed a valuable 
 breed of sheep; for Strabo, who flourished under Tiberius, speaking of 
 the beautiful woollen cloths that were worn by the Romans, says that the 
 wool was brought from Truditania, in Spain f. 
 
 With regard to the extent of these improvements history is silent ; but 
 as Spain was at that time highly civilized, and as agriculture was the fa- 
 vourite pursuit of the greater part of the colonists that spread over the vast 
 territory which then owned the Roman power, it is highly probable that the 
 experiments of Columella laid the foundation for a general improvement in 
 the Spanish sheep — an improvement which was not lost, nor even mate- 
 rially impaired, during the darker ages that succeededj. 
 
 * Plin. Sec, lib. vni.,ch. 48. f Livingston's Essay on Sheep, p. 39, 
 
 X The following observations from an anonymous but valuable pamphlet, published in 
 181 1, and entitled " On the Name and Origin of the Breed of Merino Sheep," will be 
 interesting to many readers: — 
 
 " The original Spanish sheep were, according to Pliny, Solinus, and Columella, some 
 black-fleeced ; some produced red or Erytheean wool ; and some, as those about Cordova, 
 had a tawny fleece. The remains of these ancient varieties of colour may still be dis- 
 cerned in the modern Merino sheep. The plain and indeed the only reason that can be 
 assigned for the union of black and grey faces with white bodies, in the same breed, is 
 the frequent intermixture of black and white sheep, until the white prevails in the fleece, 
 and the black is confined to the face and legs. It is still apt to break out occasionally in 
 the individual, unless it is fixed and concentrated in the face and legs by repeated 
 crosses and a careful selection ; and, on the contrar)', in the Merino South-down the 
 black may be reduced by a few crosses to small spots about the legs, while the Merino 
 hue o'erspreads the countenance. The Merino hue, so variously described as a velvet, a 
 buff, a fawn, or a satin-coloured countenance, but in which a red tinge not unfrequently 
 predominates, still indicates the original colours of the indigenous breeds of Spain ; and 
 the black wool, for which Spain was formerly so much distinguished, is still apt to break 
 out occasionally in the legs and ears of the i\Ierino race. In some flocks, half the ear is 
 invariably brown, and a coarse black hair is often discernible in the finest pile. The 
 Erythaean, the Fuscus, and perhaps the Pelligo of the ancient Spanish breeds, are pre- 
 
 L 
 
146 SHEEP. 
 
 In the eighth century the Saracens established themselves in Spain, and 
 they found it fruitful in corn and pleasant in fruits, and '' glutted with herds 
 and flocks." The luxury of the Moorish sovereigns has been the theme of 
 many a writer, and a rich and expensive dress has always been one of the 
 leading articles of luxury : accordingly, in the thirteenth century, when the 
 woollea manufacture was scarcely known in a great part of Europe, and in 
 few places flourished, there were found in Seville no less than 16,000 looms. 
 At llie same period the cloths of Lerida were much esteemed. A century 
 afterwards, Barcelona, and Perpignan, and Tortosa were celebrated for the 
 fineness of their cloths, and the greater part of Europe, as well as the coast 
 of Africa, was supplied with them ; and, later than this, and in the time of 
 Charles V., Spain was full of flocks and herds, and not only furnished its own 
 people most abundantly, but also foreign nations, with the softest wool. In 
 1576 there were annually exported from Spain to Bruges alone 40,000 
 sacks of wool, each selling for at least 20 gold ducats (91. 5s.) ; and others, 
 of a finer kind, were sent to Italy at the price of 50 gold ducats (2Sl. 2s. 6d.) 
 per sack*. 
 
 After the expulsion of the Saracens the woollen manufacture languished, 
 and was in a manner lost, in Spain. Ferdinand V. banished nearly 100,000 
 industrious people because they were Moors ; and for this worthy deed 
 was honoured with the title of Catholic. His successor, Philip III., drove 
 from Valentia more than 140,000 of the Mahometan inhabitants; and in 
 the three following years 600,000 more were expelled from Murcia, Seville, 
 and Granada. The majority of these people were artisans — weavers ; and 
 the natural consequence was that the 16,000 looms of Seville dwindled down 
 to sixty, and the woollen manufacture almost ceased to have existence 
 throughout Spain f. 
 
 The Spanish Government at length saw, but too late, its fatal error, and 
 many attempts have been since fruitlessly made to produce again the beau- 
 tiful fabrics of former days. All this while, however, the Spanish sheep 
 seem to have withstood the baneful influence of almost total neglect. Until 
 a few years ago, the Peninsula continued to possess the most valuable 
 fine-woolled sheep ; and will always have to boast that, although the Merino 
 flocks and the Merino wool have improved under the more careful manage- 
 ment of other countries, Europe and the world are originally indebted 
 to Spain for the most valuable material in the manufacture of cloth. 
 
 It has already been mentioned (see p. 123) that Pedro IV. of Spain im- 
 ported, for the supposed improvement of the Spanish sheep, several Barbary 
 rams ; and that, two hundred years afterwards, Cardinal Ximenes had 
 recourse to African rams for the same purpose. Of the effect produced by 
 these experiments there is no authentic account. It is probable that the 
 Barbary sheep, like the Cotswolds of England, were employed in improving 
 the coarser and long-wooUed breed of Spanish sheep ; and that the shorter 
 and finer woolled sheep, the breed whence the present race of Merinos 
 descended, were undebased by foreign admixture. 
 
 The perpetuation of the Merino sheep in all its purity, amidst the con- 
 vulsions which changed the whole political existence of Spain, and de- 
 
 cisely the red or fawn, the buffer satin-coloured countenances of the Merinos at present ; 
 and whatever was the peculiar colour which the elder Columella introduced by means of 
 African rams info his Tarentine flock, we may conclude that the same expedient was 
 adopted by the agriculturists of Baetica to convert their coarse into fine-woolled breeds, 
 and to commtmicate the purest white to the party-coloured fleece." 
 
 * Livingston, p. 41. See also an excellent and most satisfactory article on the Spanish 
 Wool in tlie Encyclopaedia Londinensis, vol. xxiv. 
 
 f See a very valuable pamphlet on the Woollen Manufacture, and not half so much 
 known as it deserves, by Mr. Wansey. 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 147 
 
 stroyed every other national improvement, is a fact which the philosopher 
 and the philanthropist may not be able fully to explain; but which he 
 will contemplate with deep interest. In the mind of the agriculturist, it 
 will beautifully illustrate the primary determining power of blood or 
 breeding, and also the agency of soil and climate, a little too much under- 
 rated, perhaps, in modern times. 
 
 The Spanish sheep are divided into the esiantes or stationary, and the 
 transhumantes* or migratory. The stationary sheep are those that remain 
 during the whole of the year on a certain farm, or in a certain district, there 
 being a sufficient provision for them in winter and in summer. The trans- 
 humantes wander some hundred miles, twice in the year, in search of 
 pasture 
 
 The stationary sheep consist of two breeds essentially different, and a 
 third or intermediate one. The first is the Chunah breed : it is altogether 
 distinct from the Merinos, being larger, taller, and heavier, with the head 
 smaller and devoid of wool. The staple of this wool is eight inches long ; 
 it is much coarser than that of the Merino, and almost devoid of curve, and 
 consequently of inferior value. This breed extends through almost the 
 whole of Spain. It is the breed of the peasant and the little proprietor ; 
 and it is numerous even in those provinces where the Merinos are most 
 extensively cultivated and most perfect. 
 
 It was probably in order to improve this coarser long-woolled breed that 
 certain sheep were in the fifteenth century exported from England to Spain. 
 There has been controversy whether they were Ryelands or Cotswolds ; but 
 Stow and Baker have, in their Chronicles, completely settled the question. 
 The former says, " This yere (1464) King Edward IV. gave a licence to 
 pass over certain Cotteswolde sheep into Spain." Baker adds, " King 
 Edward IV. enters into a league with John, king of Arragon, to whom he 
 sent 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 detri- 
 mental to England, than could at first have been imagined." The fleece of 
 the Cotswolds is fine, but the staple is long ; and crosses with such sheep 
 could only benefit a long-woolled flock. The Chunahs, therefore, may be 
 descendants of the English sheep mixed with the common breed of the 
 country ; but further than this, England cannot, with any degree of justice, 
 urge the claim which some have done, of being instrumental in producing 
 the invaluable Spanish wool. 
 
 In the same way the known importation of English long wool into Spain 
 may be accounted for. It was mixed with the coarser long wool of that 
 country ; it was that by means of which a greater quantity of the Spanish 
 long wool could be used in the manufacture of certain articles, and parti- 
 cularly of the finer serges : and perhaps it may be said, by means of which 
 it could be used at all except in the coarsest fabrics. It was in the Spanish 
 worsted manufactures what the Spanish or German wools are to the English 
 ones in the manufacture of cloth : they permit the use of a greater quantity 
 of British growth, and materially improve the fabric in the construction of 
 which they are employed. 
 
 The other principal breed of stationary sheep consists of true Merinos. 
 They wander not from the district or the property on which they are bred. 
 In form and in fleece they differ not from the migratory sheep. They are 
 found chiefly on the pastures scattered among the Guadarrama mountains, 
 the Somo Sierra ranges, and the whole country of Segovia. They amount 
 to about two millions. 
 
 Beside these, and also stationary, and found in every part of Spain, 
 * From trans and humus, expressive of their change of chmate and pasture. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 SHEEP. 
 
 are various mixed breeds, tlie produce of the Merinos and the Cluinahs, 
 and other native varieties of sheep. Their character and value diHer 
 according to the proportion of Merino blood in them ; and where that con- 
 siderably'preponderates, they are often confounded with and substituted for 
 the pure Merinos. The Chunahs and the mixed breeds amount to six 
 millions. 
 
 The description of sheep most sought after, and by which so many coun- 
 tries have been enriched, is the iranshumantes, or migratory ones— those 
 which pass the summer in the mountainb of the noith, and the wmter on 
 the plain? towardb the south of Spiin. 
 
 \_Merino RamJ] 
 
 The first impression made by the Merino sheep on one'unacquainted with 
 its value would be unfavourable. The wool lying closer and thicker over 
 the body than in most other breeds of sheep, and being abundant in yolk, 
 is covered with a dirty crust, often full of cracks. The legs are long, yet 
 small in the bone ; the breast and the back are narrow, and the sides some- 
 what flat; the fore-shoulders and bosoms are heavy, and too much of 
 their weight is carried on the coarser parts. The horns of the male are 
 comparatively large, curved, and with more or less of a spiral form ; the 
 head i.s large, but the forehead rather low. A few of the females are 
 horned, but, generally speaking, they are without horns. Both male and 
 female have a peculiar coarse and unsightly growth of hair on the foreliead 
 and cheeks, which the careful sheepmaster cuts away before the shearing- 
 time ; the other part of the face has a pleasing and characteristic velvet 
 appearance. Under the throat there is a singular looseness of skin, which 
 gives them a remarkable appearance of throatiness, or hollovvness in the 
 neck*. The pile, when pressed upon, is hard and unyielding ; it is so from 
 
 * Lord Scmeiville has some singular observations on this : — '-The second property io 
 be noted in this sheep is a tendency to throatiness, a pendulous skin under the throat, 
 which is generally deemed a bad property in this country, and the very reverse in Spain, 
 where it is much esteemed, because it is supposed to denote a tendency both to wool and 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 149 
 
 the thickness'with which it grows on the pelt, and the abundance of the yolk, 
 detaining all the dirt and gravel which falls upon it: but, when exajnined, 
 the fibre exceeds in fineness, and in the number of serrations and curves, 
 that which any other sheep in the world produces. The average weight of 
 the fleece in Spain is eight pounds from the ram, and five from the ewe 
 The staple differs in length in different provinces. When fatted, these 
 sheep will weigh from twelve to sixteen pounds per quarter. 
 
 The excellency of the Merinos consists in the unexampled fineness and 
 felting property of their wool, and in the weight of it yielded by each indi- 
 vidual sheep ; the closeness of that wool, and the luxuriance of the yolk, 
 which enables tliem to support extremes of cold and wet quite as well as any 
 other breed ; the easiness with which they adapt themselves to every change 
 of climate, and thrive and retain, with common care, all their fineness of 
 wool, under a burning tropical sun, and in the frozen regions of the north ; 
 an appetite which renders them apparently satisfied with the coarsest food ; 
 a quietness and patience into whatever pasture they are turned, and a gentle- 
 ness and tractableness not excelled in any other breed. 
 
 Their defects, partly attributable to the breed, but more to the improper 
 mode of treatment to which they are occasionally subjected, are, their un- 
 thrifty and unprofitable form ; a voraciousness of appetite which yields no 
 adequate return of condition ; a tendency to abortion or to barrenness ; a 
 difficulty of yeaning ; a paucity of milk, and a too frequent neglect of their 
 young. They are likewise said, notwithstanding the fineness of their wool 
 and the beautiful red colour of the skin when the fleece is parted, to be more 
 subject to cutaneous affections than most other breeds. Man, however, has 
 far more to do with this than Nature. Everything was sacrificed in Spain 
 to fineness and quantity of wool. These were suj)posed to be connected with 
 equality of temperature, or at least with freedom from exposure to cold ; 
 and therefore twice in the year a journey of four hundred miles was under- 
 taken, at the rate of eiglity or a hundred miles per week, and the spring 
 journey commencing when the lambs were scarcely four months old. It is 
 difficult to say in what way the wool of the migratory sheep was or could be 
 benefited by these periodical journeys. It is true that among them is found 
 the finest and the most valuable wool in Spain. The Leonese fleece will 
 at all times sell for considerably more per pound than that of any other 
 Spanish sheep ; but on the other hand, the estantes of Segovia are more 
 valuable than the transhumantes of Soria. Sir Joseph Banks goes farther, 
 for he says that " Burgoyne tells us that there are stationary flocks both in 
 Leon and Estremadura, which produce wool quite as good as that of the 
 transhumantes*." In addition to tliis is the now acknowledged fact that 
 the fleece of some of the German Merinos, who travel not at all, and are 
 housed all the winter, as much exceeds that obtained from the Leonese 
 sheep in fineness and felting property, as the Leonese fleece exceeds the 
 Sorian ; and the wool of the migratory sheep is comparatively driven out 
 of the market by that from sheep which never travelf. At all events the 
 
 to a heavy fleece." In every breed in this kingdom which has come under the author's 
 observation he has invariably found the throaty sheep nut good in their skins, and with 
 no ajititude to fatten, with the exception perhaps of the Ryelands, — Somerville on 
 Sheep, p. 16. 
 
 * (Jommunications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. vi. p. 2. 
 
 t Professor M'Culloch gives the following scale of the prices of wool in the London 
 markets, March, 1834:— 
 
 Spanish : — s. d. s. d. 
 
 Leonessa , . . Per lb. 2 to 4 
 
 Segovia . . . . . '26 — 36 
 
 Soria , , , , , 2 — 30 
 
 Caceres 
 
150 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 advantages derived from the Mesta are overrated so far as the fleece is con- 
 cerned; while with respect to the carcass, by these harassing journeys, 
 occupying one quarter of the year, the possibility of fattening and the ten- 
 dency to fatten must be destroyed, and the form and the constitution of 
 the flock generally deteriorated, and the lives of many sacrificed. 
 
 The migratory sheep may be divided into two classes, or immense flocks— 
 the Leonese and the Sorians. The Leonese, among which are the Negrettes, 
 after having been cantoned during the winter on the north bank of the 
 Guadiana, in Estremadura, begin their march about the l5th of April in 
 divisions of two or three thousands. They pass the Tagus at Almares, and 
 direct their course towards Trecasas, Alfaro, and L'Epinar, where they are 
 shorn. This operation having been performed, they recommence their 
 travels towards the kingdom of Leon. Some halt on the Sierra (ridge of 
 mountains) which separates Old from New Castile, but others pursue their 
 route to the pastures of Cervera, near Aquilar del Campo. Here they graze 
 until the end of September, when they commence their return to Estremadura, 
 
 The Sorian sheep, having passed the winter on the confines of Estrema- 
 dura, Andalusia, and New Castile, begin their route about the same time. 
 They pass the Tagus at Talavera, and approach Madrid ; thence they pro- 
 ceed to Soria, where a portion of them arc distributed over the neigh- 
 
 bouring mountains, while the others cross the Ebro in o 
 
 rder to j 
 
 jroc 
 
 eed to 
 
 Navarre and the Pyrenees *. Per lb. 
 
 ». d. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Caceres ..... 
 
 2 9 
 
 — 
 
 3 6 
 
 Seville 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 2 9 
 
 Portugal .... 
 
 1 7 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 Lambs' Wool .... 
 
 1 9 
 
 — 
 
 1 lOi 
 
 German, Saxon and Silesian : — 
 
 
 
 
 1st and 2nd elect ... 
 
 4 9 
 
 — 
 
 5 3 
 
 Prima . . . . • 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 Secunda ..... 
 
 3 
 
 — 
 
 3 6 
 
 Teit.a 
 
 2 2 
 
 — 
 
 2 6 
 
 Austrian, Bohemian, and Hungarian:— 
 
 
 
 
 Electoral ..... 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 5 6 
 
 Prima ..... 
 
 3 6 
 
 — 
 
 4 6 
 
 Secunda ..... 
 
 2 6 
 
 — 
 
 3 6 
 
 Tertia ..... 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 Lambs ..... 
 
 2 9 
 
 — 
 
 4 6 
 
 Pieces ..... 
 
 2 6 
 
 — 
 
 4 
 
 Fribs 
 
 I 9 
 
 — 
 
 2 9 
 
 Australian : — 
 
 
 
 
 Best flocks, superior fleeces 
 
 3 6 
 
 — 
 
 4 6 
 
 Seconds ..... 
 
 2 9 
 
 — 
 
 3 10 
 
 Inferior flocks .... 
 
 2 3 
 
 — 
 
 2 y 
 
 Van Dieman's Land: — 
 
 
 
 
 Liferior . . . 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 1 9 
 
 Middling .... 
 
 1 10 
 
 — 
 
 2 1 
 
 Combing .... 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Superior .... 
 
 2 6 
 
 — 
 
 2 11 
 
 Cape 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 I 11 
 
 British Fleeces:— 
 
 
 
 
 North and South Down Hoggets 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 2 2 
 
 Half bred ditto .... 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 2 2 
 
 Ditto, ewes' clothing ... 
 
 1 10 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 Kent fleeces .... 
 
 2 1 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Combing,' skins .... 
 
 1 8 
 
 — 
 
 I 10 
 
 Ditto, flannel wool ... 
 
 1 8 
 
 — 
 
 1 10 
 
 Ditto, blanket ditto ... 
 
 1 3 
 
 — 
 
 1 G 
 
 Leicester fleeces ... 
 
 1 6 
 
 — ■■ 
 
 2 
 
 In Yolk Devons . . , 
 
 10 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Ditto, Down .... 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Ditto, JMerino • • . • 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 1 4 
 
 Goats' wool, Turkey 
 
 1 6 
 
 — 
 
 1 6i 
 
 * Tessier, Inst, des B§tcs a Laine. Dillon's Travels in Spamin 
 
 1779. 
 
 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 151 
 
 These periodical journeys can be traced back to the middle of the four- 
 teenth century, when a tribunal was established for their regulation. It was 
 called the Mesta (the derivation of this term is disputed), and consisted then, 
 and continues to consist, of the chief proprietors of these migratory flocks. 
 It established a right to graze on all the open and common land that lay in 
 the way ; it claimed also a path ninety yards wide through all the enclosed 
 and cultivated country ; and it prohibited all persons, even foot passengers, 
 from travelling on these roads while the sheep were in motion. 
 
 The number of migratory sheep is calculated at ten millions. They are 
 divided into flocks, each of which is placed under the care of a mayoral^ or 
 chief shepherd, who has a suflScient number of others under his command, 
 with their dogs*. He uniformly precedes the flock, and directs the length 
 and speed of the journey ; the others with the dogs follow, and flank the 
 cavalcade, collect the stragglers, and keep off" the wolves, who regularly 
 follow at a distance and migrate with the flock. A few asses or mules 
 accompany the procession, in order to carry the little clothing and other 
 necessaries of the shepherds, and the materials for the fold at night. Several 
 of the sheep, principally wethers, are perfectly tamed, and taught to obey the 
 ' signals of the shepherds. These follow the leading shepherd, having been 
 
 accustomed to be fed from his hand ; they lead the flock — there is no driving 
 
 and the rest quietly follow. 
 
 When passing through the enclosures, they sometimes travel eighteen or 
 twenty miles a day ; but when they reach an open country, with good pas- 
 ture, they proceed more leisurely. Their whole journey is usually more 
 than four hundred miles, which they accomplish in six weeks, and thus 
 spend, in going and reluming, nearly one quarter of the year in this inju- 
 rious manner. 
 
 It may be readily supposed that much damage is done, carelessly, or un- 
 intentionally, or wilfully, to the country over which these immense flocks 
 are passing; and particularly as the migrations take place at the times of 
 the year when the properly of the agriculturist is most liable to injury. In 
 the spring the corn has attained considerable height^ and in the autumn the 
 vines are laden with grapes. The commons also are so completely eaten 
 down by the immense number of migratory sheep, that those which belong 
 to the neighbourhood are, for a period, half starved. In addition to tliis, 
 the servants of the Mesta, like the servants of Government elsewhere, have 
 little common feeling with the inhabitants of the country which they are 
 traversing ; they commit much serious and wanton injury, and they refuse 
 all redress. 
 
 The shepherds and the sheep equally know when the procession has arrived 
 at the point of its destination. It is necessary to exert great vigilance over 
 the flock during the last three or four days, for the animals are eager to start 
 
 * " The Spanish sheep-dogs are used entirely for the defence of the flock against the 
 wolves, and in case of attack the sheep fly to, and gather round them as their friends and 
 protectors. They are also taught, if a sheep lags behind unobserved by the shepherds, to 
 stay with it and defend it until some one returns in search of it. If the shepherd wishes 
 to remove the flock, he calls to him a tame wether, accustomed to feed from his hands, of 
 which a few are kept in every flock ; and these, however distant, obey the call, and the 
 rest foUiiw. With, us, dogs are too often used for other and worse purposes.' In open, 
 uninclosed districts, they are indispensable, but in others, I wish them, I confess, eitlier 
 better managed, or encouraged less. If a sheep commits a fault in the sight of an intem- 
 perate shepherd, or accidentally offends him, he is dogyed into obedience. The signal is 
 given— the dog obeys the mandate, and the poor sheep flies round the field to escape 
 from the fangs of him who should be its protector, until it becomes half dead with fright 
 and exhaustion, while the trembling flock crowd together, dreading the same fate ; and 
 the churl exults in this cowardly victory over a weak and defenceless animal." — Trimmer 
 on the Merinos, p. 50. 
 
152 SHEEP. 
 
 <i\vay, and often great numbers of them make their escape. If they are not 
 destroyed by the wolves, there is no other danger, however, of losing them ; 
 for they are found on their old pasture, quietly waiting the arrival of their com- 
 panions, and it would be difficult to make any of them proceed a great way 
 beyond this spot. Even the stray sheep are generally found on the particular 
 unf'enced portion of ground, called a dehe-m, which is allotted for the flock 
 to which they belong *. The shepherds are immediately employed in con- 
 structing pens for the protection of the sheep during the night, and which 
 are composed of ropes made by twisting certain rushes together which grow 
 plentifully there, and attaching them to stakes driven into the ground. 
 They next build, with the branches of trees roughly hewn, rude huts for 
 themselves. 
 
 When the sheep arrive at their summer pasture, which at first is very 
 luxuriant, the mayoral endeavours to guard against the possible ill effect of the 
 change from the uncertain and scanty pasturage found on the journey, by 
 giving the flock a considerable quantity of salt. He places a great many 
 flat stones five or six feet from each other, and strews salt upon them ; he 
 then leads his flock slowly through the avenue of stones, and they devour the 
 salt with great avidity. This is repeated on several successive days ; and a 
 case ef general inflammation, or of hoove — the penalty too often paid by 
 shepherds elsewhere for turning their flock un prepared on new and rich herbage 
 —seldom occurs among the Spanish sheep. 
 
 During the summer pasturage the labour of the shepherd is light. The 
 ewes are put to the rams early in August. After their return at the close 
 of autumn, and when yeaning-time approaches, the barren ewes are sepa- 
 rated from the others and placed on the poorest pasture. The Merinos are 
 not good nurses, and nearly half of the lambs — or in bad seasons, and when 
 the pasture fails, full three-fourths — are destroyed as soon as they are 
 yeaned. The males are always sacrificed first: the others are usually 
 suckled by two ewes — for it is a common opinion in Spain that the mother 
 that fully suckles her lamb would yield less wool : they are afterwards placed 
 on the best pasture, in order that they may acquire sufficient strength for 
 their approaching journey. The number of lambs slaughtered is sometimes 
 so great that they are sold to the neighbouring villagers for less than half a 
 franc each. Most of the skins are sent into Portugal, and thence find their 
 way to England, where they are used, for the manufacture of gloves. 
 Morning gowns, both light and of good appearance, are frequently made 
 from the skins. The wool is soft and silky, and is formed into little rings 
 or curls. 
 
 Few of the male lambs are castrated, because it is believed that the weight 
 of the fleece is much increased on the ram, without acquiring proportional 
 coarseness. The shepherd, however, early in March, has four operations 
 to perform on the lambs : he cuts off their tails five inches below the rump, 
 
 * The country in which the sheep are to be pastured, both in the southern and 
 northern parts, is set out into divisions, separated from each other by landmarks only. 
 Each division is supposed to be capable of maintaining a flock of a thousand sheep. To 
 each division the different flocks are rigorously confined. 
 
 This accounts for a peculiarity observed in the imported Merinos, in Britain, and in 
 the Anglo-Merinos also. A writer in the Farmer's Magazine, November. 1826, says of 
 them :— " Tliey range all in one lot, that is, of whatever number the flock consists, it is 
 found all in one place, feeding like a drove passing through a country They are either 
 on one of the spots of fine grass, or travelling from one to another. Nothing will induce 
 them to do what the shepherds call ' lying abroad ' upon the waste, or mingle with 
 sheep of any other kind. After taking their walk every day over their range of pasture, 
 they form a sort of camp at night, on the highest part of their ground, and may be cer- 
 tainly found there at day-break next morning, lying so closely, that they touch each 
 Other ; the stronger sheep outside, and the weakest in the centre," 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 163 
 
 for the sake of cleanliness ; he marks them on the nose with a hot iron ; he 
 cuts off the tips of their horns that they may not hurt each other in their 
 frolics*, and he castrates those which, from their superior strength, 
 and superior size, he has selected to become bell-wethers, and lead the flock 
 in their peregrinations. This last operation is performed according to the 
 French method, by squeezing the scrotum, and twisting the spermatic 
 vessels. 
 
 April having arrived, the sheep begin to exhibit great anxiety to set out 
 on their periodical migration, and make every effort to escape. If their 
 purpose is accomplished, they start away in the proper direction, but ere they 
 have traversed the 400 miles they are generally the prey of the wolvest. 
 
 It is supposed that forty or fifty thousand men are employed in these 
 peregrinations of the sheep. They are a singular race of men, enthusiasti- 
 cally attached to their profession, rarely quitting it, even for a more lucra- 
 tive one, and rarely marrying. In the winter they live in the rude 
 constructed huts already described, — but in the summer, or when they are 
 on their travels, they sleep on the ground wrapped in their cloaks. Their 
 chief food is bread, seasoned with oil or grease. Occasionally they eat their 
 old sheep, or such as die of disease, but mutton is not their favourite food. 
 The number of dogs kept for the purpose of guarding tlie sheep exceeds 
 thirty thousand. 
 
 The shearing does not delay the flock more than a day. Buildings 
 (esqicileos) are erected at various places in the early portion of their 
 journey; they are very simply constructed, and consist only of two large 
 rooms, each of which will contain more than a thousand sheep; there is 
 also a narrow, low, long hut adjoining, termed the sweating-house. The 
 sheep are all driven into one of these apartments, and in the evening those 
 intended to be shorn on the following day are transferred into the low 
 long hut. As many are forced into it as it will possibly hold, and there 
 they are left during the night. As some are liberated in the morning, the 
 others are urged towards the end of the hut, while more from the apart- 
 ment occupy their situation. In consequence of this close confinement 
 they are thrown into a state of great perspiration ; the yolk, which formed 
 a somewhat hard crust on the fleece, is melted, and thus the whole is 
 rendered softer, and is more easily cut. There is no previous washing, nor 
 any other preparation for the shearing. From 150 to 200 shearers are 
 generally collected at the esquileo, and a flock of a thousand sheep is dis- 
 posed of in a day, although five rams or eight ewes are reckoned a good 
 day's work for a Spanish shearer. The sheep are turned back as they are 
 shorn into the second apartment, and on the same or the following day 
 continue their journey ; thus in the space of six days, as many flocks, each 
 consisting of a thousand sheep, pass through the esquileo, and leave their 
 
 * The mode in which the Spanish shepherds cut off the horns is sin{!^ilar and brutal. 
 It is not consistent with their usual kindness and gentleness to their flocks. " A ditch is 
 made, which in length and breadth is about the size of a sheep, while in depth it is about 
 five or six inches ; and another is formed rather smaller than the former at one end of 
 it, the two thus forming together a cross. In the last ditch, which is still more shallow 
 than the other, a large plank is fixed to support the head of the ram when he lies on 
 his back in the one which forms the trunk of the cross. A man stretches his body over 
 that of the sheep, and holds the head forcibly upon the board with one hand, while 
 with the other he holds a large chisel, weighing four or five pounds, which is then fixed 
 upon the horn, and another man striking with a mallet, the part intended to be removed 
 flies off at one or two blows.'"— Lasteyrie on Sheep, p. 226. — How ranch more simple 
 would be the use of a fine saw ! 
 
 t See Dillon's Travels in Spain. Livingston on Sheep, and Comrflunications to the 
 Board of Agriculture, vol. vi. 
 
154 SHEEP. 
 
 fleece "behind them. The wooi is then washed and sorted in the esguileo, 
 and is ready for sale*. 
 
 The Merino fleece is in Spain sorted into four parcels. The following cut, 
 while it contains the portrait of a Merino ewe, points out the parts whence 
 the diff"erent wools are generally procured. The division cannot always 
 be accurate, and especially in sheep of an inferior quality, but it is more to 
 be depended upon in the Merino sheep wherever found, for the fleece is 
 more equally good, and the quantity of really bad wool is very small. 
 
 ^_^V^ 
 
 [^Merino Ewe,^ 
 
 * The writer of an excellent article on wool very properly observes that " the ma- 
 nagement of the flocks is peculiarly Roman, and shows the Italian orij^in of these sheep. 
 The Merino ?w«yorn/ corresponds exactly with the magister pecoris of Varro and Colu- 
 mella, and was superior to the opiliones and paslores. The practice of destroying half 
 the sheep at their birth, and of suckling each of the survivors on two ewes ; of sweating 
 the sheep before they were shorn, in order to increase the softness of the fleece, and of 
 conducting them from their high winter to their summer stations, by long journeys 
 through public sheep-walks, have been derived from Roman institutions ; with this dif- 
 ference, that in Italy their migrations were confined to the coarse wooUed sheep, while 
 the moUes oves, or fine wooUed flocks of antiquity, were always housed. ' — Kncyclop. 
 Londinensis. 
 
 A condensation of Arthur Young's account of the Catalonian or Pyrenean breed will 
 complete the account of the migratory sheep of Spain. The journeys of these sheep are 
 smaller, and performed in a different manner. On the northern side of the Spanish por- 
 tion of the Pyrenees are two mountains, the sides of which are covered with short, but 
 plentiful herbage, and from one to the otlier of which the sheep are continually travelling 
 during the summer. In the winter they are sent into the lower part of Catalonia, a 
 journey of twelve or thirteen days, and when the snow begins to melt in the spring they 
 are conducted back again to the moimtains ; thus they are kept the whole year in motion ; 
 they are never housed or under cover, and nerer taste of any food but what they find for 
 themselves. 
 
 The author had the opportunity of examining a flock of these Catalonian sheep, con 
 sistiug of about 2000, They were generally polled, but a few, both of the rams and ewes, 
 had horns. The legs were white or reddish — the faces, some white, some red, and some 
 speckled, and some with a tuft of wool on their faces ; the carcass was round, the back 
 straight ; they were in good condition ; would weigh, when fat, from 15 to IS pounds 
 per quarter, and resembled, on the whole, the South Down breeds. 
 
 Mr. Young wished to examine them more closely, and intimated this to the shepherd 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 155 
 
 Both Lasteyrie and Livingston agree in this division*. The refina., 
 (fig. 1.) or the picklocli wool, begins at the withers, and extends along the 
 back to the setting on of the tail. It reaches only a little vvay down at the 
 quarters, but, dipping down at the flanks, takes in all the superior part of the 
 chest, and the middle of the side of the neck to the angle of the lower jaw. 
 The/?m, (fig. 2.) a valuable wool, but not so deeply serrated, or possessing 
 so many curves as the refina, occupies the belly, and the quarters and 
 thighs, down to the stifle joint. The terceira, (fig. 3.) or wool of the third 
 quality, is found on the head, the throat, the lower part of the neck, and the 
 shoulders, terminating at the elbow : the wool yielded by the legs, and 
 reaching from the stifle to a little below the hock, forms a part of the same 
 division. A small quantity of very inferior wool is procured from the tuft 
 that grows on the forehead and cheeks — from the tail, and from the legs 
 below the hock. (fig. 4.) 
 
 A cut was given of the Long Merino wool of Lord Weston, in page 88. 
 The reader is now presented with one of the picklock wool, from a Merino of 
 the Negretti breed ; it was beautifully curved. Being viewed as a trans- 
 parent object, the serrations are not so prominent as in the Long Merino, 
 but they are more regular and more numerous ; they are 64 in the 40th 
 part of an inch, or 2560 in the space of an inch. It is likewise very fine, 
 being only the ^yth part of an inch in diameter. 
 
 [ Pcklock Merino. ] 
 
 Considered as an opaque object, the edges of the cup have a very singular 
 vandyked serration, resembling a pine or fir-apple. 
 
 The next cut gives the fibre of a fair sample of good Merino wool, pro- 
 bably the ^na. The diameter of the fibre is the same — y-J-^-th of an inch. 
 
 \_Cotiinion Merino,'] 
 
 who immediately walked into the flock, and singled out a ram, and bid it to follow him, 
 holding out his hand as if to give him something. The animal immediately came with 
 the shepherd, and submitted itself to Mr, Young's inspection. He found that mellowness 
 of the skin which is the surest proof of a good breed, and a tendency to fatten. The wool 
 was beautifully soft and fine, and weighed, as he imagined, about eight pounds ; the 
 average weight of the fleece was usually about four or five pounds. Four shepherds, 
 provided with fire-arms, and four or five large Spanish dogs, had the care of the 
 flock. The sheep were collected together every night on a particular spot, — the 
 shepherd slept in a little hut close by, and the dogs gave certain notice of the ap- 
 proach of danger. During the day the head shepherd sat on the moimtain top, or on 
 an elevated spot, whence he could see everywhere around him, while the flock browsed 
 on the declivities. — Annals of Agriculture, vol. viii. p. 195. 
 
 * See Lasteyrie and Livingston on the Merino Sheep. 
 
156 SHEEP. 
 
 — but the serrations, when it is viewed as a transparent object, are but 60 
 in the 40th of an inch, or 2400 in an inch, being a sufficient difference to 
 account for its diminished usefulness and price. 
 
 Tlie central figure is a fibre of the same wool that has undergone the pro- 
 cess of combing. The serrations are more irregular — they are partially, 
 and some of them almost entirely, torn away. The felting property is evi- 
 dently impaired, as the experience of the manufacturer shows it to be. 
 
 When viewed as an opaque object, the edge of the cups appears to be 
 only lightly serrated, and although there are indications of the vandyked 
 form of the picklock, the character is not so determined. 
 
 Lasteyrie, than whom there can be no better judge, thus describes the 
 distinction between, and the comparative excellence of, the different flocks 
 of Leonese Transhumantes. 
 
 The Escurial breed is supposed to possess the finest wool of all the 
 migratory sheep. The Gxtade.lovpe have the most perfect form, and are 
 likewise celebrated for the quantity and quality of their wool. The Paulars 
 bear much wool of a fine quality ; but they have a more evident enlarge- 
 ment behind the ears, and a greater degree of ihroatiness, and their lambs 
 have a coarse hairy appearance, which is succeeded by excellent wool. The 
 lambs of the Infantados have the same hairy coat when young. 
 The Negretti are the largest and strongest of all the Spanish travelling 
 sheep*. 
 
 Mention has been made of the perfection of the cloth manufactures of 
 Spain. It does not, however, clearly appear whether the cloths so cele- 
 brated were of a sergelike and open, or a close and felted structure, — 
 whether they were made of a long or short wool — of the fleece of the 
 Churrahs, or of the improved Merinos. Many circumstances would induce 
 the suspicion that these goods were produced by the agency of the comb 
 more than of the card ; at least it is now notoriously the fact, that there is 
 scarcely a manufactory of fine felted cloth that deserves consideration in the 
 whole of Spain. In 1791, Thomas Bevian, of Melksham in Wiltshire, was 
 engaged by the Spanish monarch, and established, at considerable expense, 
 at Guadalajara, where there were previously considerable manufactories of 
 serges, with a view of endeavouring to consume a portion of their own fine 
 wool in their own country ; but the scheme was soon dropped. Either 
 the natural indolence of the Spaniards could not be sufficiently roused, or 
 the minds of the people soon became exclusively occupied by political 
 matters ; or they thought, or, perhaps, found it more profitable to sell their 
 fine wools to foreigners, than to fabricate them themselves. The woollen 
 manufacture has to a considerable degree increased, but it has been the 
 manufacture of serges, and even in them the Spaniards cannot compete with 
 the Flemish or the Englishf. 
 
 When the Spanish fine wool first began to be so important an article of 
 commerce is not known, but incidental mention is made of it as early as 
 the 14th century. In the 15th century, it obtained a considerable price. A 
 Spanish vessel bound for the Netherlands having been taken by an English 
 privateer, the owners lodged a claim for damages, stating that the wool was 
 worth 9/. 12s. per sack of 364 lbs., or about Gd. a pound J. 
 
 The Spanish wool gradually became an important branch of English 
 commerce. In the year ISOO, three millions of pounds of Spanish fine wool 
 were imported. This increased in IS 10 to nearly 6 millions of pounds. Iri 
 
 * Lasteyrie on Sheep, p. 23. 
 
 f Wansey ou Wool, p. 303. 
 
 I Anderson's History of Commerce, anno 1478. 
 
SWEEDISH SHEEP. I57 
 
 1S25 the importation exceeded S millions of pounds, but in 1S32, when the 
 Merinos had spread into Germany, and particularly into Saxony, and a 
 wool, the staple of which was finer, and possessed more numerous curves 
 and serrations, was produced there, the importation diminished to about two 
 millions and a half*. A wool approximating in quality to the Spanish is 
 now beginning to arrive from the British colonies, and its finest samples 
 produce a higher price in the market than the Spanish. 
 
 Another reason, perhaps, of the diminished importation of Spanish 
 wool is, that its average price is no longer what the Spanish breeder 
 expects, or wliich he may fairly deem a remunerating one ; and, therefore, 
 he will not send so much of it as he used to do. 
 
 The Spanish wool, however, continues to be highly valued by the 
 manufacturer; and the Spanish breed of sheep will be reo-arded with 
 interest as the improver of the best old short-woolled ones, and the 
 parent of a new race, spreading through every quarter of the world, and 
 with which, so far as the fleece is concerned, none of the old breeds can 
 be for a moment compared. 
 
 The progress of the Merino sheep through the various countries of 
 Europe, and of every quarter of the world, may now be more satisfactorily 
 and usefully traced. The principal authority for the statements that will be 
 given is Mr. Lasteyrie, whose work abounds with useful information. 
 
 THE SWEDISH SHEEP, 
 
 The native sheep of Sweden are far from being a valuable breed. They 
 are of moderate size, but the body is long and slender, — the legs also are 
 long, and bare of wool, — the head small, the horns short, the fleece open, 
 coarse in quality, and of a medium length ; they are hardy in constitution 
 — they care not for the rigour of the climate, and their flesh is good, 
 although not overburdened with fat. It was evident that Sweden could 
 support a better animal, for the herbage, although short, was thick and nutri- 
 tive ; and although the winter was often rigorous, the face of the country 
 was such as to afford some shelter from the storm. Accordingly many 
 attempts were made to improve the breed by means of foreign crosses. 
 Recourse was had, and with considerable but variable success, to the 
 German and Flemish sheep, and to the Leicester and Cheviots from 
 Britain. 
 
 At length arose the wish to establish a fine woolled breed in Sweden, and 
 it is singular that this northern country should be the first to import the 
 sheep of the south, and to succeed to a very important extent in natura- 
 lizing them. 
 
 Mr. Alstroemer, in 1723, imported a small flock of Merinos. It was a 
 hazardous — it appeared to be a presumptuous, an almost insane attempt ; 
 and this spirited individual had to struggle with seemingly insuperable ob- 
 stacles. He, however, succeeded in collecting his little stock of southern 
 sheep, and in preserving them from all apparent deterioration. 
 
 The Swedish government was wise ; — in 1739 it established an agricul- 
 tural school — it placed i\Ir. Alstroemer at the head of it — it offered pre- 
 miums to the breeders of Spanish sheep, and premiums on the sale of the 
 best wool. The plan succeeded : the importation of foreign fine wools di- 
 minished, and the growth of native wool began to exceed in quantity that 
 which was imported. The manufacture of fine cloths increased, and yet the 
 importation of fine wool was lessened. It did not quite cease because some 
 of the German wools, grown at no great distance, could be purchased at 
 
 " See Mr. Hubbard's valuable table, p. 101 of the present work. 
 
158 SHEEP. 
 
 little price. The Merinos did not supersede the native breed, because the 
 growth of long wool was indispensable for the clothing of the peasantry ; 
 and every flock did not prosper, because the Merinos, like other sheep 
 require more attention, both in the breeding and the management, than 
 tlie Swedish boor was willing to bestow, in order to preserve them in full 
 perfection. 
 
 In 1764 there were in Sweden 65,000 sheep of the pure Merino blood, 
 and 23,000 of a breed between the Merinos and the natives, and which bear 
 an improved sort of wool. They gradually increased, and are now sup- 
 posed to amount to a hundred thousand, or one twenty-fifth part of the 
 whole number of sheep in Sweden. 
 
 In general they preserve their original form, and their origmal fleece ; 
 and although they have somewhat increased in size and hardihood, their 
 wool has lost none of its softness or fineness. M. Lasteyrie states that he 
 had the opportunity of comparing a flock of Merinos, established fifty-five 
 years at Upland, with another that had just arrived, and he found that 
 the wool of the old stagers was fully as good as that of the newly im- 
 ported sheep. 
 
 The management of the Merino sheep in Sweden by intelligent agricul- 
 turists is suitable to the character of the sheep and the nature of the climate. 
 The system of migration is completely abandoned. Both the native and 
 imported sheep, after having been pastured during the day, are usually 
 housed in the night at all seasons, on account of the great number of 
 wolves. The peas^itry and small farmers have these houses too confined 
 and crowded ; the better sheep-master has them large and well ventilated. 
 The native Swedish flocks are kept in these buildings when the weather is un- 
 usually severe ; the Merinos are housed during the six winter months ; but 
 the most scrupulous attention is paid to the cleanliness of the place, and 
 scarcely any inclemency of weather will prevent the whole flock being 
 driven out daily, at least for a few minutes, in order to breathe the fresh air 
 while the sheep-house is cleaned. The Merino sheep are seldom used for 
 breeding until they are two and a half years old, and are fattened for the 
 butcher at seven. Great quantities of cheese are made from the milk of the 
 native breeds — but the milk of the Merino is left for the nourishment of 
 the lamb. The flocks are shorn in July — the fleece having been washed 
 two or three days before the shearing. 
 
 THE FRENCH SHEEP. 
 
 The breeds of sheep in France are as various as the face of the country 
 and the nature of the pasture of that extensive kingdom ; but there are not 
 many of them, except towards the very south of the country, that yield a 
 fleece possessing much intrinsic excellence either for the purposes of the 
 comb or the card. 
 
 AVhen the British traveller lands in Picardy, and particularly in the 
 neighbourhood of Boulogne, he thinks that he recognizes, in the hornless 
 vvliite faces and general form and appearance of the sheep, those of his native 
 country. He is not altogether mistaken, for he finds a cross between the 
 Romney-marsh sheep, which he has just left, and the sheep of Flanders, on 
 the borders of which he then stands. The wool, however, is shorter and 
 coarser, and more elastic than he has seen it in Kent, and not adapted for 
 the better kind of fabrics. These are, altogether, the largest and finest 
 sheep in France ; and in some parts, and especially in the neighbourhood 
 of Beauvais, he will see many to whom the Kentish sheep have imparted the 
 propensity to fatten, which they derived from the Leicesters. The fleece 
 also will probably weigh from six to eight pounds. At Abbeville was a 
 
FRENCH SHEEP. 159 
 
 celebrated manufactory of fine cloth ; but the neighbouring country yielded 
 little of the wool employed. 
 
 Skirting the western coast he enters Normandy, in some parts of which 
 he meets with a large breed of sheep — large for France — and weighing fifteen 
 or sixteen pounds the quarter ; but the Norman sheep do not in general 
 average more than fifty pounds the carcass. At Colentin and at Va- 
 lognes, in 'the peninsula which terminates in Cherbourg and Cape La 
 Hogue, he finds some exceedingly good long-woolled sheep, and the 
 fleece of wliich is employed in the lightest and best stuffs. The serge ma- 
 nufactory at Valognes is deservedly celebrated. These sheep form a pleas- 
 ing contrast with others that he has met with between Rouen and Caen. 
 Most of the Norman sheep are easily recognized by their red legs and 
 faces. Some of the best and the worst mutton that France produces are 
 found in Normandy, namely, at Colentin and Faux. 
 
 Still proceeding southward he begins more to recognize the true charac- 
 ter of the French sheep, and in La Maine, and about Mayenne and Segre, 
 he sees the long leg and thin carcase and coarse fleece of the Gallic long- 
 woolled breed ; and he fancies that he perceives more of the dry and insipid 
 taste of the French mutton. In some parts of La Maine, however, the pure 
 Flanders sheep are found ; and others that bear comparatively fine wool. 
 Many sheep are likewise fatted here for the Paris market ; they are known 
 by the name of the Alen9ons, the principal markets and fairs for them being 
 in the neighbourhood of Alen^on. 
 
 As he proceeds along the coast through Bretagne, Poitou, Guienne, 
 and Gascony, he will find the character of the sheep essentially changed. 
 He will begin to recognize the smaller short-wooUed breed of various 
 qualities, and some of them exceedingly valuable. Many of the true 
 Flanders breed will linger about Poitou preparing for the Paris market : 
 but the short-woolled breed will rapidly increase, and, in many places, oc- 
 cupy the whole of the country. Li Navarre and Beam he will recognize 
 the neglected sheep of the mountains, with short and fine wool too much 
 mixed and overrun by a coarser species of wool, as the native shepherds 
 say, but, in point of fact, by real kemps. The fleece of a Navarre sheep 
 will sometimes weigh eiglit or ten pounds ; but it is often mostly composed 
 of that which is comparatively valueless. 
 
 At the Lower or Basses Pyrenees the fleece weighs from three to five 
 pounds, the wool is six or seven inches long, and tolerably fine. From the 
 latter end of November until the spring, these sheep are kept in close 
 houses ; but no sooner does the snow begin to melt, and the grass to shoot, 
 than the wethers, the ewes, and the yearlings, are turned out on the moun- 
 tains. The lambs are kept back for a few weeks in order that they may 
 forget their dams ; and then all graze together on the* short grass, which is 
 so abundant that they have not occasion to wander far for an ample supply. 
 In the evening the flock is collected into an uncovered fold near to a rude 
 hut, built for the habitation of the shepherds. Little attention is paid to 
 them in the day, and none at night, except the shepherd is roused from his 
 slumbers by the barking of a Pyrenean dog, to whom the charge had been 
 assigned of giving notice of the approach of the wolves or the bears. 
 These sheep, when fat, weigh from ten to fourteen pounds the quarter. The 
 wool generally has a peculiarity of colour : it is beautifully white towards the 
 roots, and becomes of a fawn or red colour towards the extremity of the fibre. 
 
 In the central, or High Pyrenees, a different sheep is found. It bears 
 considerable resemblance to the English Norfolks, having their horns and 
 black faces and legs. 
 
 Still proceeding to the east, and entering Rousillon, a short and the 
 
160 SHEEP. 
 
 wooUed sheep is found not unlike and scarcely inferior to the Merino. 
 This breed is descended from the Merinos, a considerable dep6t of which 
 is established at Perpignan. The chief difference between the Rousillon 
 and Merino sheep is that the wool does not grow so close ; it does not pre- 
 sent the same firm compact appearance, but hangs on the animal in sepa- 
 rate and detaclied locks. The spiral structure, however, of these locks 
 is beautiful ; and the curves extend from the point to the root. The tint 
 of the fleece is here more of a fawn or yellow colour, and the yolk is as 
 abundant as in the Merino, 
 
 Pursuing the line of coast by Perpignan into Languedoc, the fine-woolled 
 sheep continue to present themselves, and the fleece grown about Bezieres 
 is highly esteemed. If there is an objection to these sheep, and one that 
 increases when they are crossed with the Merino, it is that they do not 
 fatten kindly. The fleece is susceptible of much improvement ; the original 
 coarse Beam coat acquires considerable fineness and value; but the gaunt 
 appearance and unthriftiness of the Merino is too much imparted. 
 
 Passing by the beautiful country of Montpelier and the mouths of the 
 Rhone, the traveller can study the fine sheep and the sheep-husbandry of 
 Aries, The district of the Crau, in length nearly eighteen miles, and about 
 half as much in breadth, extends from the mountains towards the sea- 
 coast. It is one uniform gentle declivity ; in no part of it is there the 
 slightest portion of stagnant water, and not a tree or a bush is to be seen. The 
 soil is consequently dry, and apparently barren enough ; but the herbage 
 which it affords is that which peculiarly suits the sheep, and the cock's-foot 
 grass, and the clover {trifolium pratense), and the common thyme, and the 
 wild thyme, and the lavender {lavandxda spica), grow amid the flints, af- 
 fording a pasture nutritive, v/ithout one dangerous aqueous property, and 
 of a luxuriance that would scarcely be deemed possible. No less than 
 130,000 sheep graze on this declivity. 
 
 A writer in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris 
 attributes the thriving of the sheep on such a spot to tlie free use of salt, 
 thereby enabling the digestive organs to extract every particle of nutriment 
 which the food contains. He says, " on this spot, so seemingly sterile, by 
 the free use of salt, more numerous flocks of sheep are bred and reared 
 than upon any other common of equal extent throughout the whole kingdom ; 
 and, what is not less remarkable, the sheep are healthier, hardier, and endure 
 the severity of the winter with less loss, though they have fewer sheep-cots 
 for covering, than those fed and bred on more copious pastures, and that 
 have, besides, tlie advantage of more convenient shelter. It frequently 
 happens that the Crau is so burnt up in the summer, that the poor 
 animals," those at least that remain there, " are forced to turn up the very 
 stones to come at the few blades of grass which grow around them, and yet 
 none perish for want of food," Much advantage is doubtless derived 
 from the salt; but the pasture is not quite so bare as this writer re- 
 presents, and it is of that kind on which sheep everywhere flourish*. To 
 this may be added, that the sheep on the Crau are, like those of the district 
 next to be described, in a great measure transhumantes. 
 
 The Camarque, and Le Plain du Bourg, are two other districts of Aries 
 abounding in sheep. They produce nearly the same herbage, with the 
 exception of some of the aromatics ; but instead of these there are the 
 shrubby saltwort, tlie glass-wort, and the small shrubby orache — saline 
 plants which always contribute to the health of the flock. About 1 12,000 
 sheep are pastured during the winter in these districts. They are a 
 
 * Quarterly Journ. of Agricul. vol. ii. p. 591. Annales de I'AgricuU. Franj. 3e ser. 
 torn, xiii, f. 219. 
 
FRENCH SHEEP. 16', 
 
 little larger than those of the Crau, but the wool is very nearly as 
 fine. The superiority of the Crau wool has been accounted for in a singu- 
 lar yet not improbable manner. By reason of the numerous loose stones 
 on the plain of Crau, the teeth of the sheep are frequently broken to so 
 great an extent that the animals are usually slaughtered at or before five 
 years old, and there is no defective wool from old worn-out sheep, but the 
 produce of the adult and healthy alone is brought to the market. 
 
 All these sheep are migratory. In the spring of the year they are driven 
 from the plains of Aries and the Delta of the Rhone towards the Alps, 
 which divide Provence and Dauphine from Italy. They mostly direct 
 their course towards the hills in the neighbourhood of Barcelonette and 
 Gap. The migration commences in May, and the sheep return to their 
 winter quarters in November. These sheep are the property of the agri- 
 culturists of Aries and the neighbouring districts ; and the migration is not 
 only sanctioned by custom from time immemorial, but by particular laws 
 \yhich give them, and limit them to, a road thirty-six feet in breadth. 
 
 The flocks from the various districts of Aries, and the southern part of 
 Provence, are collected together, and driven in troops of from 10 to 40,000 
 sheep. To every 1000 sheep three shepherds are allowed, each of whom 
 has his dog, and in the centre of the flock is a troop of asses carrying the 
 provisions and baggage. One shepherd is chosen by his fellows to direct 
 tlie march, the expenses of which are defrayed from a common purse, of 
 which he is the bearer. He travels in the centre, and thence transmits his 
 orders, and issues the daily allowance of provisions, and listens to and 
 determines on the complaints of the farmers in the neighbourhood of the 
 road if any damage has been accidentally or wilfully done, and punishes 
 the shepherds for any offence committed. 
 
 The sheep are led by goats which are trained for the purpose, and have 
 bells around their necks. The discipline in which these animals are kept, 
 and the intelligence which they display, is very great. They halt or pro- 
 ceed at the direction of the shepherd ; they come to the centre at the close 
 of each day's march, and there wait in the morning for the proper order, 
 when they repair to their station at the head of the troop with the greatest 
 regularity. If they come to a stream they halt until the word of command 
 is given ; and then they plunge immediately into the water, and are fol- 
 lowed by the rest of the flock. The journey usually lasts from twenty to 
 thirty days. When they arrive at the mountains each shepherd has his 
 appointed boundary marked out ; and the proprietors of the land are usually 
 paid about twenty sous per sheep for their pasture during the summer. 
 The shepherds sleep with their flock in the open air, and live almost en- 
 tirely on bread and goat's milk *. 
 
 The question of the influence of these peregrinations on the fleece has 
 been already considered. They occupy little more than half the time 
 consumed by the Spanish sheep, and much of the objection to the 
 system is therefore removed ; but the fact is, (whether to be accounted for on 
 the ground of prejudice, or the actually increased value of the sheep,) that the 
 wool of the transhumantes sheep always sells for a greater price than that 
 of the estantes. To this should be added the improvement of the sheep 
 in the neighbourhood of these periodical resting places. The flocks of Gap 
 and Barcelonette are much move highly esteemed than those only of a few 
 leagues farther to the north, because they descended originally from the 
 sheep of Aries, and are recruited every year by the migratory troops from 
 that district, 
 
 * Annales de I'Agfwc. Fran., ibid. f. 220. See also the Encyclopaedia Loudinensis 
 article, Wool. 
 
 M 
 
162 SHEEP. 
 
 The reader must now be supposed to return very rapidly througli the 
 central districts of France. The fine-vvoolled breeds of the southern provinces 
 have their influence on the sheep for a considerable distance northward ; and 
 almost the whole of the wool is in much repute. In Dauphine it is yet finer 
 than in most of the central southern provinces. The effect of a cross 
 with the Merinos is sufficiently evident, but, at length, the breed of sheep, 
 cultivated principally or almost entirely for wool, then begins to disap- 
 pear, and a larger, coarser, but, on the whole, not less profitable animal is 
 substituted. Both breeds are found in Burgundy. In Auvergne is a 
 mountain breed, with black and white heads, and little esteemed. In Berri 
 there is a considerable portion of fine wool, but many of the sheep are fat- 
 tened for the Paris market, and the wool is consequently deteriorated. In 
 Champagne the wool, although long, is tolerably fine, until the traveller 
 arrives at the neighbourhood of Rheims and the commencement of the 
 forest of Ardennes, where the sheep are small and the fleece coarse. 
 Lorraine is almost exclusively a grazing country, the princiual part of the 
 sheep being bought in Alsace, or in the German markets. 
 
 The number of sheep in the whole of France was calculated in 1825 to 
 be more than thirty millions ; but a considerable diminution has taken 
 place since that period. The year 1829 was almost as destructive to the 
 French sheep as to those in England. One proprietor at Aries lost four 
 thousand during that winter. The division of property — the separation of a 
 large farm among several proprietors — has tended still more to lessen the 
 number of sheep. It is the occupier of an extensive demesne alone who is 
 able to adopt that syste<n of agriculture that will enable him to provide for 
 a numerous flock. Supposing a farm to be shared among four proprietors 
 the aggregate of the sheep kept by the four will not usually exceed half the 
 number which the former occupant had possessed. In some of the depart- 
 ments, Where this division has been carried to a great extent, not one-fourth 
 part of the sheep that grazed there before the Revolution are now kept. 
 The change which has taken place in other departments is not so consider- 
 able, but it may be fairly concluded that the number of sheep has, with the 
 last ten years, decreased at least one-sixth part. Paris consumes about 
 347,000 sheep and lambs annually, being but little more than -ffyth part of 
 the existing flock*. 
 
 A short account of the supply of the Paris market will give the reader a 
 sufficient idea of the grazing districts in the central and northern parts of 
 France ; the south is more devoted to the growth of fine wool. The first 
 sheep that arrive at Paris after the expiration of Lent are from Flanders and 
 Artois, and they continue until the end of May. The principal supply is 
 from Brabant in May and June. Sheep also come from Maine and La 
 Perche, from the end of May to October. The Alen^on sheep, and those 
 from Bourbonnois and Poitou, occupy the market at the same time. Sheep 
 in good condition arrive from Berri in June, and continue until the end of 
 October ; and from Hainault and Normandy in great numbers towards the 
 end of July, and in decreasing numbers to the end of October. From the 
 forest of Ardennes they are sent from July to December ; from Touraine, 
 Gravelines, Liege, Brabant, Compigne, and occasionally from Swabia, 
 during the whole of the autumn, through the medium of a company esta- 
 blished in Switzerland. The Beauceron sheep that have grazed in Brie, 
 Hurepoix, and Beauce, principally furnish the capital with mutton from the 
 
 " It will hereafter appear that ^^ part of the existing flock is annually consumed in 
 the British metropolis, but the far greater comparative population of London, and tho 
 different consumption of animal food by the inhabitants of the ti^o countries, will satis- 
 factorily account for this. 
 
FRENCH SHEEP. 163 
 
 latter part of the autumn to the middle of the winter : and from January to 
 Lent the Picardy and Santerre sheep are killed, and those that are fattened 
 in the neighbourhood of Beauvais. 
 
 In addition to these the graziers of Lorraine go to Germany and buy lean 
 ■ sheep at Aix, Hanover, Paterbonne, Veterave, and Valdeck, which they 
 fatten for the Paris markets. Burgundy also sends a few sheep from time 
 to time, and likewise small flocks come from Hainault and Artois, inde- 
 pendent of those that are sent in July. Paris draws one-third of its supply 
 of sheep from the country within thirty miles around it ; one- third from the 
 Ardennes, Alsace, Lorraine, and the German states to wh'ich the graziers of 
 Lorraine travel, and the remaining one-third from the districts already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 AH these animals come to the markets of Sceaux or Poissy, where they 
 pay a toll, and no sheep must be bought by the butchers without a passport 
 from these places. 
 
 It would naturally be expected, that, divided from Spain by the Pyrenees 
 alone, France would be the first to avail herself of the advantage of improv- 
 ing her flocks by crossing them with the M^inos, In the early part of 
 the eighteenth century a project of this nature was entertained by the illus- 
 trious statesman Colbert. At his own expense several Merinos were brought 
 across the mountains ; but his plan met with the opposition which attends 
 every new undertaking, and was abandoned, leaving no trace of improvement 
 behind. 
 
 Tliirty years afterwards M. de Perce imported a little flock of Merino 
 sheep, and he crossed some of the indigenous breeds with this foreign race. 
 The experiments \vere attended with so much success, that the public atten- 
 tion was awakened to the subject. M, Trudaine, the intendant of finance, 
 was most earnest in his wish to ameliorate the French fleece, and to render 
 his country as much as possible independent of the neighbouring states for 
 the material of the woollen manufacture. He consulted with M, Dauben- 
 ton, who had written one of the earliest, and still one of the best works on 
 the general management and diseases of the sheep. The result was that 
 in 1776 rams and ewes were procured from Roussillon, a breed that has just 
 been described as one of the best in France, and approaching the nearest 
 to the Merinos, and other sheep from Flanders, England, Barbary, Thibet, 
 and Spain. These animals were placed on a farm near Bourgogne, in a dis- 
 trict somewhat mountainous, and therefore favourable to the production of 
 fine wool, the grand object of the experiments to be made. 
 
 M. Daubenton experimented on these sheep during seven years. He 
 kept some of all the breeds perfectly pure, and he mingled others in every 
 possible way. The result was that he was enabled to produce from every 
 breed, properly crossed, a wool equal to that from the best Spanish 
 
 This conclusion was unexpected, and, as it afterwards seemed to appear, 
 either was not founded on a sufficient number of accurate experiments, or 
 required more care and attention than sheep-masters generally would or 
 could bestow, in order to secure the continuation of such a result. One 
 thing however was beyond contradiction, — that the Spanish sheep in other 
 countries, and under modes of management different from those to which 
 they had been accustomed in their native clime, would jetain every va- 
 luable quality for which they are so justly celebrated. 
 
 On this the French government acted ; and in 1786, 376 ewes and lambs 
 were purchased in Spain, and sent to Rambouillet, in the neighbourhood 
 of Paris, where was an agricultural establishment expressly devoted 
 to the improvement of the domesticated animals. Sixty of them died on 
 
 M 2 
 
164 SHEEP. 
 
 their passage. Thirty-five ewes, and sixty lambs, were afterwards destroyed 
 by the claveau, a disease of the skin — a kind of sheep-pox, fortunately, 
 aluiost unknown in Great Britain. 
 
 The Rambouillet flock gradually increased, and a few were given to 
 those agriculturists who appeared to be disposed to bestow sufficient care on 
 their cultivation. This was an ill-advised measure. That which could be 
 had as a gift was deemed to possess little value ; and the new breed had not 
 justice done to it. It was then determined than an annual sale of a por- 
 tion of the stock should take place. The first sale was in 1796, ten years 
 after their establishment at Rambouillet. The average weight of the fleece 
 in the yolk was then G lbs. 9 oz. ; the average price of the fleece 5 francs— 
 the average price of the sheep, 71 francs for a ram, and 107 francs for a 
 ewo, and the highest price at which a single sheep sold was 200 francs. 
 Five years afterwards the flock had so much improved in public estimation, 
 and in real value, that the average weight of the fleece was 9 lbs. — its 
 price 28 francs ; the average price of the ram 412 francs, that of the ewes 
 23C) francs, and the highest price of any of the sheep 630 francs 
 
 The most rigorous examination was instituted ; and the supernne wools 
 obtained in France from the pure breed, were worked into cloths in every 
 respect as good as those from the refina or prima wool of the best breeds 
 in Spain. The wool produced from the mixed breed, after the fourth or 
 fifth cross, when made into cloth, was equal to that manufactured from 
 superfine Spanish wool. 
 
 In order to perfect the undertaking, a publication on the treatment of 
 sheep was drawn up by M. Gilbert, under the patronage of government ; 
 a practical school for shepherds was instituted at Rambouillet, and two 
 other depots for Merino sheep were established, one at Pompadour in the 
 department of the Correse, and another at Perpignan in Rousillon, at the 
 foot of the Pyrenees ♦. 
 
 These statements would seem to be highly encouraging ; — but so syste- 
 matically had the sheep been neglected in France, and so inveterate were 
 the prejudices of agriculturists generally, that when an account was taken 
 of the number of sheep in 1811, five-and-twenty years after the establish- 
 ment of the flock at Rambouillet, there were thirty millions of tlie native 
 breeds, and only two hundred thousand pure Merinos. 
 
 At the sale of Merinos at Rambouillet in 1S34, the average price of the 
 ram was 328 francs, and the greatest sum given for the best 510 francs. 
 Tlie average price of the ewe had sunk to 108 francs, and the highest price 
 of the best was only 210 francs. 
 
 It may therefore be concluded that the Merino sheep and the Merino 
 wool will never be extensively cultivated in France. In fact, from the 
 character of the French wools generally — long and coarse, — a different 
 
 * The following is Mr. Trimmer's account of the Rambouillet flock which he visited in 
 1827. It was evidently written under the influence of much prejudice: — " The sheep in 
 size are certainly the largest pure Merinos I have ever seen. The wool is of various 
 (jualities, many sheep carrying very fine fleeces, others middling, and some rather in- 
 diffi'vent ; but the whole is much improved from the quality of the original Spanish 
 iMerinos. In carcase and ap])earance I hesitate not to say, they are the most unsightly 
 flock of the kind I ever met with. The Spaniards entertained an opinion, that a loose- 
 ness of skin under the throat, and on other parts, contributed to the increase of fleece. 
 This system the French have so much enlarged on, that they have produced in this flock 
 individuals with dewlaps almost down to the knees, and folds of skin on the neck, like 
 frills, covering nearly the head. Several of these animals seem to possess pells of such 
 looseness and size, that one skin would nearly hold the carcases of two such sheep. The 
 pelts are particularly thick, which is unusual in the I\Ierino sheep. The ranis' fleeces 
 were stated at 14, and the ewes' 10 lbs. in the grease. By washing they wotdd be re- 
 duced half, thus giving 7 and 5 lbs. each." — Trimmer's Practical Observations, p. 45. 
 
FRENCH SHEEP 165 
 
 kind of improvement, — a different kind of wool is necessary, in order to 
 perfect tlie manufacture of serges and stuffs, and bombazines in tliat 
 country, and — the principal objectof all — to enable tlie native wool of France 
 to be used to any considerable extent in the preparation of these goods. It 
 is singular that this point of paramount importance to tiie woollen trade of 
 France should have been so long overlooked. It is to be traced to that 
 mutual jealousy and alienation which have much too long existed be- 
 tween France and England. 
 
 A long breathing-time of peace has enabled the French woollen manufac- 
 tories to revive, and with this the demand for foreign wool, and wool which 
 Britain alone could supply. In the year 1S33, no fewer than 1,424,208 lbs, 
 of long wool were imported from England. The French government was 
 alarmed at this increasing demand for a foreign material; and in October, 
 1833, sent a competent person to England, to inquire into the character and 
 mode of treatment of the British long-wooUed sheep, and to purchase a 
 flock by means of which either a pure breed — (the improved Leicestera 
 were wisely chosen) — might be established in France, or the native breed 
 materially improved. 
 
 A considerable number of the Leicesters were in that year imported into 
 France; but whether it was that the management of them had not been suf- 
 ficiently studied, or that they had been placed on pastures that were not 
 suitable to them, the greater partdied in a very short time, and then, as the 
 reporter on this subject to the Royal and Central Board of Agriculture at 
 Paris, the Viscomte Debonnaire de Gif, very naively remarks, speaking of 
 his countrymen, — " As it is our character to seize with avidity on new 
 ideas, and quickly to abandon them when unexpected obstacles arise, the 
 hope of naturalizing in France the long-wooUed sheep of England com- 
 jiletely vanished." A few steady agriculturists, however, had continued to 
 cultivate them, and not only the unmixed breed retained all its primitive 
 excellence, but the French breeds that had been crossed by them yielded 
 a longer, a sounder, and yet a finer fleece ; and the size of the animal and 
 the quality of the flesh were considerably improved. One of these 
 gentlemen, M. Duverger, residing near Varsailles, had retained a flock of 
 more than 200 pure Leicesters. 
 
 The demand for British wool continuing to increase, a commission was 
 ap])ointcd to examine these sheep. The report was most favourable, and 
 the director of the school of Alfort, M. Yvart, was dispatched to England, 
 in order to procure a new importation, and, if possible, of more valuable 
 sheep. He arrived in Leicestershire in October 1833, — he selected 110 
 ewes and 12 rams of the Bakewellian breed — and under his superintend- 
 ence they were disembarked at Havre, and arrived at Alfort without the 
 loss of a single sheep ; and in the succeeding five months they lost only two 
 sheep, and these from " the blood " — inflammatory fever.* 
 
 On the 25th of March, 1835, the same nobleman made a second report on 
 tlic state of this flock. It had been transported to a farm at Maison Alfort, 
 on the road to Melun, and after having been in France two winters and a 
 summer, had increased to nearly 300. Many of the first lambs were two- 
 thirds grown, and promised well, and the flock generally seemed to be in 
 perfect health. The losses had been at the rate of 11 in 100, and had 
 principally arisen from red water, which had appeared as an epizootic in the 
 neighbourhood of Alfort, and had destroyed a great many sheep of all breeds. 
 Tlie Leicesters had become habituated to the French shepherds and dogs — 
 they retained their natural quiet habits wandering far less over the pastures 
 
 * See a very interesting report of this proceeding, Annales de I'Agriculture Fian., 
 third series, torn, liii. f, 261. 
 
166 SHEEP. 
 
 than tlie French or Merino sheep, — they were likewise less difficult in the 
 
 choice of their food than either of the others, and evidently fattened more 
 • luickly than them. It was obvious, however, that they could not be driven 
 so far or so fast to pasture as either of the others. 
 
 They had been shorn in the preceding summer, and their fleece had not 
 suffered the slightest deterioration either in length, soundness, or lustre, 
 Fiv&'lambs between 11 and 12 months old had been slaughtered, weighing 
 when alive 481 lbs. or 96 lbs. each, and yielding in carcass 231 lbs., suet 24 
 pounds, and wool 47 lbs. Five wethers between 24 and 25 months old 
 weighed, when living, 604 lbs., or nearly 121 lbs. each, and yielded in 
 carcass 326 lbs., suet 36 lbs., and wool 401bs. : the meat was of the finest 
 quality, and attracted general observation. 
 
 vSeveral of the young ewes have been parted with to the neighbouring 
 farmers, — some of the rams have been let at the average of 50 franks each, 
 and it is the intention of government to have an annual sale and letting. 
 " We think," concludes the reporter, " that the question of the naturaliza- 
 tion of the English long-woolled sheep in France is now determined in ihe 
 aiKrmative — that without neglecting the cultivation of the Merinos, which 
 (luring the last forty years have done so much for France, there is another 
 breed equally worthy of care — and that the Leicesters, placed as now, 
 where before there were only ordinary sheep, and where a good supply of 
 food may be constantly calculated on, will yield to the breeder by their 
 wool, and yet more by their flesh, a recompense fully equal to that which 
 the Merinos would give, and will exercise a happy influence on the prosperity 
 and agricultural and manufacturing industry of France*." 
 
 No apology is made for the length of these extracts, but the reader and 
 the author of the present treatise will equally unite in wishing that the pre- 
 dictions of the commission may be fully accomplished. 
 
 There is nothing peculiar in the French management either of the Merino 
 or Leicester sheep. 
 
 THE NORWEGIAN SHEEP. 
 
 Next in order of time stands Norway. The Norwegian sheep do not 
 differ much from those of Sweden. The legs are long — the carcass has 
 likewise an appearance of length and unlhriftiness, and the wool is coarse 
 and moderately long. One of their earliest natural historians says that 
 some English sheep were imported as a stationary breed, and with a view to 
 the improvement of the native ewes; but they speedily degenerated, and 
 after the third or fourth generation were hardly superior to the nativesf. 
 He also relates that in the islands on the coast of Norway there are many 
 wild sheep, that are never housed or taken care of, but are annually caught 
 to be shorn. Later travellers speak of the same breed as existing in a wild 
 state amidst the snows without receiving attention or food from man, and so 
 untamed and untractable that they cannot be taken unless they are fairly 
 hunted down by a person on horseback. Efforts have been made to reclaim 
 and domesticate them, but they have rarely survived the first year of their 
 confinement. They appear to belong to the primitive fat-rumped breed, 
 for Pontoppidan affirms that " their fat is found in their external parts, 
 and covers their flesh like a warm cushion." The same author likewise 
 asserts, which seems singular in so cold a climate, that "when in summer 
 they are turned out upon the mountains they are so exceedingly tormented 
 with the heat, and with gnats and musquitoes, that they run about re- 
 gardless of danger, and in this frenzy many have lost their lives, falling 
 
 * Annales de TAgricul, Fran., third series, torn. xv. f. 282. 
 t Pontoppidan's Natural History of Norway, Part II. p. 6. 
 
D.\NISH SHEEP. ^^7 
 
 down tbe precipices ; on this account the peasants build rude huts for tlieni 
 into which tliey may retreat from their tormentors * " 
 
 A partial improvement is said to liave been effected in the Norwegian 
 sheep by a Spanish ram that was wreclied about the middle of the last 
 century on the western coast. The sheep in the neighbourhood of 
 Smaalchaem produce better wool than in many other parts of Norway. 
 A few of their fleeces have weighed six or seven pounds. That which has 
 probably tended mucli to render the Norwegian sheep more deteriorated, 
 tlian even cold and starvation could eifect, is the custom of frequent shear- 
 ing. Lasteyrie says that they are shorn twice, thrice, and even four times 
 in the course of a year. He is probably mistaken in this assertion ; for 
 such a ]»actice must be so decidedly injurious both to the sheep and the 
 fleece, that it could not be tolerated for the shortest period of time. The 
 rapid growth of wool immediately after shearing is in all sheep accompanied 
 by a slight degree of fever and debility, and the recurrence of this several 
 times in the year must tend to weaken the animal and interfere materially 
 with his condition. It may be further remarked, that although there may 
 be somewhat greater weight of wool from the two shearings than from the 
 one, on account of this rapid growth of the wool after the top covering is 
 removed, yet it is a coarse kind of wool that is thus produced ; it is hard 
 and large for the temporary defence of the denuded skin, and the finer and 
 more valuable part of the wool is always found near the root, sheltered from 
 Ihe influence of the sun and airf. 
 
 THE DANISH SHEEP. 
 
 These are, in many respects, not unlike the sheep of Sweden and Nor- 
 way. The head is long and thin, the neck arched, the eyes small, the 
 countenance wild, the legs and tail without wool. In some parts of Holstein 
 they are without horns, and, like a few of the wilder kinds of sheep already 
 described, they have two appendages of skin hanging from the upper part 
 of the throat. They are of moderate size, and their wool of a medium 
 length, and which may be used either for the card or comb. It is shorn 
 only once in the year. These sheep are rarely or never housed. 
 
 In the Duchy of Holstein, quite on the southern part of Denmark, is a 
 peculiar and valuable breed of sheep, and bearing considerable analogy to 
 some of the primitive ones. They are of a moderate size, polled, yielding- 
 fine wool, but nut in great quantity : the tail is broad and fat to a very 
 considerable degree towards the root, and gradually diminishes in size and 
 terminates almost in a point. A bell-wether here, as in Spain, answers 
 the purpose of a dog for the guidance of the sheep, or, should a sheep, 
 more discontented than his fellows, show a disposition to wander, he is 
 coupled for a few days with one of a quieter character. 
 
 About the year 1780, the Danes began seriously to think of ameliorating 
 their native breed by the introduction of the Merinos ; a few of them were 
 therefore imported, but from some neglect or mismanagement they evi- 
 dently and very soon deteriorated. In the hands of some agriculturists 
 they supported the reputation of their breed; but the fev/ that were pro- 
 perly cultivated made little or no impression on the general character of the 
 Danish sheep. 
 
 In 1797, the government wisely determined to operate on a larger scale. 
 A flock of 300 Merino sheep, composed of some of the best breeds of the 
 lieonese Transhumantes, was procured and located on a farm at Esscruni, 
 ubout twenty miles from Copenhagen. They were carefully and skilfully 
 
 Pontoppidan's Natural History of Norway, Part 1. p. 32. 
 f Lasteyrie, p. 148, 
 
163 SHEEP. 
 
 managed, and although they have not superseded the native breeds, nor in 
 every province effected much change in tliem, yet they liave in many phices 
 improved the general character of the sheep and wool, and enabled the 
 Danes to export from Copenhagen alone more than 800,000 lbs. of 
 wool, nearly half of which, ar^d of the finest quality, reaches, the English 
 market. 
 
 THE SHEEP OF THE FEltOE ISLANDS. 
 
 These islands, situated in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, and to the N. \\ 
 of the Shetland Islands, and between them and Iceland, contain much fine 
 pasture for sheep, and a small and wild breed of these animals. Mr. Wil- 
 son observes, tliat Dicuil, who wrote in the year 825, describes these islands 
 of Feroe as being covered with innumerable flocks. Landt says, that the 
 principal island contains a great number of small sheep, which are black, 
 with short curled wool, their flesh having a peculiarly dark appearance, and 
 in taste approaching near to that of other wild animals. Mr. Wilson adds, 
 that Mr. Trevelyan visited the Feroe islands in 1821, and found the rem- 
 nants of the wild race in no way dependent on, or under the control of 
 man. They are sometimes caught by dogs, but can seldom be obtained 
 except by being shot, or intercepted in a narrow space and driven over the 
 el i lis. The wool was remarkably short, and, in the opinion of this gentle- 
 man, the flesh, though lean, was palatable *. 
 
 THE ICELAND SHEEP. 
 
 The sheep of tliis frozen climate are of two kinds; a small, and probably 
 the native breed, in colour varying from dun to almost black, and a larger 
 white breefl, probably imported from a more southerly region. The coat is 
 that which nature would give to the inhabitants of such a clime. It con- 
 sists of long coarse hair externally, and a close layer of wool within, which 
 no wet or cold can penetrate. This wool, however, when freed from the 
 hair, is of little value for manufacturing purposes, and is fit only for liorse 
 and collar cloths, and common rugs and blankets. Many of the last are 
 exported to North America. 
 
 Even in so cold a country they are rarely sheltered from tlie winter's 
 storm, nor is any provision made for the winter's food. Their only refuge 
 is the jutting rock, or the mountain cavern. In their haste to reach these 
 ])laces, when overtaken by a storm, and the snow driving against them and 
 confusing their vision, many are precipitated down the cliffs, and drowned 
 in the sea beneath. If they are surprised by a snow-storm before they can 
 reach the coast, they turn their heads towards each other, and huddle toge- 
 tlier in a round close body, the united heat of which raises a dense vapour 
 that penetrates through the snow, and directs the she])herd to the place where 
 his flock is buried, although not always until the sheep are nearly starved, 
 and have begun to feed on each other's wool in order to preserve lifef. Li- 
 vingston adds, that in the cold nights, without snow, "and when the bleak 
 wind pinches them, they keep each other warm bv pressing close together; 
 and those in the centre relieve in turn those who in the outer part of the 
 circle are exposed to the eater severity of the blast : thus, necessity 
 
 * Quarterly .Tournal of Agriculture, vol.ii. p. 542. 
 
 ■j- Kerguelin affirms, that when the sheep have once been driven to this sad extremif)', 
 they will afterwards, even on the most plentiful food that Iceland affords, frequently 
 nibble and tear the fleece of their companions. Tlie habit becomes so inveterate, and Die 
 appetite for this stranj;e nutriment so strong, that it seems a kind of mania, and the 
 farmer is cornpelled to destroy these sheep. — Voyage to the North, Anderson seems to 
 entertain a similar opinion. 
 
ICELAND SHEEP. 169 
 
 sharpens the inventions of beasts as well as of men*." The only kindness 
 which these animals receive from their keepers in the winter is being fcrl 
 on fish bones, or frozen offal, when their natural food is buried too deep 
 even for their ingenuity and patience to reach it. Yet (hey repay all this 
 neg-lect with a supply of wool, of wliich mention has just been made, and 
 which to the Icelander is valuable : and also a quantity of milk, far superior 
 to that which is yielded by any southern flock. If Von Troil is to be 
 believed, an Iceland ewe will yield from two to six quarts a dayt. 
 
 The principal peculiarity about these sheep is the number of their horns, 
 the greater part both of the small and the large breed having more than 
 two, and a few of them carrying eight horns. They commonly have three 
 or four, or five, most of them of a spiral form, yet often but little developed ; 
 tiie side horns are curved in various directions. This cut contains a por- 
 trait of one with three horns 
 
 [Iceland Sheep.'] 
 When the horns do not exceed five they are placed in one row, and all 
 of them springing from the frontal bone, on which, as in the sheep of 
 Cyprus, there is a high and strong ridge, in order to form a proper basis 
 for the horns. When there are more than five horns they are placed in 
 two rows; but still they are prolongations of the frontal bone and of that 
 alone. This invariable position of the base of the horns will be more 
 fully illustrated when the skeleton of the sheep is described. It is worthy 
 of remark, that while the sheep of Iceland are, with very few exceptions, 
 many-horned, the cattle are polled. 
 
 THE AZORES SHEEP. 
 
 Before the reader returns to the continent it may be stated that the 
 sheep of the Azores islands, in the Atlantic, off the coast of Portugal, and 
 nearly in the same latitude with Lisbon, contain numerous flocks of sheep, 
 many of them nearly or quite wild. They are cultivated for their 
 
 * Livingston on Sheep, p. 19. Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, v. ii. p, 5tl. 
 t VonTroil's Letters on Iceland, p. 133. 
 
170 SHEEP. 
 
 wool alone, which is manufactured into a coarse species of cloth for the 
 
 consumption of the inhabitants. Their flesh is rarely eaten. The miserable 
 and arbitrary policy which prevails in th.ese islands, the system of short 
 leases, and the absence of practicable roads, sufficiently account for the 
 wretched state of sheep-husbandry, and of agriculture generally*. 
 
 THE SAXON SHEEP. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony ranks among the first who patriotically and wisely 
 devoted himself to the improvement of the inferior breed of sheep which 
 pastured on the neglected plains of Germany. The indigenous Saxon 
 breed resembled that of the neighbouring states : it consisted of two dis- 
 tinct varieties, one bearing a wool of some value, and the other yielding a 
 fieece applicable only to the coarsest manufactures. 
 
 In 1765, at the close of the Seven Years' war, the Elector imported 
 one hundred rams and two hundred ewes from the most improved Spanish 
 flocks, and placed a part of them on one of his own farms in the neighbour- 
 hood of Dresden; this portion he kept unmixed. He endeavoured to 
 ascertain how far the pure Spanish breed could be naturalized in Saxony. 
 The other part of the flock was distributed on other farms, and devoted to 
 the improvement of the Saxon sheep. 
 
 It was soon sufficiently evident to the enlightened agriculturist, that the 
 Merinos did not degenerate in Saxony ; many parcels of their wool were 
 not inferior to the choicest fleeces of Leon. The best breed of the native 
 Saxons was also materially improved. The prejudice against every inno- 
 vation on the practice of their ancestors was, however, as strong in Saxony 
 as elsewhere, and the majority of the sheep-masters were still averse to 
 the improvement ; but the Elector was determined to accomplish his object : 
 he imported an additional number of the Spanish sheep, and then, adopting 
 a measure unworthy of such a cause, he compelled those who occupied 
 land under him to buy a certain number of the Merino sheep. 
 
 It was not necessary long to pursue this compulsory system: the most 
 prejudiced were soon brought to perceive their true interest. The pure 
 Merino breed rapidly increased in Saxony ; it became perfectly natura- 
 lized ; nay, after a considerable lapse of years the fleece of the Saxon 
 sheep began not only to equal the Spanish, but to exceed it in fineness 
 and in manufacturing value. 
 
 By referring to page 155, it will be seen that a sample of picklock 
 Merino wool was yio-ths of an inch in diameter, and exhibited 2560 ser- 
 rations in the space of an inch ; while the Saxon wool (see page 89) was 
 only glo-tli of an inch in diameter, and presented 2720 serrations of an 
 inch. Corresponding with this, and most satisfectorily illustrative of the 
 account which has been given of the structure of the fibre of wool and 
 its felting property, and manufacturing value as dependent on that struc- 
 ture, the price — the true test of value — of the best Leonese Spanish wool 
 in 1834, varied from 2s. 6d. to 4s., while that of the Saxon wool was 
 from 4s. 9d. to 5s. 3d. per lb. 
 
 The government of Saxony very materially contributed to this reswlt 
 by the establishment of an agricultural school, and other minor schools for 
 shepherds, and by distributing certain publications which plainly and intel- 
 ligibly explained the value .ind proper management of the Merino sheep. 
 The government of a country may fail to accomplish many capricious or 
 tyrannical objects, but it will receive its best reward in the full accom- 
 plishment of its purpose, when it thus identifies itself with the bebt 
 ntercsts of its subjects. 
 
 * Boyd's Azores, p. 42. 
 
SAXON SHEEP 171 
 
 W'^C^¥i 
 
 [Saxo;j Merino Ram.'j 
 
 The above is a portrait of a Saxon Merino ram, the property of Lord 
 Western, and used by him extensively and beneficially in the improvement 
 of his Spanish Merinos. It will be seen that his frame differs materially 
 from the Spanish Merino : there is more roundness of carcase and fineness 
 of bone, and that general form and appearance which indicate a disposition 
 10 fatten, and are tolerably certain pledges that the carcase will not be 
 entirely sacrificed to the fleece *. 
 
 In Saxony, as in Silesia, although the sheep are housed at the beginning 
 of winter, yet they are turned out and compelled to seek, perhaps under the 
 snow, a portion of their food whenever the weather will permit ; and the 
 season must be unusually inclement in which they are not driven into the 
 courts at least for two or three hours during the middle of the day. The 
 doors and the windows also are frequently opened, that the sheep-houses 
 may be ■sufficiently ventilated. Some sheep-masters, whose convenience 
 is promoted by such a system, keep their flock in the house or the yard 
 (luring the whole of the year, and it is not believed that the sheep suffer 
 from'tbis either in their health, or in the fineness of their fleece. A great 
 quantity of salt is usually given to the Saxon sheep, and principally during 
 the summer, either in their drink or sprinkled among the fodder. 
 
 Very great care is taken by the Saxon sheepmaster in the selection of 
 the lambs which are destined to be saved in order to keep up the flock : 
 there is no part of the globe in which such unremitting attention is paid to 
 the flock. Mr. Charles Howard, in a letter with which he favoured the 
 author, says, that " when the lambs are weaned, each in his turn is placed 
 upon a table that his wool and form may be minutely observed. The 
 finest are selected for breeding and receive a ^rst mark. When they are 
 one year old, and prior to shearing them, another close examination 
 
 * It has, however, been strangely asserted by Mr. Trimmer, that while by the constant 
 " confinement of the sheep in winter in housts the wool has become delicate, the sheep 
 have degenerated into a puny, weak race, producing only half the weight of wool and 
 mutton which the parent Merino stock from which they sprung yielded ! " — See Trim- 
 mer's Practical Observations, p. 3. 
 
172 SHEEP. 
 
 of those previously marked takes place ; those in which no defect can be 
 found receive a second mark, and the rest are condemned. A few months 
 afterwards a third and last scrutiny is made ; the prime rams and ewes 
 receive a third and final mark, but the slightest blemish is sufticiont lo 
 cause the rejection of the animal. Each l)reeder of note has a seal or 
 mark securecl to the neck of his sheep, to detach or forge vvhicli is con- 
 sidered a high crime, and punished severely." 
 
 THE PRUSSIAN SHEEP. 
 
 In most of the states of Prussia, the wool about the middle of the 18th 
 century was of a very inferior quality, and used only in the manufacture 
 of coarse goods ; indeed, the soil was naturally barren, and a great part 
 of the land either lay waste, or was covered with water, A few of the 
 Prussian agriculturists believed that their country was capable of material 
 improvement, and struggled hard, and with variable success, in order to 
 ameliorate it. Among the foremost was M. Fink, near Halle, in the Duchy 
 of Magdeburgh. The sheep in his neighbourhood were even inferior to 
 the usual breeds : their wool was coarse and not abundant ; it was suited 
 only for the most common and low-priced goods ; and the carcase was 
 far from being profitable. 
 
 He first looked anxiously for the means of improvement among the 
 breeds of the neighbouring provinces. In 1756 he introduced into Mag- 
 deburgh the Silesian breed, which had long been celebrated for the com- 
 parative fineness of its wool. The Merinos soon afterwards began to be 
 established in Germany, and the advantageous change which they had 
 effected in the character of the sheep wherever they had been introduced, 
 could not be disputed. Notwithstanding this, M. Fink was unwilling to 
 give up altogether the breeds of Germany, and in 1768 he purchased some 
 Saxo-Merino sheep ; his flock was materially improved, but still his object 
 did not seem to be perfectly accomplished, and in 1778 he imported some 
 pure Merinos from Spain. He took the guide of all his experiments 
 that which is now received as an axiom among breeders, that the fineness 
 of the fleece, and, to a great degree, the value of the carcase too, are far 
 more attributable to the inherent quality of the animal than to any influ- 
 ence of climate or of soil. Uniformly acting on this fundamental prin- 
 ciple, and being most particular in the selection of the animals from which 
 he bred, he improved his own native flocks to a considerable extent, and 
 he succeeded to a degree which he had not dared to anticipate, in naturaliz- 
 ing a still more valuable race of animals. 
 
 His zeal and his success attracted the attention of the Prussian Govern- 
 ment, which at this time had begun to turn its attention to the cultivation 
 of agriculture generally, and particularly the amelioration of the fleece. 
 Frederick II, in 1786 imported one hundred rams and two hundred ewes 
 from Spain ; but, illustrative of the diff"erence in result when an organized 
 plan is conducted by one acquainted with all its details, and whose heart 
 is in the aflair, and when it is committed to those who know and care 
 little about it, the greater part of the sheep that were distributed in the 
 neighbourhood of Berlin perished by various diseases ; those that were 
 sent to distant farms in the country degenerated, and the advantage was far 
 from commensurate with the expense. 
 
 The monarch, however, had in M. Fink a proof of the possibility of 
 perfect success, and he persevered : other sheep were introduced., M. Fink 
 was commissioned by the Government to purchase a flock of one thousand 
 of the choicest Merinos ; agricultural schools were established, and at the 
 head of one of them was placed the most competent of all persons — the 
 first improver of the Prussian sheep. 
 
PRUSSIAN SHEEP. 173 
 
 As a proof of the increased value of the Prussian breed, M. Lasteyrie, 
 who had an opportunity of examining the flocks of M. Fink, says, that 
 " the sheep are less than the IMerinos found in Spciin, but are by no 
 means inferior to them in perfections of fleece. Before the improvements 
 had taken place the native breeds produced wool that sold from 11 to 18 
 dollars per quintal of 100 lbs., (from 5d. to 8d. per lb.) but now, improved 
 by the use of Spanish rams, it sells from 60 to 85 dollars per quintal," or 
 from 2s. to more than 3s. per lb. * 
 
 The most ingenious and the most experienced men are liable to some 
 inconsistencies ; and M. Fink stoutly maintained two principles, which 
 further experience in the breeding and management of the sheep has 
 caused to be abandoned : first, that " food of a good quality, be its nature 
 what it may, does not alter the fineness of the fleece, but merely causes 
 an augmentation or diminution of weight in proportion to its abundance 
 or succulence, and the reverse." The change in the character of the 
 British wool since the introduction of turnip-husbandry and increased 
 attention to the weight of the carcase, affords an unanswerable refutation 
 of this opinion. 
 
 He also asserted, that " breeding in and in will not produce the 
 slightest degeneration ;" and yet, as if conscious that he was wrong, he 
 changed his rams every third year if he could meet with animals that carried 
 a finer wool, or even as fine as that already produced in his own flock. 
 The influence of the system of breeding in and in, as it regards the sheep, 
 will receive due consideration in the proper place. 
 
 A brief sketch of his system of management may not be unacceptable 
 to the reader. 
 
 He properly maintains, that free exposure to the air is favourable to the 
 quality of the wool, and therefore, although the sheep are housed at the 
 beginning of November, yet whenever it freezes, and the ground is hard, 
 even although it may be covered with snow, the sheep are driven to the 
 wheat and rye fields, where they meet with a kind of pasturage exceed- 
 ingly wholesome, and while they feed there they are likewise benefiting 
 the crop. Nothing is more common than to see a flock of valuable sheep 
 scratching away the snow with their feet in order to arrive at the short 
 wheat or rye beneath. When the weather will not permit their being 
 taken out, they are fed on hay, aftermath and chopped straw of various 
 kinds. The kind of straw is changed as often as possible, and wheat, barley, 
 and oat-straw and pease-haulm follow each other in rapid succession. The 
 oat-straw is sparingly given, and the pease-haulm is preferred to the wheat 
 and barley straw. Oil-cake, at the rate of six or seven pounds per hundred 
 sheep, and dissolved in water, is also allowed when the flock cannot be 
 turned on the young wheat. 
 
 Three or four weeks before lambing, an additional allowance of hay 
 and straw is given to the ewes ; and while they are suckling, a little oat- 
 meal is mixed with the solution of oil-cake. When the weather will permit 
 the turning out of the ewes, the lambs are still kept in the houses, and the 
 mothers brought back to them at noon and night ; after that, the lambs 
 are not permitted to graze with the ewes, but are turned on the fallows 
 or the clover of the preceding year ; for it is supposed that they unneces- 
 sarily fatigue themselves by running with their mothers, and almost inces- 
 santly trying to suck, and that on this account they refuse the herbage on 
 which they are placed, and take less nourishment than when quietly kept 
 on separate pastures. A few barren ewes are, however, placed with the 
 lambs for the purpose of guiding them, and perhaps teaching them to select 
 • Lasteyrie on the Merino Sheep, p. 166, 
 
174 SHEEP. 
 
 the best and most wholesome food. More himbs are saved than are neces- 
 sary to kcej) up the flock, and when they are two years old they are in- 
 spected — one-third of the best of them are kept, and the remainder sold. 
 The Iambs are never shorn, in order that they may be better able to endure 
 the cold and rain of autumn. 
 
 The Prussian sheep-dogs, like almost all on the Continent, are trained 
 to obey the shepherds, and are skilful in guiding the sheep, but they never 
 worry or bite them. There is no natural necessity for it any where ; and 
 if flocks are occasionally wild and intractable, bad management and bad 
 treatment have made them so. 
 
 THE SILEBIAN SHEEP. 
 
 The native sheep were small with long neck and legs, and the head, the 
 belly, and the legs devoid of wool. In the districts of Namslau and Oels 
 was a superior breed, so far as the wool was concerned. They were never 
 folded ; they were housed at night, even in summer ; the sheep-houses 
 were ill ventilated, and the dung removed from them only twice in the year. 
 
 M. Lasteyrie, the chief, or in fact the only authority in these matters, 
 describes the labours of Count von Magnis to improve the Silesian flocks. 
 When he retired to his vast estates at Eckersdorf, on which three thousand 
 sheep were pastured, he found that the gross return from them amounted 
 to only 1200 dollars (225Z.) He first attempted to improve his smaller 
 sheep by crossing them with the larger breed of Hungary ; but not suc- 
 ceeding in this to the extent of his wishes, he had recourse to the Merinos. 
 He spared no expense in order to procure the best rams : he sometimes 
 gave as much as a thousand franks for a single ram. He laboured hard 
 to produce an artificial pasture on a tract of country that would hardly 
 produce any indigenous plants, for on scarcely any part of his estates 
 would the rigour of the climate permit any pasturage during six months 
 of the year. As his power of supporting his sheep increased, he increased 
 their numbers, until his flock became thrice as numerous as at first. In 
 process of time the wool yielded by the greater part of his sheep would 
 bear comparison with that found on the best of Spain, and at length 
 exceeded it in fineness and in value ; and in the course of a few years his 
 returns were multiplied more than twenty-fold. For the purpose of the 
 best manufactures the Silesian wool is almost equally valued with the purest 
 and finest Saxony. 
 
 THE HUNGARIAN SHEEP. 
 
 The Empress Maria Theresa, witnessing the success with which the 
 Merino sheep were cultivated in Saxony, imported three hundred of them 
 in 1775, and placed them at Mereopail in Hungary. An agricultural school 
 was likewise established by her at the same place ; but for a considerable 
 period her laudable exertions were not attended with the desired success. 
 The native sheep, varying in diff'erent districts, all of them produced an 
 inferior kind of wool, and had, from time immemorial, been strangely 
 neglected by the farmer. The worst pasture was their lot ; they were often 
 half-starved ; their winter-houses were unventilated, and the dung removed 
 only twice in the year ; and they were consequently subject to numerous 
 and fatal diseases. The milk procured from the animal was the principal, 
 and in some districts might be said to be the only, object of the farmer's 
 attention ; and the manufacture of butter and cheese from this produce 
 of the sheep was more valued than the application of the fleece to the 
 manufacture of cloth. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the ex- 
 pectations of the sovereign were disappointed. 
 
 The progressive success, however, of the Saxon sheep-husbandry began 
 
HANOVERIAN SHEEP. 175 
 
 at lengtli to make its due impression ; and other Merinos were procured 
 from Spain in order to improve the flocks of Hungary. In many cases, 
 and those in late years rapidly increasing, the newly-introduced breed alto- 
 gether superseded the native one; and if the Hungarian fleece is not, with 
 the exception of a few choice specimens, quite so highly valued as that from 
 Silesia or Saxony, it at least has rivalled and beaten the Spanish Merino in 
 every market in the world. The chief wealth of Hungary is now derived 
 from the cultivation of the sheep. How far the unequal distribution of the 
 land thus employed may be favourable to the happiness of the people is a 
 question which it comes not within the scope of this work to agitate — that 
 it is favourable to the improvement of the sheep there can be no question. 
 A recent statistical account gives to Hungary seven millions of sheep, of 
 which three millions are the exclusive property of Prince Esterhazy. 
 
 HANOVERIAN SHEEP. 
 
 Hanover, being so closely connected with the English Government, 
 must not be quite forgotten in the history of the German sheep. There 
 were originally two breeds — one of a larger size, kept on the marshes, the 
 carcase weighing from 80 to 100 lbs., and the fleece averaging from 5 to 
 6 lbs., but the flesh not good, and the wool coarse ; and a smaller breed, 
 resembling the old Rhenish and Saxon, with shorter wool, yet coarse of its 
 kind, and of little value. Both kinds were badly managed. The farmer 
 used to keep as many only as would supply his family with wool and milk. 
 Almost every cottager had two or three. They were chained in pairs, and 
 picked up their living on the dykes and other unenclosed spots. They 
 were kept chiefly for their milk, all the Hanoverian cheese being made of 
 ewes' milk alone. They were wretchedly poor, and wlien shorn looked 
 little better than skeletons *. 
 
 Mr. Hodskin says that the smaller sheep have now been crossed with 
 the Merinos, and yield fleeces as fine as any of the Merinos, weighing 
 on the ewe from 2 to 2^ lbs., and on the ram from 4 to 4^ lbs., and that 
 these sheep are now cultivated for the wool principally or almost exclu- 
 sively ; and he adds that the peace and communication with England had 
 nearly doubled its price f. 
 
 The superiority of the German wool over that yielded by the Spanish 
 Merinos is now fully established. Mr. Jovvitt, in his evidence before the 
 House of Lords, says, " I began with the Spanish wool ; I then changed 
 to the German, on account of its superior quality — in the manufacturer's 
 phrase — proving better, and making a softer cloth. I was also able to 
 spin it to a greater length — the very qualities in which the English wool 
 is deficient." The Spanish wool is, nevertheless, often finer than the Ger- 
 man ; at the same price it generally is finer, but it has not the numerous 
 curves and serrations. The trade in German wool is of recent date : it has 
 sprung up since the year 1800. The manufacturers were at first prejudiced 
 against it. They said that it was dirty, and that there was great loss of 
 weight. The German wool is now, however, sent over in a better state ; 
 and its softness and spinning qualities are placed beyond dispute. 
 
 Mr. W. Ireland gives, in his evidence on the same occasion, a curious 
 
 * Farmer's Magazine, May, 1820. 
 
 f " The Hanoverian shepherds are generally dressed almost entirely in white linen. 
 They wear large hats cocked up behind, and ornamented with a large steel buckle, and 
 the men look very respectable and clean. They are paid in proportion to the success of 
 the flock, nnd have an interest in watching over its improvement. They receive a ninth 
 of the profits ; but they also contribute on extraordinary occasions, such as buying oil- 
 cake for winter food, when necessary. They also contribute one-ninth to the expenses 
 of new stock. The head shepherd has two-uinths of the profits." — Hodskin's Travels in 
 Gocmauy, 1826. 
 
176 SHEEP. 
 
 account of the wool-stapling business in Germany. He says that the farms 
 are generally small, and the wool collected by the Jews, who go about 
 with a cart and pair of horses to the different houses. It is a large farm 
 that has ten bags of wool. These are taken to the large merchants, by 
 wliom the fleeces are carefully examined, and those that are nearly of one 
 quality are thrown together. The fleeces being thus arranged, the wools 
 are sorted, and shipped by these merchants down to Hamburgh, and there 
 consigned for England. The Jews frequently convey it to Hamburgh 
 themselves, and most of the leading houses have their agents there. It is 
 a fair open market, like those of Breslaw and Leipsic. He adds, " There 
 is a great deal of expense and attention bestowed on the sheep: they are 
 housed and nursed as carefully as the race-horse is in a sporting stable." 
 
 In every part of Germany and Austria, there are not only an increasing 
 number of sheep bred purely or nearly from the Merinos, but there are 
 many more that have a little of the Spanish blood in them. About the year 
 1819 the inferior wool from these sheep began to be imported, and was 
 tried by the manufacturers. It was found to make a good second clotii, 
 as good as used to be made by the South Down wool, and with less trouble, 
 and consequently it began to be extensively used, not merely because at 
 first it could be procured at a less price than the South Down wool, but it 
 continued to be preferred when it cost two and three pence per pound more 
 than the British wool. It made a softer cloth, and with less expense and 
 trouble and loss in the manufacture. The importation of wool of this kind 
 having once begun, an inferior and a still inferior description has followed, 
 and which has often been perfectly unsaleable. This subject will be re- 
 sumed hereafter. 
 
 THE FLEMISH kllD DUTCH SHEEP. 
 
 It has already been stated (p. 121) that in the early part of the seven- 
 teenth century, the large Guinea sheep was introduced into the islands near 
 tiie Texel and into Groningen, and called the mouton Flandrin, or Texel 
 sheep. They there found a pasture suited to the improvement of their 
 naturally long and gaunt form ; they were crossed with some of the large 
 native breeds ; the English long-woolled sheep, and particularly the 
 Romney, contributed more to their amelioration, and they are now a sin- 
 gular, but in many respects a valuable breed. They have somewhat de- 
 creased in size : they are seldom more than two feet six inches in height ; 
 they are polled, with long pendent ears ; the leg is rather inclined to be 
 long; the tail is short and large, and covered with wool; the fleece 
 averages from ten to twelve inches in length, but it is far from being fine, 
 and is devoted to the preparation of coarser goods. 
 
 In Friesland is a similar breed of sheep, but with more of British blood. 
 It is of a larger size, measuring sometimes two feet nine inches in height, 
 without horns, having pendent ears, a head so long as almost to approach to 
 deformity, and the tail long and small, and generally devoid of wool. The 
 wool is long, finer, and with more numerous curves, and can be appropri- 
 ated to more valuable purposes. They have considerable resemblance to 
 the British or rather the Irish long-woolled breed ; but they have never 
 quite cast off their original lean appearance and disinclination to fatten. 
 They are more prolific than any English breed ; their milk is valuable, and 
 is used by the Dutch and Flemings in the manufacture of a considerable 
 quantity of cheese of good quality*. 
 
 * An anonymous French work, but published by royal authority in 17G3, and entitled » 
 " Instmctions for breedinj^f and perfecting the best kind of Sheep in Flanders," describes 
 four kinds of Flemish sheep : the first he calls// ise* — the wool curled, frizzled at its ex- 
 
SPANISH SHEEP. 177 
 
 The Merino sheep gradually found their way into Belgium and Holland. 
 The precise date of their arrival is not recorded ; but there was so essential 
 a difference in the character and habits of the Flemish and Spanish sheep, 
 and in the climate and soil and productions of the two countries, that, as 
 might be readily expected, the experiment altogether failed. 
 
 In 1789, according to M. Lasteyrie, Mr. Twent, not discouraged by the 
 failure of others, imported a small flock of Merinos. The sheep soon re- 
 covered the fatigue of their voyage, became reconciled to their new food 
 and climate, and not only began to display their superiority to any of the 
 native breeds, but continued to retain all their own peculiar excellence. 
 In these countries, however, as in too many others, the value of the Spanish 
 sheep was not duly appreciated by the agriculturist ; and they never to any 
 great extent established themselves in Belgium or Holland, either as a 
 distinct breed, or as a source whence the native breed might derive much 
 improvement. 
 
 THE MERINO SHEEP IN BRITAIN. 
 
 England was late in attempting to naturalize the Spanish sheep, or to 
 improve her own breed by an intermixture with them. There was some 
 excuse for this, for she already possessed a clothing wool equal or superior 
 to that of any other sheep except those of Spain ; and her maritime habits 
 and the extent of her commerce gave her easy access to the finer wools, far 
 less necessary to the manufacturer at that period than fashion has now made 
 theiii : at the same time her native combing wool was perfectly unrivalled. 
 A few Merino sheep, however, were introduced here and there, but they had 
 much prejudice to contend with, and their value was not duly appreciated. 
 
 The monarch who, at the close of the eighteenth century, swayed the 
 sceptre of Great Britain, was an ardent agriculturist, and he determined 
 to give this celebrated breed of sheep a fair trial on his own farms. 
 In the year 1787 measures were taken for the collection and importation 
 of a little flock of Merinos. They were collected in Estremadura, on the 
 borders of Portugal — a few from one flock, and a few from another. It 
 
 tremities. It answers to the second species mentioned in the text. He says that " it 
 unites in itself tlie perfections belongiu}^ to every other breed without their defects: its 
 walk is firm ; its deportment noble ; its form well proportioned in all its parts, announc- 
 ing; a good constitution and a healthy temperament, and exempt from the mala^lies so 
 common to other breeds. The length of its wool is in proportion to its heighi, and it 
 does nut disfigure the animal as in the English sheep, whose fleece is a burdensome 
 weight, especially at the return of spring (de la belle saisoii). The Flemish sheep carries 
 nothing about him that in the least detracts from his beauty. His wool is wliite and 
 without spot — it is of a dazzling whiteness ; he is contented everywhere — everywhere he 
 becomes a citizen of the plate he inhabits {il devient ciloyen du lieu qu'il halite)." It is 
 a good kind of sheep enough, hut it owes much of its value to English blood ; and, after 
 all, the Belgians and the Dutch are compelled to import annually three millions and a 
 half of pounds of British wool, in order to make that of this unrivalled sheep available 
 for the manufacture of the finest stuffs. The average price of this kind of sheep in 
 store condition was about eighteen livies at that time, and thirty hvres when fat, and 
 the carcase weighed from 90 to 1301bs. 
 
 The second kind of Flemish sheep (that described first in the text) was called graines, 
 grained or granulated. The yolk was abundant, but lay on the fleece in a singular 
 manner; the fibres appeared like a succession of grains attached to one another. A few 
 of these sheep are occasionally seen at the present day. The staple was about nine 
 inches long, and not so fine as that oi \\\& /rises. 
 
 A third, or middle wool, did not exceed four or five inches in length. It was almost as 
 fine as that from the graine, but inferior to that from the/me. 
 
 The fourth was a decided long-woolled breed, that which has already been described 
 (p. 158) as the sheep of Picardy and Normandy. 
 
 The fifth was the wool rasis, s^o called from its shortness and hardness, not being mow 
 than three inches in length, found in small quantity, and little valued. 
 
 N 
 
179 SHEEP. 
 
 was a kind of smuggling transaction ; and as they could not be shipped 
 from any Spanish port without a license from the King of Spain, they 
 were driven through Portugal and embarked at Lisbon, landed at Ports- 
 moutli, and thence conducted to the king's farm at Kew, They did not 
 please the royal adventurer. Hastily selected, or obtained as they could be 
 from various proprietors and various districts, there was no uniformitv 
 about them ; they could not be said fairly to exhibit the true character 
 of their breed, nor was it safe to make any experiment with them. 
 
 It was then determined to make direct application to the Spanish 
 monarch for permission to select some sheep from one of the best flocks. 
 This was liberally and promptly granted ; and a little flock waa draughted 
 of the Negrette breed, the most valuable of the migratory flocks, and the 
 exportation of which was expressly prohibited by law. They arrived in 
 England in 1791, and were immediately transferred to Kew: the sheep 
 previously imported were destroyed, or otherwise disposed of, and the 
 experiment of the naturalization of the Merinos, and the crossing of them 
 with the British sheep, may be then said to have commenced. 
 
 The management of these newly-imported flocks does not seem at first 
 to have been very skilfully conducted. They were placed on a moist, and, 
 perhaps, too luxuriant soil ; and they became aff'tTcted with the foot-rot ; 
 and in some situations, and to a fearful extent, their numbers were thinned 
 by the liver-rot. This was, by those who were prejudiced against ihem, 
 said to be the fault of the sheep ; but a little change in the pasture showed 
 that it was altogether attributable to the carelessness of the shepherd. 
 The first winter had scarcely passed, ere they were acknowledged by im- 
 partial observers to be perfectly naturalized. They were as free from 
 disease as the best of the British flocks. 
 
 Their wool was unaffected by the change of climate. The product of 
 the second and third shearings was compared with the best samples of the 
 imported Spanish wool, and it yielded not to them in fineness or felting 
 quality. Many a year afterwards the experiment was repeated, and with 
 the same succesa. 
 
 Several of the British ewes were crossed with the Merino ram, and the 
 following were some of the early results : Mr. Bartley experimented on 
 the Wiltsliires, and after a few crossings the ewes became hornless ; they 
 had acquired the almost perfect sliape of the Merino ; the wool increased 
 from 3^ to nearly 6 lbs. per fleece, and it was little inferior to that from 
 the pure Spanish sheep*. 
 
 Mr. Toilet crossed the Ryelands with the newly-imported sheep, and he 
 selected those of the native breed which carried the best clothing wool ; 
 and he found that the fleece which used to weigh little more than 2 lbs. 
 increased to 3 lbs., and its average value rose from 2s. to 3s. per lb. Dr. 
 Parry also crossed the Ryelands with the Merinos. After the fourth cross 
 the wool was as fine and valuable as that of pure Merinos f. 
 
 * Agricultural Mag., May, 1803. 
 
 •)■ The following account of this best breed of Anglo-Merino sheep may not be unac- 
 ceptable to the reader : " They are a beeed of considerable bone, length, and breailth 
 of carcase, but wanting in that rounding of form which seems to constitute the beauty 
 of our best or most impioved native breeds. They are docile to a remarkable degree, 
 leading about very handily. Their bodies, bellies, and legs, down to the hoofs, are 
 covered with a thick elastic fur, which certainly must be a greater protection against 
 either wet or cold than the open fleeces of most of our native sheep. The best of the 
 wethers weigh on the average about 8:^ stones, or 171bs. per quarter; and the mutton 
 always bore a preference >«i the market." — Agricultural Mag., Aug. 1806. 
 
 As- a trial of the manuracturing worth of the wool of this sheep, a certain quantity of 
 Dr. Parry's wool, from Ryeland ewes, and crossed by the King's and Lord Somerville's 
 rams to the fourth generation, was selected, and an equal quantity taken from a pile of 
 
MERINO SHEEP IN BRITAJN. 179 
 
 Mr. Coke experimented on both the Ryelands and the South Downs, 
 and he affirmed at one of the Holkham meetings, that " the cross of the 
 Merino and the South Down was much better than that of the Merino and 
 the Ryeland*." 
 
 Mr. Hose, of Melton Mowbray, put a certain number of Leicester ewes 
 to a ram of the same breed, and an equal number to a Merino ram. The 
 result was, that the Leicester fleece weighed 7lbs., and tliat from the cross 
 with the Merino 81bs. ; and that the former brouglit in the market Is, per 
 lb., and the latter, Is. 6d., being a gain of 5s. on the fleece. The carcase 
 of the former, however, weighed 27 lbs. per quarter, the latter only 25 lbs., 
 being a loss of 8lbs. of mutton. 
 
 The Merinos found some early and zealous advocates, and among them 
 Sir Joseph Banks, and Lord Somerville (who, at his own expense, imporffed 
 a considierable flock of them) ; and Dr. Parry stood foremost in publicly 
 recommending an almost universal trial of them, either pure, or mixed with 
 the native breeds. One writer (Mr. Bartley) thus enumerates their sup- 
 posed excellencies : " They produce wool in a much greater quantity than 
 any species of British sheep from equal quantities of pasture, and equal 
 feed. Far from the slightest appearance of deterioration, they manifest 
 indubitable evidence of general progressive improvement, especially in 
 the quality and value of the fleece. They possess an aptitude to fatten at 
 an early period, and the quality of the mutton is excellent. They resist the 
 effect of cold, inclement weather, to a degree, equal at least to the hardiest 
 of our native breeds, being defended by a closer, heavier, and more imper- 
 vious covering. They produce short wool, in no way inferior to that 
 imported from Spain ; and a single cross will considerably increase the 
 weight of the fleece in our long-wooUed sheep, still retaining the suitable 
 staple as combing Jivool t-" 
 
 On the other hand, they had much prejudice to encounter, arising from 
 their gaunt and unthrifty form — their actual deficiency of carcase — the 
 inapplicability of their wool to the manufactures then most in request — and 
 the natural prejudice of the inhabitants of a wool-growing country against 
 any rival of the sheep which they and their forefathers had, from time 
 immemorial, successfully cultivated. Their warmest advocate, Sir Joseph 
 Banks, thus describes the difficulty which attended the establishment of 
 the royal flock : " It was impossible to find a purchaser willing to give 
 even a moderate price for the sheep or their wool. The shape of the sheep 
 did not please the graziers ; and the wool-staplers were utterly unable to 
 judge of the merit of the wool, it being an article so many times finer 
 and of more value than anything of the kind that had ever before passed 
 through their hands J." 
 
 It was thirteen years after the arrival of the Negrette flock, ere they had 
 been able to establish themselves in the good opinion of a sufl^cient num- 
 ber of agriculturists to render it prudent to expose them to sale by public 
 
 prime Leonesa Spanish wool ; both of them were djed and delivered to the manufac- 
 turer. According to the account of the foreman of the manufactory, " Dr. Parry's wool 
 »nd cloth, in every slate, worked more kindly than the other." When finished, his cloth 
 was the finest, and that from the Spanish wool the stoutest. The cloths were num- 
 bered, and submitted to the inspection of several'manufacturers and drapers, who una- 
 nimously decided in favour of the number which the Anfjlo-Merino bore ; and the opi- 
 nion of the Committee, as extracted from the Bath Society's Papers, was, that Dr. Parry 
 " had by his zeal, diligf nee, and perseverance and activity, accomplished the grand object 
 of producing in the British climate, and from British soil, wool equal to that usually 
 imported from Spain ; and that, by so doing, he had merited the warmest thanks of the 
 country in general, and that Society in particular." — Bath Papers, vol. ii. p. 160. 
 * Agricuhural Mag., July. 1810. f Ibid., Nov., 1804. 
 
 t Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. vi. Part 2. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 SHEEP. 
 
 auction. In 1804 the first sale took place. It was attended by the friends 
 of the Merinos, and by others who, led thiiher by curiosity, were induced 
 to become purchasers. One of the rams sold for 42 guineas, and two of 
 the ewes for 11 guineas each. The average price of the rams was 19/, 14«., 
 and that of the ewes, 8/, 1 5s, 6d. each *, 
 
 At the second sale, in August, 1805, seventeen rams and twenty-one 
 ewes were sold for 1148/. lis., being at the average of rather more than 
 30/, each t. 
 
 In 1808, the highest price given for a ram was 74/. 17s. The average 
 price of rams was 38/. 10s., and that of ewes, 23/. 12s. 6d. 
 
 The Merinos might now be considered, as, to a certain degree, esta- 
 blished in public favour. They, with common management, still retained 
 their fleece as heavy and as fine as when first imported ; and, whatever 
 breed they crossed, the uniform result was improvement, both in the weight 
 and fineness of the wool, with some, but not proportionate, loss of carcase. 
 They were more and more eagerly sought after, and experimented 
 with; and in the sale of 1810, thirty-three rams sold for 1920/, 9s., 
 being on an average more than 58/. each. One full-mouthed Negrette 
 ram was sold to Colonel Searle for 173 guineas ; one for 134 guineas 
 to Sir Home Popham ; one for llfi guineas to Mr, Gale; one for 105 
 guineas to Mr. Sumner ; and one for 101 guineas to Mr. AVools, 
 Of the ewes, a full-mouthed Negrette was sold to the last-mentioned gen- 
 tleman for 70 guineas, and two Paular ones for 61 guineas each, and a 
 third for 65 guineas. One Paular was disposed of to Mr. Down for 92 
 guineas, and another to Mr. Willis for 60 guineas : 70 of them were sold 
 in the whole, and they fetched, on an average, 37/. 10s. per head J. 
 
 The first advocates of the Spanish breed of sheep saw all their predic- 
 tions fully realized ; and the number of sheep-masters was rapidly dimi- 
 nishing who had prejudice, or prudence, or foresight sufficient to resist 
 the influence of the widely-spreading Merino-mania. 
 
 A Merino Society was instituted in the following year. It started with 
 a phalanx of members, which, from their number, station, and influence, 
 apparently secured its perpetuity. Sir Joseph Banks was the President.* 
 Fifty-four vice-presidents were appointed, and local committees were esta- 
 blished in every county of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Pre- 
 miums of 20 guineas were oft'ered for the best pure Merino ram not more 
 than twenty-eight months old, and 10 guineas for the second best; 20 
 guineas for the best ram not more than sixteen months old, and 10 guineas 
 for the second; 10 guineas for the three best pure Merino ewes; 10 
 guineas for the best pen (consisting of five) of pure Merino wethers ; 
 10 guineas each for the best pen of the first, second, third, and fourth 
 cross of the Merinos with British sheep ; and 10 guineas for the best 
 fleece. 
 
 No more striking instance can be produced of the fallacy of human 
 expectation and judgment, than the establishment of this Society. From 
 this very period is to be dated the rapid decay of the Merinos in public 
 estimation. They are a most valuable breed of sheep ; they yield a wool, 
 which in fineness and manufacturing quality was then unrivalled; they 
 have materially improved the 'fleece of every short-vvoolled sheep which 
 they have crossed, and have increased the length and weight of the staple, 
 and adapted it for finer worsted stufls ; and it is not improbable, although 
 the experiment has never been fairly tried, that, with careful management, 
 the crosses being few and far between — they would give a finer and more 
 
 * Communications to the Roai d of Agriculture, vol. vi. Part 2. 
 t AgricuUural Mag., Sept., 1805. J Ibid., Sept., 1810. 
 
MERINO SHEEP IN BRITAIN. 181 
 
 valuable fleece to the long-woolled breeds ; not injuring it for the purposes 
 to which it is already applied, and rendering it useful for many other 
 fabrics. It follows from this, that in every country where the farmer looks 
 to the fleece, if not for his sole, yet his principal, remuneration, the Merino 
 will be duly valued, and will gradually supersede every other breed. In 
 Great Britain, nevertheless, where the system of artificial feeding is carried 
 to so great a degree of perfection — where the sheep is so early and so pro- 
 fitably brought to the market — that breed, however it may ultimately 
 increase the value of the wool, can never be adopted, which is deficient, 
 as the Merinos undeniably are, in the principle of early maturity, and 
 general propensity to fatten. 
 
 Another circumstance, and one of still greater consequence is, that the 
 establishment of the Spanish sheep in other countries, and the additional 
 quantity of their wool that is grown, have produced a revolution in the 
 cloth manufacture. Those fabrics with which our ancestors were content 
 are no longer articles of extensive commerce : they are no longer worn ; 
 and the wools of which they were composed are devoted to other purposes, 
 and those so numerous and important, that there is, in fact, a greater 
 demand for British short wool now, than there was previous to the intro- 
 duction of the Merino sheep — a greater demand than the growers of short 
 wool are able to supply. The short wool being now lengthened in the 
 staple so much so as to have acquired a new name, and having also 
 increased in quantity and weight on the sheep, and the carcase having 
 likewise increased in weight, and the finer foreign wool being now to be 
 purchased at a cheaper rate than it could be grown, it would be bad policy 
 in the farmer to alter materially the cliaracter of the wool ; for its greater 
 quantity, added to the heavier carcase, will produce a more certain, and on 
 the whole, a better remuneration than a finer, but lighter fleece, accom- 
 panied by a lighter carcase, could possibly give him *. 
 
 Mr. Coke, who had expressed the high opinion which has been quoted, 
 (see page 179,) of the good result of crossing the South Down with the 
 Merinos, was one of the first honourably and fully to retract that judg- 
 ment which he had somewhat too hastily given. In the autumn of the 
 very year in which the Merino Society was instituted, he thus addressed the 
 meeting at Holkham : — " I feel it my duty to state my latest opinion of the 
 
 * Mr. EUman, in his examination before the House of Lords, says, that "he aban- 
 doned the Merinos from the difficult}- he had in selling them in a loan state. The 
 graziers did not then like to have them. He then tried to feed them himself, but he • 
 found that he could fatten three South Downs where he could one Merino. He treated 
 them as he should other sheep, but he never could fatten one of them well." 
 
 On the other hand, Mr. Trimmer, who had a considerable fluck of thorn, says, " That 
 in disposition to fatten they equal the South Downs, and the mutton is of the first 
 quality." 
 
 Mr. Webb Hall, a warm advocate of the Merinos, says, that "They are the finest 
 mutton in the world when made fat, but at present they are an unimproved-bodied 
 sheep, capable, he thinks, of being still made the most valuable animal in this country,'' 
 — Evidence before the House of Lords, in 1828. 
 
 The public has decided between these gentlemen. The Merinos did not afford a 
 remunerating price in the carcase, and they were abandoned. As to the barrenness and 
 bad nursini^ of the Anglo-Merinos, the prejudice existing against the Merinos may not 
 be well founded to its full extent. That is strong testimony which Lord Somerville 
 gives on this point. " On their first importation, there was a great deficiency of milk 
 in the ewes, as well as a tendency to barrenness, which is now ascertained to have arisen 
 from the severe journeys to which this race of sheep is twice in the year subjected when 
 in Spain. They aie now regular in their time of lambing ; their udders are as full, and 
 they are as good nurses, as any shet^ 1 have ever seen. It was rot till some years alter 
 their arrival in this country, when they had become inured to the climate, that anj' 
 instance of double lambs occurred ; now it is not an unfrequent yccurrence.'" — Lord 
 Somerville's Facts and Observations, p. 14. 
 
183 SHEEP. 
 
 eflFect9 of the Cross of a part of my South Down flocks with Merino tups, 
 and I wish it could be more favourable. From the further trial which I 
 have made, (this, the fourth year,) I must candidly confess that I have 
 reason to believe that, however one cross may answer, a farther progress 
 will not prove advantageous to the breeder *." The real state of the fact, 
 however, is, that from the year of the establishment of the Merino Society, 
 and the opportunity which agriculturists had of putting to the test, on a 
 larger scale, the value of the Merino sheep, they have sunk in the esti- 
 mation of the slieep-master. Tnere are few flocks of the pure Merinos 
 now existing, and those few are rapidly declining — the produce not being 
 beneficial to the grower. 
 
 It is folly now to say, as was long and even lately affirmed by the 
 zealous advocates of the Merinos, that " the leading breeders of sheep had 
 a great stake in the flocks which they already possessed, and the practical 
 breeders of eminence, who made trial of them, were warped by prejudice 
 and interest ;" that dishonourable measures were resorted to in order to 
 blast their fame; that " wool from inferior and mixed flocks of all kinds 
 was attempted to be passed as the best and most pure, and that rams from 
 inferior flocks were passed as those of the first blood t." After the esta- 
 blishment of the annual sales and the Merino Society, the case was brought 
 fairly before the proper tribunal ; or rather, the claims of the Merinos 
 were backed with a zeal and influence seemingly irresistible ; yet the British 
 sheep-breeders, and the British public, decided, that no great and permanent 
 change could be effected in the British sheep by means of the Merinos, 
 without a more than proportionate lo8p.t 
 
 The public are always too prone to run into extremes, and the Merinos 
 are now as much unjustly depreciated as they were somewhat too hastily 
 overvalued. Occasion will be found, in an after part of this work, to 
 show how much good could be done, by one, or by an occasional cross of 
 tlie Merino, on some breeds, and in certain localities. 
 
 The Saxon Merinos yield, as has been already seen, a finer and more 
 valuable wool than any which is imported from Spain. At page 171 is the 
 portrait of a Saxon Merino belonging to that experienced and scientific 
 agriculturist, Lord Western, and with which he is improving his former 
 Spanish breed, and crossing some of the native sheep. Sir H. Vavasour, of 
 Melbourne Hall, near York, has likewise imported some Merino shearling 
 ewes, and a ram from Saxony. The Saxony sheep are decidedly superior 
 to those brought immediately from Spain, not only in their wool, but their 
 general form and propensity to fatten. If the British sheep is ever destined 
 to yield a finer wool, sacrificing little or nothing in point of carcase, it 
 must be by means of the Saxon, and not the direct Spanish Merino. 
 These were selected from a distinguished flock in the neighbourhood of 
 Dresden ; they were brought by land to Hamburgh, a distance of between 
 five and six hundred miles, and thence shipped for Hull. Neither their 
 
 ♦Agricultural Mag., Aug., 1811. f Trimmer's Practical Observations. 
 
 J TKe reasoning of Mr. Plint on this point, in a letter with which he favoured the 
 author, is decisive : — " I always thought the speculation of cultivating and shearing the 
 Merinos a decidedly foolish and unprofitable one. We can consume all the coarse wool 
 we grow, and more if we could get it ; and, taking carcase and weight of wool together, 
 the long-woolled sheep is more profitable by far than the Anj^lo-Merino. Besides, if the 
 English breeds were to any considerable extent superseded by the Merinos, the j)rice of 
 that wool would fall, and long wools would rise ; and the advantage of growing, fine wool, 
 on account of its high prico, would slip through the fingers of the agricidtiuist. If we 
 could grow more of both kinds, well and good ; but in present circumstances, a profit by 
 foreign wool jp as good as a profit by fine wool, and we can only have one ; and it is 
 the part of wisdom t» take that which is easiest cot " 
 
NEW SOUTH WALES SHEEP. 183 
 
 long journey, nor their sea voyage, in tlie slightest degree impaired their 
 condition, — a proof of soundness of constitution which promises some- 
 thing as to their future usefulness. 
 
 Few of the Anglo-Merinos remain either in Scotland or Wales. Their 
 reputation began to diminish, before it was deemed prudent to expose them 
 to the open country and inclement seasons of the one, or that it would be 
 possible for them to obtain a livelihood on the mountains of the other. 
 
 Ireland, however, has had some opportunities of testing the value of the 
 Merino sheep. Reference has already been made to tlie numerous Merino 
 flocks of Messrs. Nowlan, of Kilkenny. It originally sprung from seven 
 ewes and one ram of the Paular and Negrette blood, which had been pre- 
 sented to those gentlemen in 1810, and a few that were added to them in 
 the following year. In 1820 they had increased to 600. The quality of 
 the wool had improved rather than deteriorated. The average weight of 
 the clip in 1819 was 6^ lbs., the price of the wool was 3s., amounting to 
 19*. 6d. The average number of sheep supported by one acre is calculated 
 at eight, including the land that produced the hay and turnips for winter 
 food, making the gross value of the wool per acre to be 71. I6s. In 
 scouring from the grease, this wool lost 1 1 lbs. in 20 ; and after being 
 washed on the sheep's back, at least 7^ lbs. in 20 *. 
 
 There is an account, in the Agricultural Magazine for 1810, of "ten 
 thousand Merino sheep being purchased by Sir James Stuart, and sent 
 over to Ireland. They arrived in a very sickly state, and many hundreds 
 of them perished ; but enough were preserved for the most extensive 
 breeding purposes." Little trace of the improvement effected by the 
 Merino sheep is now to be discovered ; but much more of the progressive 
 value of the Irish flocks is to be attributed to the South Downs, and yet 
 more to the Leicesters. 
 
 THE NEW SOUTH WALES SHEEP. 
 
 The British settlements in New South Wales (part of tl>e eastern coast 
 of New Holland) were originally intended for the reception of convicts, 
 whose labour for a certain number of years, as a punishment for tlieir 
 crimes, might be rendered useful either to the free colonists or the mother 
 country. The first party of them arrived at Botany Bay in January, 1788, 
 whence they were suon removed to a more convenient situation at a little 
 distance — Port Jackson. The climate, although its temperature in 
 summer was considerably higher than that of England, afjpeared to be 
 healthy. It had only one serious inconvenience, — that it was subject to 
 periodical droughts, fortunately of unfrequent occurrence, but severe and 
 lasting when they came. " The great drought which commenced in 1826, 
 did not terminate until 1S29. Very little rain fell during the whole of 
 this period, and. for more than six months there was not a single shower f." 
 
 The soil was exceedingly variable in different places. A considerable 
 portion of it was very productive, but at least an equal part was compara- 
 tively barren. On the whole, it evidently promised well as a pastoral 
 country. It had no sheep of its own, but a sufficient number were 
 procured from Bengal to provide the colonists with mutton and wool, 
 and to establish a permanent flock. They could be speedily obtained 
 from that country, but they did not promise well. They had large heads, 
 Roman noses and slouch ears ; they were extremely narrow in the chest ; 
 they had plain and narrow shoulders ; very high curved backs, a coarse, 
 hairy fleece, and tremendously long legs |. This was an accumulation of bad 
 
 • Fanner's Mag., Aug., 1820. + M'Culloch's Dictionary, art. Syduey. 
 
 I Widowsoa's Present State of Vau Diemeu's Land, p. 142. 
 
184 SHEEP. 
 
 qualities. Yet such were the primitive New Holland sheep, more, ac- 
 cording to Mr, Atkinson, resembling goats than sheep *, and from such 
 animals emanated all the improved flocks now in the colony. The climate 
 worked wonders upon them. New South Wales seemed to be an excep- 
 tion to the fundamental principle of the paramount influence of blood, and 
 the more subsidiary one of soil and climate. In the first two or three 
 years these sheep were, in a manner, changed ; the hair was comparatively 
 gone, and a fleece of wool, although of no great fineness, succeeded. 
 
 Shortly afterwards there were considerable importations of South Down 
 and Leicester sheep, and the change was undeniably more important. Both 
 the fleece and the carcase were doubled in value; but there was a limit 
 beyond which they would not have much advanced. The colonists bred 
 principally for the carcase. They did so more decidedly after the arrival 
 of the South Downs and Leicesters than before, because the sheep rapidly 
 assumed the roundness and compactness of form which is essential to early 
 maturity. 
 
 The progress of the colony was nevertheless comparatively slow. In 
 the year 1800, twelve years after the arrival of the first ship, there were 
 but 6124 sheep in the whole settlement. 
 
 At this period, the Merinos were established in several parts of Europe, 
 and had begun to gain footing in England. The colonists had long 
 observed the influence of climate, or soil or management, on the primitive 
 sheep of New South Wales. The hair had been changed for wool, and that 
 wool had been yearly improving. The crosses with the South Down and 
 tlie Leicester produced a fleece equal in fineness and value to that of the 
 pure sheep of these breeds in the mother country. The colonists of Aus- 
 tralia were therefore anxious to try how they should succeed with the 
 Merinos, A few were imported from England, and the experiment was 
 satisfactory beyond their expectation. The third or fourth cross with the 
 then prevalent sheep of the colony produced an animal with a fleece equal 
 to that of the pure Merino in Europe ; and the wool of the pure breed 
 seemed to improve as rapidly as that of the native breed liad done. The 
 colony now began rapidly to flourish. The number of voluntary settlers 
 increased. Tiie number of sheep, in the next three years, had risen to 
 I0,157t; in 1813 they had increased to 65,121; in 1817 they were 
 170,420 ; and in 1828 they amounted to 536,391 J. 
 
 Captain M'Arthur, a zealous agriculturist, laid the foundation for still 
 greater improvement. He reasoned, that if the fleece of the common 
 Merino sheep became finer and softer on the soil, and under the climate of 
 New South Wales, it was not improbable that even the Saxony wool might 
 somewhat increase in value, and he imported some sheep direct from Germany. 
 It would not perhaps be truly said, that the quality of the Saxony fleece was 
 improved by the change of climate — perhaps it was somewhat deteriorated — 
 but it soon became sufficiently evident that its properties were superior to 
 any that the colony had hitherto possessed. They who were best capable 
 of judging, and who could have no temptation to deceive — the wool-staplers 
 find the manufacturers, shall here speak for themselves. Mr. H. Hughes, a 
 Blackwell Hall factor, — " The qualities of the wool were originally very bad. 
 Latterly they have been of varied qualities, but they all possess an extraordi- 
 nary softness which the manufacturers here so much admire, and they are 
 sought for more than any other description of wools. I should conceive that 
 that country is adequate to the growth of as much wool of a fine description 
 
 * Atlcinson's Agriculture of Now South Wales. 
 t C'-oUins's New South Wales, p. 549, 
 I Wentworth's New South Wales, p. 13G. 
 
NEW SOUTH WALES SHEEP. 181 
 
 as will ever be wanted by the manufacturers of England. Tiiis wool would 
 also mix beautifully with our own wools, which other foreign wools do not 
 always, on account of the harshness of the fibre *." In a second examina- 
 tion he says : — *' There is no other wool which spins so well as the Aus- 
 tralian, from its length of staple and peculiar softness. The finer descrip- 
 tion of stuff, which is now so much manufactured, is made of this wool. 
 Whether from the climate or the herbage, or both, the wool has improved 
 in softness and in staple too ; and I have no doubt that we shall shortly 
 derive the whole of our supplies of foreign wool from that part of the 
 globe t." This is high praise, and the fulfilment of Mr. Hughes's predic- 
 tion would be a consummation devoutly to be wished. 
 
 Mr. Donaldson, a wool-merchant, says, — " The Australian wools have 
 much improved. They are decidedly preferable to the apparently slender 
 description of German wools. From their superior softness of texture, 
 they are better adapted than the other description of wools to mix with the 
 harder staple of the English wools. Tiiey have comparatively very pecu- 
 liar qualities. They have a softness and silkiness about them which, when 
 worked into cloth, shows itself more distinctly than in the raw material of 
 the same description J." Mr. Ebsworth says, that '* the wool of Mr. 
 M'Arthur has made some of the finest cloth that has ever been seen in this 
 country §." One bag of Mr. M'Arlhur's wool, weighing one hundred 
 weight, and properly sorted, sold at the unprecedented price of 10«. per 
 pound. It will, however, probably, appear by-and-bye, that the actual value 
 of these wools has been somewhat exaggerated, and that although the ex- 
 portation of them has rapidly increased, there are circumstances about these 
 colonies and the woollen manufactures generally, which will ere long as- 
 sign to them a limit which they cannot pass. 
 
 The principal complaint against the Austrahan wool used to be the dirty 
 state in which it was sent to the market. This is now in a great measure 
 remedied. One objection to New South Wales is the want of water ; but 
 where that is at hand, even greater care than in England is taken to 
 cleanse the wool from all impurity. On two or three mornings previous 
 to the shearing, the sheep are compelled to swim through some clear 
 stream. They are likewise driven again and again through the river on 
 the morning of the washing day itself, and made to stand dripping in the 
 pen until they are wanted. In Captain M'Arthur's establishment, each 
 sheep is dipped in a cauldron of warm water, previous to being washed, by 
 which the grease and dirt are more eifectually softened and separated from 
 the fleece. 
 
 A place is selected in the river, where there is a sandy bottom, and a 
 sufficient depth of water for the sheep to swim. The lower washer first 
 gives the sheep a good rubbing, and passes him to the man above him; 
 and after, that no impurity may be left, the animal is forced to swim a 
 little way up the stream. 
 
 On the sheep the wool is shorn at one year's growth, and on the lamb 
 at six months, which causes the Australian lamb's wool to bear so low a 
 price, its staple being very short |. 
 
 The average weight of a fleece of superior quality is from 3 (o 3^ lbs. ; 
 but fleeces of 5 lbs. are not uncommon ; and some inferior, yet not bad 
 fleeces, have weighed 7 Ibs^, 
 
 Dr. Lang, however, states the average to be from 2 to S^lbs. per sheep**. 
 
 * Evidence before the House of Lords. f Ditto. J Ditto. § Ditto. 
 
 II Cunningham's Two Years in South Wales, vol. i. p. 253. 
 
 51 Breton's Excursions in New South Wales. 
 
 ** Lang's Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales,, vol. i. p. 351. 
 
186 SHEKP 
 
 The increased exportation of wool is a satisfactory proof of the growing 
 estimation in wliich it is held. 
 
 In J810 it was only 167 lbs.; in 1820 it had increased to 99,4151bs. ; 
 in 1821 it was 175,433 lbs.; in 1822, 138,498 lbs. ; in 1823, 477,261 lbs.; 
 in 1824, 382.907 lbs. ; in 1825, 323,925 lbs.; in 1826, 806,302 lbs. ; in 
 1827, 320,683 lbs. ; in 1828, 967,814 lbs. ; in 1829, 913,322 lbs. ; in 1830, 
 973,33611)3. ; in 1831, 1,134,134 lbs.; in 1832, the quantity of New South 
 Wales and Van Dieman's Land wool amounted to 2,377,057 lbs. ; and, in 
 1833, to 3,516,869 lbs* ' 
 
 The. increase, in one year, of 1,139,812 lbs. shows the prosperity of the 
 colonies, and the improvement of the wool ; but when during the same year 
 ihe increase of the importation of wool from Germany was 5,537,881 lbs., 
 it must be confessed that it gives little prospect of the speedy arrival of the 
 time when the Australian colonies will supply the mother country with the full 
 quantity of fine wool that she requires. The market price in March, 1834, 
 was 5s. bd. per lb. for the best Saxon wool, and 4s. 6d. for the best Australian : 
 while this proves that the wool of New South Wales has become more valua- 
 ble than that of the Spanish Merino, which reached only 4s., it does not 
 promise that complete victory which, according to Messrs. Hughes and 
 Donaldson, was to be gained over every competitor. Indeed, such a vic- 
 tory as this is not to be expected. Sheep cannot be kept in right condition, 
 nor the quality of the fleece preserved from deterioration, without a great 
 deal more care than is bestowed upon them, or can be bestowed, in these 
 colonies. The very paucity of the inhabitants will put a limit to the growth 
 of wool very far short of a full supply. In addition to this, it may be 
 asked, if this supply could be obtained, and the immense importation from 
 Germany continued as much at our command as it is at present, what price 
 would fine wool fetch, or how could it pay the Australian grower? The 
 present result, however, is highly pleasing, and there can be no doubt that 
 Australia will, ere long, become one of the most valuable of the British 
 foreign possessions : but it requires, and it deserves, far more assistance and 
 encouragement than it has hitherto received from the mother country. 
 
 The microscope very satisfactorily illustrates the char»acter and actual 
 value of these wools. 
 
 A fibre of fair, but not very superior, Australian wool, was subjected to 
 its power. 
 
 Transparent. 2. Combed. 3 Opaque. 
 
 It proved (see 1.) to be (when viewed as a transparent object) ^Ixr^ii of 
 an inch in diameter, and the number of serrations were 1920 in the space 
 of an inch. It was therefore coarser than the Saxony wool, which was 
 only rio^^li P^rt of an inch and it was of precisely the same diameter as the 
 picklock Merino. It. was decidedly inferior to both in the number of ser- 
 rations — the Saxony presenting 2720, and the picklock Merino 2560 : 
 but the edges were definite, altliough not projecting much, and some of 
 
 * i^Culloch'8 Diet,, art. Wool ; aud Widowson's Van Dieineu's Laud, p. 50. 
 
NEW SOUTH WALES SHEEP U7 
 
 them were very sharp, and even hooked, accounting for its felting property. 
 When viewed as an opaque object (3.), the cups were placed at regular 
 distances, with evident development of the Vandyke structure, but the Van- 
 dykes small, and far from being thickly set ; thus, probably, being more 
 pliable, and accounting for the peculiar softness described by Messrs. 
 Hughes and Donaldson. The combed wool (2.) was then examined : its 
 edges were tolerably preserved, and even some of the sharp barbs, thus 
 corresponding with its acknowledged properties as a combing wool. 
 
 Through the kindness of Mr. Symonds, the author had the opportunity of 
 examining another specimen of New South Wales wool, which was selling 
 in the British market (in September, 1835) at 2s. 6d. per lb. When 
 viewed as a transparent object (1.), it also was the 750th part of an inch 
 in diameter, and the serrations were 2080 in the space of an inch. As an 
 opaque object (2.), the structure of the cups was well developed. It con- 
 sisted of a few broad leaves, diverging from eacli other towards the apex, 
 and affording each other little support at the base. It was easy to imagine 
 that a cup or joint like this would be flexible to a very considerable extent. 
 
 New South Wales Wool. 
 
 1 . Transpa7-ent. 
 
 To the same gentleman we are indebted for a sampie of M'Arthur's 
 Australian wool. The cuts of this and the preceding wool are placed 
 together on account of the singular difference in the structure of the 
 serrations or cups, and beautifully corresponding with the manufacturmg 
 properties of each. 
 
 The serrations (1.) were 2400 in the space of an inch — they were very 
 sharp, and in appearance almost barbed. The fibre was ^^o-th of an inch 
 in diameter. When viewed as an opaque object (2.), the leaves of the cup 
 were unusually long and finely pointed, giving the idea, not only of a good 
 felting wool, but of a flexible one. The leaves of the cup or joint would 
 readily entangle with each other, on account of their sharpness and their 
 length — and being so narrow as they are, and even towards the base, they 
 would readily bend. 
 
 But these are not the wools that Mr. Hughes' account of them would 
 lead one to expect : there is, even in the two inferior samples, suflicient 
 to account for their peculiar softness. There is in the construction of the 
 cup a singular difference, evidently marking the different origin of the 
 sheep from which the samples were taken ; and there is also — (is Mr. 
 Hughes right in his assertion, that ' the climate, or the herbage, or both, 
 have been exerting their mfluence ' ?) — a marked difference, not only in 
 the length but in the structure of the Saxon wool, as obtained direct ixvm 
 
188 SHEEP. 
 
 Germany and imported from Australia. The fibre of the Australian is 
 considerably longer, but it is not so fine — the serrations are not so nume- 
 rous — they are of a different character, seemingly giving pliability and 
 softness to the one, and feltiness to the other, (see pp. 89 and 90.) 
 
 In truth, tlie manufacturer has properly distinguished and classed them, 
 although he knew nothing of their microscopic appearance. He has 
 appropriated the true Saxony wool to the making of the finest cloth — he 
 has availed himself of its superior felting quality ; and he is using the 
 Australian wool for the better combing purposes, in which a strong tough 
 wool, soft and long in the staple, is useful. 
 
 The wool is packed in bales, wrapped in canvass, and forwarded to Sydney, 
 where it is sorted by the merchants, and repacked for exportation ; but 
 some of the larger sheep-farmers send their wool direct to their agents in 
 London 
 
 Sheep-farming now constitutes the chief employment and dependence of 
 the New South Wales colonist. Some of these persons possess 15,000 or 
 20,000 sheep. These are divided into separate flocks, more or less 
 numerous, according to tlie nature of the country and the pastures. Where 
 the land is literally plain and cleared of timber, a tliousand sheep are some- 
 times put under the charge of one shepherd and his dogs. Where there is 
 much wood or irregularity of surface, 350 sheep are deemed quite as many 
 as one shepherd can properly take care of. The sheep are led out to graze 
 before sunrise, and folded, or brought back to the sheep-yard at night, but 
 they are never housed. This is very different from the treatment of the 
 Saxon sheep, with which they are now, and not altogether unsuccessfully, 
 competing. 
 
 The work of the shepherd — usually a convict — is therefore very severe, 
 especially in the more sterile parts of the colony, where three acres of the 
 uncultivated ground are scarcely sufficient for the support of one sheep. 
 
 The principal enemies that the sheep have to fear are the wild dogs, which 
 are numerous in some parts of the country, and will sometimes attack the 
 flock in the open day. The wall of the sheep-yard is too high for them to 
 overleap at night ; and the hurdles for the fold are made of light swamp oak, 
 or slight iron rods seven feet in length, which are placed so close that the 
 lambs cannot escape, nor the dogs enter. A watchman, with his dogs, 
 has a moveable weather-tight box, in which he passes the night close by 
 the fold, and near to which he kindles a fire, as well for his own comfort, 
 as to scare away the wild dogs *. 
 
 There is another more crafty and dangerous foe in the runaway convict, 
 who, in the interior and wilder parts of the colony, has his retreat usually 
 well stored with the mutton stolen from the neighbouring flocks. 
 
 The pernicious system of breeding too early is general ; and it is not an 
 •uncommon occurrence to see a ewe, not a twelvemonth old, with a lamb at 
 her feet, and the mother and her progeny, of course, half starved t. The 
 old and toothless wethers and ewes are seldom draughted from the flock, 
 on account of the false impression, that, as the animal grows old, the wool 
 becomes more valuable. It may be finer, but it is a sickly thinness of fibre 
 which it acquires, and it has lost the greater part of its original soundness. 
 These poor animals are suffered to crawl after the flock, until they are 
 worn out with age and infirmity. 
 
 Tlie ewes are put to the ram in January, the midst of the summer in 
 New South Wales. The reader scarcely needs to be informed that the 
 
 * Cunninjrham's Two Years in New South Wales, vol. i. p. 251. — Lang's Historical 
 and Statistical Account, vol. i. p. 349. 
 f Widowsou's Van Diemen's Land. 
 
AUSTRALIAN SHEEP. ISG 
 
 seasons are reversed in that part of the world. The spring commences in 
 September, the summer in December, the autumn in March, and the 
 winter in June. The lambs are therefore dropped about the middle of the 
 mild winter of that colony, and are ready for the first flush of the grass in 
 the spring *. There is, however, some variation in this : a few of the sheep- 
 masters contrive that the lambing season shall be at the beginning of 
 summer f ; and others, more absurdly, endeavour to procure two sets of 
 lambs in one year, or at least in fourteen months %. 
 
 The sheep in New South Wales appear to be nearly exempt from most of 
 the maladies to which these animals are exposed in Europe ; but to the /oo<- 
 rot they are lamentably subject. Although there is a general complaint of 
 want of water, and tliere are, occasionally, long seasons of drought, yet the 
 sheep frequently suffer from the wild and poachy nature of a considerable 
 portion of the pasture. The foot-rot seems to assume a character of its 
 own in New South Wales. In an early stage it is easily managed, if the 
 knife and the caustic — the butyr of antimony far beyond all other caustics — 
 are skilfully applied ; but if neglected, it speedily becomes inveterate, and 
 preys upon and destroys the animal. The losses occasioned by it in the 
 early existence of the colony were frightful. 
 
 Next in order, whether the frequency or serious results of the disease are 
 considered, stands "the scab." This too is manageable in an early stage. 
 An ointment, composed of one part of strong mercurial ointment, and five 
 of lard, well rubbed together, will speedily get rid of it ; but if it is neglected 
 in the early stage, the irritation which it occasions wears out the animal. 
 
 Dr. Lang says, that " when a convict-shepherd has a pique against his 
 master, or even against his overseer, it is often in his power to subject the 
 whole of his master's flock to this obnoxious disease, merely by driving 
 Ids own flock a few miles from their usual pasture, and bringing them into 
 contact with a diseased flock." He well remarks that " the chief source of 
 the wealth and prosperity of the colony is thus, in a great measure, at the 
 mercy of the most worthless of men §." 
 
 WESTERN AND SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Stimulated by the success of the colony on tlie eastern coast of New 
 Holland, another has been established on the western coast. It takes its 
 name from the river — the Swan River — on the banks of which its principal 
 settlement was placed. The main hope of these colonists likewise depends 
 on the successful cultivation of sheep ; and though the establishment is 
 yet in an infant state, some fine samples of wool have already found their 
 way to the British market. One of its advantages, so far as they can be 
 at present ascertained, is the evident superiority of the soil. In some 
 parts of the colony on the eastern coast, it has been stated that three acres 
 of land are scarcely suflicient for the keep of one sheep ; but, in almost 
 the whole of the country on the banks of the Swan River, two or three 
 sheep may be kept on every acre. It is also said, that on the western 
 coast a settler can much more quickly and perfectly bring his farm into a 
 state of cultivation, on account of the more open state of the country ; and 
 not only on the banks of the main river, but in the inland country there is 
 plenty of water \\. Time will determine the relative value of these 
 colonies. 
 
 On the southern coast of New Holland, a third colony has lately been 
 established, under the title of " Southern Australia," and extending from 
 
 • Widowsou's Van Ditmen's Land. f Lang's Historical Account, vol, i. p. 34S. 
 
 J Widowson's Van Diemen's Land. § Lang's Historical Account, vol. i, lu 351 
 
 II Fraser's Picture of Australia, p. 325. 
 
190 SHEEP. 
 
 Fowler's Bay to Cape Northumberland, but there has not yet been sufficient 
 time for it to work. 
 
 THE VAN DIEMEN's LAND SHEEP 
 
 Separated from the southern ])romontory of New Holland by a narrow 
 strait is Van Diemen's Land, so called from the name of the governor- 
 general presiding over the Dutch settlements in the East Indies when the 
 island was discovered. The British government, observing the success of 
 the colony at Sydney, resolved to form a new establishment on the southern 
 coast of New Holland, to which the worst description of the convicts from 
 England miglit be sent, and also those who had been guilty of serious 
 offences at Port Jackson. Two ships sailed from England in the spring 
 of 1805 for this purpose. Their destination was Port Philip, which they 
 reached in the autumn of the same year ; but it was speedily found that the 
 want of water and other circumstances would render it impossible for a 
 permanent colony to be established there, and the vessels proceeded to the 
 mouth of the river Derwent, in Van Diemen's Island. This situation 
 seemed to be peculiarly eligible, and the capital of the new settlement, 
 Hobart Town, was soon afterwards built. 
 
 The climate of Van Diemen's' Land is much more temperate than that of 
 New South Wales. It is equally free from the occasional drought of 
 New Holland, and the humidity of the njother country*. 
 
 In 1807 sheep were first introduced there. They came from India, and 
 from Norfolk Island, and were of the same character as those that had 
 been formerly conveyed to New South Wales. Afterwards, Colonel 
 Paterson, who had established himself more on the north o^ the island, 
 imported some of the Teeswater sheep ; but the progress of improvement 
 was slower in Van Diemen's Land than in New Holland ; and the settlers 
 were often exceedingly annoyed by gangs of bush-rangers, or runaway 
 convicts. 
 
 It was not until after the year 1820 that the cultivation of fine wool may 
 be said to have been established there. Lieutenant-General Sorrell, who 
 was governor of the colony, entered into an arrangement with Capt. 
 M'Arthur, who agreed to part with 300 Merino lambs, for the use of the 
 colony at Van Diemen's Land. They were sent to Sydney, and embarked 
 on board a government vessel ; but, the ship being detained a considerable 
 period at Sydney, a distemper broke out among them, and ninety-one died 
 there and on the passage, and twenty-eight more were lost soon after they 
 were landed; so that only 181 of them remained. These were valued at seven 
 guineas each ; and in September, 1820, were distributed among the settlers 
 in the neighbourhood of Hobart Town, in proportions regulated by the 
 governor, and depending on his opinion of the agricultural skill and trust- 
 worthiness of the colonists. No money was demanded at the time ; but 
 security was given for the payment of the sum, at a certain after-period, 
 when the settlers might have begun to have reaped the advantage of the 
 speculationt 
 
 Some years afterwards, Mr. Gilles of Merton Vale did more benefit to 
 the colony than all the united attempts of the older settlers, by introducing 
 the pure Saxon breed direct from Germany J. The competition between 
 the two colonies now commenced ; and whether it was that the Van 
 Diemen's Land setlters were so much later in the field, or the climate of 
 that island is not so favourable to the growth of fine wool, the fleece does 
 
 * Widowson's Van Dieir.en's Land. 
 
 f BischofiPs History of Van Diemen's Land, p. 44.— Biggs's Report, Jan. 1833. 
 
 J Widowson'f Van Diemen's Land, p. 143. 
 
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND SHEEP, ]9\ 
 
 not fetch so high a price in the market as that from the sheep of New 
 Soutli Wales. 
 
 The following is a cut of some lamb's wool from Van Dicnien's Lanfl. 
 It is inserted not only to aflford idea of the nature of the wool grown there, 
 but on account of its great singularity. 
 
 Fan Diemen's Land Lamb's Wool, 
 
 1 . A fibre of it viewed as a transparent object, 
 
 2. Ditto as an opaque ohjecl. 
 
 When viewed as a transparent object (1.), its diameter was about y'j^th 
 part of an inch, and its serrations were slight, in some places indistinct and 
 very irregular. It had more the appearance of a combed wool than of the 
 natural fibre. . 
 
 As an opaque object (2.), it was difficult to assign any distinct character 
 to it. After long and almost painful observation, the cups could be dis- 
 tinguished, but the fibre seemed to be enveloped in a woolly exterior, which 
 gave it the character of a vegetable substance in a state of decomposition. 
 How this may tally with its use the manufacturer must determine. 
 
 The quantity of wool imported from "Van Diemen's Land has rapidly 
 increased. In 1827, 192,075 lbs. were shipped for England; inl828, 
 .'>28,845 lbs.; in 1829, 925,320 lbs.; in 1830,993,979 lbs.; in 1831, 
 1,359,203 lbs.; in 1832, 951,131 lbs.; and in 1833, 1,547,201 lbs.*. 
 
 Of the number of sheep at Van Diemen's Land, it is impossible to form a 
 calculation. There are probably between 700,000 and 800,000 ; but the em- 
 barrassment of many of the settlers, and the wish to swell the amount of their 
 property, as well as to entitle themselves to a share of the supply required 
 for the King's stores, all operate to give a delusive character to their 
 returns. In the amount of the wool imported into England, there can, 
 however, be no mistake f. The number of sheep belonging to the Van 
 Diemen's Land Company, and whose accounts were accurately kept, in 
 1810, were only 3070, but they had increased in 1821 to 170,391. They 
 were multiplied sixty-fold in eleven yearsj. 
 
 The system of sheep-management is nearly the same, except that the 
 flocks are smaller. Mr. Widowson is of opinion that not more than 300 
 should run in one flock. " I have frequently watched," says he, " a flock 
 of sheep of a thousand feeding, or rather trying to feed ; the wethers, or 
 strongest ewes, always leading the flock, rushing on continually before 
 the rest, and leaving the weaker ewes to browse on the grass they have 
 soiled." There are a greater portion of hired shepherds and other servants 
 at Van Diemen's Land than at New South Wales §. 
 
 * BischofPs Van Diemen's Land, p. 50. — M'Culloch's Dictionary, art. Wool. 
 
 t BischofTs Van Diemen's Land, p, 42. 
 
 I Widowson's Van Diemen's Land, p. 103. Bischoff calculates the live stock in Van 
 Diem«n's Landto have consisted, in 1830,of 66n,C00 sheep, 113,000 catt]e,2805 horses, 
 and 1090 goats. 
 
 § Widowson gives a curious account of the frequent mode of hiring the shepherds. 
 He says that " a young man going out with letters of recommendation from the clergy- 
 man of the parish, or some influential person, will generally find employment soon. 
 Sheep are intrusted to him on the thirds hy those who are the proprietors of many flocks; 
 or whose other engagements will not allow them to give personal attention to their sheep 
 The arrangement generally entered into is this: — A. agrees to give B. 400 ewes on the 
 
192 SHEEP. 
 
 The general system of management U the same as in New South Wales, 
 except that the baneful practice of suffering the ewes to breed twice in 
 fourfeen months is more generally followed. 
 
 The sheep are even less subject to disease in Van Diemen's Land than in 
 New South Wales ; and the foot-rot, which is so destructive in the latter, 
 is scarcely heard of in the former. The system of raising artificial food 
 has been introduced into Van Diemen's Land, but not to so great an extent 
 as at Port Jackson, because the soil is more productive, and there is a 
 greater quantity of natural herbage in every season of the year 
 
 Chapter VL 
 
 a chronological history of the british sheep and woollen 
 manufactures. 
 Some writers have doubted whether the sheep is indigenous to Britain. 
 They state that the old natural historians, and the writers on agricultural 
 subjects, who describe the various kinds of sheep in Asia and in Europe, make 
 no mention of these animals as existing in Britain *. The natural reply 
 to this would be, that they are equally silent as to the slieep of the greater 
 number of the uncultivated people of these times ; and that if it is to be 
 concluded that an ancient and rude nation was not possessed of certain 
 animals, or certain conveniences of life, because these things are not men- 
 tioned by the historians of tliat day, a very erroneous estimate would be 
 formed of their comforts, habits, and occupations. 
 
 It is also said that the trading of the Phamicians with the Britons in lead 
 and tin is recorded by several writers, but that there is no mention of sheep 
 or wool as articles of commerce. The answer to this would be, that these 
 early voyagers traded with the inhabitants of the remote west for those 
 commodities alone which their own country, or the countries bordering 
 upon them, did not produce ; and that Phoenicia was in the neighbourhood 
 of the districts inhabited by the primitive flocks, where the sheep and wool 
 were most cultivated, and in the highest perfection. It was not likely 
 that they would pay much attention to an article then little cultivated in 
 Britain, because little used, and of the real value of which they had not the 
 means of judging. It is, however, mentioned, that the skins of animals — 
 tlie oldest species of barter, and practised in the very dawn of society — did 
 form a part of their commerce ; and it is not improbable that the skins of 
 sheep constituted a portion of the freight t. 
 
 The Britons, in that early time, were sailors. They had little canoes in 
 which they explored the creeks and harbours of their indented coast. 
 These boats or coracles were made of wicker-work, that they might live 
 where heavier vessels would be in danger of being dashed to pieces ; and 
 
 thirds ; A. providinj:; rams also, which are his indivitkial jiroperty. B. becomes respon- 
 sible iov the ori};inal number of sheep, excepting such as are lost by disease or accident. 
 At the time agreed on the produce is divided, and one-third of the lambs becomes the 
 property of B. Generally speaking, the party to which the flock belongs prefers the 
 wether lambs ; but as it is very much to the advantage of the other party to procure as 
 many females as he can as the foundation of his own future flock, this arrangement is 
 not objected to." 
 
 * Chronicon Ruslicum Commerciale ; or a History of British Wool, by .]ohn Smith, 
 passim. This work, although not without its faults, is exceedingly valuable, and may 
 be generally depended upon, except in the very early part of his history. 
 
 f Maurice's Commerce of the Britons, in his Indian Antiquities, p. 302. 
 
THE FIRST WOOLLEN MANUFACTORY. 193 
 
 the wicker-work was covered with the skhis of animals that had undergone 
 some process of tanning, and that varied in size and weiglit, and had pro- 
 bably been taken from different subjects, according to the capacity of the 
 boat *. 
 
 Tlie reed-built huts of llie Britons were likewise covered with skins 
 similarly prepared. 
 
 It is true that Caesar, who describes the habits and manner of life of the 
 Britons very circumstantially, makes no mention of the sheep, or of the 
 employment of its wool as connected with any article of clothing; and 
 theretore Speed gives it as his opinion, in his " Chronicles^" that " the use 
 of the wool detached from the sheep was quite unknown to the Britons, 
 who, when they were clothed at all, were clothed only in skins t." It is 
 well known, however, that at that period the Gauls, between whom and 
 the Britons there was much intercourse, and whose habits were much alike, 
 possessed the art of manufacturing a kind of cloth or felt, without spinning 
 or weaving, sufficiently strong to resist the stroke of a sword. 
 
 It was only when engaged in war that the Britons went almost naked, 
 and painted and punctured their bodies in order to terrify their foes. When 
 at home and at peace, they were clothed with the skins of beasts, and lived 
 upon milk and flesh. Milk was one of the earliest articles of food in every 
 ancient and uncivilized tribe ; and the use of the milk of the sheep pre- 
 ceded that obtained from cattle by very many centuries in all tliese hordes. 
 Therefore and as no historian mentions the introduction of the sheep into 
 Britain, it is probable that it existed in that island from a very early period; 
 and in that state of domestication in which it was found among other na- 
 tions long before the subjugation of the ox J. 
 
 In the year fifty-five before Christ, Caesar first landed on the coast of 
 Britain ; but it was not until more than a century afterwards that this 
 island could be said to be completely subdued under Agricola. 
 
 The conquest of the island being eft'ected, the Romans, as in every 
 country in which their arms prevailed, directed their attention to the 
 civilization and improvement of their new subjects, and, among other 
 things, they established a woollen manufactory at Winchester. Whence 
 came the material? Was it furnished by the flocks of Italy or of Spain? 
 Historians say nothing of this; nor was the commerce of the Romans 
 sufficiently advanced to enable them to bring from a distance a sufficient 
 supply of wool. 
 
 No historian makes mention of the importation of sheep into the British 
 islands by its conquerors ; although that would have been a boon which 
 many a writer would have celebrated. No ! the factory was supplied from 
 a native source; from that fleece, the value of which the uncultivated 
 
 * See Maurice, as before. 
 , t it is curious to trace the predilection to the use of skins even to modern times. 
 George Fox, the quaker, in the reiga of Charles I., is said to have travelled in his apos- 
 tolic missions, buttoned up in a leathern doublet or waistcoat with sleeves, and which 
 supplied tne place of a coat. The common dress of the labouring mechanic, not a 
 century ago, consisted of this leathern doublet ; and the buckskin breeches of the 
 sportsman are still worn. 
 
 i Hardyng, in his Chronicles, seems to illustrate this. He is describing the daughters 
 of Danaus, when they first landed in Britain. Albyne, the eldest daughter, gives to 
 her sisters 
 
 " arrows and boltes, 
 To slee the dere, the bul/, also the bore, 
 The bear, and byrdes that were therein before." 
 
 And they, "with pltfalles and trappes, begil the beastes, and byrdes, and fyshe to their 
 sustenance." Nothing, however, is said of the sheep ; he was already a domesticated 
 animal, when all the reat were wild. 
 
194 SHEEP. 
 
 Britons, clothed only with skins, had not discovered, but wlxichiivas at once 
 manifest to their conquerors. 
 
 It was, doubtless, principally established for the supply of the Roman 
 army with clothing ; but it was not long confined to this. Some of the 
 fabrics reached Rome ; and they w^ere so highly appreciated, that during 
 the continuance of the Roman domination, and in the most luxurious era 
 of the empire, the finest and most expensive robes — those used only on 
 days of festivity or ceremony — were furnished by the British factories. One 
 Roman writer, Dionysius Alexandrinus, uses the following language, as 
 quoted by Hollinshed, and strongly expressive of the value of the 
 material : " The wool of Britain is often spun so fine, that it is in a manner 
 comparable to the spider's thread *.** 
 
 It would be pleasing to know what kind of British wool was used in 
 the first manufactory, although this would not decide the question as to 
 the primitive breed, nor whether there was any breed to which ihis distinctive 
 name could be applied. Possibly, as now, there were different breeds, 
 suited to the soil and produce of different districts. Tiie account just given 
 of the material has been said by some persons to leave little doubt as to the 
 breed that was first selected. " The wool was spun so fine as to be in a 
 manner comparable to the spider's web." It was the long wool, that which, 
 at the present day, as fifteen hundred years ago, stands unrivalled in the 
 world as a combing and spinning wool ; and it has been added, that, as old 
 usages are not often forgotten, and old-established manufactories do not 
 often change their fabric, there are still many factories of fine worsteds in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of Winchester, and that can scarcely be excelled 
 in the kingdom. The situation of the first factory leads, however, to a dif- 
 ferent conclusion. Winchester is in the very heart of the short-woolled 
 country, a country, in fact, that would support no other breed of sheep. It 
 is surrounded by the Westdown sheep ; it has the Dorsets on the west, 
 the Wiltshires on the north, and the Southdowns of Sussex on the east 
 The short wool was the only material that could be procured without dif- 
 ficulty there, or that could be procured at all. It was the short wool that 
 was used in this first manufactory, and, the art of fulling not being carried 
 to the perfection to which it now is, the threads were plainly seen, and their 
 comparative fineness could be ascertained. It may be added that fac- 
 tories of short woollen goods have been established there from time imme- 
 morial, and that the first guild of Fullers was chartered at Winchester. 
 
 Whether other manufactories arose, or how long this maintained its high 
 reputation (it never became defunct), or what change, and how soon, was 
 effected in the clothing of the natives, or the cultivation of the sheep, are 
 subjects with respect to which history is silent. A chasm, unexampled in 
 the records of any other country, succeeds. In the distractions to which 
 Britain was subject for 600 years, it may well be supposed that the art 
 of manufacturing cloth, like every thing else, fell into comparative decay. 
 It was not, however — it never could be — altogether lost. Notwithstanding 
 the general inattention of our early writers to the state or the progress of 
 the useful arts, we are still able to collect a few scattered hints, which lead 
 to the conclusion that the preparation of wool for its manufacture had 
 become, in very early times, a favourite employment of the Britons, both 
 in the higher and inferior situations of life ; and that the superiority of the 
 wool, and of the fabric procured from it, was perfectly appreciated, and con- 
 sidered as the foundation of our national prosperity f. 
 
 It is not, however, until the year 712, that, after the expulsion, or retire* 
 
 * See Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. 
 
 f Appendix, No. 4, to the Report of the Highland Society, p. 30, 
 
ALFRED AND EDWARD THE ELDER. 195 
 
 ment of the Romans, the sheep is expressly mentioned ; and then it is 
 merely stated that the price of the animal was one shilling until fourteen 
 nights after Easter*. This shilling of Saxon money was about equal to 
 five pence of the present currency, there being forty-eight Saxon shillings 
 in the pound ; and, taking into account the different value of money, and 
 the different expense of living, would be equivalent to twenty times that 
 sum, at the present day. 
 
 Another interval of 160 years passes, and then the mother of the noble 
 Alfred is described as being skilled in the spinning of wool herself, and 
 busied in training her daughters to the same employment -f. 
 
 It is generally believed — and the ground on which the statement rests is 
 somewhat more certain than the propensity to attribute to this patriot- 
 monarch everything that is dear to us as Britons — that, among the various 
 arts which he encouraged, the woollen manufacture stood one of the 
 foremost. 
 
 Forty years afterwards, we have another pleasing picture of the domestic 
 arrangements of some at least of the higher classes, and the universal 
 attention to the uses and manufacture of wool. Edward the Elder died. 
 He had children by three wives, the first of whom was named Egwina, and 
 was a shepherd's daughter. Speed explains this. She was the daughter 
 of a gentleman, perhaps a country gentleman, but not a soldier, and 
 therefore, in the language of the court, called a shepherd. They who 
 were not devoted to a military life were supposed to be employed in the 
 breeding of sheep. Here is a satisfactory illustration of the general atten- 
 tion which was now paid to this branch of husbandry — this source of 
 national wealth J. Smith adds, that we are not to measure the grandeur or 
 delicacy of the court of that day by present appearances and manners, for, 
 in Fabian's Chronicle, p. 179, it is remarked of this same King Edward, 
 that, being careful that his children should receive a proper princely educa- 
 tion, " He sette his sons to scole, and his doughters he set to woU werke, 
 taking example of Charles the Conquesterer." 
 
 The very name by which unmarried women in England are designated 
 ■ — spinsters — is a proof at once of the antiquity and universality of this 
 mode of employing time ; and also of the extent to which the sheep was 
 cultivated, for the flocks must have been numerous and large, to have given 
 employment " to the unmarried women of all classes," as Bayley has it in 
 his Dictionary, " from the daughter of a prince to the meanest person." 
 
 * Stillingflcet's Chronicon Pretlosum, p. 50. 
 
 f Alfred, if the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester is to be believed, had reason to Icve 
 and reverence her. 
 
 " King Alfred was the wysest king that long was byvore ; 
 Lawes he made — right all ones, and strongore than er were. 
 Clerc he was, God yknow, and yet as one telleth me, 
 He was not lesse than ten yere old er he couthe ys abece. 
 And his gode mether ofte smal gyftes to him she kindly toke, 
 Vor to leve other pie, and loke upon his boke." 
 
 Gentleman's Mag. 1834, p. 596. 
 
 The story on which these monkish rhymes are founded, is thus related hy Asser- 
 " Though he had reached the age of twelve before he acquired an art then so rare as 
 that of reading, he was delighted with listening to the Anglo-Saxon songs. Judith, his 
 mother, holding in her hands a volume of these poems, in which the beautiful characters 
 pleased her husband's children, said to them, ' 1 will give it to the one among you who 
 first learns to read it.' <VVill you?' eagerly asked Alfred, although the youngest. 
 Yes,' said she, with a smile of pleasure. He suddenly snatched (he volume out of her 
 hands, and running to a schoolmaster, returned no more to his home until he was able 
 *o read and recite it to her."— Mackintosh's History of England, vol. i. p. 37. 
 1 Chronicon Rusticum. 
 
 o2 
 
196 SHEEP. 
 
 The antiquity of the word is beyond the h'mit of any record or traditional 
 account of its origin *. 
 
 The bones of many wihl animals liave been discovered in various parts of 
 England ; and soon after this time, it appears that the country was overrun 
 with wolves. The civil wars, and foreign invasions which so rapidly 
 succeeded to each other after tlie death of Alfred, engrossed the whole 
 attention and care of tlie people ; and the vigour of the West Saxon 
 government expiring with Athelstan, the son of Alfred, these ferocious 
 beasts were suffered to multiply so fast, that travelling, at least in the 
 night, became dangerous; and houses were erected in the midst of some 
 of the forests, in which the traveller might rest in safety until the morning — 
 although, as in other countries infested by wolves, there can be no doubt 
 that proper means were taken, in the form of sheep-yards and folds, and 
 the courage and fidelity of the British dog, even then celebrated in distant 
 countries, in order to protect the sheep during the night. The wolves were 
 probably the source of much annoyance and loss to the sheep-breeders. 
 Twenty years afterwards, however, the warlike Edgar, having obtained 
 possession of the whole of the Anglo-Saxon country, determined to extir- 
 pate these quadruped foes. His plan was a politic and a successful one. 
 He commuted a portion of the tribute for a certain number of wolves' 
 heads, and, before three years had expired, not one of these animals 
 remained in the whole of his dominions f. 
 
 It would be imagined that the cultivation of the sheep, and the progress 
 of the woollen manufacture, would meet with no farther hinderance ; and, 
 from notices which occur a great many years afterwards, there is reason to 
 conclude that much attention was bestowed on them, and that they were 
 fully recognized as the sources whence the monarch drew a considerable 
 portion of his tribute, and the foundation of the general prosperity and 
 wealth of the kmgdom. The historians of those days, however, had more 
 marvellous things to occupy their attention. 
 
 De Wilt, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, states, that about the year 
 960, or somewhat earlier, the woollen manufactory was established in 
 Flanders. He says, that " the Flemings lying nearest to France were the 
 first to earn their living by weaving. Baldwin III. assisted in this by ap- 
 pointing certain fairs, or markets, where the material and the manufactured 
 fabric might be bought and sold free of duty. Some sort of woollen cloth 
 must have been made in all countries emerged from barbarism." There is 
 considerable doubt, however, whether the Flemings at this time — eminent 
 as they afterwards were for their manufactures — were any thing more than 
 merchants J. 
 
 The price of the sheep remained unaltered; for, in 1000, in the reign 
 
 * Report of the Highland Society. App. No. 4, p. 50. 
 
 " To spin with art in ancient times was seen, 
 Thought not beneath the noble dame or queen ; 
 From that employ our maidens took the name 
 Of spinsters, which the modems never claim." 
 
 Brit. Farmer's Uragazine, 1830, p. 436. 
 f They were still occasionally found in the mountains of Wales ; and the last was 
 destroyed in Scotland in 1680, by Sir Edward Cameron of Lochiel. 
 
 Fynes Morrison, in his Itinerary, mentions the depredations committed on cattle in 
 Ireland by the wolves. In the winter nights they sometimes entered the villages and 
 the suDurbs of the cities. This cunlinued imtil the beginning of the eighteenth century. 
 It is said that the last wolf seen in Ulster was shot by Arthur Upton of Aughnabreack, 
 on the Wolf-hill, near Belfast ; and the last of these animals seen in Ireland was killed 
 in 1710, in Kerry, on the Crony River, near Glenaim. — Gentleman's Magazine, 1334, 
 p. 149. 
 
 1 Anderson on Commerce, i. 4(i. 
 
CORPORATIONS AND GUILDS. 197 
 
 of Ethelred, it was determined that, if a sheep was accidentally or wilfully 
 tleitroyed, the compensation should be one shilling of Sa,\on money *. 
 
 In 1041, at the accession of Edward the Confessor, a pestilential epi- 
 demic prevailed among cattle and sheep, which destroyed the greater part 
 of them. The supposed cause of it is not stated f. 
 
 Another and even more destructive one occurred in 1125, in the reign ot 
 Henry I., and which also swept away many thousand human beings J. 
 
 In the early days of the Norman kings, when woollen manufactories 
 were established in many parts of tiie kingdom, the cloth was made of 
 British wool alone, and which was then highly esteemed for its fineness 
 and clothing quality. The short wool therefore was in extensive requisi- 
 tion, for of that alone could these broad cloths be made, and the long wools 
 were employed for hosiery and woollen goods. The value of both breeds 
 of British sheep was now understood and acknowledged. 
 
 These cloths were also dyed of various colours, and in a very superior 
 way. 
 
 The ])rice of the sheep remained unaltered for a considerable time. In the 
 year 1100, at the accession of Henry I. to the throne, and when he wanted 
 money to enable him to resist the juster pretensions of his brother Robert, 
 he offered to take a portion of his tribute in kind, and a sheep or a ram 
 was reckoned at about 13s. of the present value of money. Many years af- 
 terwards, and towards the close of his reign, when this system of paying the 
 taxes in kind seemed to be established, forty sheep were equivalent to as 
 many pounds ; or the price of the sheep had risen to 20«. § ; and fifty years 
 after that, in the reign of Henry II., the price hadrisen to 25s. (present 
 value), for the tenants of Shinborn (Sherborne) were each compelled to 
 pay tiiat sum or a ram towards the support of the church |j. 
 
 In 1 140, the fifth of King Stephen, the woollen manufactory was in so 
 flourishing a state in many of the large towns, that the merchants petitioned 
 the King for power to form themselves into distinct corporations or guilds, 
 governed by such regulations and laws as they might deem expedient for 
 the especial protection and furtherance of their trade. It comes not within 
 the scope of the present work to inquire into the policy or the justice of 
 these combinations. In many cases, and especially in an early and com- 
 paratively rude state of society, they might be productive of advantage to 
 that particular trade whose members were combined together ; but they 
 were easily made the engines of monopoly and oppression. The difficulties 
 which the members of these guilds threw around an admission into their 
 fraternity — the fees they exacted — the power they frequently exerted of 
 preventing all who did not belong to their company from engaging in the 
 same business, at least in the neighbourhood of the guild — and the long 
 
 * There is a curious record as to the comparative value of the different domestic ani- 
 mals at that period. By an agreement between Etlielred's commissioners and those of 
 Wales, it was arranged that the value of strayed cattle should be thus computed : — A horse, 
 30 shillings, or 150 pence, there being at that time 5 pence to the shilling ; an ox, 30 
 pence, or 5 shillings, being only one-sixth of the value of a horse ; a swine, eightpence ; 
 sheep, one shilling, or 5 pence, and a goat, 2 pence. — Anderson on Commerce, i. 99' 
 
 It has been calculated that the price of these things, or the expense of living, was 
 then only as 1 to 20, supposing that the value of money at this late period of the 
 Saxon domination was the same as under the first Norman monarchs. It is also 
 observed, that the sheep, whether compared with the ox or the swine, is proportionally 
 dearer than either of them. This circumstance is easily accounted for when the value 
 of the fleece is recollected, and which had been devoted to manufacturing purposes. 
 
 f Chronic. Saxonic. An. 1041. 
 
 X Chronic. Saxonic. An. 1125. 
 
 § Chronicon Rusticum, in loc. 
 
 II Chronicon Rusticum, in loc. ; and Stillingfleefr's Chron Piefiosum; do. 
 
IgU SHEEP. 
 
 anil expensive apprenticeships which were required — might be, and often 
 were, exhibitions of cruelty and tyranny, such as the monarch himself 
 scarcely dared to attempt. As the true principles of trade became better 
 known and practised, the power of these guilds was curtailed. Many of 
 them gradually became social and charitable, instead of political bodies ; 
 and the time will arrive when they will no longer be permitted to possess 
 any special immuniUes that tend to obstruct a free competition in busi- 
 ness*. 
 
 The manufactory originally established m Winchester still flourished, 
 although eight or nine hundred years had now passed away ; for it is said 
 that the weavers of wool paid ''one mark of gold (2/.) annually, equal 
 to 30/. at present, to have tlieir customs and liberties, and right to elect the 
 aldermen of their guild t." 
 
 Had there been any doubt that the manufacture of the short clothing 
 wool was that which was originally established, it would now have been 
 cleared up ; for it is added that the fullers of Winchester, the birth-place 
 of the manufacture of wool in Britain, likewise applied to be elected into 
 a separate guild, for which they paid 16/., at least equal to 240/. at the 
 present day, annually %. The British short-woolled sheep are no animals of 
 yesterday's importation ; but, from the earliest period in the history of the 
 commerce of the island, are intimately connected with the national pros- 
 perity. 
 
 It appears that, at the same' time, the cloth manufactory existed and 
 flourished in other parts of the kingdom, for the weavers of Oxford paid a 
 mark of gold for their guild, and the weavers of London 16/. 
 
 Were other proof wanting of the flourishing state of the woollen manu- 
 factory at this period, it might be added, that in the same year, 1140, " the 
 men of Worcester pay lOO shillings, (equivalent to 50/. of the present 
 money,) that they might buy and sell again wool, as they were wont to do 
 in the time of Henry I. §" It appears from other circumstances, that this 
 was all British, and not foreign cloth ; and the quantity must have been very 
 great, when the dyers of one town, and that of no great magnitude, could 
 aff"ord to pay such a sum for the recovery of a lost privilege of this nature. 
 
 In the records of the Exchequer for 1150, there is an opportunity of 
 comparing the opulence or estimation of the guild of woollen manufac- 
 turers with that of another trade. The annual tribute of the guild of the 
 weavers of London is lowered to 12/. (180/.) ; and that of the bakers of 
 the same city — a numerous body, as providing the principal article of 
 food— was set at 6/. (90/.) |. 
 
 The woollen manufacture must have been extensive and valuable, and 
 conducted on scientific principles, when divided into these distinct de- 
 partments ; and the subordinate one attaining to such a magnitude as to 
 be elected into a separate guild. 
 
 In 1172, a circumstance of much importance in the history of the Britisli 
 woollen manufacture, and which has already been alluded to, occurred. 
 Henry II. expressly ordained by statute, that Spanish wool should not be 
 mixed with English wool in the making of cloth — broad cloth and that of 
 a fine quality ^f. One object of this enactment probably was, that the 
 importation of foreign wool should not lower the price of that of native 
 growth, and thus interfere with the interests of the British sheep-maSter. 
 It was the first of tliose absurd prohibitions which more correct views of 
 
 * See some excellent observations on these chartered bodies in Bl'CuUoch's Diet. 
 Art. Corporations. 
 
 f Madox's History of the Exchequer, p. 332. 
 
 : Do. § Do. p. 286. II Do., p. 250. 
 
 % Anderson's History of Commerce, p. 18'J. 
 
EXPORTATION 0^ WOOL. 199 
 
 commercial and national policy have bani»lied for ever. Anderson says, 
 that " the use of Spanish wool was prohibited lest it should have debased 
 the British manufacture." This is a point for the consideration of which 
 the reader is scarcely yet prepared ; but at all events, this fact is established, 
 that in the twelfth century, and from the fleece of the British sheep alone, 
 a cloth was made — a broad cloth, of a sufficiently fine quality to give 
 general satisfaction. Thus much, however, may at present be affirmed, that 
 although the British wool, some centuries afterwards, when, amidst tlie con- 
 tentions of the rival houses, and the narrow policy of successive monarchs, 
 the true interests of the country were abandoned — sacrificed — was inferior 
 to some of foreign growth, and particularly to the Spanish, and the woollen 
 manufactory was comparatively lost in Britain, yet the weight of evidence 
 is favourable to the conclusion that, in earlier times, it would not yield to 
 any that the continental slates could produce. As the history of the woollen 
 manufacture proceeds, there will be additional reason for believing this. 
 
 In 1186 the prohibition of Spanish wool was more strictly enforced, 
 and it was ordered, that all cloth of British manufacture that should be 
 found made of Spanish wool, or in which that material shouM be mixed, 
 should be burned in the presence of the Mayor of London *. 
 
 Three years after this, (1189,) Richard Cceur de Lion succeeded to the 
 throne. He embarked in the expedition to Palestine, and was treache- 
 rously imprisoned by the Duke of Austria on his return ; and he could 
 not obtain his release until he had engaged to pay an exorbitant ransom. 
 As a means of raising the stipulated sum, the plate of all the churches and 
 monasteries was taken, and those orders, who agreeably to their vow of 
 poverty, had no plate, were compelled to contribute one year's wool f . The 
 conclusions to be drawn from this are, that the lands of the religious houses 
 were employed in the growth of wool ; that this commodity constituted, 
 next to the plate which was so lavishly displayed around their altars, 
 their principal wealth ; and that it was a good merchantable commodity : 
 in fine, that, in easy and immediate application, it stood next to money, 
 and was therefore selected for a purpose like this, which admitted of no 
 delay. 
 
 Near the close of this century, another circumstance occurs, which proves 
 the increasing cultivation and value of wool — enough is grown, not only to 
 supply the wants of the native manufacturer, but it begins to find a market 
 abroad. It would seem that its exportation had hitherto not been legal- 
 ized, or, in fact, had been prohibited ; for the History of the Exchequer 
 relates, that in 1128, " the chamberlain of London accounted for 231. 12s., 
 (equivalent to 472/. at present,) the fines of merchants for leave to export 
 wool and leather ; and 20/. (400/. present value,) for the sale of wool 
 belonging to William de Boulogne, and which, being attempted to be ex- 
 ported without license, was forfeited X- There is no doubt, however, that 
 the occasional exportation of v/ool had existed almost two centuries. 
 
 It also appears, that this contraband exportation was carried to so great 
 an extent, that the government took into consideration the question of 
 legally sanctioning it, and which, on account of the narrow and illiberal 
 notions respecting trade which then prevailed, would not have been for a 
 moment mooted, had not the British market been completely glutted with 
 the commodity. The attempt at illegal exportation, and the amount of the 
 fine for the wool seized, sufficiently prove the overflow at home, and the 
 value of the article abroad. A seizure was made at Hull, in this year, the 
 proceedings on which discover the actual price of wool in the English 
 
 * Kennedy's Tenancy of Land, vol. ii. p. 351. f Rapin, p. 254, 
 
 i Madox's Kist. of the Exchequer, i. 776. 
 
20 . SHEEP. 
 
 market at that time. Tlie penalty was estimated at 5 marks — 3/. 6*. Sd., 
 the silver mark being 13s, Ad. — per sack of 26 stone (or 364 lbs.), which 
 is a little more than 2^. 6d. (50<.) per stone, or almost 3s. dd. per pound 
 — an enormous sum, and decisive as to the value of the article at that early 
 period. 
 
 In the following year another parcel was seiaed at the same port. The 
 owner not choosing to pay the estimated value, it was sold by public auc- 
 tion, at 2^d. (3s. 9(i. present value) per pound*. 
 
 Tiiese scattered facts, thus collected together, incontestably prove that at 
 a far earlier period than has been generally imagined, or few of the English 
 historians acknowledge, the cultivation and the manufacture of wool were 
 not only established, but flourished in Great Britain. From the time when 
 the British cloths were accounted unrivalled at the luxurious metropoHs of 
 the world, to the period to which the present sketch has reached, the breed- 
 ing of the sheep, and the manufacture of its fleece constituted the chief 
 employment and wealth of the country. 
 
 JJuring the reign of Henry I., several Flemings, driven from their own 
 country by a dreadful inundation, settled in England. They were hos- 
 pitably received, but it is far from certain that they contributed much to 
 the improvement of British manufacture ; for, as will presently be seen, the 
 inliabuants of the Low Countries were never growers of wool to any con- 
 siderable extent, but their trade was founded on the importation of the 
 material from otlier parts, which was now only commencing, and the 
 facilities which that importation afforded. 
 
 If to the Roman conqueror Britain was indebted for this inexhaustible 
 source of prosperity and wealth, she cherished and perpetuated, and, doubt- 
 less, improved it. But a different era now succeeded. To the contentions 
 between John and his Barons followed other disputes and bloody feuds ; 
 intermingled with foreign wars when there was a moment's peace at home : 
 and from the frequency of royal exaction, and of brutal outrage, property 
 and every commercial pursuit became so insecure, and almost valueless, 
 that, if the cultivation of the sheep continued, it was not with its former 
 spirit and success, the manufacture of the fleece was comparatively aban- 
 doned. Sir Matthew Hale says, that " in the time of Henry II. and 
 Richard, this kingdom greatly flourished in the manufacture of cloth ; but 
 by the troublesome wars in the time of King John and Henry III., and 
 also of Edward I. and II., this manufacture was wliolly lost, and all our 
 trades ran in wools and woolfels, and leather t." 
 
 Our historians, however, have taken this assertion of the learned Chief 
 Jusice somewhat too literally. There is no doubt that the English trade 
 materially changed its character; and that the notices of wool, which for 
 more than a century from this time occur, have chief reference to the 
 various artifices by which the royal coffers were filled under the pretext of 
 licence or of fine. It is also probable tiiat the insecurity of property, and 
 the numerous instances of capricious tyranny which disgraced this era o^- 
 
 * In estimating the present value of the different sums of money of which mention 
 has been made, the following calculation has been adopted: — the silver shilling hither- 
 to, and for some centuries after this, weighed three times as miich as it now does ; and, 
 on account of the scarcity of money, the expense of living varied from one-fifth to one- 
 eighth of what it does at the existing period. The real proportion was continually vary- 
 ing ; but in order to avoid exaggeration, and to arrive at aii even sum, 6J was a>sumed 
 as the general average, and this multiplied by three gave twenty ; or, in other words, 
 the value of a certain sum then was equal to twenty times as much at the present day. 
 From the increasing quantity of the circulating medium, soon after this period the dif- 
 ference in the expense of living decreased to the average of five ; and therefore, and for 
 some centuries to come, the multiplier will be fifteen instead of twenty. 
 
 t Primitive Origin of Mankind, p. 162, 
 
DYED CLOTH 201 
 
 the dawn of British liberty, might have driven many of the artisans in wool 
 lo other countries. The Low Countries, in particular, might have mate- 
 rially benefited; and it is not improbable that the Netherlands were con- 
 siderably indebted to Britain for the early establishment of the woollen 
 manufacture among them ; although in alter years — in the reign of the 
 third Edward — that benefit was returned by the revival of the lost British 
 liianufactures through the instrumentality of the Flemings. Many hints, 
 liowever, of the continuance of the woollen manufacture in England during 
 those troublous times, although in a comparatively depressed state, will 
 occur, as the history of the British sheep is pursued. 
 
 In the third year of John, there is a confirmation, in the prosperity of an 
 individual, of an inferior branch of the woollen trade, that its depreciation 
 had only just commenced : — 
 
 " An. 1201, David the Dyer pays one mark of gold (21., equivalent to 
 30Z. now) that his manor might be made a burgage *." 
 
 As a further proof, if it were wanted, the record of the cvstom or duty 
 paid on the importation of woad — one of the articles used in dyeing — is pre- 
 served. It is valuable, not only as showing the almost incredible extent 
 to which the woollen trade has been carried, but the places where the manu- 
 factories were principally established, Essex paid, (in 1213,) according to 
 the estimated value at the present time, 121Z. ; London, 540/. ; Norfolk and 
 Suffolk, 1650/. ; Southampton, (the port of Winchester,) 2230/. ; York- 
 shire, 3090/. ; and Kent and Sussex, 3200/. t It is pleasing to seethe 
 town whence the manufacture derived its birth, still maintaining so high a 
 rank among the rival districts. 
 
 In the preceding year, in order for the easier adjustment and collection 
 of the duties on manufactured goods, it was arbitrarily determined that all 
 the better and dyed cloths should be of the same width : i. e. " for dyed 
 cloths, russets, and habergies, 2 yards within the lists J." 
 
 It incidentally appears, that at this time the woollen manufacture was 
 now established in Ireland, and had made considerable progress there, for 
 Irish cloths were exported to England. 
 
 Woollen-drapers or dealers in cloth were also at that time settled in 
 London ; for in 1240 a duel was fought between Walter Blowberne and 
 Hamon le Stare, the former having accused the latter of stealing cloths 
 and other goods ; among which were one coat of Irish cloth, and a parti- 
 coloured coat of Abenden and Bunel of London. 
 
 At this period the vv-oollen manufacture in other countries had reached a 
 high stale of prosperity. Ferdinand II., now recovering Seville from the 
 Moors, found in it sixteen thousand looms for weaving woollen goods §. It 
 appears, however, that in order to make their finest serges, the Spaniards 
 bought wool, the growth of other countries, and chiefly from the Flemish 
 market, to which the greatest part of the wool of England, now allowed to 
 be exported, was carried for sale |. 
 
 The importation of foreign fine cloths was permitted by Henry III. 
 The custom imposed was a source of revenue to him ; and he did not con- 
 sider, or care about the influence it might have on the manufactures and 
 prosperity of the country over which he reigned. The immediate conse- 
 quence was highly injurious to the wool-grower, whose fleeces, less used at 
 home, and rapidly accumulating from the general goodness and cheap- 
 ness of the imported fabrics, were hurried away to the Flanders market. 
 This was another source of revenue to the monarch, and at which he had 
 
 * Madox's History of the Exchequer, p. 278. f Ibid. 
 
 X Anderson on Connnierce. This was confirmed in 1224. 9 Hen. III. cap. 25, 
 § Wansey on Wool, p. 38. H ibid., p. 29. 
 
202 SHEEP. 
 
 probably aimed. In process of time, however, that which was at first the 
 result of distress, became the source of wealth, and the export trade in 
 wool was, for several centuries, the most lucrative that the country pos- 
 sessed. 
 
 There has been much dispute, and it is a question difficult to be settled, 
 when the exportation of British cloth commenced. Anderson, who is high 
 authority, dates it from about this period, and asserts, that '' from the time 
 of Edw. I. to Charles I., the woollen manufacture and the exportation of 
 woollen cloth and wool, were the principal objects of legislation ; and that 
 British cloth was sought for with avidity by all nations." On the contrary, 
 AVansey, who maintains, as zealously as Anderson, the comparative fine- 
 ness of the British wool in early times, and the superiority of the British 
 cloths, asserts that it was not exported until a long time after this ; and 
 that the earliest mention of the exportation of British manufactures in any 
 considerable quantity occurs in 1452, in the reign of Henry VII,, and two 
 hundred years after the period now referred to. He adds, that the export 
 trade, then established, was not of much benefit to England, for it was 
 managed by the merchants of the Steelyard, who were mostly foreigners. 
 
 Madox indirectly confirms the opinion of VYansey, for he says, that 
 " Henry HI. gave Simon de Campis, merchant of Douay, leave to import 
 and sell his cloth in any part of England." Allhough the object of the 
 king was the same as that of all the monarchs of those days, to fill his own 
 coffers, it is scarcely probable that he would have given, or been allowed to 
 give, this permission if the English manufacturers could have furnished 
 sufficient cloth for home and foreign consumption*. 
 
 Neither of these valuable writers, however, is perfectly correct. British 
 goods were occasionally exported from a very early period, but in small 
 quantities, and bearing little proportion to the export trade in the raw 
 material. A tax on them was collected by royal authority, but without the 
 sanction of the ^egislature ; and it was not until the time of Henry VII. 
 that it was properly legalized, or yielded much to the support of the state. 
 
 Proofs of the ruinous effects of domestic strife, and the destructive 
 influence of foreign wars, begin now to appear. The mark of gold annu- 
 ally paid by the weavers of Oxford for the privilege of forming themselves 
 into a guild, was reduced to 42«., (at 48 to the pound, and therefore 
 equivalent to 17s. 6rf.,) and on this ground, that " whereas they were 
 above sixty in number when they undertook to pay the mark of gold, 
 they were now so poor and decayed, that they were scarcely fifteen in 
 number f." The tax on the weavers of Winchester was also reduced 
 to 6/. 
 
 The woollen trade continuing to decay, and the British wool being 
 returned by the Flemings in a manufactured state, better and cheaper than 
 the impoverished and fallen artificers of England could produce it, the sale 
 of English cloth seems to have rapidly declined, and threatened to go on to 
 utter decay. The monarch listened to the grievances of his subjects, and 
 consented to abandon otfe of the most profitable sources of his revenue ; 
 and the exportation of British wool was forbidden under very severe penal- 
 ties. This exercise of regal self-denial, however, continued during a 
 very short period. The ports were again thrown open — the wool was 
 exported in any quantity that the adventurer chose, and the custom exacted 
 varied according to the caprice of the monarch. 
 
 * For a more detailed account of this matter the reader is referred to a pleasing httla 
 book, " Wansey on Wool." The author detects many inaccuracies in the valuable 
 work of Anderson. 
 
 \ Madox, Hist, of Exchequer. 
 
TAX ON EXPORTATION 203 
 
 About this time mention is first made of the woolstaplers. The grower 
 contented himself with the sale of his wool at his own door, or at the 
 nearest town. Thence arose a description of middle-men or merchants, 
 who bought it of him, and arranged it according to its quality, and insti- 
 tuted a kind of traffic between the grower and the home manufacturer or the 
 foreign merchant. This guild was incorporated under the name of" staplers*/' 
 The word staple means the natural or usual products of the place f. 
 
 A misunderstanding having taken place between England and Flanders 
 in 1275, all commerce between the two countries was prohibited ; but 
 Edward I., whose coffers were then exhausted by his Welsh expeditions, 
 permitted certain Florentine merchants to export to Flanders 1068 sacs, 
 or 281,952 lbs. of wool on the payment of 10*. (7/. ]0s.) per sack duty — 
 almost 7d. in the pound. The exportation of this great quantity, and by 
 one Company only of merchant-adventurers, shows the demand for 
 British wool abroad, and the high estimation in whicli it was held. The 
 kind of wool the historians of the time neither mention, nor perhaps 
 understood ; but from several incidental circumstances, it would appear to 
 be the combing-wool, which then, as now, had no rival. The quantity 
 exported in any given year is not to be collected from these imperfec 
 records : but the export trade continued to increase, and that for two very 
 sufficient reasons, viz., the penury of the monarch by whom it was encou- 
 raged, and the little and rapidly diminishing use for the wool at home. 
 
 From 10s. per sack, the custom was speedily raised to 20*., and in the 
 year 1286, Edward, by his sole power and authority, increased it at once 
 to AOs. The agriculturists complained — petitioned. " It seemed not to 
 be sufficient," they said, " that the home trade was ruined ; but by this new 
 exaction their wool was raised above the price that any manufacturer could 
 afford to give, and was, in fact, driven out of the foreign market." The 
 monarch was at first indisposed to listen to this just remonstrance, for the 
 produce of the tax was too necessary to him ; but, the petitioners preparing 
 to assume a firmer attitude, Edward wisely yielded. He reduced the cus- 
 tom to 20s. as before, and promised that it should not again exceed that 
 sum except by the consent of his people, expressed in parliament f . That 
 promise was kept for a few years, but afterwards forgotten whenever the 
 sinews of war were required. 
 
 In those times commerce was loaded with numerous oppressive and 
 absurd restrictions. It was with great difficulty, and often not until after 
 much sacrifice, that foreigners were permitted to settle and trade in other 
 countries. In the year 1286 merchant-strangers first obtained licence to 
 rent houses in England, and buy and' sell their own commodities ; for before 
 this time they were compelled to hire lodgings, and the landlords were 
 the brokers, through the medium of whom every bargain was transacted § 
 
 * The woolstaplers have now no virtual existence as a chartered company ; but the 
 dealers in wool form one of the numerous bodies constituting the livery of London, and 
 have a small sum of money in the funds, the interest of which defrays the expenses of their 
 meetings and elections. — Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. p. 232, 
 
 •)• Lex Mercatoria by Gerard Malines. 
 
 I Rapin preserves the words in which this renunciation of the regal claim was ex- 
 pressed. They are worthy of record as one of the charters of British liberty. " And 
 for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the realm find themselves sore 
 aggrieved with the Maletent of wools, that is to wit xl shillings for every sack of wool, 
 and liave made petition to us to release the same, WE at their request have clearly 
 released it ; and have granted for us and our heirs, that we shall not take any such 
 things without their comn-on assent and good-will." — Rapin, p. 378. 
 
 § The first result of this experiment, or rather this act of justice and humanit)', is 
 given in the words of Fabian. The persons referred to were wool-merchants. " In this 
 yere also, whereas of olde t\ me, longe before this season, the tnarchauntes straungers 
 
204 SHEEP. 
 
 In 1206, the company of merchant-adventurers, afterwards called the 
 Hamburg Company, was established. Tliey consisted of merchants from 
 all the states that then owed allegiance to the king, and more from abroad 
 than from his native kingdom. In process of time they became almost 
 entirely foreigners. They had power to associate themselves into a body 
 politic'; to choose their own officers, to make their own laws for the direc- 
 tion of their business, to impose their own duties, and to act as an inde- 
 pendent body. They soon monopolized to themselves the principal part 
 of the commerce of the country, and although, to a certain extent, the in- 
 terest of the public was theirs, it was too often found that the general 
 prosperity and that of their individual corporation were altogether incom- 
 patible. Various abuses gradually crept into the management of this com- 
 pany. A spirit of monopoly and tyranny characterized their proceedings; 
 and although they retained the protection of every successive monarch by 
 being able and ready to supply his temporary necessities, they at length, 
 if^ter a continuance of 350 years, gave way to the expression of public 
 feeling, and ceased to exist. 
 
 For many years nothing occurred worthy of note. The price of the 
 sheep is incidentally mentioned, and remained nearly the same as many a 
 century before. In 1299, the price of a fat lamb in London, from Christ- 
 mas to Shrovetide, was 16d* ; three years afterwards, the price of a fat 
 wether was Is., and that of a ewe, 8d. t; and in 1309, there is a notice 
 of an extravagant price given on occasion of an installation feast : 200 
 sheep cost 30^., or 3s. per head J. 
 
 The exportation of wool to the Netherlands, both from England and 
 Spain, had now so much increased, that the cities of the Netherlands were 
 in the most flourishing condition. In Louvain there were reckoned more 
 than 4000 master-weavers and woollen-drapers, and above 150,000 me- 
 chanics. The city, although a large one, would not at present contain one 
 half of these inhabitants §. 
 
 The year 1313 furnishes a very singular account of the different kinds of 
 cloths at that time manufactured in England, and the difference which tlien 
 existed between the rich and the poor. The expense of ,the household of 
 Thomas Earl of Leicester is given. Among other things are 159 pieces 
 of cloth for the earl, the bishop, the knights, esquires, clerks, officers, 
 grooms, archers, and minstrels, 460^. 15^., or on the average, nearly 31. 
 each — a very considerable sum at that period ; 1 II pieces for summer cloaks 
 for the same persons, 345/. I3s. Sd., being more than 31. each ; and for 
 the poor men- on Maundy Thursday, 168 yards of russet cloth, and 24 
 coats, and money besides, only 8/. 16*, 7d.\\ 
 
 comynge with theyr marchanndise vere lodged within the cytezins of the cytie of Lon 
 don, and sold all their rnarcbamidizes by the procuring of liis hoost, for which hissjiyd 
 hoost had a certayne of every lib. — it now was brought to pasie, that they might hire 
 1o them hoIl^ies for to dwell m, and for the stowai^e of theyr wares." These foreign 
 merchants then either began to impose upon the native ones by reason of the increased 
 opportunity they had for so doing ; or from the jealousy of the natives, who were deprived 
 of the opportunity of living upon the foreigners, accusations of that nature were mali- 
 ciously brought against them : " Theyr weyghtes were brent and consumed, andfynallie 
 the said marchaunts were delivered by fyne made to the kynge of a thousande poundes, 
 when they had sufiered for a season harde and vyle prysenment."' Such was the justice 
 »f those days. — Fabian's Chronicles. 
 
 * Stilllngfleet's Chronicon Rusticum, p. 66. 
 
 I Dugdale'sHist. ofSt. Paul. 
 
 I W. Thorn, inter Decern Scriptores. The reader will not much err if he nuiltinlit s 
 these sums by 15, as expressive of their proportionate value at the present day. 
 
 § Anderson on Commerce, i. 273. 
 
 II Stowe's Survey of London. 
 
REVIVAL OF MANUFACTURES. 205 
 
 In 1315 a dreadful epidemic broke out in Great Britain, and was con- 
 fined almost entirely to that island. It arose from a long continuance of 
 rain, which inundated the whole country, rotted the grain, and destroyed 
 the fruits and herbage of every kind. It was followed by a violent dysentery 
 equally fatal to the human being and the brute *. The consequence of 
 this was a grievous famine, which lasted three years, and devastated the 
 whole country. Food of every kind became extravagantly dear, and it was 
 deemed advisable to institute some sumptuary laws : no one was permitted 
 to demand more than 20d. (2bs.) for a fat sheep ; if it was shorn, the price 
 was to be 14c/. (17^. 6d.) This is a somewhat interesting morsel of his- 
 tory, for it gives the average value of the fleece at that time 6d. — 7s. 6d. 
 of the present money — being nearly half as much as the value of the 
 carcase. It will be rendered sufficiently evident in the course of this work, 
 that the modern sheep have increased far more in weight of carcase than 
 of Heece, and that there was far less disproportion between the value of 
 these formerly, than now. 
 
 Tlie export trade was in 1320 better regulated, at least so far as regarded 
 the collection of the customs. In order to prevent the fraudulent shipping 
 of it, certain ports were named, at which alone it could be embarked, under 
 pain of forfeiture and fine. These were Weymouth, Southampton, Boston, 
 Yarmouth, Hull, Lynn, Ipswich, and Newcastle. 
 
 In 1327, Edward III., the reviver of the woollen manufacture in Eng- 
 land, or, as some erroneously say, the founder of it, ascended the throne. 
 
 The Pensionary De Witt well describes the debased state of the woollen 
 manufacture and the relative situations of England and the Netherlands at 
 that time : — " Before the weaving trade was removed to England, the Ne- 
 therlands could formerly deal well enough with that kingdom, the English 
 being only shepherds and wool-merchants, and their king received few 
 imposts but from wool exported, depending on the Netherlands, who were 
 almost the only wool-weavers in Europe." 
 
 The summary of what Edward effected cannot be better given than in 
 the language of the anonymous author of a book published in 1599, and 
 entitled " The Golden Fleece." 
 
 " The wools of England have ever been of great honour and reception 
 abroad, as hath been sufficiently witnessed by the constant amity which, 
 for many hundred years, hath been inviolably kept between the kings of 
 England and the Dukes of Burgundy, onely for the benefit of the wool ; 
 whose subjects, receiving the English wool at sixpence a pound, returned it 
 (through the manufacture of those industrious people) in cloath at ten shil- 
 lings a yard, to the great enriching of that state, both in revenue to their 
 sovereign, and in employment to their subjects, which occasioned the mer- 
 chants of England to transport their whole families in no small numbers, 
 into Flanders, from whence they had a constant trade to most parts of the 
 world. And this intercourse of trade between England and Burgundy 
 endured till King Edward III. made his mighty conquests over France and 
 Scotland, when, finding fortune more favourable in prospering his achieve- 
 ments then his alledgeate subjects were able to maintain, he at once pro- 
 jected how to enrich his people, and to people his new conquered domi- 
 nions ; and both these he designed to effect by means of his English com- 
 modity wooU ; all which he accomplished, though not without great diffi- 
 culties and oppositions, for he was not only to reduce (bring back) his own 
 subjects home, who were, and had long been settled in those parts, with 
 their whole families, many of which had not so certain habitations in Eng- 
 land as in Flanders ; but he was also to invite clothiers over to convert his 
 * Paulet, Recherches sur EpiiootiqueS; vol i. p. 85. 
 
206 SHEEP. 
 
 woolls into clothing (and these were the subjects of another prince), or else 
 the stoppage of the stream would choke the mill, and then not onely cloth- 
 ing would every where be lost, but the materials resting upon his English 
 subjects' hands would soon ruine the whole gentry and yeomanry for want 
 of vending their woolls. Now, to show how King Edward smooth'd these 
 rough and uneven passages, were too tedious to this short narrative, though 
 otherwise in their contrivance, they may be found to be ingenious, pleas- 
 ing, and of great use. 
 
 " But this it must be granted, that King Edward was wise as well as 
 victorious, for upon a visitation made by himself to the Duke of Burgundy, 
 during his residence there, he employed such able agents among the Fle- 
 mish clothiers, as (barely upon his promises) he prevailed with great num- 
 bers of them to come into England soon after him, where he most royally 
 performed those promises, in giving not only a free denization to them, 
 but he likewise invested them with privileges and immunities beyond those 
 of his native subjects, which peculiarities their posterities enjoy to this day. 
 But for the more sure establishment, and before these preparations came 
 into effect. King Edward, upon his return, called a parliament, and that in 
 the beginning of his reign, where he so wrought with the Commons-house, 
 (who had not the least knowledge that the king had moulded the design) 
 as after long debate (which all motions in that house ought to undergo) it 
 was presented to the Lords, and so to the King, who, among other objec- 
 tions, urged the loss which must necessarily befall his revenue, as well in 
 respect of the outward subsidy of a noble upon each sack of wooll, which 
 was to be transported, as of the inward custome which the cloath paid upon 
 return, according to the rates then established. But these soon met with 
 an expedient, for the cloath in time to come must needs yield a far greater 
 custome upon that which was to pass into all parts of the world from Eng- 
 land, than it could do upon that small return which came onely to the ser- 
 vice of England, and therefore for the wooll, which from that time forward 
 was to be wrought in England, and of which none in any sort, without the 
 king's especial licence, was to be transported, the parliament gave unto the 
 king a subsidy of a noble upon a sack. 
 
 " Seventy families of Walloons were in the first year brought to Eng- 
 land by the invitation and promises of Edward. He kept his royal word to 
 all of them. The greater part were at first settled in Kent, but they were 
 by degrees removed to different parts, and scattered over the whole of 
 England, They shifted their residence according to the facility with which 
 they could obtain water or fuel, or the material on which they worked. The 
 greater number finally settled in Yorkshire, Gloucester, and the western 
 counties." 
 
 Anderson very properly remarks, p. 23, " that Edward III. was the first 
 of our kings who clearly discovered the vast benefits accruing to a nation 
 by foreign commerce and manufactures ; and it may be added that 
 England, much to her honour, was the first great monarchy in Christendom 
 that entered into any considerable foreign trade and home manufacture ; 
 while the other great monarchies continued to contemn the pursuit of mer- 
 cantile advantages, which they left entirely to the petty states and free cities 
 of Italy, and those of the Netherlands and Hans towns*." 
 
 A double motive might have operated on the mind of Edward, — a desire 
 to obtain the means of extending his conquests, for they were not then so 
 complete as the author of the " Golden Fleece" describes them to be; and 
 a desire, separate from his own personal interest, to benefit the people 
 whom he governed. He succeeded ; and although historians have been 
 
 * History of Commerce, Introd,^ p. 32 
 
THE POLICY OF EDWARD III. 20; 
 
 strangely forgetful of this the most glorious achievement of his reign, he 
 recalled, re-established, and would have established for ever, the staple 
 manufactory of his country, and the most effective source of her power. 
 If the wars of the Roses, which succeeded, once more reduced the woollen 
 manufactory to the state in which he found it, the fault was not his. The 
 Parliament which assembled in 1337, when this monarch was but twenty- 
 five years old, enacted, that no wool of English growth should in future be 
 transported beyond sea. This apparently deprived the monarch of a mate- 
 rial source of revenue ; but he consented, and that consent was politic, as 
 well as patriotic. The Parliament also decreed that no foreign cloth ma- 
 nufactures should be received, from whatever port they came ; and that no 
 one should wear any cloth made beyond the sea ; and also that a tax should 
 be paid to the king, of 205. on every sack of wool employed in home manu- 
 facture on every piece of cloth of British texture. The consequence 
 was, that before the expiration of the first year, he enjoyed a revenue 
 greater than he had before possessed, and built on a surer foundation. 
 The prosperity of the home manufacture had its effect on the grower of the 
 wool. The flocks of sheep rapidly increased, and the supply of wool 
 became greater than the market at home could dispose of: it began to lie 
 on the hands of the grower, and at the entreaty of the grower and the 
 manufacturer, the prohibition against exportation was removed, and from 
 this quarter also, the monarch derived a greater revenue than any of his 
 predecessors had done 
 
 His wars in France continued ; but he found in the commerce in wool 
 an inexhaustible resource. When his treasury ran low, he appealed to the 
 patriotism of his people, either to increase for a while the duty on exporta- 
 tion, or to anticipate the payment of their taxes, or to grant him a loan for 
 a certain period. When they had no money to offer, they produced their 
 wool. He had increased the quantity and the value of it. It found a 
 ready market every where, — his immediate wants were without delay sup- 
 plied, and in due time the debt was discharged. Edward, young in years, 
 but old in policy and wisdom, foresaw all this. Why have so few histo- 
 rians done even cold justice to him, or why should a strange and almost 
 universal silence prevail with regard to another principle, to which the 
 youthful monarch could not be quite insensible, that of patriotism? 
 
 The impulse to a reviving trade having been given, some of the old 
 arbitrary restrictions were removed. The English monarch soon observed 
 that the woollen trade assumed a buoyancy and vigour, which it would be 
 impolitic to confine within the narrow bounds of his dominions ; he saw that 
 he had no cause to fear from the competition of others ; and he reasoned 
 that he could not expect from others facilities which he did not grant to 
 them ; and therefore he threw open the British trade to all countries, both 
 the exportation of British wool, and the importation of foreign cloth, on 
 the payment of a certain tax. When the English wool again began to 
 find its way to Flanders, it readily sold for almost any price that the mer- 
 chants chose to ask. Smith* says that it was worth 18/. or 201 a sack ; 
 and Rapin addsf, that, in this very year, 1337, English wool sold in 
 Flanders at the exorbitant rate of 40/. per sack. Ten thousand sacks 
 (2,640,000 lbs.) were said to be bought in Brabant at that price, which is 
 rather more than 3s. a pound, the difference in the value of money not 
 being reckoned. 
 
 There must be some error in this, or there were circumstances with 
 regard to which the historian is silent, that had an extraordinary influence 
 
 * Chron. Rusticum, f Acta Regia, p. 151. 
 
208 SHEEP. 
 
 on the price of wool at this particular period : — 90/. per sack, or Is. 6d. 
 per lb., the value of money (although tlien beginning to decline) being 
 taken into consideration, w^uld constitute a price scarcely credible. 
 
 There is a document quoted by Smith, which records the prices oi 
 English wools in 1341, for home use and for exportation, and which is far 
 more likely to be correct. It is a highly valuable one, not only as giving 
 the price of wool, but the relative value of the wools grown in different 
 districts at that period. 
 
 To the staple for home use 
 
 
 For exportation 
 
 per sack. 
 
 per stone. 
 
 
 
 per sack. 
 
 per stone. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 £ «. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 £ ». d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Salop . .664 
 
 5 
 
 7 6 4 
 
 5 9 
 
 9 6 4 
 
 7 34 
 
 Do. stuffs, including 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Leicester ..568 
 
 4 2 
 
 6 6 8 
 
 4 11 
 
 8 6 
 
 6 5i 
 
 Nottingham . . 4 13 4 
 
 3 7 
 
 5 13 4 
 
 4 4 
 
 7 13 4 
 
 5 104 
 
 Yoik and Rutland 4 10 
 
 3 5^ 
 
 5 10 
 
 4 24 
 
 7 10 
 
 5 9 
 
 Derby ... 3 3 * 4 
 
 2 5 
 
 4 3 3 
 
 3 2 
 
 6 3 4 
 
 4 8i 
 
 Cumberland and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 VYestmoreland . 2 13 4 
 
 2 1 
 
 3 14 4 
 
 2 10 
 
 5 13 4 
 
 2 41* 
 
 These were principally or entirely long wools, such as were required for 
 the manufactures of Belgium, and also for the serge manufactories of 
 Spain. On this account the Ryeland wools and the wools of the south- 
 eastern districts are omitted. The Cotswold is probably included in the 
 Salop, 
 
 If the best wool usually cost the merchant 9/. 6*. \d. per sack before it 
 was shipped, it may be imagined that, under some extraordinary circum- 
 stances, the price in Belgium might be 18/. or 20/., but the tables of Smith 
 and Anderson give a more correct statement of the average price at that 
 period, and a high remunerating price it is. Considering the value of 
 money to be now materially changed, and that the multiplier should be 12 
 only instead of 20, the price of the best wool at the first-hand would be 
 more than 4*'. per lb., and it is no longer surprising that the wool-grower 
 was able to submit to impositions in the name of taxes, benevolences, and 
 tolls, which would have absolutely ruined the farmer of the present day. 
 If the account given by Rapin of the quantity of wool exported to Bel- 
 gium at this period can be relied on — 2,640,000ibs. — and that of fine wool 
 which sold at a most extraordinary price, it is nearly three-fourths of the 
 weicrht of wool of every kind which is exported at the present moment ; 
 and if to this is added much coarser wool, likewise sent thither, and the 
 immense quantity used in the home-manufacture, it will be sufficiently 
 evident, that the aggregate growth of wool could be scarcely inferior to 
 that of later times. 
 
 In 1342, the king sent a great number of sacks of wool to Cologne, 
 in order to redeem Queen Philippa's crown, which was pawned there for 
 S500/. The average price of that wool was Is. 3jd. per lb. f 
 
 * Anderson, in his Origin of Commerce, gives a nearly similar account of the prices 
 of some of the wools in 1343, when exported— Shropshire, 9/. 6*. 8(/. per sack ; Oxford 
 and Stafioidshire, 8/. 13s. 'Ad., and Leicester, Hereford, and Gloucester, 8/. The lowest 
 wool is that of Cornwall, which is valued at no more than 4/. 
 
 f The wool had hitherto been weighed by means of steel3ards of nearly the same con- 
 struction with those in country places at the present day ; and hence the yard in which 
 the merchants usually meet was called the Steelyard. A great deal of deception might 
 be practised by varying the weight which was appended to the beam, and also by falsely 
 graduating the beam ; and it would seem that this was carried to so great an extent, 
 that in 1352, the weighing by means of the steelyard was prohibited, and an equal 
 balance introduced.- -Chron. Rust. i. p. 38 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 200 
 
 In 1354 the exports had risen to 31,651 sacks of wool, or to the ahnost 
 incretUbie quantitj' of 8,356, 864 lbs., llie duty on which the wary Ed- 
 ward, taking- advantage of the turn of the times, added to his treasury, 
 amounting to 277,606^ 2,?. 9c/. of money, or three and a half millions 
 of pounds, according to present computation*. 
 
 Now likewise occurs the mention of the first exported manufactured 
 goods, 4774i cloths (probably broad cloths), of the value of 40,y. each, and 
 amounting to 9549Z. ; and also 8061 pieces of worsted (worsted goods 
 of various kinds), and valued at 16s. Sd. the piece, and amounting to 
 6717/. ISi 4rf. The duty on these was 215/. 13s. 7d., and the whole 
 amount of the value of the goods and the duty was 16,481/. lis. lid. 
 
 On the other hand, there were imported 1832 cloths (broad cloths) of 
 the value of 6/. each, and, with the duty, amounting to 11,083/. 12s.; 
 and leaving a balance in favour of the imports of 5397/. 19s. lid. But 
 the whole commerce of the year left a balance in favour of the exports of 
 255,214/. 13s. 8d., or, computing the difference in the value of money 
 and expense of living, 3,825,220/. 5s. ; a most extraordinary balance, and 
 showing the frugality of the times and the resources of the country f. 
 
 The art of spinning worsted yarn had now made much progress in Encr- 
 lanJ. This peculiar species of manufacture seems to have been first esta- 
 blished in Norwich, which was at this period become a large and populous 
 town. The quantity spun there does not appear, for some time, to have 
 been sufficient for the home supply, and therefore, in the year 1348, the' 
 exportation of these yarns was prohibited. In a few years afterwards, 
 however, the worsted yarn was exported in considerable quantities, and 
 then the manufacture of it rapidly extended through the whole of the 
 county, and through Suffolk and Cambridgeshire southward, to the midland 
 counties westward, and to Yorkshire towards the north. 
 
 As the woollen trade increased, various impositions began to be prac- 
 tised. The reader may see a long and somewiiat humorous, yet disgust- 
 ing list of them in " The Golden Fleece," already referred to. In order 
 to j)revent these frauds, an abiager, or sworn officer for the inspection of 
 woollens was appointed. Mention is first made of him in the year 1352. 
 It was his duty to measure the pieces of cloth exposed to sale, and inspect 
 their quality ; but, if the author of " The Golden Fleece" is to be believed, 
 he too frequently paid more regard to the accumulation of his own fees 
 than to the collection of the duties of the crown, or the preservation of the 
 subject from imposition. Regulations were also this year enforced with 
 regard to the sorting of wool, an operation which left too much room for 
 fraud. 
 
 In this year also Edward made another successful experiment on the 
 benevolence of his people. Berwick was sacked by the Scots. In order 
 to enable him to recover it, an impost of 50s. per sack was levied on all 
 the wool exported for six years, " so that," says AVheeler, " the said king 
 might dispend everie day 100 markes, which in sixe yeares time amounted to 
 1,500,000 pounds, reckoning 100,000 sacks of wooU a yere transported |." 
 
 This author, being secretary lo the company of Merchant- Adventurers, 
 had access to every source of correct intelligence, and would scarcely dare 
 to deceive ; yet this seems an almost incredible quantity of wool exported. 
 100,000 sacks are equivalent to 36,400,000 lbs. Although the British 
 commerce at the present time extends to every quarter of the world, and 
 German wools either constitute the sole material, or form the greatest pro- 
 portion in almost every fine cloth, the whole importation does not amount 
 
 * Anderson on Commerce, i. 335. f Misselden's Circle of Commerce, p. 119, 
 
 ♦ Wheeler's Treatise, on Commerce, 1601, p. 64. 
 
 P 
 
210 SHEEP. 
 
 to 40 miUions of pounds, and the exportation is not quite one-eiglith of 
 that quantity*. 
 
 In 1386 Richard established a company, or guild, of linen-weavevs in 
 London. They had emigrated from the Netherlands, where the linen- 
 manufacture was in a flourishing state. These men were much annoyed 
 by the woollen weavers' company. It was difficult to wean a nation of 
 shepherds from their attachment to wool, and the project failed.f 
 
 In 1388, by Act of Parliament, the wages of the bailiff of a farm, exclu- 
 sive of his board and lodginfj, and clothing, once a year, was 1/. 13s. Ad. 
 per annum. The wages of a carter, or shepherd, 105., and that of the cow- 
 herd, and ox-herd, 6s. 8c?. 
 
 In 1382, the 5th of Richard II., a circumstance occurred, so connected 
 with the liberties of England, and doing so much honour to the Parlia- 
 ment then sitting, that it must not be passed over in silence. " The Lords 
 and Commons fearing lest, by the continual grants of the subsidies of 
 wool, the same would grow into custom, and so be challenged by the king 
 as of right ; for avoiding this, granted to the king the like subsidy of wools 
 as was last granted, from the feast of the Circumcision until Candlemas 
 then following, so as the space between Christmas and the Circumcision 
 should be an interruption to the king's claim if it were attempted J," 
 
 In 1390, the 13ih of the imbecile Richard II., the exportation of wool 
 was })rohibited to the natural subjects of the kingdom, and the privilege 
 granted only to certain favourites and foreigners. ^Vool then became so 
 cheap, that the best of it was sold at 3s. per stone, and the grower could 
 obtain no more than 20d. or 2s. per stone. This gave rise to great mur- 
 murings and threatenings of insurrection, and the king was compelled to 
 throw the exportation trade open as before. The consequence was, that 
 no fewer than 130,000 sacks were exported in the following year, and each 
 charged with a duty of 40s. § 130,000 sacks contain 47,320,000 lbs. of 
 wiiol. 
 
 * In 1382 le.-ive was given to export to Rome, as a present to the Pope, six pieces of 
 green tapestry, powderefl with roses ; two great pieces of red serge, for adorning a hall, 
 worked with the arms of the Pope, the King and the Church; various mantles of cloth; 
 vnious beds v\ith testers; lined garments; lioods, common, and for days of ceremony, &c. 
 &c., showing that the woollen manufacture had now made considerable progress in Eng- 
 land. — Rynier's Foedera, vol. vii. p. 356. 
 t Anderson on Commerce, i. 379, 
 :J: Chronic. Rust. i. 52- 
 
 ^ in the seventeenth year oi this monarch, an act was annulled, which should never 
 '..ve had existence. The regidations determining the length and hreadth of every 
 debt- ipiion ot cloth, and which was not to be deviated from under very severe 
 penalties, was repealed, and every person was permitted to make his cloth of what 
 lentftli and hreadth he chose. — Chron. Pret. i. 55. 
 
 Uiiil. r Henry VII. these absurd restrictions were again enforced. — Idem. 02. 
 Ill Rymer's Foedera, there is a curious record of the whole of the reventie of Henry V. 
 Ill ti.e last year of his reign, and showing how great a portion of it was derived from 
 the sheep : — 
 
 £ J. d. 
 Duty on wool exported 
 
 , , oil 80 manufactories at ho'Tie 
 Small customs, miscellaneous 
 12'/ per pound on all goods, prohably 7 
 boili exported and imported . } 
 
 Qiiit-reuts, fines, &c. 
 
 55,754 10 104oratiout83fi,320/. 
 cf the present money 
 
 More than 30,000/. of this is derived from wool exported and manufactured, and pro- 
 bably a considerable proportion of the 8237/. was derived from woollen goods imported or 
 exp 
 
 3976 
 
 26,033 
 
 2438 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 [■ 8237 
 
 10 
 
 H 
 
 15,754 
 
 11 
 
 H 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 211 
 
 From this period the price of British wools appears to liave progressively 
 declined ; and it may not be difficult to assign a cause for it. The Spanish 
 wools were becoming more in repute, they were employed extensively 
 in the manufacture of broad cloths; and from the altered condition of the 
 inhabitants of the Low Countries, the fashion of the times changed too, and 
 the nature of the fabrics was changed, and worsted goods, and not of the 
 same good quality, were more in request. This would speedily influence 
 the character of the fleece. The intelligent agriculturist knows well how to 
 grow the wool which the fashion of the day requires ; and now, probably, 
 began a change in the character of the sheep in France, in the Neiher- 
 lands, and in England. The Romney Marsh, and the Lincoln, and the 
 Leicester, if they did not then spring as it v/ere into being, were at least 
 more diligently cultivated, and the older fine-wooUed sheep were to a lamen- 
 table degree abandoned *. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, however, the long wools continued to be decidedly 
 superior to those of foreign growth, and accordingly attempts were made 
 to export not only the British fleece, but the sheep too. The practice was 
 rapidly increasing, and was fraught with mischief to the British sheep- 
 owner. A law of Henry VI., in 1425, forbids it. The preamble states, 
 that " whereas divers persons have from time to time carried out of the 
 realm great numbers of sheep with fleeces into Flanders, and other coun- 
 tries beyond the sea, and there shorn them, and sold both the sheep and 
 the wools, and thus the number of such sheep in the said country of 
 Flanders is likely to be much increased, and the custom of wool lessened, 
 and the price of wool abated ;" therefore, under forfeiture of the sheep, the 
 exportation of them was thenceforward prohibited, unless special licence 
 was obtained for the same tj 
 
 This confiscation was afterwards considered an insufficient punishment of 
 such a crime, and in the eighth of Queen Elizabeth it was enacted^ that the 
 first offence should be followed by forfeiture of all the goods, and imprison- 
 ment for a year, and the loss of the left hand. The second offence was made 
 felony, without benefit of clergy. This law is, to the disgrace of the statute- 
 book, still unrepealed. The secure foundation of the staj^le commerce of 
 our country and the true principles of trade are now however, better 
 understood, and the enactment remains as a dead letter, yet a blot on our 
 legislature |. 
 
 The Scots now carried on considerable traffic with the Flemings ; and very 
 great quantities of the northern wools were exported, which, although not so 
 fine as those of England, served for various manufactures. Their own ma- 
 nufactured coarse woollen goods were also sent, and found a ready sale ; 
 and the Scots being even a more frugal people than the English then were, 
 the balance of trade was very much in favour of their country §. 
 
 In 1437, Don Duarte, king of Portugal, and brother-in-law to the king 
 of Castile, from whom he might have easily obtained the choicest of the 
 Spanish wool, made application to Henry VL for liberty to export 60 
 sacks of Cotswold wool, in order that he might manufacture certain cloths 
 of gold at Florence for his own use||. Anderson very wrongly remarks, 
 that " the superiority of the English wool above the'Spanish of that day is 
 here clearly ascertained." He forgets that, whatever might have been 
 said of the English short wools in earlier times, there could be no com- 
 petition between the long Cotswold wool and the Spanish wool. They 
 
 * Luccock on Wool, p. 56. Chron.Pret. An. 1425. Anderson on Commerce. 
 •}■ Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. p. 441. J Idem, p. 442. § Idem. 
 
 II Chronic. Pret. p. 86. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 SHEEP. 
 
 were essentially different ; the first was a combing, the other a carding 
 wool, and they were employed in the manufacture of fabrics altogether 
 unlike. Don Duarte wanted one of those lif;ht and beautiful fabrics 
 which used to be prepared with the long wool, and which that alone could 
 yield ; and with no disparagement of the Merino wool, which was suited 
 to fabrics of a closer nature, he had recourse to the Cotswold fleece. 
 
 The government of the Low Countries began now to be jealous of the 
 rapid increase of the British woollen manufactures, which necessarily caused 
 a corresponding diminution of theirs, and they prohibited the exposure 
 and sale of the British fabrics in any of their markets. This was a most 
 injudicious act, for they were dependent on llie supply of British wool for 
 the existence of their remaining manufactories, and which were numerous 
 and valuable. An order of Henry's Privy Council, forbidding the recep- 
 tion of the Flemish cloths, and the exportation of British wool, soon 
 brought the Netherlands to their senses : their prohibition was repealed, 
 and all things went on as before *. 
 
 A paragraph in Stillingfleet gives the price of sheep about the middle of 
 the reign of Henry VII. In 1449, 15 sheep were sold for 36.9. lOii., or at 
 the rate of '2s. 5^d. .each, or, according to the value of money at that time, 
 295. 6d. t 
 
 In 1453 a new era in the British manufacture may be said to have 
 commenced. The Chinese appear to have been first acquainted with 
 the manufactory of silk. In the time of the Romans it had found its way 
 to the islands of Greece, but was long confined to the Greek empire ; 
 tlience it diffused itself to Sicily ; by degrees it established itself in Italy, 
 and was carried into Spain; at a still later period it was adopted by the 
 French. Fabrics of silk had been occasionally used in England for more 
 than 200 years prior to the time now under consideration. In 1251, at 
 the marriage of Margaret, the daughter of Henry III., a thousand English 
 knights appeared in clothes of silk. When, in 1415, Henry V. embarked 
 on his expedition to France, one of his ships carried a sail of purple silk, 
 on which were emblazoned the arms of England and France ; but it was 
 now for the first time that it could be concluded that the manufacture of 
 silk was known in England, and certainly never until now had it been 
 placed under the protection of the law. By an express enactment, the im- 
 portation of wrought silk was forbidden in England. 
 
 In 1641 the commerce in wool had again begun to experience the 
 paralysing influence of civil war. The manufactories of it were almost 
 closed, and the price of wool, not perhaps of the best quality, had fallen 
 to iSd. the stone, or somewhat less than I6d. per lb., according to the 
 present value of money. . The sheep-growers began with much reason to 
 complain ; the people of Bristol and of Norfolk were foremost ; and 
 Edward IV,, who had just fought his way to the throne, prohibited the 
 exportation of wool except to the town of Calais. 
 
 In 1464 the celebrated present of Cotswold rams was sent by Edward 
 IV. to Henry of Castile ; and in 14G8 another flock was shipped for 
 John of Aragon J. It has already been stated that they were designed to 
 improve the long-woolled breed of Spain. They never mingled with the 
 migratory flock, from which the modern Merinos have descended. 
 
 It appears from the records of the same year, that the master clothiers 
 had discovered and adopted the unfair practice of paying a part, if not the 
 whole, of their workmen's wages in goods of various kinds. They now com- 
 pelled thcii" people to take pins and girdles, and various unprofitable wares, 
 
 * Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. p. 469. f Chronic. Fret, p. 86. 
 
 I Anderson on Commeice, vol. i. p, 493, 
 
AYOOLLKN MANri'ACTL RES. 213 
 
 instead cf money, and at suoli rates as tliey chose to impose. Great dis- 
 content arose among the mechanics ; complaints were made to the govern- 
 ment, and it was enacted, tliat " tlie clothiers shall ])ay ready money to 
 their work-people, and shall deliver wools at the due weight thereof, 
 under forfeiture," &c. * 
 
 Edward, in his zeal to restore the trade in wool to its former prosperity, 
 liad meddled somewhat incautiously and arbitrarily with some of the manipu- 
 lations in the manufacture of certain cloths. The Devonshire weavers, who 
 it seems were at this time engaged in the fabrication of serges and goods of 
 that description, had thought it advantageous to mix with the coarser wool 
 used in their cloths some of " the flocks," — the small portions of wool which 
 were torn off the cloth as it passed over the cylinder in the act of dressing, 
 and which then, probably, as now, were thought by some to be of little more 
 worth than to be used in the filling of mattresses. This had been repre- 
 sented to the government as an act of imposition by some busybody who 
 knew nothing about the matter, nor to what a degree the coarse and unyield- 
 ing fibre of the Devon wool might be softened by admixture with these 
 (locks, bruised and broken down by the action of the cylinder ; and Edward 
 had condescended to legislate about an affair like this, and had strictly for- 
 bidden it. Anderson says, " that the hundreds of Liston, Tavistock, and 
 Roxburgh, in the county of Devon, stated they had been accustomed from 
 time immemorial to use flocks, and that without this indulgence they must 
 be undone, because their wool is so gross and stubborn, that cloth cannot 
 be made thereof without mixing with flocks." In consequence of this 
 memorial, the act was, of course, immediately repealed ; but how degraded 
 must the government have appeared tliat could ignorantly concern itself 
 with trifles like these t ! 
 
 In the next year but one, 1470, there is an opportunity of comparmg 
 the price of Spanish wool at that time with the depreciated value of the 
 English, A Spanish vessel, bound for the Netlierlands, was taken by an 
 English privateer.- Tlie owners laying a claim for damages, the wool 
 was stated as being worth 91. 12s. per sack, or 6d. (6s.) per lb. But 
 now English wool of the first quality would scarcely yield 2d. (2s.) 
 per lb. at home; Sir John Paxton's was "right well sold" at l^c/. 
 (Is. 6d.) and in the foreign market it was unsaleable or almost unknown. 
 England liad since been devastated from shore to shore by civil con- 
 tentions. Needs there any other illustration of the duty of the govern- 
 ment, and the true interests of the state ? 
 
 Towards the close of the reign of Edward IV., a most shameful instance 
 of favouritism occurs. He granted leave for his sister Margaret, Duchess 
 dowager of Burgundy, yearly, during her life, to export from England, 
 without paying custom, toll or duty, one thousand oxen and two thousand 
 rams to Flanders, Holland, and Zealand. Her object doubtless was to im- 
 prove the breeds Of cattle and sheep ; and the monarch forgot, or cared not, 
 now deeply he wounded the commercial interests of his kingdom, dependent 
 on the demand for British wool in the Flemish marls. The resemblance 
 between the cattle on the two shores is thus well explained ; and the tra- 
 veller will cease to wonder that on the northern coast of France, and 
 through nearly the whole of Flanders, he thinks that he finds again the 
 identical sheep of the Kentish pastures J. 
 
 * Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. p. 484. 
 
 t lb. vol. i. p. 490 
 
 I A very ii.ttresting letter from Margery Paston, wife of Sir John Paston, one of the 
 members of the first Parliament of Edward, is preserved. She is staying at Ihe manor- 
 hou«e, while the husband is attending to his duty in London. She thus writes : — " The 
 people of this country live in hopes he shall help to set a war, that they may live in better 
 
214 SHEEP. 
 
 In 1489 King Henry VII., all whose acts were characterized by a 
 narrow policy, in order to obtain a market for the inferior kinds of British 
 wool that were accumulating on the hands of the farmers, enacted certain 
 sumj)tuary laws. He imposed a penalty of 40s. for every yard of fine 
 scarlet or other grained cloth that was sold at above 16^. per yard ; and 
 of any other coloured cloth above 1 Is. He even condescended to legislate 
 respecting hats and caps: no hat was to be manufactured, the price of 
 which exceeded 20c/., nor any cap — such as are seen on the heads of 
 persons of rank in the old pictures of these and somewhat later times — 
 above the price of 32d. This shared the fate of all absurd enactments of 
 the kind : it was evaded in every possible way, and at no great distance 
 of time annulled. 
 
 The interests of England and Flanders were most intimately connected, 
 and it had been so contrived by the tacit consent of both parties, that 
 whatever might be the quarrels between Britain and the continental states 
 the Low Countries should rarely be directly involved ; but in 1793 a rup 
 ture took place between them, and all commercial intercourse ceased. This 
 was severely felt by both countries ; England could find no mart for her 
 surplus wool, and the Flemings could not procure the material to feed 
 their manufactures ; and such an unnatural state of things continued during 
 three years. The Lord Chancellor Bacon describes this with his usual 
 quaint humour : "By this time the interruption of trade between the 
 English and Flemish began to pinch the merchants of both nations very 
 sore. The king, who loved wealth, though very sensible of this, held out 
 so far as first to be sought unto ;" and the Flemings, with most good sense, 
 " speaking first," the quarrel ceased *. 
 
 The long reign of Henry VIII. succeeded, when the degradation of the 
 British fleece was carried to a greater extent. It is true that no civil wars 
 then raged, but the attention of the people began to be distracted by 
 religious dissensions. The ultimate effect of these scenes was glorious to 
 the cause of true religion and rational liberty ; but during the process, the 
 commercial interests of the kingdom were either abandoned, or sacrificed by 
 a succession of crude, impolitic, and destructive enactments. The price of 
 wool fell still lower than in the time of the seventh Henry, and attendant 
 on that was the loss of motive to induce the farmer to take care of it ; and, 
 with that, the palpable deterioration of its quality — a deterioration from 
 which perhaps it has never perfectly recovered. From the reign of this 
 monarch the British short wool has not always headed the market at home, 
 and abroad many a rival has sprung up successfully to combat with it ; while 
 
 peace in this country, and that wools" (still even in their depressed state the staple pro- 
 duce of the agriculturist, aud that which was first in his thoughts) " shall be purveyed 
 for, that they should not go out of this land as they have been suffered to do. Then 
 shall the poor people live better than they have done by their occupation therein. 
 Thomas Crome has sold all your wool here for 20d. per stone, to be paid at Michaelmas, 
 and it is sold right well, because the wool was for the most part right feeble.'' — Fcun's 
 Original Letters, vol. iv.lett. 12. 
 
 " Tlie natural connexion between England and Flanders is thus pleasantly described 
 by an old writer. It is to be remembered, however, that it is an Englishman who is 
 telling his story : — 
 
 They (the Flemings) may not liven to maintain their degrees 
 
 Without our English commodities, 
 
 WoUe and tinne : for the woUe of England 
 
 Sustaineth the commons Flemings I understand. 
 
 Then if England would her woUe rcstraine 
 
 From Flanders, this foUowethe in certainc, 
 
 Flanders of nede must with us have peace, 
 
 Or els she is destroyed without lees [releasej. 
 
 Hakluyt's Navigalions, vol. i. p. 188. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 215 
 
 it would seem as if some of the old breeds of fine-woolled sheep had 
 vanished altogether. 
 
 During the reign of this monarch, there occurred a few instances of 
 the accumulation of wealth by certain manufacturers which reminded the 
 observer of the times when the woollen manufactory had not been igno- 
 rantly or systematically sacrificed. Foremost among them was John 
 Winchcombe, better known by the cognomen of Jack of Newbury : lie 
 kept 100 looms at constant work, and had sent to Flodden Field 60 sol- 
 diers, fully equipped at his own expense. 
 
 In 1530, the twenty-fifth year of this reign, the spinning-wheel was 
 invented by Jurgen of Brunswick. It is a sinijile machine, and is most 
 intimately connected with the rapid progress of this branch of the woollen 
 manufactory. The previous substitutes for it were complicated and inef- 
 fectual. 
 
 In 1531 the price of an ox was 11. 6s. 8d., a sheep 2s. lOd., a hog 
 3s. 8c/., and a capon 6d. In 1533 a new regulation was enforced with 
 regard to the sale of butcher's meat. It had been usual for the butchers to 
 divide the carcase as they pleased, and to demand a certain sum for a 
 certain piece or joint. This was supposed to afford room for much impo- 
 sition ; and it was enacted — (when the spirit of legislative interference is 
 once excited, to what will it not extend ?) — that the meat should be all sold 
 by the pound: beef at Hrf. and mutton at three farthings the pound ; the 
 average price of a fat ox being then 26s. Sd., and of a fat wether 3s. Ad. 
 The folly of this was soon evident ; and the absurd regulation was speedily 
 repealed. 
 
 This account of the price of oxen and sheep throws some light on the 
 comparative size and weight of these animals at the period referred to. 
 It is well known that the black cattle — and there were few others at that 
 time — were considerably smaller than they are now usually found to be ; but 
 the carcase of the fat wether, if it did not weigh more than one-eighth as 
 much as that of the ox, must have been strangely diminutive. The truth 
 is, that the sheep at that time was not bred for the carcase as well as 
 ,the fleece, but almost or quite exclusively for the latter. 
 
 The same year was disgraced by the establishment of a monopoly of the 
 manufacture of certain articles in certain towns, to the exclusion of the 
 whole country besides. The city of York led the way. Its memorial stated, 
 that " the city of York afore this time had been upholden principally by 
 the making and weaving of coverlets, and the poor thereof were daily set 
 on work in spinning, carding, dyeing, and weaving, and that the manu- 
 facture having spread into other parts, was thereby disgraced and dis- 
 credited ! !" The monarch listened to this worthy plea, and in accordance 
 with the spirit of the times, and his own spirit too, he decreed that none 
 should make coverlets in Yorkshire but inhabitants of the city of York. 
 Worcester preferred the same complaint, and it was enacted that its peculiar 
 manufacture should be restricted to that city and four other towns, Evesham, 
 Droitwith, Kidderminster, and Droitwich. Worsted was declared to be 
 the private commodity of the city of Norwich. Is it surprising that under 
 Henry VIII. the woollen trade, thus " cabined, cribbed, confined," should 
 languish, and go into comparative decay * ? 
 
 In the next year there was a still more ridiculous interference with the 
 sheep-breeder. The number of sheep that, with few exceptions, agricul- 
 turists were permitted to keep was not to exceed two thousand. Tlie 
 question of large or small farms comes not here under consideration, but 
 the pretext was, the great rise in the price of various commodities'; and the 
 * M'CuUocb, art. Wool, 
 
216 SHEEP. 
 
 power whicli the large sheep-owner had to influence and by a combina- 
 tion with others, determine the price of wool, and push it beyond all rea- 
 sonable bounds. It was alleged that by means of a species of monopoly 
 the price of slieep had risen to 5s. or 6.9. each, and clothing wool from 
 3s. id. to 4s. per stone. If it were so, it was the best thing that could 
 happen to a nation of shepherds and sheep-owners, and it was a state of 
 affairs whicli the enlightened legislator would endeavour to perpetuate 
 rather than change; — it was a state of affairs that should have been liailed 
 with delight, as promising a return of the olden time, when the growth and 
 exportation of wool was the foundation of England's glory. Whether such 
 prohibition still continues to disgrace the Statute-Book tlie writer of this 
 if ignorant ; but on comparing the facilities which large farmers possess 
 /Jver small ones, with respect to the fattening of the sheep and the growth 
 of wool, such restrictions must be highly injurious and absurd. This regu- 
 lation was seldom enforced at the time when it was enacted, and it is now, 
 and most advantageously for the general interest, universally neglected *. 
 
 The short reign of Edward VI. was distinguished by an attempt at that 
 which at a more recent period formed so beneficial a revolution in sheep- 
 husbandry, — the inclosure of the waste ground. The woollen manufacture 
 only wanted to be let alone in order to flourish. The last ten or twelve years 
 of Henry VIII. had been exclusively devoted to the accomplishment of his 
 favourite scheme of separation from the church, and also to the exercise 
 of much domestic tyranny, and the experience of much domestic suftering, 
 and the woollen manufacture had been let alone. The consequence was, 
 that the home trade was beginning once more to flourish, and the peace 
 lately concluded with France opened a foreign market. The price of wool 
 increased, and the farmer again took to the breeding of sheep. Unwilling 
 to bring back to sheep-pasture the land which in the depressed state of the 
 trade they had submitted to the plough, they wanted more ground than 
 they possessed. They began to inclose the waste spots that were their 
 own immediate property, and they were aiming at something like a general 
 inclosure. This produced great discontent among the cottagers, ^yllile 
 there were no overt acts of violence, the landed proprietors heeded not the 
 complaints of the peasants, and a bill was introduced authorizing these 
 inclosures to a very considerable extent ; it passed the Lords, but was 
 thrown out by the Commons. The Lords, however, and the generality 
 of the landed proprietors, asserted their right to do as they would with their 
 own, and the work of inclosure progressed. This gave universal discon- 
 tent ; and the Romish priests, anxious to avenge their own supposed wrongs, 
 — anxious to recover their own supposed rights — exerted themselves to 
 foment these complaints, and there were numerous risings of the people. 
 
 * In 1527 there was a repetition of the quarrel, and childish sa'-kiness between the 
 English and the Flemings ; Henry had imprudently leagued .himself with the French 
 against Charles V. of Spain, and that monarch forbade his Flemish subjects to deal 
 with the British. The manufacturers and their workmen again suffered severely, and at 
 length became tumultuous and violent. They were fur a while appeased, and an inter- 
 view took place between the merchants and Wolsey. " Why will you not buy these 
 goods ?" said he, forgetting that there were none to purchase them again, and showing, 
 with all his other policy, his utter ignorance of trade ; " if you continue thus to distress 
 the manufacturer, the liing himself will open a new cloth market at ^Yhitehall, and buy 
 up all these things and sell them again." " His Majesty," replied one of the merchants, 
 " had better buy them at the old market at Blackwall, it will be more convenient for 
 the foreigners." The Cardinal had nothing to reply to this, but dismissed the merchants 
 ■with raising expectations that could not be realized, and which he never meant to attempt 
 to realize — " that some way should be found to get rid of all the doth and wool."' The 
 people were pacified for a while, but 'the evil remaining unredressed, they were again 
 becoming discontented, when an unexpected truce restored everything to its proper chan- 
 nel. — Anderson on Commerce, ii, 50. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 217 
 
 Norfolk led the way, and a general insurrection was threatened. The 
 landed proprietors gave way : they restored not the enclosures which they 
 had made, for they were wise enough to see the benefit they must ultimately 
 derive from them ; but they lowered their rents, and the peasantry were 
 satisfied. 
 
 Tlie sliort reign of Mary might likewise be passed over in silence, but 
 for an incidental proof of the now rapid improvement of the woollen trade, 
 and which will be found briefly stated in a note *. 
 
 In 1558 Elizabeth ascended the throne, and the religious disputes which 
 had so long agitated and impoverished the country having been finally 
 settled, the attention both of the government and the people was directed 
 to the revival of commerce ; and among the other branches of it, and the 
 most important of the whole, the woollen manufacture. The times were 
 propitious. The wise and firm administration of Elizabeth, and the quiet 
 establishment of a religion embraced by the majority of the people, were 
 pledges of lasting tranquillity ; they were assurances that both the agricul- 
 turist and the manufacturer might once more securely embark their capital 
 in the pursuit of England's staple trade. The situation of foreign coun- 
 tries was propitious. In the Netherlands and in France, religious dissen- 
 sions had commenced ; they distracted the attention of the people from the 
 affairs of commerce ; and in the minds of many they betokened the approach 
 of a period when neither the property nor the lives of the disputants 
 might be safe, and these persons cautiously retired from the evil to come. 
 They found a refuge and a welcome in England. They brought with them 
 their improvements in different manufactures, and began to employ them 
 for their own emolument, while the native artisans were instructed and 
 benefited. In the 6th and 7th years of Ehzabeth, and before the storm 
 had burst abroad, the woollen manufacture had so much increased, tliat 
 the export of goods to Antwerp alone amounted to 750,000/., and the 
 whole value of the exports in 1564 was 1,200,000/., or 1,300,000/., and 
 all fabricated of English wool t- This is a great sum for that period ; but so 
 decided a diminution of the trade of the Low Countries may be accounted 
 for by the circumstances of the times. There were distant bdt evident 
 threatenings of a religious civil war — an anomaly always most disgraceful 
 and fatal. Venice was impoverished, and its trade destroyed by a nine 
 years' war; South America was just discovered, and the consequence of 
 this was, that gold and silver had become more plentiful in Europe, and 
 trade iiad in every way increased. A commercial treaty had been concluded 
 with Sweden, and the Russian Company had been instituted. All these 
 tilings must have tended to give a new vigour to the woollen trade, and 
 may be readily believed to increase it even to this extent J. 
 
 * On a creation of Serjeants at Law in l.)55, Mr. Allen, a draper of Watling-slrcet, 
 was appointed to furnish the robes of ceremony. The following is a copy of his bill to 
 each : — 
 
 £. *. d. 
 
 A" robe of scarlet cloth, 5^ yards, at 33s. 4t/. . . 9 3 4 
 
 Ditto violet ingrain, ditto at 18s. . . . 4 8 
 
 Ditto brown blue, ditto at 14s. . . . 3 17 
 
 Do. mustard & mursey, do at 10s. . . . 2 15 
 
 £20 3 4 
 
 Reckoning the different value of money, this is a very gnat sum, and furnishes another 
 proof of the buoyancy of this manufacture, and the degree to which it seems to be uatu- 
 "alized to the British soil. — Diigdale, Origiiies Juridicales. 
 
 f Vide Camden. 
 
 j Guicciardiui, speaking of the flourishing state of the Piemisn cities, and particu- 
 larly of Antwerp at this time, says, that "500 ships were oftcn^ seen collected in her 
 
218 SHEEP. 
 
 Eli^abelli continued to pursue that cautious and wise policy to which 
 she was indebted for tlie success that attended all the proceedings of her 
 government. The trade in goods of home manufacture so rapidly extend- 
 ing, she was urged to prohibit the exportation of British wool, and thus 
 make the whole secure ; but she at once refused. She knew that there 
 could be no better means of diminishing tlie export of wool, if that were 
 an evil, than the profitable employment of it at home. She gave every 
 encouragement to the manufacturer ; she permitted the grower to dispose 
 of his produce as he pleased ; and thus established the commerce of her 
 kingdom on its only just and permanent basis. 
 
 The storm at length burst over the devoted countries on the other side 
 of the Channel. The ferocious Alva overran the Netherlands, and his 
 course was marked by the desert which he left behind him. In six years 
 18,000' men perished by the hands of the hangman alone ; in France, nearly 
 100,000 persons were massacred in the course of a few days, and the 
 destructive war of the Huguenots succeeded. 
 
 The number of the refugees now increased in a tenfold degree ; the city 
 of London contained no less than 5000 of them. The decayed towns of 
 Canterbury, Norwich*, Sandwich, Colchester, Maidstone, and Southamp- 
 ton, were filled with manufacturers of woollen and silkf. Although there 
 were some fanatics among them, the great majority were peaceful and 
 grateful ; and by the superior machinery and more skilful manipulations 
 which they introduced, and the cheaper and better fabric which England was 
 afterwards enabled to send into the market, they more than repaid the debt, 
 and essentially contributed to the lasting prosperity of the country in vvhicli 
 they found refuge. 
 
 " Thus," says the Pensionary De Witt, " when the compulsive laws of 
 the Netherland Halls had first driven the cloth-weaving from the cities into 
 our villages, and thence into England, and that by the cruelty of the 
 Duke D'Alva, the say-weaving went also after it, the English by degrees 
 began to vend their manufactures throughout Europe, and then they became 
 potent at sea ; and he xvho is fowerful at sea is a lord at land, and more 
 especially a king of England, seeing that by reason of the westerly winds, 
 wliich blow for most part of the year on this side of the tropic, he is able, 
 both whole fleets and private ships of war, to sail out of his numerous bays 
 and harbours at pleasure, and destroy the navigation of his foes." • Ciii 
 adhereo prceest' was the motto of Henry VHI. — " He whom I assist shall 
 be master.' This immutable lesson, as it regards the prosperity of England, 
 is not foreign to the present work. The prosperity and glory of England 
 were first based, and they must ever rest, on her pre-eminence at sea, and 
 that arose from her commerce ; and for many a century the staple, almost 
 the only articles of British commerce, were the fleece of her sheep, and the 
 fabrics manufactured from it. 
 
 port ; that the English sent to them upwards of 1200 sacks of wool, and a vast quantify 
 of drapery of all kinds, which, at the most moderate rate, amounted in value to a million 
 pounds sterling, and that they carried away from Antwerp goods — he does not say of 
 what kind — to the amount of 14,000,000/., to the great benefit of both countries, neither 
 of which could possibly, without the greatest danger, dispense with their vast mutual 
 commerce, of which," he continues, " the merchants on both sides are so sensible, that 
 they have fallen into a way of insuring their merchandizes from loss by a joint contri- 
 bution." — Chrou. Rustic, vol.i. p. 103. 
 
 * Norwich in an especial manner profited by this. It had been rendered almost deso- 
 late by Kent's rebellion in 1549, but it now learned from the refugees to make those fine 
 and light stuff's which have ever since gone by its name, and have restored it to more 
 than its former prosperity. — Anderson on Commerce, ii. p. 126. 
 
 Gibson, iu his contmuation of Camden, says that, about 1722, stufTs to the amount of 
 700,000/. were sometimes manufactured in Norwich ia one year. 
 
 I Metereui's Historia Belgica, lib, iii. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 219 
 
 The refugees were located at first in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, 
 and on the coast from Norfolk to Devonshire, but they spread by degrees 
 over the principal part of the kingdom. The manufactures which were 
 principally benefited by them were those of light cloth, in which the 
 English had hitherto been lamentably deficient ; and also in every descrip- 
 tion of worsted fabric. When the stocking-frame was afterwards intro- 
 duced, they were the chief and the best workmen. The linen and silk 
 trades also derived much advantage from them. The manufacture of bo-m- 
 bazeens seems to have been at this time introduced, and carried on 
 principally at Norwich. Tlie trade of that town had, in the preceding 
 reign, from the system of monopoly which was adopted, risen to almost an 
 incredible sum, and it was now still further and most rapidly increased. 
 
 Two years before the accession of Elizabeth, three ships had sailed up 
 the Baltic for the purpose of establishing a trade with Russia ; they were 
 hospitably received by the then Czar, John Basilowitz, who had lately con 
 quered the Tartars of Casan, to whom the Czars of Russia had hitherto 
 been tributary ; and more lately he had added to his dominions Astracan 
 and Nagaian Tartary. The advantage of supplying his half-civilized sub- 
 jects witlr the manufactures of Western Europe were immediately evident 
 to the Czar, and he listened with complacency to their promise of a second 
 visit, and gave the adventurers a letter of licence to traffic in any part of 
 his extensive dominions. 
 
 The prospect which this afforded of opening a new and profitable market 
 for the woollen manufactures was not lost on the government of England, 
 and a company was established under the title of " The Russian Com- 
 pany." For many a year it much benefited the woollen trade : the British 
 woollen cloths and kerseys were bartered for raw silk, spices, and drugs, 
 which were afterwards sold to good account. 
 
 This was the first exclusive corporation that vvas established ; but it did 
 the state service, and never degenerated into an oppressive monopoly. 
 The name is still continued : a fine is exacted for admission into the Com- 
 pany, but each individual conducts his business as a private individual, and 
 precisely as he would do if the Company was abandoned *. 
 , If the reader now pauses for a moment and reviews the different facts 
 that have been stated, the conclusion will seem inevitable, that until the 
 period now under consideration — the reign of Queen Elizabeths-English 
 wool vvas decidedly superior in quality to any produced on the Continent, 
 except the Spanish ; that the British manufactured cloth, and made of 
 British wool, was not excelled in fineness or value by any other, excepting 
 — and not always, or decidedly — the Spanish; and that the English wool 
 was coveted abroad for the purpose of giving additional value to the finest 
 fabrics. As to the nature of the manufactured goods exported there may 
 be some doubt, for the majority of the English historians neither knew nor 
 cared about the matter ; but the weight of probability is, that they were 
 chiefly made from the fleece of the short-woolled sheep, and the wool 
 exported was from the long-woo! led sheep. The British had for many 
 centuries been able to compete with the manufacturers on the Continent 
 in the goodness of their broadcloths, but had not yet learned the way to 
 turn their unrivalled long wool to the best account. 
 
 A new era in the history of British wool now commenced. The market 
 for the unvvrought material was limited, or for a while annihilated, and the 
 British merchant had to depend solely on the cheapness and goodness of 
 his fabric. Foreigners had now arrived in England, whose superior skill 
 
 * M'Cullocli's Diet., art. 'Russian Company 5 Anderson on Commerce, vol, ii. p. 123, 
 andChron, Rust, i, p. 98, 
 
220 SHEEP. 
 
 would put the value of the Biilish fleece to a fair trial, by improving to a 
 certain degree the cloth that had liitherto been offered, and by bringinj^ 
 forward other fabrics, and composed of another material, and on which 
 the native manufacturer liad not dared to experiment to the extent of 
 which the combing-wool was capable. The same chronological order will 
 be pursued, and with the exception of the Stuarts, who seemed to be aliens 
 to our country and its interests, it will be an onward course of improvement 
 that will be described. 
 
 In 1581 another body of merchants was incorporated, under the title of 
 " The Turkish Company." Through their means all the commodities of 
 Greece, Syria, Egypt, Persia, and India, came home to us at a cheaper 
 rate than they had hitherto been procured, and a profitable as well as 
 extensive market for the sale of British goods was opened. This Com- 
 pany likewise did much service to the woollen trade, but it was not so 
 securely based as the other, and, for any efficient purpose, soon died away. 
 
 In 1582 the export trade in manufactured goods was nearly doubled : 
 200,000 pieces of cloth were shipped. Three-fourths of these were carried 
 into Germany, and thence found their way into Poland, Denmark, and 
 Sweden. A part was still conveyed to the Netherlands and to France. 
 In fact, the English woollen fabrics were now carried to every part of 
 Europe, and everywhere they found a profitable sale. The exportation of 
 wool was for a while suspended, for the Netherlands were not yet suf- 
 ficiently at peace : but this was a matter of little consequence, for, the 
 native manufactures flourishing, there was less wool for the foreigner. 
 The state of the trade soon had its natural influence on the cultivation of 
 the sheep : the flocks of the farmer increased, and the fleece was better, 
 and better prepared ; and when the Continental market was again open it 
 was supplied with wool as before. 
 
 The Barbarj'-, afterwards called the African Company, was instituted in 
 1585, and, still later, the Levant Company. Both of ihem were advanta- 
 geous to the woollen trade: they were for many years conducted as fairly 
 and liberally as chartered associations of this kind could well be, and at 
 length were abolished during the reign of George IV. 
 
 In 1589 the stocking-frame was invented by the Rev. William Lea of 
 Cambridge. Previous to this, even the superior classes of society wore 
 cloth hose — cloth fitted, and sometimes rudely so, to tlie leg, and either 
 gartered, as in the case of the Countess of Salisbury, or laced or buttoned ; 
 or, for the men, the breeches reaching to and fitting the foot rendered a 
 stocking unnecessary. Knitting was at length introduced, but the know- 
 ledge of it was confined to few persons; and hose of that manufacture 
 were seldom seen. A ])air of knit silk stockings, manufactured in Spain, 
 was presented to Queen Elizabeth by her silkwoman. This princess, who 
 was not deficient in personal vanity, would never afterwards wear any 
 others. Every full-length portrait of her represents her as dressed in her 
 high-heeled shoes and black silk knit hose *. 
 
 It is not improbable that regal vanity miglit have contributed somewhat 
 to the total neglect of this mode of manufacturing woollen or silk hose , 
 
 * The well-infoimed author of the Treatise on the Manufacture of Silk is witty anO 
 severe about these black silk stockings : " It might have been supposed," he says, " that 
 Elizabeth's inordinate fondness for dress woidd have induced her to give every encou- 
 ragement to this manufacture ; but, content probably with her own acquisition, she 
 might become desirous that the more becoming silken texture should remain a regal 
 5)rivilege ; and while she displayed her own ancles in the delicate silken knit, she was per- 
 haps well pleased that her maids of honour should conceal theirs under the clums and 
 inelegant cloth hose, lest haply, among these, some might have been found more beau- 
 tifully formed than her own." — Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia, vol. xxii, p. 24. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES, 221 
 
 but when the ingenious machine of Lea was invented, it is incomprehensible 
 that it should not have met with a single patron. * He established some 
 looms at Colverton, near Nottingliam, but no one gave liim encourage- 
 ment. He applied to the queen, and met with a rude rebuff. Was the 
 ruling passion still strong even in old age? He then listened to the invita- 
 tion of the French king, and carried his looms abroad, but Henry IV. was 
 soon after sacrificed, and poor Lea died a beggar*. 
 
 Some of Lea's workmen returned to Nottingham and successfully esta- 
 blished themselves and their looms there. Worsted hosiery is now chiefly 
 made in Leicestershire, silk in Nottingham and Derby, and cotton also in 
 these two counties, and at Hinckley and at Tewkesbury ; 33,000 frames 
 are supposed to be at work, and 3,510,000 dozens are made every yearf. 
 
 In 1600 the East India Company was established, and it has ever been a 
 staunch friend to the woollen-trade and the wool-grower. It had the power 
 to open an almost boundless market for English woollen goods J. It early 
 assumed, as the principle and guide of this division of its mercantile trans- 
 actions, that, in the cloth which it exported, both the material and the 
 manufacture should be British, and it has never deviated from this. When 
 in 1828 Mr. Ireland, an extensive cloth manufacturer, was examined before 
 the House of Lords with respect to the supposed deterioration of British 
 wool, he said, '' The East India Company is anxious to give as much coun- 
 tenance as they can to English growers, and they compel us to make some 
 cloths entirely of British wool." 
 
 1608. James I. had now ascended the throne. The art of dyeing, as 
 has been already seen, was perfectly known to the English manufacturer 
 four hundred years before this date, but it had been utterly lost amidst 
 the contentions by which the kingdom had been torn ; and it was now the 
 practice — a very strange one, when the woollen manufacture was in so 
 flourishing a state in England — to send the white cloths into Holland to be 
 dyed and dressed, and returned for sale. It was disgraceful, that they vv'ho 
 surpassed all other countries in the fabric of the cloth, could not perform 
 the finishing part at home. Some manufacturers and merchants retlectinf 
 on the great profit made by the Hollanders in this branch of the manu- 
 facture, (Sir Walter Raleigh states it to be 400,000/. per annum, and 
 amounting, in the fifty-five years that it had continued, to nearly 20 millions 
 ofpounds,§,) and knowing also the king's profuseness, and his constant 
 necessities, because he was unwilling to apply to the parliament for monev, 
 proposed to undertake the dyeing and dressing of the cloths on certain 
 terms, leaving to the king the monopoly of the sale afterwards. 
 
 The proposition was a scandalous one, but James acceded to it, and 
 issued a proclamation prohibiting the sending of any white cloths beyond 
 the sea. The Hollanders and the Germans, as might be expected, resisted 
 such a measure, and, in their turn, prohibited the importation of all dyed 
 cloths. The speculator was therefore driven and confined to the home- 
 market ; but the cloths v/ere not well dyed, — the charge for this bungling- 
 work was double what it used to be, and the project entirely failed. 
 
 * M'Culloch's Diet., art. ' Stockinijs.' f Dkto. 
 
 I Advantages of the East India Company are thus stated by Sir Joseph Chllde : — 
 " The East India Company takes oS'a considerable quantity of onr native commodities 
 and mamifactuies. It supplies us cheaply with the most necessary commodities for our 
 own consumption ; it brings us many commodities for our further manufacture ; it fur- 
 nishes lis with large quantities of goods flir foreign markets ; it employs a great number 
 of Englisli shipping ; it occasions the building of more ships of burden and force, fit 
 for warlike services and the defence of the kingdom, than any other trade whatever ; 
 it brings in a considerable revenue to the king's customs, and the greatest addition t« 
 the kingdom's stock." 
 
 ^ Sir Walter Raleigh's excellent Essay on Commerce, 
 
222 SIIKEP. 
 
 The king was disappointed of his expected gains, and the English cloths 
 were sent as heretofore to Holland to be dyed, and returned whence they 
 came in order to be sold. 
 
 This, however, did not remain long. The folly and loss of such a pro- 
 ceeding was apparent to every mind, and the most strenuous efforts were 
 made, and at length with a satisfactory result, to recall the lost art of 
 dyeing. 
 
 In 1667 a dyer named Brewer came from the Netherlands with his 
 workmen, and being well received and assisted by the government, he 
 fully taught the English manufacturer the art of dyeing and dressing his 
 white cloths, and thus made him perfectly independent of the Continent, 
 
 In the meantime, however, a very considerable improvement was made 
 in the manufacture of woollen cloths by the invention of what are now 
 called medley-cloths, different coloured wools being mixed together in the 
 thread. Before this, the cloths had been of one uniform colour, and were 
 dyed after they were woven. These medlej'-cloths were first made in 
 Gloucestershire, and are still manufactured there in considerable quantities. 
 
 The woollen manufacture, although somewhat neglected by Elizabeth 
 in the latter part of her reign, was left by lier in a satisfactory and flou- 
 rishing state. The greater part, or the whole of the wool which the 
 country produced was employed in manufactures, either for home or foreign 
 consumption ; and one of the first acts of James was to prohibit the ex- 
 portation of wool : but in the year 1622 there is the mortifying confession, 
 under the sign manual, " that the cloth of this kingdom hath wanted both 
 estimation and vent in foreign parts, and that the wools are fallen from 
 their stated values, and trade in general is so far out of fame that the mer- 
 chants and clothiers are greatly discouraged*'*. 
 
 The cause of this was, that the Hollanders and Flemings had been 
 successful in their endeavours to revive their woollen manufacture, and 
 many of the refugees had returned. There were continual contentions 
 between the Merchant- Ad venturers Company and the other traders and 
 exporters ; and in their eagerness to injure each other they sacrificed their 
 common interest ; and, most influential of all, from a false spirit of economy, 
 and an erroneous view of the nature of their trade, they had refused to ad- 
 mit the superior foreign wools, which would now have improved their 
 fabrics, and had bought up the coarse Irish and Scotch wools, by which 
 their manufactures were deteriorated, and rendered almost unsaleable. 
 James, an avaricious monarch, strangely magnified all these evils, that he 
 might v/ith better face impose new taxes upon his subjects in order to sup- 
 ply the supposed deficiency of the revenue. 
 
 In 1619 tapestry work was first brought into England by Sir Francis 
 Crane, and Ja'mes gave 2000/. for the building of a house at Mortlake, 
 where this beautiful manufacture might be carried on f. 
 
 In 1625 Charles I. ascended the throne. He had fully as high ideas of 
 his prerogative as his father possessed, and was more determinedly bent on 
 upholding it ; he, therefore, in the early part of his reign, had neither 
 inclination nor time to patronize the manufacturing interest ; and in the 
 latter part of it, the trade and prosperity of the country were recklessly 
 sacrificed by both the parties which were ranged against each other in 
 unnatural contest. In the first year of his reign he too complained of the 
 low state of wool, and the decay of the woollen trade ; but he might be 
 aiming at the object of his father — the increase of the revenue by new 
 imposts, 
 
 * Rymer's Foedera, vol. xvii. p. 40. 
 
 t Anderson on Commerce, vol. ii, p. 280. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 223 
 
 The exportation of wool was forbidden. The prohibition was renewed 
 five years afterwards, and it was ordained that all black cloths and mourn- 
 ing stuffs at funerals should be made from British wool alone. Two years 
 afterwards, and after that, again and again, the prohibition against the 
 exportation of wool was repeated with still severer penalties. This was a 
 favourite object with the monarch ; and he was determined to succeed. 
 He likewise delivered up the whole of the trade to the tender mercies of the 
 Merchant-Adventurers, and no manufactured goods were permitted to be 
 sent to any other than their mart or staple towns ; nor was any one allowed 
 to trade within their limits under the penalty of forfeiture of their goods, 
 unless they were freemen of the corporation. For these privileges the Mer- 
 chant-Adventurers advanced at one time the sum of 30,000/. The woollen 
 trade must have been a part and portion of the very life of the country, or 
 it could not have survived, much less remained to a very high degree 
 flourishing and lucrative under all these oppressions. 
 
 In 1646 the Sedan manufactory of fine cloth was established in France. 
 It was patronized by the government; its founders were ennobled, and it 
 flourished beyond all expectation. How striking a contrast with the 
 abandonment, and treacherous sale of the staple, vital trade of Britain ! 
 
 The Lords and Commons, when a six years' civil war had destroyed the 
 power of the monarch, and crippled the resources of the kingdom, pursued 
 the same course that Charles had commenced. " They wisely !" says 
 Anderson, " and absolutely prohibited the exportation of English wool ; 
 they also issued a proclamation for supporting the privileges and charters 
 of the society of the Merchant Adventurers of England, and our woollen 
 trade at this time was in a very prosperous condition *."' 
 
 The Commonwealth seemed disposed to take the woollen trade under its 
 protection, but it was distracted by a variety of other objects, and little 
 occurs in its short history which bears upon the present subject. 
 
 The reign of the second Charles commenced in 1660, and, as usual, with 
 a proclamation against the exportation of wool and sheep, under the pe- 
 nalties of confiscation and imprisonment. 
 
 The second year of his reign, 1662, furnishes an unanswerable proof of 
 the bad management of the commercial interests of the kingdom, and also 
 of the expense and luxury which disgraced this reign. 
 
 The imports amounted to . . ^£'4,016,019 
 The exports to 2,022,812 
 
 Leaving a balance against the country of ^£1,993,207 
 The continental governments took advantage of the supineness of the 
 British, and in 1664 Colbert commenced a series of measures most in- 
 jurious to the English commerce. He ofl"ered immunities and indul- 
 gences, and premiums and pensions to manufacturers and artists of every 
 description, and from every country. A million of livres (50,000Z.) were 
 appropriated to the woollen trade alone. This plan could not fail of 
 success. Numerous manufactories of fine cloth were established in 
 Florence, and ere many years had passed, they were enabled to fabricate 
 every kind of goods fov which they were previously altogether dependent 
 on the English. 
 
 In 1665 another pestilence occurred, equally fatal to the human being 
 and the brute, and contributed yet more to depress the commerce of the 
 country 
 A singular but unexceptionable law was instituted in the succeeding 
 
 * Anderson on Commerce, vol.ii. p, 406. 
 
224 SHEEP. 
 
 year, and wliich would cause tlie consumption of no inconsiderable quan- 
 tity of woollen stuff: — " That every person sliouUl lie buried in a slin ud 
 composed of wool alone, under tlie forfeiture of 5/. to the poor of the 
 parish." This law continued in force about 130 years. 
 
 In 1667, as lias been already stated, the art of dyeing was once more 
 introduced into England. The account of the customs in 1668 shows 
 tliat, if the British manufactories were not continuing to decline, the 
 balance of trade was increasing against England. 
 
 £ «. 
 
 The imports in that year were , 4,196,137 17 
 The exports . , , 2,063,274 19 
 
 Balance against England . 2,132,864 18, nearly 140,000/. 
 
 more than it was six years before. 
 
 This, however, is principally to be accoimted for by the unlimited trade 
 that was then permitted with France. Her wines and her silks were 
 ])Oured into England almost without limitation, while she received few or 
 no goods from England in return. The ruinous tendency of this was 
 sufficiently evident. The trade with France was curtailed, or in a manner 
 prohibited ; and on the following, and during several successive years, 
 although our exports did not much increase, yet the balance was consi- 
 derably in favour of England*. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, which was established in 1670, liad little 
 influence on the woollen trade, except the opportunity which it afforded of 
 getting rid of an inconsiderable quantity of coarse goods. 
 
 The woollen trade continued to decline, partly from the inexcusable 
 neglect of the Stuart government, and partly from the inconsiderate efforts 
 of the landed interest to force the price of wool so high as necessarily to 
 drive the British manufactures from the foreign market; and, most of all, 
 from the establishment of manufactories in every continental state, equal, 
 and in some places superior, to those in England. The monopoly of the 
 trading world, which the chances of the times, and the prudent manage- 
 ment of Elizabeth, had given to England, and which was the principal jewel 
 in her crown, was now in a manner lost. Many and loud were the com- 
 plaints of the merchants ; one of them gives the following account of the 
 commerce of 1675, under Charles 11. — "The Dutch, long after they 
 became independent states, knew not how to manufacture many of our 
 woollen goods, and the knowledge of which we ourselves had learned 
 from the Flemings, driven out by D'Alva's persecution, and we supplied 
 the Dutch with vast quantities of fine cloth also, though mostly white, 
 which they dyed and dressed, and exported to Germany and many other 
 parts. We had also formerly the sole trade to Denmark, Norway, Swe- 
 den, Livonia, Poland, and Prussia ; our exports to all which northern 
 countries are greatly lessened by the Dutch having set up mighty woollen 
 manufactures, and the Flemings renewed theirs. We had formerly the sole 
 trade of woollen clothing to France, to the value of 600,000/. yearly, but 
 now none at all ; also the sole trade to Turkey, but of late the Dutch are 
 become our competitors therein, and the French have been long nibbling 
 at this trade ; and in the Spanish trade both the French and Dutch largely 
 share with us. AVhat is yet more grievous, we continue to import much 
 fine cloth from the Dutch, yearly sent there to be dyed. Formerly we had 
 the sole trade to Portugal, but now the French and Dutch are our compe- 
 titors, as they are also to Italy, where we used to supply all. The Vene- 
 tians also manufacture and vend much cloth there f." 
 
 * King's Biitish Merchant, vol. iii. p. 315, 31C. 
 j- Biitaunia Langucns, p. 157. 
 
THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 225 
 
 The year 1685, the first of the reign of James II., afforded a noble oppor- 
 tunity for the coii.plete restoration of this important branch of English com- 
 merce. In this year the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, as it is incor- 
 rectly called, took place: it might be more truly said that enactments of new 
 and unheard of severity were put in force against the professors of the Pro- 
 testant worship in France ; and all assemblies for the exercise of the reformed 
 religion were forbidden under pain of death. To avoid the dreadful conse- 
 quences of fulfilling the dictates of conscience, more than 600,000 persons 
 left their native country, carrying with them a portion — in too many cases 
 a smai'l one — of their wealth; but all their industry and knowledge of the 
 most valuable manufactures of the time. It miglit have been thought that 
 a majority of these emigrants would have sought refuge in England, a 
 country in which liberty and the Protestant faith were established, but the 
 government of the Stuarts was short-sighted' and imbecile ; and James was 
 more than suspected of an intention to restore the Catholic faith, and witl; 
 it arbitrary power. No overtures of a kind reception and secure asylum were 
 made to the refugees, while great privileges and immunities were wisely 
 promised by Holland, Switzerland, and Germany ; consequently the greater 
 part of the outcasts fled to these countries, and only 50,000 found their 
 way to England. They, however, greatly improved the lighter branches of 
 the woollen trade, as well as that of silk, linen, paper, glass, and hats. In 
 fifteen years the value of the woollen fabrics exported increased from 
 2,000,000/. to 3,000,000/. per annum, and at this amount, with occasional 
 slight variation, they remained almost to the close of the eighteenth century. 
 Mr. M'Culloch states, that " at an average of the six years ending with 
 1789, the annual official value of the exports was 3,54.4,160/. a year, being 
 an increase of only about 540,000/. on the amount exported in 1700*." 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that the whole British trade was at so 
 low an ebb, and thus stationary. The population of Great Britain had ra- 
 pidly increased, her wealth and her luxury had also grown in proportion ; 
 cloths of a finer texture began to be more generally worn, more and better 
 cloth was manufactured, a greater number of sheep were bred, and, with 
 the exception of a few and temporary reverses, the staple trade of England 
 flourished at home. 
 
 The importance of the woollen trade to the farmer will be best seen by a 
 reference to the number of sheep at various periods subsequent to 1688. 
 No great reliance can be placed on the perfect correctness of some of the 
 calculations, but ihey certainly approximated to the truth. 
 
 In 1698, Gregory King calculated that there were 12,000,000 sheep 
 in Great Britain, and that the wool yearly shorn or felted, at the average of 
 something more than 3s. a fleece, was worth 2,000,000/. The value of this 
 he supposes was quadrupled in tlie manufacture of it, making S,O0Q„00O/. 
 Goods to the amount of not less than 2,000,000/. were exported, and the 
 home -consumption amounted to 6,000,000/. He, however, overrated the 
 value of the wrought fabric, for it was not, on an average of the different 
 cloths, more than three times that of the raw material. 
 
 In 1741, the number of sheep liad increased to 16,640,000; the value 
 of the wool was nearly 2,780,000/., and that of the manufactured goods, 
 supposing that all tlTe wool was used at home (and from 1660 to 1825 the 
 export of wool was strictly forbidden), was 8,.340,000/. 
 
 In 1774, according to Arthur Young, the number of sheep was 
 25,589,754. The value of the wool was 4,264',959/., and that of the manu- 
 factured goods 12,794,877/. 
 
 * M'Cullocli's Commercial Dictionary, p. 1265. 
 
226 SHEEP. 
 
 According to the accurate calculation of IMr. Luccock, there were, in 
 1800, 26,148,463 sheep. The wool, from the now increasing weight of the 
 fleece, amounted to 346,000 packs of 240lbs. each; the value of it 
 was nearly 6,000,000/. sterling, and that of the manufactured goods 
 17,500,000/. In 1828, Mr. Luccock's tables were corrected by Messrs. 
 Goodman and Hubbard. These gentlemen, without making any material 
 alteration in the estimate of the number of sheep, showed that the quantity 
 of wool could not be much less than 384,000 packs, including skin and 
 slaughtered wools, being an excess of nearly 70,000 packs on the prodiic- 
 tion°of 1800. Professor M'Ciilloch, in the last edition (1834) of his in- 
 valuable Dictionary, computes the number of sheep in the United Kingdom 
 to be 32,000,000, the value of the raw material 7,000,000/. sterling, and 
 that of the manufactured articles 21,000,000/., and the number of persons 
 employed in the manufacturing of these goods about 332,000. His calcu- 
 lation is as follows : — 
 
 Total value of mainifactuved articles . . . £21,000,000 
 
 Value of raw material .... £7,000,000 
 
 Oil, soap, dye-stuffs, &c 1,450,000 
 
 Wear and tear of capital, profits, &c. . . 4,230,000 
 
 Wages of 332,000 persons, ou an average ofl g ^qq qqq 
 
 25/. each ..... J ' ' 
 
 21,000,000* 
 
 These items require very considerable modification. The whole calcu- 
 lation is framed on the erroneous supposition that the processes of the 
 manufacture treble the value of the raw material, whereas, regarding 
 the whole of the woollen trade, the value is not more than double. Then 
 the value of English wool only is taken, and not the combined value of 
 the home growth and of foreign imports. A more accurate estimate of the 
 value of the woollen trade, in 1834, would probably be as follows: — 
 108,000,000 lbs. of English wool, at Is. M. per lb. . . £6,750,000 
 
 46,035,232 lbs. of imported wool, at 2s. 6c/. per lb. , . 5,806,904 
 
 12,550,904 
 Wages of 350,000 persons, at 25/. each .... 8,750,000 
 
 Dye-wares, oils, and other raw materials .... 1,450,000 
 
 Wear and tear of siuiken capital, profits, &c. .... 4,250,000 
 
 Total value of manufactured articles . . 27,006,904 
 
 In looking over these estimates tliree things will probably attract the 
 attention of ihe reader, namely, the fewness of the persons employed hi the 
 manufacture ; the decrease of the expense of manufacturing, it being little 
 more than the value of the raw material ; and the high rate of wages, 2!»/. 
 ])cr liead, in a trade that employs so large a proportion of children. 
 
 Tliese results are referrible to one main cause — the introduction of 
 machinery, by means of which all the processes of the manufacture have 
 been rendered cheaper and more perfect, while the greater amount of pro- 
 duction, in proportion to the number of hands employed, allows of a large 
 addition to the wages. 
 
 Smith, in his "Memoirs of Wool," has shown that, about a.d. 1738, the 
 average earnings of the operatives engaged in the woollen trade, and in- 
 cluding men, women, and children, were about 65. 8f/. per week. They 
 are now about \2s. Even allowing for the difl'erent price of agricultural 
 produce, the present wages will command a far larger share of comfort and 
 enjoyment than at any former period. 
 
 Tlie influence of machinery may be estimated from this fact, that taking 
 the rate of production in 1738 as a basis, it would require 1,500,000 
 
 • Dictionary of Commerce, p. 1266, 
 
ALTERED CHARACTER OF THE SHORT WOOL. 227 
 
 persons to work up the annual gro\.th and importation of wool into clutlis. 
 The same work is now done by 350,000, and a new manufacture has been 
 introduced, that of cotton, which, notwithstanding the advantage of ma- 
 chinery, employs, at the present day, more than 1,500,000 persons, at tlie 
 modern rate of wages. Therefore, not only have our national productions 
 been incalculably multiplied by the use of machinery, but the wages and 
 comforts of the operatives have been increased. 
 
 The export trade in woollen goods has of late years materially increased 
 from the greater number and population and wealth of the British colonies, 
 and more particularly from the greater fineness of the material employed, 
 and the consequent augmented value of the fabric. The exports of woollen 
 clotiis amounted, in 1789, to 3,554,160Z., official value; in 1829 they 
 had risen to 5,372,490/. ; and in 1833 they were 7,777,952/. 
 
 As the population and the commerce of the United Kingdom increased, 
 it was necessary that the material to be manufactured and the food of the 
 workmen should proportionably increase, and hence the number of sheep 
 in 1698, amounting to 12,000,000, and yielding one description of food and 
 material, arose in 1833 to 32,000,000. A limit to this, however, would 
 necessarily be found in process of time, for the area of the country could not 
 be enlarged, nor, on the old system, could more than a given number of 
 sheep be kept on a certain space of ground. Thence arose a new system of 
 husbandry — the artificial or turnip husbandry — by means of which a regular 
 supply of food is provided for every season of the year, and double, or occa- 
 sionally treble the number of sheep can be kept. With this was connected 
 the possibility of fattening them more expeditiously, and of fattening them 
 to a much greater extent than before, or, in other words, materially increas- 
 ing the size of the breed. A larger breed of sheep was almost everywhere 
 preferred and encouraged : they paid better. There was, however, a conse- 
 quence of this, which had not been taken sufficiently into account. If 
 the carcase increased in weight, so would the fleece ; the staple would be 
 longer, and the fibre would be larger. The manufacturer was the first to 
 find out the change. The farmer had not contemplated it, nor would he 
 for a while believe it when it had taken place in his own flock, and for 
 many a year he continued stoutly to maintain the superiority of the British 
 fleece over that of every country of the world. The consumer, however, 
 decided the matter in a very summary way. The goods which used to 
 obtain a ready sale, and which were once preferred to those of every 
 other country, could not be disposed of at all ; no not in the district in 
 which the wool was grown. The purchaser would have a cloth fabricated 
 of Spanish wool only, and consequently the English wools were, for cloth- 
 ing purposes, materially lessened in value. That which was once a card- 
 ing was become a combing wool, and useful and valuable for a very dif- 
 ferent purpose. It had not deteriorated, but it had changed. The proof 
 of the alteration in the character of the British wool has already been 
 stated in page 71 , to which the reader is referred. There can be no dispute 
 about the matter*. 
 
 * Tliere are some admirable remarks on this subject in one of the Agricultural Re- 
 ports in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 1828-9. "It follows almpst as a con- 
 secjuence from the progressive improvement of our difTerent varieties of sheep, that the 
 wool should have somewhat declined in quality, for they who have experience in the 
 practice of breeding improvements, know that attention is more frequently directed to 
 the size, symmetry, and fattening properties of the animal, than to the quality of the 
 fleece. The comparative high price of this kind of wool caused a great extension of the 
 South Down breed of sheep, and its importation into districts very different from those 
 that were suited to the habits of the animal. Not only were these sheep thus extended 
 over the country, but iu numerous cases they were subject to crossing with other and 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 SHEEP. 
 
 It was not in England alone, but in almost every other country that tlie 
 fleece had grown longer and coarser, and this brought into notice a wool 
 which had never been sufficiently appreciated in Great Britain — the Spanish 
 wool — finer, perhaps, than that of England had ever been — most certainly 
 than the British wool had now become. To this was added the influence 
 of fashion and caprice, and the general determination not only to reject 
 the coarser wool that was now grown, but to demand a finer cloth than 
 ourselves or our ancestors had been accustomed to wear. The manufac- 
 turers were compelled to have more general recourse to this wool. Pre- 
 vious to 1800, the importation of it had not exceeded .3,000,000 lbs. an 
 nually, but it rapidly increased to 8,000,000 lbs. or 9,000,000 lbs. A new 
 market being afterwards opened in the heart of Germany, and at which a 
 still superior quality of it might be purchased, the importation augmented 
 to the almost incredible quantity of 36,000,000 lbs. 
 
 The sheep-owner suffered, and materially so ; his wool sunk to a third 
 or a fourth of its former price, and in many cases he could scarcely sell it 
 at all. He appealed to the government, and a duty was laid on the impor- 
 tation of foreign wool. This duty was gradually increased until it 
 amounted almost to a prohibition. That was bad policy, and very different 
 were the results from those that had been anticipated. The duty operated 
 as a premium on foreign manufactures. The capital and labour which had 
 been employed in the export woollen trade became idle ; simply because 
 this duty precluded all successful competition with France and Flanders, 
 while the perverted taste of the home-consumer, who still would have a 
 cloth made of Spanish or Saxony wool, kept down the demand for English 
 wool. It began to be discovered, as already stated, that, although the 
 British wool had changed its character, and had become longer and coarser, 
 and was rapidly, and at last, become altogether excluded from the manu- 
 facture of fine cloths, the very length which it had acquired made it avail- 
 able for other purposes, and those not few or unimportant, and in them it 
 began to be employed. 
 
 The legislature of the country then did its duty, and will deserve the 
 grateful remembrance of posterity. Unavved by popular clamour, it threw 
 the wool trade altogether open. The consequence was, that although the 
 foreign wools again crowded our markets, they gave employment to 
 thousands of artificers, who had been suffering the most dreadful privations : 
 they suffered the British manufacture once more to compete with the foreign 
 one. The British short wools, having anew situation and use assigned to 
 them, again looked upwards ; they were employed in the manufacture of 
 worsted goods : they were permitted to be exported, which soon raised up a 
 very important trade in wool and yarns, and which has been annually and 
 rapidly increasing. The fact is, that there has been of late years a demand 
 
 heavier breeds, and this to such a degree, that pure Soutli Dowus are known to form a 
 comparatively small part of the animals that now pass under that name. It cannot be 
 doubted, then, that the South Down wools have in the mass been greatly changed in 
 qualit\', although many instajices may be produced, in which the purity of the wools has 
 been preserved, or even increased by particular breeders. 
 
 " But even though the wool of the South Down sheep were as valuable as ever, can iv 
 be shown that its cjuality is as good as that of foreign wools ? Can cloths which are sale 
 able in the foreign market, be manufactured of English wool, or can any considerabla 
 portion of I'higlish be permitted to enter at all into the material, either for home use or 
 foreign supply P Then what right have the wool-growers to demand that the manufac- 
 turers of the country shall not be permitted to pro.cure the materials of their manufac- 
 ture where they can he obtained the cheapest and the best ? or what can be thouglitof the 
 justice of not only nut permitting them to exercise this n.itural and necessary right, 
 but of compelling them to take fioni the wool-growers what is found to be absolutely 
 unsuited to the purposes of commerce?" — Quarterly Journal of Agric, vol. i., p. 371. 
 
WOOLLUN MANUFACTURES 229 
 
 for long wools quite equal to the supply. The whole supply of England 
 has not been more than adequate to the supply of the home and foreign 
 trade ; and, by natural consequence, has not only risen in price since the 
 duty on foreign wool was taken away, but now bears a full remunerating 
 price. At the present time (March, 1836) hogget wool is quoted from 
 Is. lOd. to 2s., and clothing wool from Is. 4d. to Is. 8f/. per lb,, a price 
 which the agriculturists, examined before the Lords' Committee, acknow- 
 ledged was a remunerating one to tiie farmer; and, in addition to this, is 
 the increased weight of the fleece, and that of the carcase too. 
 
 Both the domestic consumption, and the exportation of woollen goods, 
 have annually risen. The exports, by far the most valuable consideration, 
 have increased nearly 3,000,000/. within the last ten years ; and at no period 
 in the later history of the country was the woollen trade in a more flourishing 
 condition. There needs only somewhat more attention to the improve- 
 ment of the fleece in the Australian colonies, and, perhaps, somewhat more 
 encouragement from the mother-country, in order once more to render 
 this manufacture, in all its ramifications, what it was in the olden time, the 
 sure basis of national prosperity and wealth. 
 
 The establislnnent of the cotton manufacture, about 1780, somewhat re 
 tarded the progress of the woollen trade. The manufacture of cotton goods 
 to the amount of 34,000,000/. of money annually, and the employment of 
 1,500,000 persons, while they opened a new and most prolific source of 
 wealth, could not fail of producing some injurious eflect on the manufivcture 
 and consumption of wool. After a very short period, however, good began 
 to spring out of evil. Good, permanent in its nature, and far exceeding the 
 extent of the temporary evil. Witli the establishment of the cotton manu- 
 factory came the introduction of steam power. The steam-engine was 
 brought to a high state of improvement by Watt. The carding and the 
 spinning machines of Arkwright and Hargreaves were adopted in every 
 cotton factory. They were applicable to every manufacture, even to that 
 of wool ; the fibres of which required more manipulations than those of 
 cotton, in order to render them available for every useful purpose. The 
 introduction of machinery in the fabrication of woollen cloths was some- 
 what slower, but equally assured in its progress ; and the improvement in 
 the woollen trade which took place towards the close of the last century is 
 unquestionably to be attributed to this cause. 
 
 There is one result of machinery, of great importance to the agriculturist, 
 which must not be forgotten. As by improved machinery the cost of the 
 manufacture is reduced, the demand for the raw material is increased ; and, 
 contrary to its effect on the price of the finished article — that is, to lower 
 it — machinery, in proportion to the extent to which it is introduced, and 
 the perfection to which it is carried, will enhance the price of the raw ma- 
 terial. Every year machinery is advancing towards perfection, and as some 
 article can be better and cheaper made, the demand for the raw material 
 will proportionably increase, the manufacture will approach nearer to the 
 supply, and the price of it will be correspondingly and permanently in- 
 creased. 
 
 Neither the wool-grower, nor the woollen manufacturer, however, must 
 raise his expectations too high. The export of woollen goods since 1800 
 has increased ; but they have not done so in anything like an equal pro- 
 portion to that of cotton goods. In fact, the British manufacturer is only 
 second in the production of fine woollens, and it is more than doubtful 
 whether his fabrics can bear a comparison with those of France and Flanders. 
 Twenty years of peace, and of intercourse with this country, have enabled 
 the continental manufacturer to make rapid strides in iinproveraent, and it 
 
230 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
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THE SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 23) 
 
 is questionable whether even in the cotton manufacture the isLinder can 
 claim any high precedence and superiority. There is, however, no cause 
 for aharm : comjjetition is a powerful stimulus ; and, in proportion as his 
 continental rivals approach to his grade of excellence, the British manufac- 
 turer must likewise exert himself. At the worst, as the inhabitants of the 
 continent improve in arts and manufactures, they will grow in population, 
 and it is not now to be proved that rich neighbours are generally good 
 customers. The old Machiavellian principle, that in order for one nation 
 to prosper it must keep down and impoverish its neighbour, is now de- 
 servedly exploded. 
 
 It is not easy to describe in what manner the different manufactures are 
 located in the various districts of the kingdom ; the following, however, may 
 not be a very incorrect sketch. 
 
 Woollen cloth in Leeds audits neighbourhood, Wakefield, Huddersfield, 
 and Saddleworth. Superfine cloths at Stroud in Gloucestershire, Brad- 
 ford in Wiltshire, Trowbridge, Warminster, Frome, and in various parts of 
 Dorsetshire. Coarser clotlis at Halifax, Taunton, and Shepton Mallet. 
 Mixed cloths in tlie neighbourhood of Leeds, on the east and the north. 
 Woollen cloths of tliin texture at Wilton. Flannel at Halifax, different 
 parts of Gloucestershire, the whole of North Wales, and the neighbourhood 
 of Oswestry. Baizes at Halifax, Colchester, Barking, Braintree, and Roch- 
 dale. Blankets about Leeds, Huddersfield, and Duiverton. Flushings 
 about Leeds, Huddersfield, and Godalming. Stuffs at Bradford and 
 Halifiix. Light stuffs at Norwich. Kerseys at Saddleworth. Druggets 
 in Devonshire and at Kendal, Ambleside, Keswick, Andover, Basingstoke, 
 and Alton. Long ells in Devonshire. Plush at Modbury. Fine camlets, 
 worsted shawls, crapes, and buntings at Norwich. Woollen yarn in Suf- 
 folk, and in some parts of Lancashire. Carpets at Kidderminster, Wilton, 
 and Axminster. Bugs at Burford. Shalloons and serges about Andover, 
 Basingstoke and Alton. Stockings, socks and gloves in Montgomery- 
 shire, strong cloth in Merionethshire, and small cloth in Denbighshire. 
 
 The author cannot close this sketch of the rise and progress of the British 
 woollen manufactures, without once more thanking his valued friend, Mr. 
 Thomas Flint, for much useful aid. 
 
 Chapter VIL 
 
 the middle-woolled breeds' op sheep, 
 
 The reader will not forget that the short wools, those used exclusively in the 
 manufacture of fine cloths, are now all of foreign growth; and that by the 
 term middle-wools were meant the South Down, Norfolk, Dorset, Ryland, 
 Cheviot, and other fleeces, which occupy an intermediate station between the 
 short wools of Spain and Germany, and the long wools of Leicester and 
 Lincoln. They are in fact the old English short wools, materially dimi- 
 nished in quantity by the various crosses between the old short and long 
 woolled breeds, which are multiplying in many parts of the kingdom. For 
 the sake, however, of being better understood, the old distinction between 
 the long and the short wools shall again be recognized while the British 
 sheep are described. 
 
 There is reason to believe that the wool which attracted the attention of 
 the Romans, and was employed in the first manufactory at Winchester, was 
 short wool. AVith the exception of some of the lower and richer districts 
 
S.32 SHEEP. 
 
 of Devon, Somerset, Kent, and Essex, the eastern, and southern, and 
 western coasts of England — extending from the mouths of the Nen and the 
 Ouse to tlie nortliern boundary of Wales, and reaching over many an inland 
 county, many a long range of hills, and terminating only at the extremity 
 of the Highlands of Scotland — have been almost exclusively occupied 
 by short-wooUed sheep, differing considerably in various points — some 
 homed, and otiiers polled — some domesticated, and others wild — yet, when 
 carefully examined, betraying an evident identity of origin. 
 
 Fifty years ago, there was not a county in England in which some of tlie 
 short-woolled sheep were not found, and in the majority of the counties 
 they were the prevailing breed: it is natural, therefore, that they should 
 first pass in review. 
 
 It would be waste of time now to search for the parent stock. It has in 
 a manner disappeared even in the wilds of Devon and Cornwall ; and no 
 long period of time will elapse ere it will be sought for in vain amidst the 
 mountains of the North. A better and more productive system of hus- 
 bandry has introduced and established a different, a larger, and a better 
 breed of sheep ; but some of the features of the primitive race remain, and 
 will be traced with considerable interest. 
 
 It will be advantageous to start at that district in which, all circumstanceB 
 being considered, the best breed of middle-woolled sheep is now found. 
 
 The South Downs are a long range of chalky hills, diverging from the 
 great chalky stratum which intersects the kingdom from Norfolk to Dor- 
 chester. They enter the county of Sussex on the west side, and. are con- 
 tinued almost in a direct line as far as East Bourne, where they reach the 
 sea. They may be considered as occupying a space of more than sixty 
 miles in length, and about five or six in breadth, consisting of a succession of 
 open downs, with very few inclosures, and distinguished by their situation 
 and name from a more northern tract of similar elevation and soil, passing 
 through Surrey and Kent, and terminating in the cliffs of Dover, and of 
 the Forelands. On these downs a certain breed of sheep has been culti- 
 vated for many centuries, in greater perfection than elsewhere ; and hence 
 have sprung those successive colonies, which have found their way to every 
 part of the kingdom, and materially benefited the breed of short-woolled 
 sheep wherever they have gone *. 
 
 THE SOUTH DOWNS. 
 
 It is only lately, lioi\'ever, that they have been brought to that degree of 
 perfection which they at jnesent exhibit. Their zealous advocate, and the 
 breeder to whom they are indebted more than to any other for the estimation 
 in which they are now justly held, Mr. Ellman, says ofthem — "This breed 
 was formerly of a small size, and far from possessing a good shape, being long 
 and thin in the neck, high on the shoulders, low behind, high on the loins, 
 down on the rumps, tlie tail set on very low, perpendicular from the hip-bones, 
 sharp on the back — the ribs flat, not bowing, narrow in the fore-quarters, but 
 good in the leg, although having big bone f." Arthur Young, who saw 
 them in 1776, thus sj)eaks of them — " Fine wool is certainly a very con- 
 siderable object, provided it is gained on a well-formed carcase ; but if a 
 fine coat is procured at the expense of a thin chine, low fore-end, and 
 rising back-bone, the advantage is purchased too dearly. The faults most 
 common in the South Down breed are these three. They are found very 
 general even in the best flocks, inasmuch as not more than one sheep in 
 
 ■■' Luccock on Wool, p 257. 
 f Baxter's Library of Agricultural Knowledge, p. 452. 
 
THE SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 
 
 233 
 
 a hundred, perhaps in two hundred, is to be seen tolerably free from 
 them *.'' 
 
 Since that time they have materially improved, yet not by any admixture 
 of foreign blood, for even the cross with the Leicestcrs was a failure, and 
 the promised advantages to be derived from the Merinos were delusive. 
 The sheep-owners began better to understand, and carefully (o practise, 
 the true principles of breeding. The *' sorting" of their flocks was no 
 longer left to the menial ; the sexual intercourse of the sheep was no longer 
 a matter almost of chance-medley ; but a system of selection was adopted 
 and sedulously followed. In addition to this, as has been already remarked, 
 there was a great improvement in agriculture generally. The introduc- 
 tion of the turnip-husbandry enabled the farmer to keep more sheep on the 
 same quantity of land, and to keep them better, and, in fact, to feed them up 
 earlier and more certainly to that development of form and utility of which 
 they were capable. " They are now," says Mr. Ellman, " much improved 
 both in shape and constitution. They are smaller in bone, equally, hardy, 
 with a greater disposition to fatten, and much heavier in carcase when fat. 
 They used seldom to fatten until they were four years old ; but it v/ould 
 now be a rare sight to see a pen of South Down wethers at market more 
 than two years old, and many are killed before they reach that age f." 
 
 South Down Ram 
 
 For an account of the most perfect form of the South Down sheep, the 
 reader is referred back to p. Ill of this Treatise, where a description is 
 
 * Annals of Agriculture, vol. xvii., p. 231. 
 
 t Library of Agricultural Knowledge, p. 452. It is an act of justice to Mr. Ellman 
 to record what Arthur Young, in one of his later tours, says of the concern which Ibis 
 gentleman had in effecting all this improvement. '• Mr. EUman's flock of sheep, I must 
 observe, in this place is unquestionably the first in the country, the wool the finest, and 
 the carcase the best proportioned : both these valuable p t>perties are united in the flock 
 at Glynde, He has raised the merit of the breed by his unremitting attention, and it 
 now stands unrivalled." — Annals of Agriculture, vol. xx., p. 224. 
 
234 SHEEP. 
 
 given of what a liill or down sheep ought to be ; and to which may he 
 added, that this animal has a patience of occasional short keep, and an 
 endurance of hard stocking scarcely surpassed by any other sheep*, an early 
 maturity not inferior to that of the Leicesters, the flesh finely grained, and 
 the wool of the most useful quality. 
 
 The South Down sheep are polled ; but it is probable that the original 
 breed was horned. It has been shown that the primitive breed of sheep 
 was probably horned. The ram that was sacrificed by Abraham, instead 
 of his son, was entangled in a thicket by his horns ; and it is not unusual to 
 find among the male South Down lambs some with small horns. 
 
 The dusky or sometimes black hue of the head and legs of the 
 South Downs not only proves the original colour of the sheep, and perhaps 
 of all sheep, but the later period at which it was seriously attempted to 
 get rid of this dingy hue. In almost every flock, notwithstanding the great 
 care which is now taken to prevent it, several parti-coloured lambs will 
 be dropped; some with large black spots, some half black, and some 
 entirely black. A writer in the " Annals of Agriculture" states, that '• he 
 has frequently had twelve or fourteen perfectly black lambs, although he 
 never kept a black ram or ewe." From this he draws the conclusion, that 
 their original colour was black ; that art alone produced the white wool ; 
 and that, if the best of the South Downs were left in a wild state, they 
 would in a few years become black again f. 
 
 Arthur Young computed the quantity of sheep-ground on the Downs at 
 150,000 acres — it was much more than that — and the number of sheep at 
 270,000 in summer, and 220,000 in winter. Mr. Luccock calculated that 
 not less than 864,000 of these animals occupied the hill and the miderhill 
 grounds ; a rate of stocking which is not exceeded in any other part of 
 England, marsh- land alone excepted, and which is only to be accounted for 
 by reason of the great quantity of artificial food which is raised on the 
 arable part of every farm. All the sheep farms have a very considerable 
 quantity of arable land attached to them. Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger, 
 in their valuable work on the tenancy of the country, calculate that a farm 
 carrying 1000 ewes would consist of 600 aci-es of arable, and 600 acres of 
 down ; and the arable land held under the same restrictions as in the other 
 parts of the country. Sheep are, therefore, necessary, in order to feed on 
 the otherwise almost useless pasture of the downs, and also to contribute 
 by their dung to the productiveness of the arable ground ; and, on the other 
 hand, arable ground yields the principal part of the winter and early spring 
 food of the sheep. One reason that the Leicesters never succeeded on the 
 downs was, that they would not bear to be driven two or three miles twice 
 every day, from the fold to the pasture, and from the pasture to the fold. 
 
 The artificial food most in use in the beginning of spring, and soon after 
 lambing, is green rye; biit it must be cautiously given, or it will occa- 
 sionally scour the sheep, and produce fatal inflammation of the bowels. 
 This, however, is prevented by removing the ewes for a few hours once in 
 the day to old pasture ground, and never folding them on the rye during 
 the night. The rye being fed ofl", or running to seed at the latter end of 
 May, is ploughed for turnips, or for rape. 
 
 Rye-grass succeeds to the rye, and aff'ords excellent food until the latter 
 end of June, when the winter tares will follow. These, according to Mr. 
 
 * Arthur Young, speaking of the South Downs in 1788, says, " I knqw of no lands 
 in the kingdom, rich marshes excepted, which are stocked in such a proportion. Mr. 
 Ellman, on 500 acres, has 700 ewes, lambs, and wethers, in. winter; and 1450 of all 
 sorts in summer, besides 140 head of cattle."— Annals of Agriciffture, vol. ii., p. 170. 
 Annals of Agriculture, vol. xxii., p. 242. 
 
THE SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 235 
 
 Ellmati, may be sown from the beginning of October to the beginning of 
 the May following ; so that one crop may follow the other as it may be 
 wanted. 
 
 Tares, clover, or rape, come next in order. The tares are probably not 
 so good as the clover or rape : but this depends much on the situa- 
 tion and soil of the farm. Lastly, for winter-food, come the, turnips, of 
 which the sheep-owner should be careful always to have a sufficient 
 quantity. The Svveeds are preferable, if they can be sown sufficiently early, 
 and will last until the lambing time ; but they should not be given after- 
 wards, for the lambs do not always thrive upon them. 
 
 There are no sheep more healthy than the South Downs. They seldom 
 sufi'er from the hydatid on the brain, nor, on the majority of thS farms, are 
 they so much exposed to the rot as in many other districts. Their general 
 health may be much connected with this frequent change of food, and their 
 periodical journeys to and from the fold*. 
 
 The rams are usually put with the ewes about the middle of October, and 
 remain with them three or four weeks. The careful breeder, where his 
 farm will admit of it, puts only one ram to a certain number of ewes in each 
 enclosure ; about forty to a lamb ram, and eighty to one fully grown. He 
 thus knows the progeny of each ram, a circumstance of no little importance 
 with regard to the improvement of the breed. At the end of the third or 
 fourth week the whole flock is again put together; two or three rams being 
 left with them in case any of the ewes should still remain at heat. 
 
 It is believed that the treatment ot the ewes at this time has considerable 
 connexion with the number of lambs which they will produce. If they are 
 well kept, a considerable proportion of them will probably have twins. It is 
 possible that the stimulus of plentiful and nutritious food may have some 
 influence on the number of the lambs; but if the farming arrangements of 
 the sheep-breeder should render it desirable for his stock thus rapidly to 
 multiply, he would be most likely to accomplish his object by breeding from 
 rams and ewes that were twins. No fact can be more clearly established 
 than an hereditary tendency to fecundity. 
 
 The Sussex farmers usually set an example of humanity to those in many 
 other districts, in the care which they take of the ewe at the time of yean- 
 ing. She is driven home, or there are sheds or sheltered places for her 
 constructed in the field, and the loss, as it regards the mother or the lamb, is 
 comparatively light ; while the owner has the satisfactory reflection that 
 these valuable animals have not been cruelly abandoned at a time of suff"er- 
 ing and danger. 
 
 The stock of the Sussex sheep-breeder does no? often contain many 
 wethers. The wether lambs, if not sent to the Weald, are usually sold when 
 about six months old, and the ewes are always disposed of at four or five 
 years old, and before they have begun to loose their teetli. Very large 
 lambs are certainly often procured from old ewes, but they do not fatten so 
 well as those that are yeaned by younger sheep. The average price of the 
 lambs is from 12s. to 15s., and of the draught ewes from 18s. to 24s. The 
 wethers that are kept have a greater quantity of grass, and fewer turnips, 
 than is the practice with most other breeds ; but the greater part of them, 
 and sometimes the whole number, are sent to the small farmers in the 
 Weald, in order to be kept during the winter. The number of South 
 Down sheep sent for the supply of the London market has for many years 
 past been regularly increasing ; and, while the quality of the flesh pleases the 
 customer, they are generally admitted to be the best proof sheep that are 
 brought to Smithfield. 
 
 * Library of Agricultural Knowledge, p. 456. 
 
936 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 The average dead weight of the Soutli Down wether varies from 8 to 11 
 stones ; but Mr. Grantham exliibited a pen of three sheep in the last show 
 of the Smilhfield Clah (1835), one of tliem weighing 20 stones, 3 lbs. ; a 
 second, 20 stones, 6 lb. ; and the third, 21 stones. 
 
 The average weight of the fleece of a Soutli Down hill sheep was stated 
 by Mr. Luccock, in 1800, to be 2 lb. : it has now increased to 3 lb. The 
 fleece of the lowland sheep, that used to be 3 lb., is now 3^, or even 4 lb. 
 This is the natural consequence of the diflercnt mode of feeding, and the 
 larger size of the animal. The length of the staple in the hill sheep rarely 
 exceeded 2 inches in length, and was oftener not more than 1^ inch : it is 
 now move than 2 inches, and in some of the lowland sheep it has reached 
 to 4 inches. Tlie number of hill sheep had rather decreased since 1800, 
 and those in the lowlands had materially so; but now that South Down 
 wool is once more obtaining a remunerating price, the flocks are becoming 
 larger than they were. The colour of tlie wool difi'ers materially, according 
 to the colour of the soil. The shortest and the finest wool is produced on 
 the chalky soil, where the sheep have to travel far for their food ; but there 
 is a harshness and brittleness about this wool which was always seriously 
 objected to. 
 
 The principal mart for wool is at Lewes. There is a stock-market every 
 fortnight, to which the farmers resort from almost the whole range of sheep- 
 pasture in the county. The wool-staplers meet them there ; and, knowing 
 the stock of most of them, occasionally make their bargains. The great 
 wool fair is on the 26th of July. The farmer attends for the avowed purj)osc 
 of selling, and the price for the ensuing season is then nearly fixed: yet few 
 bargains are actually made ; and the stapler is afterwards obliged to take 
 his round among those with whom he usually deals. 
 
 The microscopic appearance of the South Down wool is delineated in 
 page 90. The fibre is the six-hundredth part of an inch in diameter; that 
 of the Saxony wool being but the eight-hundred-and-fortieth part. The 
 serrations are only 2080 to an inch ; while in the Saxony wool 2720 were 
 observed in the same space. 
 
 Subjoined is a prime specimen of Picklock South Down wool. The 
 diameter of the fibre, and the number of serrations is precisely the 
 same ; but in the opaque object the cups arc roughened, irregular, and 
 some of the leaves have exceedingly short angles; and in the transparent 
 one, although the serrations seem to be more regular, they are also more 
 deeply toothed, and some of them have a kind of hooked appearance. This 
 diflerence of structure well explains the superior felting quality of the Pick- 
 lock wool, when compared with the common specimens. 
 
 1. ^1 fibre of the wool viewed as a transparent object. 
 
 2. Ditto, an opaque one. 
 
THE SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 237 
 
 This greater comparative bulk of the fibre, and paucity of serrations, 
 will account for the harshness and want of felting property which have been 
 Considered as defects in this wool. Tlie brittleness of the pile is perhaps 
 to be attributed chiefly to the soil. The -clothiers were always careful noi to 
 use too much of it in the making of their finest cloths. When most in 
 repute, the South Down was principally devoted to the manufacture of ser- 
 vants' and army clothing, or it was sparingly mixed with other wools for 
 finer cloth. Now, however, when it is materially increased in length, and 
 become a combing wool, and applicable to so many more purposes than 
 it was before — now that it enters into the composition of flannels, baizes, 
 and worsted goods of almost every description — its fineness and its felting, 
 compared with some of the other short wools, renders it a truly valuable 
 article. The South Down slieep-master justly repudiates the charge of its 
 deterioration — it has only changed its character — it has become a good 
 combing wool, instead of an inferior carding one ; it has become more ex- 
 tensively useful, and, therefore, more valuable ; and the time is not far 
 distant when the sheep-owner will be convinced that it is his interest to 
 make the South Down wool even longer and heavier than it now is *. 
 
 One species of South Down wool has decidedly improved — the hogget 
 wool, or that which is left on the sheep untouched until the second shearing 
 lime. This was always used as a combing wool ; and its increased length, 
 since the present system of sheep management has been adopted, adds 
 materially to its value. It is finer than the long wools — it has more 
 feltiness about it, and it is applicable to more numerous and profitable 
 purposes. 
 
 The practice of letting and selling rams was more prevalent and more 
 profitable among the breeders of the South Down sheep than of any other 
 kind, except the Leicesters. At the sheep-shearing at Woburn, in 1800, a 
 South Down ram, belonging to the Duke of Bedford, was let for one season 
 at 80 guineas, two others at 40 guineas each, and four more at 28 guineas 
 each. This practice has been of later years pursued extensively and profit- 
 ably by Messrs. Ellman, Grantham, Todd, and others. 
 
 Two years previously to this the Emperor of Russia bought two of Mr. 
 EUman's rams, in order to try the efl"ectof the cross on the Northern sheep. 
 The Duke of Bedford, at the request of Mr. Ellman, put a price upon them, 
 observing that he did not wish to charge a foreign sovereign, who had done 
 him so much lionour, more than any other individual. The price fi.xed by 
 the Duke was 300 guineas for the two, and he purchased two more for him- 
 self at the same rate f. 
 
 The pure South Downs have penetrated to almost every part of the 
 kingdom, and everywhere they have succeeded when care was taken that 
 the locality and the soil were suited to the breed ; except that on the 
 northern hills, where the Cheviots and the black-faced sheep wander, they 
 have not thriven so well as on their native downs. 
 
 On the south coast, and the adjacent inland counties, the slieep seem to 
 have one common origin with the South Downs, or evidently owe almost all 
 that is good about them to the influence of this valuable breed. The best 
 
 * Lord Somerville, in a letter to Mr. Ellman, proposed the " cotting" of the South 
 Down sheep. « Your South Downs must be cotted in the winter, or the wool will not 
 work mellow enough for fine cloths ; so the manufacturers say. Your sample of wool, 
 I find, is superior to anything they have seen, or could believe. To you 1 look for the 
 example of cotting all your wool next winter. In three years your staple would be more 
 than one-fifth finer. Tlie hard keep Ryeland sheep will bear, when cotted at an easy 
 expense, cries out for universal imitation.'' — Memoir pf Mr. Ellman — Baxter's Agricul- 
 tural Library, p. 38. 
 
 f Memoir of Mr. Ellman — Baxter's Agricultural Library, p. 38, 
 
238 SHEEP 
 
 black-faced slieep of Hampsliire are a cross between tlie old black-faced 
 Berkshire and the pure Soulh Down. The modern Berkshire owes his best 
 qualities to the same source ; and the Wiltshire is become but a variety 
 of the South Down. Crosses between the South Down and the Norfolk 
 breeds are much valued in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge ; and in Nor- 
 folk, as well as in Dorset, the South Downs are contending, and success- 
 fully, with the pure breeds of those counties on their own ground, and pro- 
 mising, at no very distant time, either quite to supersede them, or mate- 
 rially diminish their range. A contest that will be attended by a similar 
 result is carrying on between them and the Cotswolds and the Ryelands, 
 . in some parts of Gloucester and Hereford. 
 
 They have reached, and tliey have established themselves, in Ireland. 
 The first experiment was made in the county of Wicklow, under the direc- 
 tion of the Farming Society of Ireland, and they improved, and in process 
 of time almost banished, the native breed. Thence they spread, in greater 
 or less numbers, and where the locality suited, to almost every part of the 
 sister island * 
 
 The old sheep of the Weald of Sussex (a few of which are still found 
 in many parts of it feeding on the commons in summer and the stubbles 
 and ley grounds in winter) are small, ill-formed, slow to fatten, and with 
 comparatively coarse wool. They betray, however, considerable affinity to 
 the South Downs, and were probably the native sheep of the hills, either 
 not improved, or degenerated in size, and form, and wool. The Weald 
 farmers do not often keep many sheep of their own, but depend on the 
 Down flocks to consume their winter food. The wool of the Weald sheep 
 used to resemble that of the underbill South Downs, being longer, coarser, 
 and yet softer, than that of the more upland sheep. 
 
 In Western Sussex, where the land is considered too good and wet to 
 keep breeding flocks, a heavier sort of sheep is found, which seem to have 
 been a cross of the Somersets and the Downs, and are purchased by the 
 farmers in the autumn, at the fairs in the west of England. 
 
 In many parts of Sussex, the Somersets and Dorsets are much used for 
 early lambs. Pampered on the richest keep, the period of oestrum is 
 considerably hastened : the lambs are dropped in January, and sometimes 
 in December, and are ready for the London market on or before Easter. 
 The Down lambs also fatten kindly, and come to the market in June and 
 July, being theo much more delicate than the earlier horned lambs. The 
 
 * In 1829 Mr. Ellman retired from public life. His flock was sold by auction at the 
 following prices: — his 770 ewes from one )ear old to old ewes, both inclusive, produced 
 an average of 3/. Is. G(/. each — 320 lambs averaged 35f. each — his 36 rams averajjed 
 25/, each — 32 ram-lambs 10/. each — and 241 wether-lambs 21«. each — one ram sold for 
 65 guineas. Soon aftur his retirement a massive silver tureen was presented to him by 
 186 noblemen and gentlemen. It bore the following inscription : — 
 
 To 
 
 John Ei.i.Man of Giande, Esq., 
 
 on his retiring from the farm 
 
 in which, for more than half a century, he had devoted himself 
 
 TO THE INTERESTS OF AgUTCL'LTUKE, 
 
 as a token of their sinctre regard, and a tribute to his great merit, 
 
 especially in improving and extending throughout 
 
 THE BnrrisH Emi'iiie 
 
 THE Bheed of South Down Sheep, 
 
 and his much-admired conduct 
 
 TO HIS Labourers, 
 
 this piece of Plate is presented 
 
 by a number of Agriculturists and Friends; 
 
 and to his Family 
 
 a Portrait of himself. 
 
THE SURREY SHEEP. 239 
 
 West-country breeders of Down sheep contrive by high feeding, and that 
 constitutional disposition which habit gives, to occasion the ewe to flower in 
 Aii'.fust or September; but the East-country farmers, who are flock-masters, 
 prefer October and November for tlie impregnation. 
 
 Petworth and its neighbourhood provide a considerable number of grass 
 lambs for the metropolis. The breed is the Dorset, and the favourite time 
 of lambmg a month before Christmas. The ewes are kept on the stubbles 
 and leys to nearly the time of lambing, and then on turnips or tares, or any 
 artificial herbage which the farmer may possess. Tlie lambs are ready in 
 April. If the farmer has a considerable quantity of food left, he immediately 
 throws his ewes into a flush of keep, and puts tliem again with the ram ; 
 but if it has been all expended on the lambs, he sells his ewes. Ewes im- 
 pregnated at this early season are valuable to the house-lamb farmers, who 
 either buy them of the field-lamb farmer, or of the middle-man. 
 
 It will now be convenient to take a rapid survey of the short-woolled 
 sheep in other districts. 
 
 Next to Sussex, the greatest number of South Down sheep are found in 
 Kent. The northern and eastern districts have much open ground and 
 short pasture, and these sheep are much prized there. Even on the extreme 
 eastern part, and not fiir from the liead-quarters of the long-wooUed sheep, 
 the South Downs are diligently cultivated. Mr. Henry Boys of Waldershare, 
 and his father, expended very considerable sums in the hire of rams and 
 the purchase of ewes from Mr. Eliman. Nearly 525,000 short-woolled 
 sheep were kept in Kent in 1800; the number has, however, considerably 
 diminished. The value of the long-woolled sheep, that have from time im- 
 memorial inhabited Romney Marsh and its environs, has been better under- 
 stood, and they have gradually spread themselves far into Kent, In some 
 parts of the east of the county a polled breed of middle size, across between 
 tiie Romney Marsh and the South Down, is found — the faces mostly white, 
 but some of them grey. They are a useful kind of sheep, and, kept on 
 upland pasturage, yield a wool that can be appropriated to many useful 
 purposes. 
 
 The midland part or the Weald of Kent is somewhat singularly farmed. 
 There are few sheep during the summer months, but in the v/inter the fields 
 are covered with stock of various kinds. Great numbers of Romney 
 Marsh lambs are sent here in the winter season. The w^tliers that are 
 grazed on these pastures used to be partly Wiltshire and partly South 
 Downs, but the latter have now beaten the others out of the field. Many 
 of the South Downs are bought in at Michaelmas while lambs, and fed on 
 grass or hay, with occasional oil-cake or turnips. 
 
 The short-woolled sheep were the original inhabitants of tliis county, 
 and still continue to retain almost exclusive possession of it. They may yet 
 be seen, scarcely changed, on some of the wild and sterile heaths with which 
 Surrey abounds. They were small, the head small, low, and yet light in 
 the shoulders and fore-quarters; the back a little ridged, the loin moderate, 
 and the quarter good ; yielding but a scanty portion of wool, but the flesh of re- 
 markably delicate flavour. The Bagshot sheep may be considered as an im- 
 proved remnant of the old stock. The Banstead was a purer variety, cele- 
 brated for its short, thick, close fleece, and for mutton that could deliglil 
 even a royal epicure. It is not, however, only in the story of by-gone 
 
240 SHEEP 
 
 days that we "hear Sir Richard Sutton say how the king (Charles II.) 
 loved Banslead mutton." Many a party goes from London to Banslead in 
 the summer ; and whether it is that rejoicing in their temporary escape from 
 the smoke and turmoil of tlie city, and delighted with the hcauty of tlie 
 scenery around them, they relish the plainest fare, or that the meat of 
 the small South Down, or heath-sheep nearly lost in the South Down, retains 
 its wonted flavour, the leg of mutton, with its traditional and never-failing 
 accompaniment, the cauliflower, is as delicious as it was in the days of the 
 Merry Monarch. 
 
 Tlie first recorded alteration of the Surrey sheep seems to liave been the 
 introduction of the large Wiltshire on the sheep-farms of the chalk hills ; 
 the old breed still occupying the extensive and barren heaths. This was 
 probably contemporaneous with that of turnips and the artificial Imsbandry. 
 The Wiltshires, in tlieir turn, were rivalled, and in many places superseded 
 by the South Downs. The South Downs were belter suited to the soil 
 than the larger Wiltshires ; and in process of time, on account of the 
 neighbourhood of this county to the metropolis, the Dorsets came in, to 
 supply the London markets with early lambs. The Dorsets are never bred 
 in Surrey. The aged, or dropt-horned Dorset and Somersetshire ewes 
 are purchased in the autumn by the light-land farmers of nearly the whole 
 of the county (chalk lands excepted), in order to rear early lambs for the 
 London markets. They are sold in the spring to the graziers of Essex 
 and other counties to be fattened, but there are no flocks of Dorset sheep 
 permanently kept in any part of the county. Used in this way the Dorsets 
 extend from Guildford, or the extremity of the Hog's Back, to Ewell, and 
 from Shackleford, or Pepperharrow in the south, to Sheer in the east. The 
 grass-lambs, as they were termed, did not obtain so high a price in the 
 market as the house-lambs, but they gave less trouble in the rearing, and 
 the management of them was not so expensive. They were generally 
 ready for the butcher in April or May, and the ewes were fattened and 
 sold in the following autumn. 
 
 Our friend, Mr. Baker, of Reigate, informs the author that the South Downs 
 are the prevailing, and almost the only breed in the neighbourhood of that 
 town, and in tlie whole of that part of the county ; and that it is tlie black- 
 faced and black-legged variety of this breed — a lighter colour considerably 
 lessening the supposed value of the sheep here. If any cross is admitted, it is 
 one with the West-country down sheep, which seem to suit, more than any 
 others, this soil and pasture. These West-country down sheep are mostly 
 from down ewes, which were sent into Somersetshire to their best rams, 
 in order to obtain an increase of size, and their produce in due time returned. 
 In the neighbourhood of Bletchingley the South Downs are the stock- 
 sheep, but the Dorset and West-country down sheep are kept for lambing. 
 After all, Surrey presents a motley collection of sheep — the native heath 
 sheep, the Wiltshires, the South Downs, the Dorsets, the Mendips, the 
 Berkshire, the Anglo- Merino, the Bomney Marsh, and the Leicesters. 
 The three latter are few in number, and scarcely taken into account in 
 the computation of the produce of wool. 
 
 In 1800 there were supposed to be 283,000 short-woolled sheep in 
 Surrey, yielding 3540 packs of wool. The average length of the fibre was 
 3 inches, or nearly the same as the underbill South Down. The calcu- 
 lated produce of wool in 1828 was 4127 packs, and the length of the fibre 
 was 3^ inches ; the number of sheep would, therefore, be nearly the 
 same *. We now take a direction north-west to 
 
 * The author acknowledges much obligation to Mr. T. Di-cwitt, jun. 
 
THE HAMPSHIRE SHEEP. 241 
 
 BERKSHIRE. 
 
 On entering Berkshire from Surrey, the traveller finds a light, and 
 sandy, and barren soil, which, among other breeds, still maintains a sinall 
 ill -formed sheep, with black face and legs, a light fleece of not more than 
 a pound and a half in weight, but the wool being fine and soft, and the meat 
 remarkably tine-flavoured. Extending westward on the borders of Hamp- 
 shire there is much forest and unproductive ground, where the sheep are 
 few, and not of good quality. Towards the centre of the county the old 
 Berkshire breed used to be found. Most of them were horned, but some 
 were polled : they had generally black faces, Roman noses, black or 
 mottled legs, and long tails : some few, however, had white or mottled 
 faces. They wei'e strong, active, and tall, and folded well ; and when 
 fattened grew to an enormous size, but it generally took a long time to 
 make them fat, Mr. Herbert says that " they were next in weight to the old 
 Leicester breeds, but higher than them on the legs. The wethers, when 
 moderately fat, weighed from 10 to 13 stones, and, when fattened for prize 
 show, they averaged from 16 to 22 stones*." The wool, although some- 
 what coarse, ranked among Ae short varieties. 
 
 The first cross of this breed, and an improvement too, was — as in the 
 greater part of this district — with the Wiltshires ; but the produce of this 
 experiment, although they folded almost as well as the old Berkshires, were 
 too heavy for the general character of the soil, and difficult to fatten. The 
 South Downs gradually spread here, and etfected a complete revolution in 
 the character of the sheep ; and, with few exceptions, the Berkshire sheep 
 are now either pure South Downs, or very deeply crossed by them. Some 
 traces of the primitive sheep, but much improved by the South Downs, are 
 found, mixed with Wiltshires, in the Vale of White-horse, In the Vale of 
 Kennett there is a heavier sheep variously crossed ; but the chalk-hills are 
 in the full possession of the South Downs, except that there are at the foot 
 of the hills, and in other parts of Berkshire, many Dorset sheep, and some 
 crosses that do not answer quite so well, in order to supply the metropolitan 
 market with early lamb. 
 
 The number of sheep kept in Berkshire has scarcely altered since 1800. 
 Mr. Luccock computed them at 306,600, the weight of the fleece being 
 3^ lbs., and the number of packs 4151. The average weight of the fleece 
 is now 3i lbs., and the number of packs 4471. 
 
 HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 In many of the open and uncultivated parts of this county, the same 
 sheep is to be found which has been described as prevailing on similar 
 localities in Surrey. The sheep that used to inhabit the more fruitful dis- 
 tricts bore some resemblance to the AViltshires that will next pass in 
 review, but had a few essential points of difference. They were horned, 
 tall, light and narrow in the carcase, and usuallv with white faces and legs. 
 It can scarcely be said that they have improved ; they have disappeared : 
 although it would be difficult to trace the crossing which could produce the 
 short-legged, round-barrelled animal that is now found, content with 
 short pasture, and easily fattened. The Western and the South Down sheep 
 hold this county between them. The villages of East and AVest Meon used 
 to be said to form the boundary between these breeds, but this was per- 
 fectly imaginary. It would be no easy task to describe the precise dis- 
 tinction between them. The South Downs may probably be traced to 
 some admixture of a midland breed with the native one of the southern 
 
 * British Farmer's Magazine, November, 1830, p. 438, The old stone of 8 lbs. is still 
 retained in this work. 
 
342 SHEEP. 
 
 distriot. The West-country Downs derive tliclr crossing, as their name 
 would seem to import, from sheep farther west, and mostlj', as liiis been 
 already stated, from Somersetshire*. The Hampshire West-country sheep 
 arc probably a little larg-er and coarser than the South Downs, more 
 woolly about the face, and not so black in the face and legs ; they cannot 
 be stocked so closely, some say almost in the proportion of three to two ; 
 but many of these distinctions are rapidly passing away. The sheep-farms 
 are numerous throughout the county, particularly towards the north, on 
 account of the excellent food for this kind of sheep which such a locality 
 affords, and because the majority of the farms could not be cultivated 
 without them. 
 
 The management of the sheep in the neighbourhood of Winchester, as 
 described by Mr. Kirkpatrick, will afford a competent notion of the mode 
 of sheep-farming in this county. The farmer does not consider the profit 
 on early lambs as equivalent to the advantages afforded by keeping 
 South Downs. He stocks very hard, and feeds his land as closely as possible, 
 and this can only be done with South Downs. When the food is all eaten 
 off, the farmer carries straw upon the ground, and pens the sheep at night 
 upon it ; which not only affords them a comfortable bed and protection 
 from the rot, but being well trampled into the ground, mixed with the 
 dung, forms a very valuable manure, whrch is carried on the ground at 
 the least possible expense. As soon as this is well trodden in, the field is 
 ploughed, and this mode of proceeding is thought to be a most effective 
 mode of manuring and cleaning the ground. Some farmers, however, 
 occupying considerable portions of land, still adhere to the old custom 
 of rearing lambs for the early markets, and part with the whole of their 
 stock every year. The Dorset ewe is occasionally used, but preference is 
 given to the West-country Down ewe, crossed by the South Down ram. 
 
 Mr. Kennedy states that "the sheep-farms in Hampshire generally con- 
 sist of one-third pasture land, and two-thirds arable. Their having winter 
 or summer pasture depends on a variety of circumstances. If the sheep 
 are put out to feed during the winter, the charge is from 5.9. to 7s. per head 
 for six months' keep. Sheep and wool form a very considerable proportion 
 of the dependence of the farmer in this county, the latter being relied on 
 for the payment of one-fourth or more of the rent. The average prices 
 for the last ten years have been, for ewes, 2Ss. ; for two-tooth wedders, 
 24s. ; for lambs, 18s. ; and for wool, nearly Is. 2d. per lb.+" 
 
 Some flocks of the pure Merinos are still kept in Hampshire. The 
 cluef and insuperable objections to them have been already stated. A 
 cfoss between the Merino ewe and the South Down ram has been tried, 
 and has its advocates. It will probably supersede the pure Merinos, 
 
 In Hampshire, exclusive of the Isle of Wight, 516,600 sheep used to 
 be kept, yielding a fleece of 3 lbs. each, and amounting to 6457. The 
 number of sheep had somewhat increased, but the rot has been so pecu- 
 liarly destructive in this and the neighbouring county, Surrey, that it is 
 doubtful whether so many sheep are now bred. The nature of the soil, and 
 the character of the farms, in a great part of Hampshire have also prevented 
 
 * Mr. Herbert, who is no mean authoritj'^, assigns a different pedigree to the Hamp- 
 shire Sonth Downs. He says, that " the black-faced sheep luisbanded in Hampshire are 
 for the most part a cross between the ohi bhick-faced Berkshire and the pure South 
 Down breeds, as are most of those fattened in the west of Sussex." It has been said, 
 but without proper authority, that Mr. Ellman's South Downs are a cross of the Berk- 
 shires with the native Down sheep. The country owes much to Mr. Ellman, but it is 
 probable that the principle which chiefly guided him was "^selection from the native 
 breed." 
 
 t The Present State of the Tenancy, p. 132. 
 
THE ISLE OF WIGHT SHEEP. 
 
 the fleece from becoming heavier, so that the twenty-eight years wh\c\ 
 elapsed between the surveys of Messrs. Luccock and Hubbard prodi 
 very little change eitlier in the character or the number of the 
 
 ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 The author is indebted to Mr. R. G. Kirkpatrick, of Fairlee, for some 
 valuable information as to the character and management of sheep in this 
 island. The Isle of Wight cannot be said to have any breed of its own ; 
 but it is the general custom in autumn to purchase ewes forward in lamb, 
 either at Weyhill, or some other fair in the west, and this for the purpose of 
 rearing early lambs. They are chiefly Dorsets or Somersets crossed with the 
 South Down ram. The South Down ewe will not so well answer the purpose 
 of the fiirmer; for although the lamb, in order to sell well in the London 
 market, must be polled, yet the South Down ewe is so much later in season 
 than the Dorset, that it is impossible to obtain early lambs from them. 
 A cross between the Dorset or Somerset ewe and the South Down ram 
 produces the lamb which is best suited for the London market. It par- 
 takes much more of the appearance and nature of the ram than of the 
 ewe, being almost uniformly hornless, and having a black muzzle and 
 legs, and short wool, and therefore passing in the market as an early 
 South Down, the flesh of which is more highly esteemed by the epicure 
 than that of the pure Dorset, or of the Somerset. The profit depends on 
 the price of lamb in the London market, and that is regulated by the earli- 
 ness of the period at which it is brought. 
 
 Some Isle of Wight farmers, however, dispute the propriety of this prac- 
 tice. They state that, owing to the hardy nature of the South Down sheep, 
 three of them can be kept in thriving condition, on food that would scarcely 
 support two Dorsets, or Somersets. It is likewise observed that if the 
 latter sheep are turned into a field with scanty fare they are apt to straj', 
 while the South Down quietly begins to make the best of what he can get. 
 Allowing the truth of this, the majority of the island farmers adhere to the 
 West-country sheep. It is a larger animal, and yields more wool, and pro- 
 duces its lamb earlier. This last circumstance is decisive, for early lambs 
 best suit the system pursued by the Isle-of- Wight farmer. His hay and tur- 
 nips enable him to fatten off early lambs ; but were the lambs to fall late, 
 the turnips would be spoiled before they could be consumed, and he has 
 no water meadows, or grass crops on which he could fatten the lamb that 
 falls a few weeks later. 
 
 There are, nevertheless, several flocks of pure South Downs kept on the 
 Isle of Wight. The ridge of hills which runs across the island from east 
 to west, and widens so considerably towards the south and west, presents 
 a locality and a pasture very little different from their native Sussex hills ; 
 and the Isle of Wight sheep are not inferior to the majority of the parent 
 flock. An old clothier, speaking of the wool, says, that " the dov/n 
 wool is rather finer than the Wiltshire," — this is the character of the Sus- 
 sex South Down — but " inclosures and large farms have gradually intro- 
 duced a larger sort of sheep," — the Somersets and Dorsets, that have beeu 
 referred to — " coarser and deeper in the staple, and in the same sort, or 
 greater proportion, lessen the quantity of short or clothing wool*. ' 
 
 According to Mr. Luccock, the number of sheep kept in the island was 
 about 52,000, and 8000 lambs; the weight of each fleece 3i lbs., and the 
 number of packs 800. The altered character of the sheep has now raised 
 
 * Agricultural Magazine, March, 1803, 
 
 R 2 
 
244 SHEEP. 
 
 tlie fleece to 4 lbs., and the number of packs to 1016, consequently the 
 
 '.'Uinber of sheep has somewhat increased. 
 
 a 
 
 WILTSHIRE. 
 
 The manner in which Mr. Luccock introduces his accour.t of the Wilt- 
 t.hlre sheep exhibits some quiet but genuine eloquence. " Nature, and 
 the modes of husbandry adopted in Wiltshire, divide the county into two 
 parts. The south-eastern division is distinguished by an amazing extent of 
 high and chalky land, where open downs succeed to each other, and to the 
 tired eye of the stranger appear cold, and dreary, and comfortless. Yet 
 here the reflecting traveller will notice the features and the soil of the coun- 
 try, and the immense swells of chalky earth, which seem the general deposit 
 of that»substance ; and he will observe that, though ill adapted for the habita- 
 tion of man, the wilds are every where traversed by numerous flocks of sheep, 
 evincing that the driest wastes may be rendered productive by human industry. 
 He will likewise observe how well the animals that graze on it, in their struc- 
 ture and their habitudes, are suited to the soil. The farms required an 
 animal light and active, able to pass without injury over a large space in a 
 little time, to climb without difficulty the most abrupt steeps of a billowy 
 district — to endure the heat of the summer sun without a shelter, and to 
 subsist upon the herbage which it could crop from the driest downs. As 
 the fold is the chief object for which flocks in this district are kept, they must 
 travel far at morning and evening to their pasture and their lodgment. For 
 circumstances like these, every one who observes the Wiltshire breed of 
 sheep will find it adapted in its structure, disposition, and lightness of 
 fleece*." 
 
 These Down sheep shall first pass m review, exceedingly diff'erent in 
 their former and present state and character ; yet in both illustrating the 
 description which Mr. Luccock gives of them. The sheep that used to be 
 kept on the Downs were the Wiltshire horned ones, with large head and 
 eyes, Roman-nosed, long-faced, wide nostrils, horns falling back behind 
 the ears, chest tolerably wide and deep, back straight, legs somewhat 
 awkwardly long, and the bones too large. The wool was at that time much 
 prized ; it was of a medium length and fine, and the fleece weighed from 2 
 to 2^ lbs. The ewe had not any wool beneath the belly. 
 
 These sheep were rather greedy feeders and somewhat slow in fattening, 
 but when fattened they occasionally attained very great weight. Mr. Her- 
 bert says " that in the week immediately preceding the Christmas of 1788, 
 he saw hanging in a butcher's shop, in London, three Wiltshire crocks 
 (crooked) — so called from the shape of the horn, turning back behind the 
 ear, and bending over the cheeks — the bare carcases of which averaged 
 33 stone 1 lb. each. The weight of these wethers, when but moderately 
 fattened, used to be from 14 to 18 stones each. The Wiltshires were the 
 largest breed of fine-woolled sheep f." 
 
 The history of one of the Wiltshire lambs is also handed down to us. 
 " It was a twin lamb, and being bred by a ewe that was thought incapable 
 of fattening two, and being inferior in size to the other, it was early taken 
 from its dam, in order to be brought up by hand. Its food was cows' milk 
 and oats, and it was rather more than half-a-year old when killed. Its 
 carcase, which for fatness and delicacy of colour was pronounced to be one 
 of the best ever sold in Smithfield, weighed more than 24 lbs. pet- quarter, 
 besides 14 lbs, of loose fat J." 
 
 * Luccock on Sheep, p. 273. 
 
 t British Farmer's Magazine, Nov. 1830, p. 438. Lawrence on Cattle, p. 402. 
 
 X Coinmcrc. and Agricnl. Mag., Aittl, 1800. 
 
THE WILTSHIRE SHEEP, 245 
 
 These sheep not oiiiy prevailed on the Wiltshire Downs, and were much 
 and deservedly valued there, but were found in considerable numbers in 
 North Devon, Somersetshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berlishire. They were 
 a peculiar breed, differing in the shape of the horn, and in other points, from 
 the sheep of any other part of the kingdom, and were probably indigenous 
 to the Wiltshire Downs. If they were rather slow in feeding, they were 
 excellent folding sheep, and enabled more corn to be grown in Wiltshire 
 in proportion to its size, than in any other county in England. The genuine 
 South Downs were then little known, or could scarcely be s?V. to have 
 existence ; and the wool of the Wiltshire sheep was highly priz^ % It was 
 that from which the second, or super-broad cloth was chiefly y^. ^*. 
 
 On account of the comparatively slow fattening of tb^.fect 4^, and the 
 scantiness of the pasture, some ingenious contrivances we Csorted to, in 
 order to promote the condition of the flock. If it were possible, they were 
 turned on better grass a little while before they were folde<*, and had leisure 
 to chew the cud, and to digest their food during the hours of rest ; and in 
 the morning, their stomachs being emptied, they were not only able, but 
 eager to climb the hills to their daily pasture f. 
 
 The "Wiltshire sheep-grower, as may be supposed, was always ready to 
 get rid of his young stock ; and a great part of the wether lambs were dis- 
 posed of soon after midsummer: others were kept until the succeeding year, 
 and this, perhaps, was the most profitable way of managing them, fn fact, 
 the Wiltshire men were solicitous only to keep a good stock of breeding ewes, 
 and the lambs were destined to arrive at maturity in other counties. The 
 graziers farther northward came into Hampshire and Wiltshire for the 
 stock with which the London market was afterwards supplied. 
 
 These Wiltshires have now passed quite away. They were, to a certain 
 degree, improved by selection of the smaller, the better formed, and the 
 more kindly feeders among the native breed ; but most of all were they 
 indebted to the South Downs, by whom they were crossed again and again, 
 until almost every trace- of the old AViltshire breed had vanished, and a 
 useful variety of the South Down remained — only distinguishable from the 
 true Sussex sheep by somewhat larger size, and lighter colour, and a lighter 
 and finer fleece. The advantage of the change will be sufficiently evident 
 from one authenticated fact related by Dr. Parry. " A Mr. Dike had a 
 farm of 230 acres of arable ground. Until 1791, the flock consisted of 
 irom 320 to 360 breeding ewes, which produced 300 lambs annually. 
 After 1791, 430 South Down ewes were substituted. These brought 430 
 lambs, and yielded in all an annual profit of 304/. 10s. more than had been 
 obtained from the Wiltshire flock J." 
 
 * Agricultural Mag., October, 1801. 
 
 f Marshall's Southern Counties, vol. i. 
 
 + Agiicul. Mag., Aug. 1806. 
 
 A somewhat cruel, but necessary experiment, was made .ibout this time in order to 
 ascertain what breed of sheep would best bear hard feeding. The Duke of Bedford 
 ordered seven each of South ])o\vns, Cotswolds, and Wiltshires to be turned into a bare 
 pasture, in November 30, 1793, and to be kept there during the winter. Hay was given 
 to them only when snow was on the ground, and then in small quantities. At the end 
 of the winter they were weighed : the Wiltshires had lost 120 lbs., the Cotswolds 98 lbs., 
 and the South Downs only 49 lbs. On the following November, the same sheep were 
 put to turnips, and remained until the 7th of April ; hay being given in small quantities. 
 The Cotswolds gained 1 1 lbs., the Wiltshires 37, and the South Downs 38, This experi- 
 ment was iar from satisfactory, for no account was taken of the quantity of food con- 
 sumed by each. The weather was exceedingly bad during the whole of the time, 
 which accounts for the little improvement made by any of them. 
 
 A third experiment was more to be depended upon, viz. : — the proportion between the 
 live and dead weight of each. One of each was fairly selected, and killed on the 8th of 
 
246 SHEEP. 
 
 When the present Wiltshifo South Downs were thus formed and esta- 
 blished, the average weight of the fleece was not at first more than 2\ lbs. ; 
 but that artificial system of husbandry which gradually increased the weight 
 of the carcase, added also to that of the wool, which is now usually at least 
 2| lbs. — some farmers say from 2^ to 4 lbs. That additional weight was 
 in some degree accounted for by the closer coat whicli the improved animal 
 wore ; but more so by the increased size of the fibre. Perhaps the fleece 
 of the Wiltshire sheep has changed as little as that of any breed, or even 
 lerjs than any : but it has changed witli all the rest. The evidence of Mr, 
 Cunnington before the Committee of the House of Lords, in 182S, is 
 decisive on tbs point : — "In 181.5, a portion of Wiltshire wool, of the 
 gross \v?i(^^^" " 1060 lbs., yielded 60 lbs. of the best quality. In 1827, 
 the wool on f^^^ ,ime farm did not yield any of that quality. Of the second 
 quality, in 18I5,^it yielded 498 lbs. ; in 1827, there were but 287 lbs.; but 
 tliere was a great accumulation of the middle sorts, unfit for making broad- 
 cloths. The greater part was then sold in Frome market, but it is now 
 sent to the north, und principally used for flannels, and baizes, and goods 
 of that description." This change will doubtless proceed, and it is the 
 interest of the farmer that it should do so. He is getting as much as 
 he used to do by his wool, and considerably more than he used to do by 
 the carcase. 
 
 The number of sheep on the Wiltshire Downs is nearly the same as in 
 1800, namely, about 583,500, and yielding 6684 packs of wool. 
 
 A delineation is here given of a fair sample of the present Willshire 
 wool. 
 
 m 
 
 1. I/s appearance, tvhen viewed at a Ifansparent oliject. 
 
 2. Dillo, as an opaque object. 
 
 Tiie fibre is one-five-hundredth part of an inch in diameter, and the 
 serrations are 1860 in the space of an inch : they are well defined, but not 
 hooked., 
 
 The ^ups in No. 2 are not well defined — they have more the appearance 
 of serrations than of distinct cups. 
 
 This developement of the fibre perfectly agrees with the felting and the 
 
 April. The WiUshire weighed 22 st. 4 lbs. li"e weight, and 10 st. 4 lbs. dead,— being in 
 the proportion of '20 to 1 1§ ; the Coltswold, 20 st. 5 lbs. live, and !2 st. 2 lbs. dead,— being 
 also in the proportion of 20 to 11^; and the South Down was 17 st. live, and 10 st. 3 lbs. 
 dead weight, — being in the proportion of 20 to 12. The little difference as to their proof 
 is singular ; but, after all, it is to be recollected that these experiments refer to two breeds 
 of sheep, — tl.e Wiltsibiros, that are extinct ; and the Oheviots, that were then mere 
 shadows of what they now are. They arc satisfactory, however, as to the excellence of 
 the South Down breeds.— Auuals of Agriculture, vol. xxui., p. 275. 
 
THE WILTSHIRE SHEEP. 247 
 
 uses of the wool. It is softer, because it is iiner than the picklock South 
 Down, but its felting properties are not so g"eat, and it is therefore used 
 for somewhat inferior purposes. The price c f ihe Wiltshire wool has cer- 
 tainly advanced within the last few years, aud now seems to be steady at 
 from Is. 4c?. to Is. 6rf. per lb. 
 
 Mr. Carr of Standerwick has kindly communicated -tlie following account 
 of the South Downs in the neighbourhood of Warminster. " They were first 
 brought particularly into notice by Mr. Rickwood of Longbridge Deveriil. 
 They are active in searching for food, but otherwise of a quiet nature, and 
 bearing the fold well. About 15 years ago they were attempted to be 
 crossed by the Hampshire sheep, but the experiment did not succeed, and 
 is now abandoned ; the size was somewhat increased, but the propensity 
 to fatten was considerably diminished. There is some defect of form in 
 the fore-quarter, and particularly behind the shoulder. The average 
 weight of the ewe is from 14 lbs. to 18 lbs. per quarter, and that of the 
 wether from 16 to 20 lbs. ; but they have been fattened to 40 lbs. per 
 quarter. A four-tooth wetlier will usually eat 15 lbs. of turnips, or 
 20 lbs. of vetches, per day. The working stock have the down feed, 
 with occasionally a portion of the second year's ley ; and in the autumn 
 some turnips. In the winter they depend chiefly on hay, unless under- 
 stocked, there seldom being much grass left at that season of the year. 
 The wool varies from 2^ to 3 lbs. on the ewe, and reaches to 4 or 4^ 
 oil the wether. The chalk and chalky loams produce the softest wool, and 
 the red flinty loams the harshest : both are generally sent into Yorkshire and 
 Glamorganshire." According to this gentleman, if there is any dift"erence 
 in the wool, it consists in its being finer than it was ten years ago. The 
 ewes seldom produce more than one lamb at each birth, and the general 
 deficiency of lambs, including barren ewes, &c., is about 15 per cent. The 
 lambs are tailed in April, and castrated in May, the iron being used for 
 both purposes : the operators are persons who make it their profession; and 
 so skilful are some of them, that, out of 4000 lambs, Mr. Carr lost only 
 three. The value of the ewe, taking an average often years, is about 24s., 
 and that of a lamb 15s. or 16s., the wool being from Is. to Is. Id. per lb. ; 
 and, on the whole, sheep-farming is the sheet-anchor of South-west Wilt- 
 sliive husbandry. 
 
 Mr. Benett, M.P. for AViltshire, still continues a zealous breeder and 
 advocate of the Merinos, and there are some flocks of these sheep and of 
 crosses from them in various parts of the county. The soil and the 
 climate seemed to agree better with them here than in any other district in 
 the kingdom, and they also here found a breed of sheep, which they could 
 more rapidly improve, and with vvhich they could more perfectly amalga- 
 mate than in any other district. Mr. Bartley gives an interesting account 
 of this : — " I had twelve ewes shorn, the fleeces weighing 6i lbs. per 
 fleece. These sheep descended from W^iltshire ewes carrying fleeces of 
 about 3-^ lbs. only ; but, by repeated crossings — the first and second by 
 liis Majesty's ram — they now approach very nearly to the entire Spanish 
 blood, evinced also by the following circumstances: — like ewes of the 
 Spanish breed they are hornless, whereas Wiltshire ewes as well as rams 
 are well known to be horned sheep. The fleeces are close, compact, equal 
 in weight with the Spanish, and acknowledged by competent judges to be 
 equal in goodness too*." 
 
 It is to be hoped that the Merino breed will continue to be preserved 
 by Mr. Benett and other zealous agriculturists ; for the change which 
 
 * Agricultural Magazioe, April, 1803. 
 
248 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 has taken place in the generJ. character of the British short wool, and its 
 conversion from a carding to a combing material, render it far more likely 
 than in former times that ont, or an occasional, cross with the Merino 
 may be of essential service. That fineness and softness, as well as length 
 of fibre, may be communicated, ^Yhich would materially add to the value of 
 the fleece. 
 
 Of the short-wooUed sheep of tl^e low-land pastures of Wiltshire it will 
 not be requisite to say much. The South Downs there also prevail, but 
 they are of a larger size and heavier fleece. They are mixed with some 
 Dorsets and Somersets for tlie sake of early Iambs. Tlie water-meadows 
 also afford abundant, but, occasionally, dangerous food for the sheep and 
 lambs. In April the grass is deep and rank upon them ;. this is folded 
 off by the sheep and lambs as close and naked as possible : the water 
 is then turned over them again, and, in the course of six or eight weeks, 
 they produce two tons of hay per acre. The water-meadows can only be 
 fed upon with safety in this early period of the spring. The number of 
 sheep kept on the pasture-country is still, as it was in 1800, about 117,500 ; 
 but they liave increased in carcase far more than the hill-sheep, and the 
 number of packs of wool is now 1958, instead of 1460 *. 
 
 DORSETSHIRE. 
 
 Dortei liani 
 
 This county possesses a valuable breed of sheep, peculiar to itself, yet 
 bearing some not indistinct resemblance to those on the still more distant 
 coast of Devon. They are chiefly collected within a circle extending ten or 
 
 * The system of comm.onage which once prevailed in this part of Wiltshire is now 
 nearly abolished. The common sheep down was open for the common flock durinj^ 
 Bummer and winter, and the unsowu field or the summer field until it was ploughed for 
 wheat. The sheep had then only the down, until the harvest was over, and the other 
 fields clear. After that, they had these fields and the downs, until the weather obliged 
 
THE DORSET SHEEP. 240 
 
 twelve miles from Dorcliester. Most of tliem, at least of the pure breed, 
 arc entirely white, the face is long and broad, and there is a tuft of wool on 
 the forehead ; the shoulders are low but broad, the back straight, the chest 
 deep, the loins broad, the legs rather beyond a moderate length, and the 
 bone small. They are, as their form would indicate, a hardy and useful 
 breed ; they are good folding sheep, and the mutton is well flavoured : they 
 average, when three years old, from 16 to 20 lbs. a quarter, 
 
 Their principal distinction and value is the forwardness of the ewes, vho 
 take the ram at a much earlier period of the year than any other species, 
 and thus supply the market with lamb at the time when it fetches the 
 highest price. They were said to bear lambs twice in the year ; and there 
 are occasional instances of this, although tlie period between the dropjiing 
 of one lamb and the conception of the second can only be five weeks. 
 When kept on luxuriant food, they will often admit the male ten or twelve 
 days after yeaning, and continue to suckle the first lamb after they are 
 pregnant with a second. 
 
 Their real value, however, consists in the early period of the year when 
 they may become impregnated. Tliis, with proper management, and 
 
 the owners to give them hay, and then were folded in the arable fields in a common fold ; 
 but when hay began to be given, every man found his own fold and his own hay, — the 
 common shepherd feeding and penning the whole. When the ewes were near yeaning, 
 the owners took them hometo the inclosed meadows, and by the time that Ihey had 
 yeaned the water-meadows were ready for them. These were, in some cases, common 
 fur the sheep-stock ; at other times they were private property. While the sheep were 
 feeding on the water-meadows, they were usually penned on tire barley-land, and by tha 
 time that the water-grass was eaten, the other was fit for the plough. 
 
 In this state of commonage there was necessarily a great scarcity of winter food ; and 
 therefore it was usual to sell off the old ewes and the wether lambs about Michaelmas^ 
 and to put out the ewe lambs to winter eitber on the pasture-land or turnips in other 
 parts of the county, or frequently in the adjacent county, — Davis's Survey of Wiltshiie, 
 p. 17. 
 
25C 8HEKP. 
 
 sufficient and luxuriant food, will take place as soon as April, so that the 
 lamb will drop in September. About the end of August, or the beginning 
 of December, these ewes are sold at the fairs in the neighbourhood of, or on 
 the road to London, and the early lambs are brought up as house-lambs, to 
 be ready for the market at Christmas. 
 
 By many farmers the practice of house-suckling the lambs is managed 
 on a large scale. By all of them, however, a building is usually set apart 
 for this purpose, divided into a certain number of coops for the division of 
 the lambs according to their ages. Every evening the ewes are turned into 
 the respective divisions of the lamb-house, and each mother speedily recog- 
 nizes her offspring. They remain together until the following morning, 
 when they are separated, and the ewes driven back to the pasture. 
 
 About a couple of hours after this the ewes that have lost their lambs, or 
 whose lambs have been sold, are driven in, and held until their udders are 
 perfectly emptied by the lambs, when they are returned to their separate 
 inclosuie. At twelve o'clock, the natural mothers are again brought, and 
 they remain about an hour or two. At four o'clock, the foster-mothers are 
 compelled to pay another visit of an hour's length ; and at eight o'clock, 
 the mothers return for the night. The greatest attention is paid to the 
 cleanliness of the place, and the lambs are supplied with good wheat straw 
 for them to nibble, and pieces of chalk to lick. 
 
 The ewes are kept in a near and well-sheltered pasture during the day, 
 and are plentifully supplied with green rouen hay, grains, turnips, rye, 
 tares, clover, or whatever the farmer may have to give them ; and he occa- 
 sionally varies the food, so that they may be kept in the highest condition, 
 and with a full flush of milk. If their milk should fail, even but a little 
 while, the farmer knows full well that the lamb is lost to the market, for 
 no system of forcing can afterwards bring him again to the requisite state 
 of condition. 
 
 At about eight weeks old, the lambs are generally fit for the market, and 
 they will then sell at a high price ; but, after December, the price very 
 rapidly diminishes. 
 
 Tiie lambs which are dropped late in December, or the beginning of 
 January, are put with the mothers on dry, warm, inclosed pastures, and the 
 ewes are supplied with turnips and sweet hay, so that they may have a 
 plentiful flow of milk : they are also from time to time carefully examined 
 in order that it may be certain that there is no deficiency of milk. The 
 process of grass-feeding, however, has already been described. 
 
 The wool of the Dorset sheep is certainly inferior to that of the South 
 Down. It is of an intermediate quality between the short Down and the 
 Devon, and is chiefly used in the making of second, or livery cloths, of 
 which there is a manufactory at Uminster. 
 
 There are few counties which, taken throughout, bear so many sheep on 
 a given number of acres, for the number is calculated at more than 632,000, 
 and computing the weiglit of each fleece at Sflbs., which has been about 
 the average for many years, the quantity of wool grown will be 9900 or 
 10,000 packs. On the proper sheep farms, the stock, including the lambs, 
 is more than two sheep per acre. These, however, are not all Dorset sheep. 
 The pure breed seems to be concentrated around Dorchester, and even there 
 some South Downs are found, either pure or crossing the Dorset. The 
 breed between the Dorset and the South Down is a very useful one. It 
 grazes well, grows to a considerable size, and produces a fleece weighing 
 from Z\ to 4 lbs,, and somewhat finer than the pure Dorset. This breed has 
 rapidly increased within the last five or six years, and threatens to supersede 
 toth the Dorset and the South Down. Attempts have been made to cross 
 
THE DEVONSHIRE SHEEP, 251 
 
 tlie Dorsets, and especially this improved breed of the Dorsets, witli the 
 Devonsliire notts ; but these experiments have not succeeded, the carcase 
 has not been much improved, and tlie wool has been rendered long, coarse, 
 and yet light, and therefore unprofitable. Crosses have also been attemitted 
 witli the Leicester, but these also have failed. 
 
 Having proceeded eight or ten miles from Dorchester, the Dorsets in a 
 manner disappear, and the country is occupied by the South Downs. There 
 has been a long struggle, and with variable success between these breeds. 
 The author's friend Mr. Spooner, now of Southampton, says that some 
 years ago, when wool was the grand desideratum, the South Down breed 
 was rapidly increasing, and was the most profitable ; but that latterly, since 
 the wool has been almost a secondary object, the Dorsets have been more 
 cultivated for the qualities that have been just described. Still regarding 
 the whole of the county, the South Downs constitute the most numerous 
 breed ; they are shorter feeders, and live on scantier keep than the Dorsets. 
 The Dorset mutton is largest, but grown at greater expense, and never 
 equals the South Down in flavour. 
 
 In the Isle of Portland, and formerly extending more than they do now 
 into the neighbourhood of Weymouth, and about Wareham and Poole, 
 there is a very small breed of sheep. They are horned, short in the car- 
 case, and many of tliem black-muzzled, and having black and white wool 
 intermixed on the lower part of the leg. When fat, they do not weigh 
 more than 8 or 10 lbs. per quarter, and the fleece varies from 1^ to 2 lbs. 
 The flesh is delicate, and somewhat sought after ; but the breed is little cul- 
 tivated, except in the localities which Nature has assigned to it. 
 
 DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 In the counties which have passed under review, the short-woolled sheep 
 have formed almost the exclusive stock. Some flocks of the Leicesters have 
 probably found their way to a few localities that afforded sufficiently rich 
 pasturage for them, but they have not been established in sufficient numbers 
 to alter the general character and wool of the district. In the tract nov/ to 
 be reviewed, the case is very different ; the long-woolled slieep will be 
 found contending with the short-wools, in almost every district j and in 
 the majority of the counties out-numbering and superseding them. The 
 short-woolled sheep, howevei', will at present be alone considered. 
 
 The short, or rather middle-woolled sheep of Devonshire, a few of which 
 are still seen in the southern part of the county, and ranging over the 
 greater part of the hills in all the northern districts, but most numerous on 
 tlie forests of Dartmoor and Exmoor, are everywhere of nearly the same 
 character, and betra\', on a smaller scale, a great affinity with the Dorsets. 
 They have white faces and legs, generally horned, but some without horns. 
 They are small in the head and neck, and small in the bone every where, the 
 carcase is narrow and flat-sided, and they weigh, when fat, from 9 to 12 lbs. 
 per quarter. The fleece is 3 or 4 lbs. in weight in the yolk, and the 
 wool is short, but with a coarse and hairy top*. Great numbers of them, 
 but not so many as formerly, are kept on the hills, and on the commons 
 which, in this part of the country, are almost all covered with heath ; but 
 
 * From a very early period, the Devonshire wool has borne the character of being of 
 an inferior quality. It was stated (p. 213) to have been so, when the Devonshire inanu- 
 facturers petitioned Edward IV. to permit them to mingle flocks with their wool, in the 
 making of their serge cloths, because the wo(/l was so gross and stubborn, that clotli could 
 not be made thereof, without mixing it with flocks. The Leicesters are working wondtrs 
 with the Devonshire aboriginal sheep, but a considerable length of time must yet pass 
 before the greater part of the sheep will yield a vrool worthy of th.is beautiful county. 
 
252 SHEEP, 
 
 the ewes are taken into the inclosures to lamb. Thevvetliers remain on the 
 downs fur t-lie sake of tlieir wool, until they are five or six, or even eight or ten 
 years old, except that in very severe winters they are taken into tlie inclo- 
 sures in order to prevent their being buried in the snow. From their natu- 
 ral hardiness, however, they are not easily injured by cold or wet, or short 
 keep. The mutton is delicate, and finds a ready sale in the metropolitan 
 market ; and the flesh of the old wethers, when it has been hung a suffi- 
 cient length of time, has considerable resemblance to venison*. The dimi- 
 nutive horned sheep kept in the neighbourhood of Okeharnpton, and from 
 which the Dartmoor mutton that supplies the distant markets is chiefly ob- 
 tained, are small Dorsets, or at least very much resemble the smaller Dorset 
 breed. They are fed on the low grounds, and kept until they are four years 
 old. An improved system has, however, been lately introduced with regard 
 to the lambs : the horned ewe is crossed with the Leicester ram ; and from 
 this cross the lambs often become as large in July as the native stock 
 used to be when they had arrived at maturity. They retain much of 
 their original wild character, and it is no unusual thing for some of them, 
 when sent to a distant part of the country, to travel back forty or fifty miles 
 in order to rejoin their companions in the forest. 
 
 Mr. Read, veterinary surgeon, of Crediton, says that the Exmoor sheep 
 grow larger and have a better fleece when they are put on better pasture ; 
 but they are often very troublesome from their disj)osition to break their 
 fences. He adds, tliat one cross with the Leicester ram increases the 
 weight, does not diminish the flavour of the meat, and materially improves 
 the fleece. 
 
 A small quantity of house-lamb s fed in Devonshire. These hill-sheep 
 retain something of the disposition for early impregnation for which tiieir 
 former relatives the Dorsets are distinguished. The lambing begins about 
 Ciiristmas, and the lambs become ready for the market in May. Kept 
 grass, and which in this district is often excellent, is chiefly depended upon 
 as the food of the suckling ewe ; although turnips are sometimes given, 
 with a small portion of hay to prevent their injuring the ewes. 
 
 The South Downs never succeeded well on the heath-clad hills of the 
 Dartmoor sheep. Neither the soil nor the herbage was congenial. Mr. 
 Carpenter, to whom the work on " Cattle " was indebted for many valuable 
 hints, tells a little story in illustration of this. Judge Buller (a nam'e.tliat 
 will not be soon forgotten in Devonshire, the terror of tlie guilty, but the 
 hope of the innocent) purchased a tract of land on Dartmoor. With ail 
 its wildness it had charms for him, for it was the scene of his early days. He 
 built himself a house there, and raised various wail fences, and endeavoured 
 to improve the land so far as it was capable of cultivation : and he stocked 
 it with the hardy, coarse Devonshire steer, and the wild Dartmoor sheep ; 
 and they did well, and the speculation was as profitable as it could be on 
 such a soil and in such a climate. 
 
 He died, and the premises were taken by a young farmer, and not a bad 
 one, from the Ilminster district of Somersetshire. He commenced at Lady- 
 Day, and as the spring advanced he increased his stocK of beasts, and pur- 
 chased 400 South Down sheep. All appeared to be going on well during 
 
 * Mr. Skeavington of Devonport, to whom a proof of this part of the work on Sheep 
 was sent, previous to its finally passing the press, bears a little hardly on the Exmoor 
 slieep. He says, "of all the ngly ill-shaped animals, the original Devon is the worst. 
 It is a very hardy sheep, but li^ht, and thin, and skinny. The meat has not that 
 delicate taste you have given to it. It is perfectly tasteless and insipid, and for this 
 plain reason — that the pastures are so bad, and there is so little depth of soil, that it is 
 impossible to obtain a good herbage." 
 
THE DEVONSHIRE SHEEP. 253 
 
 the sunnier, but in processJ of time a tirue Dartmoor winter set in. " I 
 happened to call upon him," said Mr. Carpenter, " in the month of January, 
 and on looking into his hay-loft, I saw an unusual number of sheep-shins, 
 which had belonged, he told me, to animals that had lately died, and he 
 feared he should lose every one of them. At all events, they were disposed 
 of in quick time by the butcher or by disease ; and he tried no more South . 
 Down sheep, but returned to the ugly old Dartmoors. In fact he wished 
 himself at home in Somersetsliire, paying 4^. per acre rent, rather than oc» 
 cupying his new farm at Dartmoor, at 10?. 
 
 Our friend Mr. Skeavington tells us, that on the more cultivated parts, 
 even in the immediate neighbourhood of Dartmoor, the South Down sheep 
 have been introduced with evident advantage ; and he thinks that if the 
 farmers could be induced so far to deviate from the usage of their fore- 
 fathers as to adopt the system of folding, the South Down sheep would be 
 still more valuable, from their capability of travelling to and from the fold. 
 The lime bill, which on some farms amounts to a very considerable sum, 
 would be reduced, while there would be a manifest increase of the crop 
 from the change of manure ; for he says, and with great propriety, that " a 
 change of manure is as necessary and beneficial to the land as a change of 
 crops." Mr. Wreyford, of Clanaborough, is also partial to the South 
 Down sheep. He thinks that he can keep double the number of the 
 South Downs on the same ground that he can of the Devonshire sheep. 
 
 The Devonshire notts, or polled sheep used, forty or fifty years ago, to 
 be at least middle-woolled, if not short-woolled sheep ; they were probably 
 derived from the Western Downs, and had evidently many of the Down pro- 
 perties about them, but they have now been crossed by the Leicesters ; their 
 wool has been lengthened, and at the same time rendered finer, and, under 
 the name of the Bamptons, they rank among the long-wools, and tliey are 
 not inferior to any breed in early maturity, in weight, and in wool. The 
 South Ham sheep were originally long-woolled. 
 
 The Buckland breed, so called from the village in the neighbourhood of 
 which it used to be most numerous, was once considerably celebrated. It 
 was derived from the Old Hill sheep, but had much degenerated. Some 
 zealous breeders effected its renovation towards the close of the last century, 
 and the comparative fineness of the wool and the good grazing qualities 
 of the breed were recalled by referring once more to the parent stock. 
 
 Very few South Downs are found in any part of Devonshire : they have 
 been tried, but they do not appear to be suited to the soil and produce of 
 this county. There are hills enough, and open and bleak enough, but they 
 are covered with coarse heath, instead of short fine grass, and they have too 
 much wet and poachy ground about them. 
 
 The wool produced in Devonshire used to be manufactured in the same 
 county, not indeed in large factories, but at home and by the family of the 
 principal workman. This old method of working the wool, never very pro- 
 fitable, or consistent with the commercial superiority of England, is now 
 laid aside; but it lingered longest in this south-western portion of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 In very few counties in England has so complete an alteration taken place 
 in the character and produce of the sheep as in Devonshire. When Mr. 
 Luccock compiled his table in 1800, he stated the number of short-woolled 
 sheep to be 436,850, and that of the long-woolled sheep 193,750. The 
 number of packs of short wool were 7280, and of long wool 6458 packs. 
 The number of packs of short wool has now diminished to 2275, but no 
 satisfactory account has been obtained of the increase of the long wool. The 
 fleece of the Dartmoor siieep, as well as the carcase, has been essentially 
 
254 SHEEP, 
 
 altered by a croSs with tne Leicesters ; tlie wetlier at tliree years old wiL 
 now average 24 lbs. the quarter, and the fleece will weigh 6i^ lbs. with the 
 yolk. The fleece has also materially improved in fineness and softness of 
 fibre, and is more useful for many important purposes*. 
 
 CORNWALL. 
 
 Borlase, in his Natural History of Cornwall, says, that '* the sheep of 
 Cornwall in early times were remarkably small, and their fleeces so coarse, 
 tlmt their wool bore no better title than that of Cornish hair ; and, under 
 that name, the cloth made of Cornish wool was allowed to be exported with- 
 out being subject to the customary duty paid for woollen cloth. When culti- 
 vation began to increase, and the cattle to improve in size and goodness, 
 the Cornish had the same privilege conferred on them by grant from Ed- 
 ward the Black Prince, the first Duke of Cornwall, on condition of their 
 paying 4s. for every hundred weightf." 
 
 Anderson, among the valuable records of the oklen time which he has pre- 
 served, gives the comparative price and value of the Cornish wool, at the first 
 identical period, a.d, 1343, when the Black Prince was twelve years of age. 
 Tiie Shropshire wool sold at 14 marks, or 9/. 6s. 8c/. per sack ; the Oxford 
 and Staffordshire at 13 marks ; the Leicester, Gloucester, and Hereford, at 
 12 marks, or 8Z.; and the Cornish wool at 4 marks only, or 21. 13.?. Ad. per 
 sack. In 1G02, Carew says of the sheep that they have little bodies, and 
 coarse fleeces, and are comparatively of little value. The native sheep of 
 the present day, which, with all their defects, are a great improvement on 
 the old ones, much resemble their neighbours on Dartmoor and Exmoor. 
 Some have horns and others are polled ; their heads are large, and of vari- 
 ous colours, some nearly white, others black, and another class of them dun- 
 coloured. They have long necks, flat sides, short quarters dropping con- 
 siderably at the rump, the legs rather long, the wool short, thick, and fine, 
 and the sheep altogether having a light, pleasing, agile appearance. The 
 average weight is about 14 lbs. per quarter, and the flesh possesses a fine 
 flavour, and is much esteemed : they have much, and too much inside fat, 
 and the proportion of the ofFal is almost one-half. 
 
 These sheep are chiefly found on the downs and heaths, in every part of 
 the county, and on the sandy hills scarcely covered with the green sod, in 
 the neighbourhood of the Land's End. In this latter situation they are 
 much prized on account of the peculiar flavour of the mutton, arising from 
 the nature of the herbage on these hillocks of sand, and the variety of 
 aromatic plants that abound, and not, as Borlase tells his readers, from " a 
 multitude of snails of diff"erent species, and of all sizes, which are crawling 
 over the herbage, and eaten by the sheep." The sheep of this locality 
 have the fleece considerably finer than in other situations, and resembling 
 the South Down wool. The native breed is considered to have reached its 
 maturity at four years old. The average number of twin lambs produced 
 is about one in six. The lambs are generally well covered, and there is no 
 great difficulty or danger in yeaning. The lambs run by the ewes' side 
 until May, when they are weaned and put on the best new grass ; they are 
 afterwards sold to be fattened on gentlemen's estates, or for the use of their 
 families, or purchased by the graziers who prepare them for the neighbour- 
 ing markets J. 
 
 * For much of what is valuable in this account of the Devonshire sheep, the author is 
 indebted to the kindness of Mr. Geor;^e Turner of Barton, Alphington. 
 
 f Borlase's Natural History of Cornwall, p. 286. 
 
 I For Uie greater part of this history of the native Cornish short-wooUed sheep, the 
 author is indebted to Mr. Karkeek, a truly scientific veterinary practitioner at Truro j and 
 also to Mr, George Bullmore. of Tregean, Newlyn, 
 
THE SOMERSETSHIRE SHEEP. 255 
 
 Various oxperiments have been made to improve this breed of shccQ 
 Tlie South Downs have had fidl and fair trial, and, compared at least with 
 their success elsewhere, they have failed either to establish themselves or 
 to make any considerable advantageous change in the character of the na- 
 tive breed. The varying and humid climate of Cornv.all was even more 
 unfriendly to them than that of the west of Devon. The Leicester sheep, 
 however, have been profitably employed. They have introduced a new 
 breed, possessing all the hardiness of the old stock, and the improved 
 fleece and disposition to fatten of the Dishley race. The consideration of 
 this, however, belongs to the next chapter. They have effected a com- 
 plete revolution in the character of Cornish sheep. The table of Mr. Luccock, 
 in 1600, assigns to Cornwall 203,000 short-woolled sheep, producing 
 3382 packs of wool; that of Mr. Hubbard, in 1828, makes no mention at 
 all of short-woolled sheep, or of short wool, but speaks of no fewer than 
 5920 packs of long wool being yielded by the Cornish flocks. 
 
 SOMERSETSHIRE, 
 
 Here also the character of the sheep has been completely changed. Luc- 
 cock assigned to Somersetshire 500,700 sheep, and all of them short- 
 woolled, and producing 9400 packs of wool. There are still a considerable 
 number of short-woolled sheep in various parts of the county, but they 
 have been so crossed with the South Downs, that they may be considered 
 as a variety of that breed. A great many pure South Downs have found 
 their way into this county, and, in a proper localitv, are much valued. 
 There is scarcely a part of Somersetshire in which they have not been 
 adopted, and they are particularly valued as grazing sheep. On the 
 eastern side there are a great many Wiltshires, somewhat increased in size, 
 and becoming a very useful breed, and in considerable repute. On the 
 south-east, and penetrating into almost every part of the county, and more 
 numerous than even in their native district, with the exception of the imme- 
 diate .neighbourhood of Dorchester, are the Dorsets. The Devonshire 
 Bamptons occupy the rich grounds extending as far as Bridgewater, com- 
 bined with the Leicesters, but both of them are long-horned sheep (Mr. 
 Carpenter prefers the old Somerset horned-breed, for open and tolerably 
 good land, they being excellent milkers, and producing early lambs) ; and 
 towards the north-east were the Mendip sheep, a very peculiar and valuable 
 breed, inhabiting the Mendip Hills*. 
 
 A vast tract of uninclosed hill and moor ground formerly existed, stretch- 
 ng from Wells almost to the Bristol Channel, and being part of the great 
 forest of Mendip. The sheep which fed on it bore considerable resem- 
 blance to the Exmoor sheep, and to the Dorsets. They seemed to be an 
 intermediate race between the two. The horns were smaller, and the coun- 
 
 * Arthur Young gives a curious account of the different mode of treatment of tlic 
 heavy and light fleeced sheep in the same district, the north-west of Somersetshiri^ 
 forty years ago. lie is speaking particularly of the parish of Monk Silver. He first 
 describes "the polled, large, broad sheep with very thick fleeces," the Bamptons of that 
 time, and already having begun to be crossed by the Leicesters, and he speaks of the 
 great care that is taken of them ; and then he adverts to "' a mixed and undetermined 
 horned breed, bought when hoggets, at (he market of South Molton in Devonshire, in 
 the middle of April, and kept on the hills two or three years for the annual profit of Ihtir 
 fleeces, and then fattened on turnips, and sold." He says, " It is a most striking feature 
 in the husbandry of this country," and showing the perfect distinction in the character of 
 these breeds, that "while the former are watched and attended with the most scrupulous 
 assiduity, the latter is ahogether neglectid, and left, except at the period of fattening, 
 to seek a precarious subsistence on the bleak and often uncultivated hills." — Annals of 
 Agriculture, vol xxiii. p. 414. 
 
256 SHEEP 
 
 tenance wilder ; the sheep altogether more diminutive, the wool finer, and 
 the flesh more finely flavoured than tliose of the Dorset. They were a 
 hardy breed, and would thrive on the poorest soil. These sheep covered 
 the forest in immense numbers, being alternately changed from the moor 
 to the hill, and from the hill to the moor, as the season required. 
 
 They were likewise said to possess, and much more generally, a property 
 that has been spoken of as occasionally observed in the Dorset sheep, that of 
 breeding twice in the year. The period of gestation is about 21 weeks. 
 Supposing that a ewe, a little better kept than they usually are on the hill 
 part of the forest, lambed at Christmas, and the lamb was weaned at Lady- 
 day, if, at the turn of her milk, she was disposed to receive the ram, she 
 would yean again in the early part of June. Whether a strong and healthy 
 progeny might be reckoned upon if this system were pursued, may be a 
 doubtful question ; but the Mendip ewes did possess this properly, and the 
 so-called sheep of the present day retain it to a certain degree, and are 
 valued on that account. 
 
 In process of time, however, a considerable portion of this wild tract of 
 country became inclosed. The number of sheep was consequently mate- 
 rially diminished, and the character of the sheep was changed with the 
 changing character of the land. The old and wild Mendips were now out 
 of place, and crosses with the heavier Devons and with the improved 
 Dorsets, with the South Downs and with the Leicesters, were attempted. 
 These experiments were attended with various success, but the result of 
 them was, that the genuine Mendip breed became extinct, and that there 
 is at this time no breed of sheep peculiar to this part of the country. The 
 object of the Mendip farmer became, so far as his land, even then of very im- 
 proved quality, would permit, to increase the size of the sheep, sacrificing as 
 little as he could the value of the fleece. The result of this system was, 
 that there being in almost every part of the county a great quantity of land 
 capable of supporting a heavier and a better sheep, Mr. Hubbard's table of 
 1828 reduced the number of packs of short wool from 9400 to 5200 packs, 
 and added an article, before unknown in Somersetshire, 5200 packs of long 
 wool. From what kind of sheep this new material was derived will be a 
 subject of after inquiry. 
 
 In the richer parts of the county, and particularly in the Vale of Taunton, 
 the Devonshire notts prevail ; but this is a long-woolled breed, and will be 
 hereafter described. 
 
 The Porlock sheep, in the neighbourhood of Minehead, are described by 
 Mr. Barrett of Taunton as very small, short-horned, wild creatures, parti- 
 cularly so when brought from their unenclosed cold homes into better cul- 
 tivated parts of the country, where they cannot have so much range. It is 
 doubtful, however, whether this sheep should not class with the long- 
 woolled breeds. 
 
 GLOUCKSTERSHIRE. 
 
 Two breeds of sheep might once be said to divide this county between 
 them — the Ryelands, of Herefordshire extraction, and the Cotswolds, with 
 their long and valuable fleece. In 1800, the short-wooUed sheep were said 
 to amount to 355,000, producing 5400 packs of wool ; the long-woolled 
 were 200,000, producing 6666. In 1828, Mr. Hubbard calculates that 
 more than 15,000 packs of long-wool were produced, but says not ia word 
 of the short-wool. The Cotswolds, now merging, or almost lost in the 
 Leicesters, have undoubtedly multiplied to a degree that would scarcely 
 have been thought possible in this part of the kingdom; but still the short- 
 wools were not completely driven out of the field. In the Vale of Giou- 
 
THE MONMOUTHSHIRE SHEEP. 257 
 
 Tester, it is true that tliey are now littie seen ; but tliey are not expelled 
 from the hills in the eastern part of the county, nor from those fartiier 
 towards the north. 
 
 Tiie Forest of Dean, an extensive, woody, and uncultivated tract of land, 
 formerlv coniaiiied a breed that in fineness and feltiness of wool yielded 
 to few. Mr. Ireland of Chalford, in his evidence liefore the House of 
 Lords, in 18-28, and referring to the period when British wools were used 
 in the manufacture of fine cloths, thus speaks of the Forest sheep, and of 
 some other breeds : — " There were three descriptions of wool which we 
 were in the habit of using — the Hereford wools; the Dean Forest wools, 
 wliieh we considered the best in the kingdom ; and the Mendip wools, from 
 the Mendip Hills, We mat.e the finest quality of cloth from the Hereford 
 wool alone. It was not until 1824 or 1S25 that we began to use the fi>reign 
 wools, which we could purchase for less money, and whicii made a superior 
 cloth.'- 
 
 Jt was want of attention to the cultivation of this wool, or ignorance of 
 its real value, which produced that disgraceful change in it — that perfect 
 destruction of it — which Mr. Ireland thus describes: — " Seven years ago 
 (1821) we used to give 2.?. 6d. a pound for the Dean Forest wools, to make 
 white second-cloths ; we must have' thein free from black hairs : but that is 
 an article we cannot get at any price now. It is not to be procured in the 
 kingdom at all." 
 
 An account of the Ryeland sheep will presently be given. 
 
 MONMOUTHSHIRE. 
 
 Tlie native breed of this county was small, and particularly towards the 
 mountainous parts. The form of the sheep, and the character of the wool, 
 varied with the aspect of the country. The Welsh sheep began to be 
 recognised on the hills, and their mutton was excellent when fatted, but 
 somewhat difficult to fatten. The Brecons a little increased the size of tliesc 
 sheep and the quantity of the wool, but deteriorated the flt-sh. Luccock de- 
 scribes the wool of the hill-sheep as being '' yeliow, short, fine, and raoged." 
 The lineaments of the Ryelands were visible in the more cultivated parts ; 
 where, also, a larger description of middle-woolled sheep were founr). 
 It was essentially a short-woolled district. It contained about 178,000 
 sheep, and they yielded 143€ packs of short wool. 
 
 Among the improvers of the Monmoutlishue sheep. Sir Charles and Mr, 
 Morgan stand conspicuous. There was scarcely a breed of sheep that was 
 not had recourse to for this purpose. The Ryelands, the Cotswolds, the 
 South Downs and the Leicesters were tried, but none of them succeeded, 
 nor did they answer even in their own pure slate. The Merinos were not 
 forgotten, both on the hills and in the vale, but thev too failed; and now, 
 either the ohl breeds have become extinct, or essentialiv changed, or a per- 
 fectly new class of sheep — the Cotswolds. or the Leicesters, or, for this 
 part of the country, a desirable admixture of the two — have taken possession 
 of all the Vale farms, and Monmouthshire is decidedly a long-wooUed dis- 
 trict. Nothing is said by Mr. Hubbard of the short wools, but Monmouth 
 is recorded as now producing nearly 3000 j)acks of long wool. 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that the short-wools have disappeared 
 in every part of Monmouthshire ; they are found on many of the hills ; and 
 the pure South Downs do not amiss on the light and sandy soil in the 
 neighbourhood of Abergavenny. The sheep on tlie levels are of various 
 character. They are usually purchased at the fairs of Glamorgan, but they 
 are seldom wintered here. 
 
258 SHEEP 
 
 HEREFORDSHIRE. 
 
 The distinguishing breed of sheep in Herefordshire is the Ryeland, so 
 called from a district in the southern part of the county, on which a great 
 quantity of rye used to be grown, and where many of these sheep were bred. 
 It is a small breed, seldom exceeding more than 14 or 16 lbs. the quarter 
 in the wether, or from 10 to 13 lbs. in the ewe. They have white faces, 
 and are polled ; the wool growing close to, and sometimes covering 
 the eyes. The legs are small and clean ; the bone altogether light ; the 
 carcase round and compact, and peculiarly developing itself on the loins 
 and haunches. The Ryeland has that form which at once bespeaks it 
 to be patient of hunger, and capable of thriving on very scanty fare. It 
 scarcely admits of dispute, that the old Ryeland would endure privation of 
 food better than any other breed. Sir Joseph Banks, who was well 
 acquainted with their constitution and habits, used to say that the Ryeland 
 sheep deserved a niche in the temple of famine. The weight of the fleece 
 rarely exceeds 2 lbs. ; but it possesses a degree of fineness unequalled by 
 any other British breed. This cut presents a fair specimen of it. The 
 fibre was taken from a wether belonging to Miss Tomkins, and part of the 
 same flock as the ewe whose portrait is given in p. 261. 
 
 Ryeland Wool. 
 
 I. Transparent. 2. Opaque. 
 
 The diameter of the fibre is yf^th part of an inch, that of the best South 
 Down is g-TTrth of an inch. The number of serrations are 2420, those of 
 the South Down are but 2080 ; but these serrations are not prominent, 
 nor hooked. The test of the microscope, therefore, assigns to it precisely 
 the situation which the wool manufacturer has done, decidedly superior in 
 fineness and in feltiness to the South Down, but inferior in both of these 
 qualities to the Saxony, the diameter of the fibre of which was only -^-s^th. 
 part of an inch, and the number of the serrations 2720. In the construc- 
 tion of the cupping, the unfolding of the seemingly vegetable nature of the 
 serrations, the Ryeland wool bears the stamp of British origin. 
 
 This ewe (see p. 261) was bred by Mr. Welles, the author of " Heads of 
 Cattle of the most distinguished Breeds," and to whom the writer of this 
 work owes much obligation with regard to the treatises both on Cattle and 
 Sheep. She was fattened by Miss Tomkins, and weighed 25 lbs. per quar- 
 ter. It will be immediately observed that she has not the form and gene- 
 ral appearance of an English sheep ; but there is considerable resemblance 
 between her and the Merino ewe, whose portrait is given at page 154. 
 This, with the peculiar character of the wool, leads to the suspicion that 
 the Ryeland breed may be of foreign extraction. 
 
 The Merino breed in Spain was one of those valuable gifts with which 
 the Romans were accustomed to propitiate and enrich the people whom 
 they conquered. It had been naturalized in Spain many years before the 
 Romans had sufficiently subjugated Britain to think of establishing manufac- 
 tures there ; but having once begun to civilize and improve their colonies, 
 
THE HEREFORDSHIRE SHEEP. 259 
 
 the victors were rarely satisfied until they had perfectly effected their object. 
 The woolly head, the throatiness, the form of the quarters, tlie whole shape 
 and character of the animal, the mode of treatment, the cotting of the 
 sheep — presently to be described — a practice confined to this district and its 
 immediate vicinity, all betray the origin of this breed. When the wool of 
 the Cornish sheep was spoken of (page 254), it appeared that the Hereford 
 breed of sheep was vsrel! known so early as the year 1343. It did not, 
 however, then seem to be ihe most valuable of the British fleeces. The 
 Shropshire wool : — one breed of Shropshire sheep still produces a fleece sur- 
 passed only by the present Ryelands, while there is a striking similarity of 
 form and appearance between them and the Ryelands. The Staffordshire : — 
 this county also possessing a breed of small fine-woolled sheep, although 
 now nearly extinct; and the Oxford fleece: — the sheep in this county 
 must have been strangely different from what they are at the present day, 
 iu order to deserve such commendation — all these were sold at a superior 
 price to the Ryelands. It is difficult to account for this apparent inferiority 
 at that time, for our earliest writers on the sheep speak of the Ryelands as 
 standing at the head of the short-woolled breeds. If, however, the opinion 
 of Mr. Herbert is correct, some light is cast on the subject. He believes 
 that the Ryelands, almost exclusively, in early times of sheep -husbandry, 
 extended longitudinally through those districts from the Thames to the 
 Tyne, and that the Cotswolds were produced by a cross between the Rye- 
 land and some heavy sheep. The Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, 
 and Oxfordshire wools, spoken of in this record, were only varieties of the 
 Ryeland, and of which the Herefordshire happened at the time to be the 
 worst. In the course of years, however, the Ryelands were gradually dis- 
 placed by a heavier sheep over the greater part of the other counties, but 
 continued to be cuUivated in a portion of Herefordshire. 
 
 The practice of cotting the Ryelands, althou-gh now much neglected, 
 was probably founded, from time immemorial, on the evident utility and 
 humanity of the practice — preserving the sheep from cruel and injurious 
 exposure to cold. During the winter, and expecially at the time of lambing, 
 instead of being folded at night in the open fields, they were shut up either 
 in the ground-floor of some unoccupied building, or in a place erected for 
 this especial purpose. They were there fed with hay or barley straw, or 
 pease-haulm, given to them in racks, frequently suspended by ropes, and so 
 contrived as to be easily raised in proportion as the dung accumulated 
 below ; for neither the owner nor the shepherd thought of cleaning out the 
 place while there was room for the sheep to go in and out. The Ryeland 
 sheep are fond of the pease-haulm, and fatten upon it ; for it is not always 
 threshed clean, and the under-ripe peas are often left unbroken. 
 
 The reasons generally assigned for this practice of cotting were — that 
 the wool, being preserved from the injurious effect -of sudden change or 
 inclemency of weather, was sounder and finer ; that the sheep were in better 
 health ; that, especially, they were preserved from the rot; that fewer lambs 
 were lost at yeaning time ; that great losses were always incurred when it 
 was attempted to fold the sheep ; and that much valuable dung was collected 
 and saved. It is, however, sufficiently evident that the requisite protection 
 of the sheep from cold when yeaning, and at other times, could have been 
 afforded in open sheds, at less expense ; that the dung could have been 
 more cheaply carried to the ground, in the usual way of folding, and been 
 more equally spread and better trodden ; and that it seems scarcely possible 
 that many sheep should be crowded together during the night, in a close 
 building, and on an accumulating and fermenting heap of dung, without 
 serious loss. s 2 
 
260 SIIKEP. 
 
 A curious account is given of the settlement of a flock of Ryelands in the 
 Vale of Taunton, where the cotting of sheep at niglit had never been prac- 
 tised. " The neighbours said they would all be starved. The winter was 
 severe ; but the ewes maintained themselves tolerably well, and their lambs 
 at weaning time were in the very best order. Tlie ewes were depastured 
 on the high lands west of the Vale, during the succeeding summer, and 
 came back into the Vale in good store state. One lot was put to turnips ; 
 and they were all sold before Lady-day, with almost as much loose fat 
 within them as they were pounds per quarter *." 
 
 This last circumstance is characteristic of the Ryeland sheep every- 
 where. It quickly fattens ; but the superabundant fat is not made to load 
 the muscles externally, as in the Leicester, — it is accumulated within ; and 
 the flesh is, on this account, more generally accej)table. 
 
 It might naturally be expected that attempts would be made to cross the 
 Ryelands with the Merino sheep, since tliev appeared as if they were varieties 
 of the same breed. The experiment, however, was attended with doubtful 
 success. The first cross evidently detracted much from the beauty of the 
 English sheep, and although it was said that the wool was improved, and 
 the tendency to fatten not impaired, fcvv would believe this when they saw 
 the sheep ; and experience proved that the doubters were right. 
 
 The Merinos were crossed by the Ryelands, in order to give the new 
 breed not only a less objectionable form, and a greater tendency to fatten, 
 but a constitution by means of which they could be sooner and more per- 
 fectly naturalized in England. This crossing was directed to be pursued 
 through five generations, in order that the deterioration of fleece which 
 the first produced might be perfectly remedied. This scheme also was 
 abandoned. 
 
 The Ryelands have also been crossed, and iliat to a very considerable 
 extent, by the Leicesters, but at great sacrifice of the fineness of the wool, 
 while it could be used in the manufacture of cloths. It was likewise thought 
 that the delicate flavour of the mutton in the Ryeland sheep was impaired, 
 and almost lost, although that of the Leicester was improved. 
 
 There were advocates for, and opposers of this cross, until it was dis- 
 covered that the fleece of all the shoit-woolled breeds was changed, and 
 not only the South Down, but the Ryeland wool was rejected by the manu- 
 facturer, even that which was yielded by flocks, the purity of which had 
 been most anxiously preserved ; then some persons began to think better 
 of these crossesf. If they lengthened, and somewhat thickened the fibre, 
 they made even the Ryeland a combing wool, and fitted it for other and 
 exceedingly valuable purposes. That is now its character and its destiny ; 
 and therefore, even the Ryeland sheep, which could scarcely be much in- 
 creased in bulk by selection, is enlarged in carcase and lengthened in fleece 
 by careful and repeated crosses. In 1800, Herefordshire contained 
 500,000 short-woolled sheep, furnishing 4200 packs of wool, the weight 
 of the fleece being 2 lbs. In 1828, the number of packs of short wool had 
 diminished to 2800, but no fewer than 5550 packs of long wool were grown 
 
 * A^icuUural Magazine, July, 1809. 
 
 f At the time when the reputation of the Anglo-Merino wool stood highest, and the 
 Ryeland wool had not begun to be deteriorated, a trial was instituted between these two 
 wools, as to their adaptation for the manufacture of fine cloth. A certain quantity of each 
 was taken, and subjected to the usual processes, and the result is thus stated : " Dr 
 Parry, the strenuous advocate of the Merinos, thought that the Ryeland cloth was cer- 
 tainly a better and stouter piece in many respects, but that it did not produce so many 
 yards upon the same quantity of wool, arising from its great waste, and its felting so fast 
 in the milling." — Aauals of Agriculture, vol. xlv. p. 2. 
 
THE WORCESTERSHIRJ.. SHKEl' 
 
 261 
 
 in HerefonUliire, and llie average vveiglit of all the fleeces was 4 lbs. 
 Sucli was the change effected in the very territory and domicile of the finest- 
 woolled sheep tliat England could produce. This fact speaks' volumes as 
 to the revolu.ion that is going forward, and plainly points out the farmer's 
 interest and duty. 
 
 A cross between the Ryeland and the South Down has been fairly tried 
 and abandoned. The produce was altogether without merit. The few 
 pure South Down flocks that are in this county answer well, but the pure 
 Leicesters require a better pasture than is generally met with, and more 
 care than a Herefordshire farmer usually bestows on his flock. 
 
 ^.a- =if:t>^^ 
 
 Ryeland Ewe, 
 
 WOllCESTERSHlRE. 
 
 When Luccock surveyed this county previous to the publication of liis 
 excellent work, he found a sheep in the vale of Evesham producing fleeces 
 that weighed nearly 9 lbs. ; but he adds that the sheep of the county are 
 generally small, and the pile is short and well-grown, :md of a soft and 
 silky texture. In his table, he calculates the number of short-woolled 
 sheep to be 330,500, the fleece weighing 3^ lbs., and amounting to 4820 
 packs, but, with seeming inconsistency, says not a word of the long-woolled 
 sheep. The short-woolled sheep were without horns, and with mottled 
 faces, and came originally from Wales. The Ryelands, or Ross sheep, as 
 they were then called, were numerous on the fallows, and the former 
 abounded on the waste ground. 
 
 Tlie altered system of sheep-husbandry, and the altered fashion with re- 
 gard to woollen cloths, has here also completely changed the cliaiacter of the 
 sheep. Mr. Rushton, of Dudley, says, that the prevalent breed in his part of 
 the country is now the Leicester and the Shropshire grey- faced, tiie Leicester 
 ram being put to the Shropshire ewe. The produce is belter (or the 
 
butcher than the pure Leicester or Slirops'iiro ; and the wool, although 
 not so long as that of the Leicester, is consid rably finer. The opinion of 
 the author of this work, when he surveyed the whole of the countv, and 
 particularly the south of it, in 1834, was somewhat different. The breed 
 struck him to be a cross between the Cotswolds and the Leicesters, and the 
 Leicesters too much predominating. Of this some of the farmers were 
 beginning to be aware, for they were breeding a smaller sheep. A few 
 South Downs he saw scattered here and there, and the result of his obser- 
 vation was that he perfectly agreed with Mr. Hubbard, who now excludes 
 the short wools from the county, at least, a sufficient quantity not remaining 
 to deserve notice. The Worcestersbire sheep are now, according to Mr. 
 Hubbard, a long-woolled breed, the fleece is 4^ inches in length, and the 
 number of packs of long wool produced is 6541. Proceeding upwards in 
 a northern direction, 
 
 SHROPSHIRE 
 
 comes next under consideration. Sheep are principally found hi the central, 
 and in the southern and western districts of the county ; the north is chiefly 
 appropriated to the dairying of cows, and the breeding of cattle generally. 
 The breeds of sheep used to be as various as in any county of the kingdom, 
 but the circumstances of modern times have now given them a more equal 
 character. The old Shropshire sheep, some of which yet remain, according 
 to Redhead, from whom the greater part of the following description is 
 taken, were horned, and with black or mottled faces and legs. Tiiey 
 were about the size of the South Downs, but the neck was longer, and the 
 carcase not so compact. They were hardy, and rarely had food given to 
 them in the winter, except in a deep snow. They now weigh from 14 
 to 16 lbs. per quarter ; the fleece of the wether is about 2i lbs., but that 
 of the ewe not more than If lb. They used sometimes to be crossed by 
 the Dorsets. The carcase was increased to 18 or 20 lbs. the quarter, and 
 the fleece to 3 or 4 lbs., but the quality of both was deteriorated : they were, 
 however, thought to pay the farmer better than the old breed. 
 
 The common Mountain-sheep, a variety of the last, was smaller, being 
 scarcely more than 10 or 12 lbs. per quarter ; but the wool was finer, and 
 sold at a somewhat higher price. 
 
 The Clun Forest sheep was a while polled variety, from 12 to 14 lbs. the 
 quarter, and the fleece weighing from 2^ to 3 lbs. 
 
 The Shawberry was the smallest Shropshire sheep ; and from its diminu~ 
 tive size it used sometimes to be called "'the tadpole." The little quantity 
 of wool yielded by this sheep was particularly fine. 
 
 The Long Mynd or Mound sheep were horned, with black faces, weigh- 
 ing about 12 lbs. the quarter, and the wool being very little inferior to that 
 of the common mountain-sheep. On the hills nearer Wales the sheep were 
 polled, with white faces. They were larger, shorter in the legs, and the 
 fleeces heavier and closer than those of the Long Mynd sheep. 
 
 That sheep, however, which was the pride and boast of Shropshire, and 
 not excelled in fineness of wool scarcely even by the Ryelands, was the 
 Morfe Common sheep. This tract of land is situated on the borders of the 
 Severn, near Bridgenorth, and contains nearly 4000 acres. The ewes are 
 fed on the common, from the middle of June to October, when the young 
 sheep are brought on it for the winter. The dry or yeld sheep that 
 had been taken into the pastures are brought back to the common in 
 March. From the shortness of the pastures, and the quantity of furze 
 
THE STAFFORDSHIRE SHEEP. 263 
 
 which is about the common, the sheep begin to lose their teeth at five 
 years old, and are then disposed of. 
 
 The Morfe sheep have small horns, with speckled, dark or black faces 
 and legs ; the wether weighing about 13 lbs., and the ewe 9 lbs. the 
 quarter, and the fleece weighing about 2 lbs. In many points it resembles, 
 or is a variety of, the Ryeland, and has, almost from time immemorial, been 
 found in various parts of Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Slatfordsliire. 
 
 It was probably this species of Shropshire wool that in 1343 was the 
 choicest and the dearest in England ; and at every succeeding period, when 
 mention has been made of it, justice has been done to its excellent quality. 
 It has now shared the fate of every short-woolled fleece. The importation 
 of a better material and the tyranny of fashion have tempted the farmer to 
 cross even this breed with a heavier sheep ; and the experiment, however it 
 may have answered to him in a pecuniary point of view, has materially 
 changed the character and the destination of the Morfe fleece. 
 
 The Cotswokls and the Leicesters have been introduced into Shropshire, 
 both pure and in various crosses with each other, and they have interfered 
 with and changed the character of every short-woolled sheep ; therefore it 
 happens, that altliough, in 1800, 422,000 short-woolled sheep were found 
 in Shropshire, the fleece averaging 2^ lbs., and the wool amounting to 4400 
 packs, and no mention being made of any long-woolled sheep, although 
 they might have been found there, few in number, and just beginning to 
 establish themselves, the short wool had diminished, in 1828, to 2400 packs, 
 and no fewer than 5500 packs of long wool were furnished by this 
 county*. 
 
 STAFFORDSHIRE. 
 
 For much valuable information respecting the Staffordshire sheep, the 
 author acknowledges himself indebted to his friend Mr. Mayer, of Newcastle- 
 under-Lyne. The native short-woolled breed of Stafl^'ordshire is known by 
 the name of the Cannock-Heath, or Sutton Coldfield sheep. They are 
 polled, grey-faced, or of every intermediate colour between black and white. 
 The legs are usually of the same colour as the face. They are thin in pro 
 portion to their length, otherwise they would resemble more the South 
 Down sheep, from a common stock with which they probably sprung. 
 Their mutton is good, and they fatten with moderate food ; at three years 
 old their flesh is equal to that of any other breed. They are capable of 
 growing to a very great weight. Mr. Fowler, of Erdington, in Warwick- 
 shire, and of whom honourable mention was made in the Treatise on Cattle, 
 was almost as zealous for the improvement of the sheep as of the long- 
 horned ox. He fattened a Coldfield bred wether to 32 lbs. per quarter; 
 the average weight of the quarter was from 15 to 20 lbs. in the wether, 
 
 * The Shropshire short wool must not be quitted without another testimony to the 
 (h'gree of estimation in which it was formerly held. The author of a very interesting and 
 valuable work on the commercial politics of the times, in 1694, uses the following lan- 
 t;uage : — " It is no small advantage to trade, to be fitted with a complete sortment of 
 goods, abounding in the middle sort of wools, excellent of its kind, and suitable to a 
 middle sort of people, which are far the greater number, and herein is chiefly our strength; 
 nut that we in the least fall short in the merit of our fine wool, our Herefordshire anc' 
 Shropshire wool not to be equalled in its kind, by any part of the world, and suitable to 
 almost any degree." — The Interest of England Considered, p. 4. 
 
 A page or two afterwards, this author again speaks of the Shropshire and Herefore- 
 shire wools : " So comprehensive in excellency is our English wool, that it may be im- 
 proved to the thickest felt, which will secure from the most violent storms of wet, and be 
 likewise drawn to the finest crape, and still carrying a merit with it, and thereby render- 
 ing itself a roost acceptable commodity, both in hot and cold climates." — p. 6. 
 
264 SIIi'.KP. 
 
 and from 14 to 18 Ihs. in tlie ewe. He acknowledged, liowever, and it 
 was a proof of his judnfment, tliat the br^ed was puslu-d too far in bulk and 
 wei'^lit. not onlv for the pastnrage of the common, but of the neighbour- 
 hood. The wool averaged about 3 lbs, jier fleece. It was fine, closely and 
 compactly covering the carcase, but not of so good a quality as that of the 
 South Downs. 
 
 Several attempts have been made to improve the breed. Sir Edward 
 Littleton led the way by the introductii)n of the Ross breed. Tlie result 
 was the establishment of what is called the Tedderley breed, improved in 
 form by being rendered more compact, their weight somewhat increased, 
 and their wool most materially enhanced in value. Sir Edward kept seve- 
 ral htmdreds of these sheep, the ewes fattening from 12 to 16 lbs. per quar- 
 ter, and the wethers from 16 to 20 lbs.: the hind quarters being always 
 good, but the fore quarters light. The ewes were good milkers, and 
 if put on fair pasture at lambing time would render their lambs fit for 
 the butcher before Midsummer, and them.ielves by Michaelmas. The.-,e 
 sheep, tSken into pasture and crossed with strong rams, made a heavy breed, 
 and would produce ewes of 20 lbs., and wethers of 30 lbs. the quarter. 
 They were afterwards crossed with the South Downs, and then with the 
 New Leicesters, but with questionable advantage by the latter, for they 
 were rendered more delicate, and tlie fleece ranked with the long-woolled 
 variety. 
 
 On the commons in the west of Staffordshire, there used to prevail, and 
 tliere is still found, a breed with black faces and legs, light in the carcase, 
 fine in the wool, and the ram horned. They have been improved by means 
 of various crosses, but were always inferior to the Cannock Heath sheep. 
 
 The chief flocks of South Downs in this country are on the farms of the 
 Earl of Bradford, Lord Anson, and Mr. Tollett. They were carefully 
 selected from the Sussex South Downs, and from tiie flock of Mr. Ellman 
 himself. The various flocks of New Leicesters in Staffordshire belong to 
 the next chapter. 
 
 A great change has taken })lace in the character and purposes of the woo!. 
 In Mr. Luccock's time, the short wool prevailed. There were 183,000 
 sheep, with fleeces on the average weighing 2 lbs. each, and producing 
 altogether more than 1500 packs of wool. There were also 3700 long- 
 woolled sheep, producing 113 packs. Now the short-woolled sheep 
 scarcely deserve mention. The fleece has lengthened to 4^ inches, and 
 more than 3500 packs of long wool are grown. 
 
 Mr, Ford gives the following account of the sheep in the Vale of Etruria. 
 There is no native breed peculiar to the district, nor any large flock-mas- 
 ters, but a few sheep are kept by most of the farmers, for the sake of 
 liaving a mixed stock. Tlie lambs are usually fed for the butcher ; the ewes 
 are not kept more than a season or two, and this may be considered more 
 as a feeding than a breeding district. The store-sheep are purchased from 
 Shropshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and the Cheviot Hills. Hence result a 
 great many crosses, but the usual way is to make use of the New Leices- 
 ter ram, whatever be the breed of the ewes. 
 
 CHESHIRE. 
 
 The river Dee, on the north-east border of Flintshire, divides the prin- 
 cipality of Wales from England, and this river being crossed, Cheshire 
 first presents itself. This is by no means a sheep-district, the flocks bred 
 in the county are comparatively few, and they are of all kinds, from tht 
 Welsh mountain-sheep to the Leicester. Those which are.grazed for home 
 
THE GLAMORGANSHIRE SHEEP. 2£5 
 
 consumption are much of tlie same character. The Leicesters and the 
 Cotswolds, and the Clieviots, liovvever, prevail, and with every variety of 
 cross ; but as they are mostly brought into the county for this purpose, thev 
 afford onlv skin-wool, and are not to be taken into account when the cha- 
 racter of the sheep and the fleece of the district is inquired into. The sheep 
 that are fed on the iieaths and commons of Clieshire, are short-woolled, 
 but the fleece is gradually increasing in length and weight, as elsewhere. 
 
 The only variety worth particular record is that found in the forest of 
 Delamere, on the high grounds on the eastern part of the county. They 
 have black, or brown, or grey, or spotted faces and legs, and, usually, 
 small horns. They are not unlike a diminutive Norfolk. They weigh 
 about 8 or 10 lbs. per quarter. The meat is as good as that of other small 
 breeds, and the wool is short and particularly fine, and weighing about IJ 
 lb. per fleece. They are a variety of the true native breed of England. 
 The wool used to be much sought after by the Yorkshire manufacturers of 
 fine cloths, and still bears a superior price, although it also is excluded 
 with the rest from the finer cloths. The Delamere sheep is out of place in 
 such a county as Cheshire. It is capable of very material improvement, 
 and especially considering the purposes for which wool of this kind is now 
 used. 
 
 In 1800, Cheshire was supposed to contain 65,000 sheep ; all short- 
 wooUed, the length of the fleece various, and producing 926 packs. The 
 wool is still short, the average weight of the fleece 4:^- lbs., and the number 
 of packs 1218. This increased quantity arises either from the greater number 
 of sheep which an increasing population requires, or from the increasing 
 weight of the fleece attributable to the altered mode of management, or to 
 the combined influence of both causes. 
 
 SOUTH WALES. 
 
 It will be necessary now to turn a little to the south and the west, and 
 inquire what kind of short-woolled sheep are found on the mountains .of 
 Wales. The first county in the southern extremity, and lying to the west 
 of Monmouthshire, is 
 
 GLAMORGANSHIRE. 
 
 It presents as great a variety of soil and climate as any district in the 
 kingdom of its size. It is divided into two parts by a high range of hills 
 running through its centre. On the south side is a rich loamy soil, inter- 
 mixed with gravel and clay ; fertile, abounding with beautiful cattle, but 
 unfriendly to sheep. On the north is the mineral portion of the county ; 
 mountainous, sterile, and yielding pasture scanty and coarse, but on which 
 numerous flocks of the aboriginal Welsh sheep continue to stray. Allhoufrh 
 differing from each other in various particulars, the Glamorganshire moun- 
 tain sheep, and those of Wales generally, are, in all essential points, the 
 same as were described by agriculturists fifty years ago, and have wamiered 
 over the mountains of the principality from time immemorial. Some are 
 horned, others are polled. Some are nearly white, and others are of every 
 intermediate hue between a dirty white and a perfect black. They all, how- 
 ever, agree in the following particulars : — The head is small ; the neck long, 
 erect, and delicate ; the fore-quarters light, with narrow breast and 
 shoulders ; the sides flat ; the back and loins narrow ; the legs slight and 
 long ; the animals possessing considerable agility, and an unquiet habit, so 
 as to render them most annoyingly troublesome when attempted to be kept 
 in the small enclosures of the vale. , The fleece weighs about 2^lbs, On 
 
26'') SHEEP. 
 
 the Gellygave and Eglewislan mountains the quality of the wool is fine ; 
 but on the liills lying on the western side of the Taff valley it is 
 kempy, which considerably deteriorates its value. The breech wool is 
 still more hairy and coarse. It is commonly said that the Welsh sheep are 
 shorn twice in tlie year. The fact is, that besides the regular shearing in 
 May or June, the wool is clipped close about the neck and fore-quarters at 
 Michaelmas; for all of it would have been lost before the following summer, 
 in the wanderings of the animal among the thickets and furze, in search 
 of food during the winter and spring. 
 
 The ewes weigh eight or nine pounds per quarter when fat, which is 
 usually at three or four years old, and the wether averages from nine to 
 eleven pounds. The mutton is particularly well flavoured, and in the months 
 of October and November commands a much higher price than that of 
 larger sheep of other breeds. A considerable quantity of it is sent to the 
 London market. Very few of the sheep are driven direct to the metropolis, 
 but they are sold, wherever a bargain can be struck, on their way along, or 
 are halted and fattened in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, and some- 
 times nearer to the metropolis, and particularly in various parts of Hertford- 
 shire, especially about Caldecot Hill ; and when they have arrived tolerably 
 ripe, and not more than three years old, they seldom sell for less than a shilling 
 a pound, and more than double that price has occasionally been given for 
 some prime saddles. They are not always real Welsh sheep that are 
 brought to the live market in London ; and small sheep of various kinds 
 are often substituted for them by the retail butchers. If nothing worse 
 than a small sbeep between the Merino or the South Down and the Scotch, 
 and bred for the purpose of supplying the London market with small muttoii, 
 is palmed upon tiie customer, no very great harm is done, for the flesh of 
 these sheep is exceedingly delicate ; and although strange stories are 
 told of various small and worthless carcasses being exposed for sale, the 
 deception seldom extends further than this. The Welsh sheep begin to 
 reacli the London markets in greatest numbers some time in July, when the 
 grass is failing on the hills. From the irreclaimable disposition to wander, 
 and from other causes, the breeding of the genuine Welsh sheep has never 
 been profitably pursued in England ; but, with a temporary halt on the 
 way, in order to become ripe for the market, there is a regular troop of 
 them always on their march from the principality to the metropolis*. 
 
 * Ellis, describing the sheep and sheep-husbandry in the beginning of the last 
 century, thus speaks of the Welsh sheep : — " I am now come to write on the hardiest 
 sheep there are for living in a culd country, and any where else, on that short bite of 
 grass where a large sheep would pine and starve ; but they are not the choice of many, 
 because they are apt to straccgle and run away. They are a small, short, knotty sheep 
 that come from the poorest living, and thrive and fat presently for the butcher, and be- 
 come the sweetest of mutton, particularly for a private family's uses, who delight to eat 
 the least and finest sorts. But they must be kept in such counties as Essex and Kent, 
 where they are safely confined by their large watery ditches, and thus prevented strayiiigj 
 aud presently made fat. On other ground, before they'can be rightly brought to good 
 bfhaviour, the shepherd must be at abundance of trouble in breaking them to it. Their 
 bodies are so very small that they will get through the sloats of the hurdles, or leap over 
 them, and learn others to do the same, and get into the green corn, and run away, and 
 scarcely be confined in any fold ; and are so wild, that they will endure much lugging by 
 a dog before they will yield to discipline : therefore they must be confined by deep large 
 ditches, and always with a full belly of grass, for if they stay any where, they will stay 
 here." He then tells a story to show that they are not much disposed to stay any where : — 
 " A black Welsh sheep had a face streaked like that of a badger's, and being brought up 
 among others into Herefordshire for sale, it was bought by a farmer, who soon lost it. 
 It was afterwards proved that it returned home into Wales, because it was broiight up 
 
THE GLAAIURGANSIIIRE SHEEP. 267 
 
 Many attempts have been made to improve the Welsh mountain-sheep. 
 So far as the principle of selection has been pursued, the sheep-master 
 here, as in every other part of the kingdom, has been well rewarded for his 
 labour, but it has been exceedingly rarely that this principle has been care- 
 fully and systematically followed up : no cross, however, has been found 
 80 admirably adapted to the herbage and the climate of these mountains 
 as the old sort. Mr. Williams of Aberpergwin has a flock of 1500 Che- 
 viots, which are kept during the summer on the hills, and brought to the 
 low lands in winter; and with this advantage, and good management, they 
 are doing well. In this way they stand the severity of the winter, but 
 they cannot become a part and parcel of the soil like the aboriginal moun- 
 tain-sheep. 
 
 In the Vale of Glamorgan the old native breed is nearly or quite extinct. 
 Tiiey had, like the others, clean heads ; they were long in the body, and 
 high on the legs ; they were flat-sided, and narrow on the back. They were, 
 in fact, the same race, but altered or increased in weight by the difference of 
 soil and pasture. They weighed 15 or 16 lbs. the quarter, the mutton was well 
 grained, and of good flavour ; but the animal was a slow feeder, and, when 
 arrived at perfection, the fat was not well laid either on the ribs or the 
 back. The wool was improved — it was closer and finer — it was longer in 
 the staple ; but still it was a clothing wool. The fleece weighed from 3 to 
 4 lbs. The only cross that was attempted, and which did not succeed, was 
 with the old Somersetshire, from the other side of the Bristol Channel. 
 
 At length the turnip husbandry began to be introduced, and with 
 it the power of keeping more sheep, and of fattening them to a larger 
 size. Various were the attempts which were then made to improve the 
 heavier sort of Welsh sheep, and with general and unexpected success. 
 Some adopted the Leicester rams from the best breeds in Gloucestershire : 
 others, among whom was Mr. Bradley of Cardiff", introduced the pure 
 Leicesters ; and by the annual sale of rams which was made by this gen- 
 tleman they were dispersed over this and the neighbouring counties. 
 
 It was, however, soon found — or was imagined at least by some persons 
 — that the Leicesters were too heavy for tiie soil and pasture which the 
 Welsh valleys could afford, and the Cotswokls were introduced and crossed 
 with the native breed. By these means the carcass and the fleece were 
 thought to have been brought to perfection, considering the locality in which 
 the produce of this new cross was placed. 
 
 From the period when this was eff'ected, and until the fatal seasons of 
 1830, 31 and 32, sheep-husbandry continued in the most prosperous state in 
 the lower districts of every part of Wales. The improvement was particu- 
 larly rapid in this county, so much so that the breeding of horses, and even 
 of the beautiful Glamorganshire cattle, was comparatively neglected. The 
 mortality of these seasons was a severe check on the industry and the pro- 
 spects of the farmer. In many places whole flocks were swept away ; and 
 although the last two or three seasons have been favourable to sheep, their 
 number is materially diminished, and even the produce of those that remain 
 are not the healthy, thriving animals which their progenitors were. These 
 are facts which have not been pointed out as they ought to have been, and 
 indicate the paramount duty of the Government, and of the agricultural body 
 generally, to interpose some protection against these occasional scourges of 
 
 in a Welsh flock a second time, and returned as before; and then being brought up a 
 third time, and sold, it was clearly proved to be the same sheep, to the astonishment of 
 many." — The Shepherd's Sure Guide, by VV. Ellis. 
 
2G8 SHEEP. 
 
 the Bheep; and lli;it proeclion can alone consist in a better knowledge of 
 the frame and diseases, and treatment of that animal. The ministers, or the 
 body of men, vvlio would establish in England a school where this might be 
 obtained would indeed deserve well of their country. 
 
 By degrees, however, in the better part of the vale, the native breed 
 begun to be laid aside, even though strongly crossed with this English 
 blood, and the flocks were by degrees composed of the Cotswolds and 
 Leicesters alone, or mingling in various proportions. In a fair situation 
 they average, when fat, from 20 to 30 lbs. a quarter, and yield from 4^ 
 to 5 lbs. of wool, of a good combing quality. One of the largest flocks of 
 this kind is at Sully, consisting of nearly 1200 sheep. They are of a 
 larger size, averaging from 25 to 30 lbs. per quarter at two years old, the 
 ewes yielding 5 lbs. of wool, and the tegs 8 or 9 lbs. ■ 
 
 In many parts of Glamorganshire, and other of the Welsh counties, 
 there are tracts of excellent down land, and which formerly bore a small 
 breed of fine-woolled sheep, resembling the Ryelands, and their wool 
 bringing from 4d. to 6rf. per lb. more than that from neighbouring localities. 
 These sheep, when the British short-wool ceased for a while to be employed, 
 were neglected, and are now lost. There are, however, some crosses of the 
 South Downs scattered in different parts, and there is a considerable flock 
 of pure South Downs at DufFrin, the property of the Hon. W. B. Grey, 
 which seem to be well suited to the soil and climate, and might be extended 
 with advantage over all the down land, and probably over those thin soils 
 which are not strong enough to maintain a large-sized sheep. 
 
 The Welsh lambs are usually not yeaned until March, and before they 
 are two months old they are ofien separated from their dams. This must 
 necessarily be an injurious practice, for they cannot have acquired sufficient 
 strength to shift for themselves, and if the summer should be unfavourable, 
 they are far more susceptible of disease than they would otherwise have 
 been in the ensuing autumn and winter. 
 
 This early weaning is practised for the sake of the milk of the ewes. 
 Although among the most intelligent farmers in every part of Wales this 
 custom is getting into comparative disuse, there are too many who obsti- 
 nately, adhere to it. From the middle of May to that of September the 
 ewes* are milked morning and night. About two pints of milk per day 
 are obtained from each ewe, which produce from 20 to 24 lbs. of cheese 
 in the course of the season. The cheese, although rich, has a peculiar 
 flavour, which soon renders it exceedingly grateful to those who are accus- 
 tomed to it. The milking is usually performed by women, who are paid in 
 kind, receiving one-seventh of the produce, or one day's milk per week ; and 
 the whey, for the pigs, is supposed to cover the expense of the making of 
 the cheese. Ewes' milk will yield more cheese than the best cows' milk. 
 The general practice is to add one part of sheep's milk to two of 
 cows' skim-milk, and the mired cheese, which is the produce of this, will 
 sell at 6c/. a pound, when the price of the cheese made of cows' milk un- 
 skiinmed is about "7^. : on the whole, the value of the milk from each 
 ewe during the season is 10s. or 12s. Much, therefore, may be said for 
 and against the practice of ewe-milking. The weakness of the lambs, and 
 the low condition of tlie ewes in the autumn, when they are put to the tup, 
 and the little chance there is of their producing twins— these are the ob- 
 jections ; but, on the other hand, it is contended that the vvelher sheep, 
 from these ewes that have been milked, grow as large, and fatten as quickly, 
 as others ; and that, although the ewes are certainly lower in condition in 
 September, aral lew of them have twins, yet scarcely any of them arc barren. 
 
THE CAERMARTII EN SHIRE SHEEP. '209 
 
 Tliere is another custom peculiar to VV'ales, uiul which also, in process of 
 time, will be abandoned, namely, the shearing of the lambs in the first 
 summer, and consequenlly the absence of legg or hoggett wool. The 
 general question of hoggett wool will be discussed in anotlief place ; but 
 the Glamorganshire farmers say that, where the enclosures are small and 
 well sheltered, the lamb is sufficiently warm without its coat, and there is 
 less wool lost among the thorns and briars. The quantity of wool, like- 
 wise, from the two shearings exceeds that from the single shearing ; but no 
 ewe or lamb's wool is so valuable as that of the tegg. The practice of 
 shearing the Iamb is not so generally adopted as it used to be, and in many 
 of the largest flocks it is discontinued. 
 
 Having treated thus at length of the Glamorganshire sheep, t])ose of 
 the other counties of South Wales may be very quickly described ; but the 
 author would be unjust and ungrateful if he were not to acjknouledge here, 
 as in the work on "Cattle," the kind and valuable assistance which he has 
 derived from Mr. George David, of Radyr, in Glamorganshire, 
 
 BRECK.NOCKSHIHE. 
 
 The extensive mountains with which Brecon abounds are covered bv 
 almost innumerable flocks of sheep, and, in fact, these animals are the 
 chief dependence of the hill-farmer. The same observations aj)ply to them 
 as to the Glamorganshire sheej), except that the flocks are more extensive, 
 the soil is dryer and more healthy, and, there being no minerals beneath, 
 the herbage is finer. The Brecon sheep are more compact in form than 
 the Glamorgans, and yield better wool, and more mutton. 
 
 CACRMARTHENSHIRF.. 
 
 Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger, in their valuable work on " The 
 Tenantry of Great Britain," very properly observe, that "there is not 
 perhaps finer land in Great Britain than is to be found in some parts of 
 Caermartlienshire, either for the summer pasturage of sheep, or the cultiva- 
 tion of turnips for winter food. These advantages, however, are not here of 
 much avail, for whatever requires a little trouble, and is over and above the 
 natural production of the land, is thought quite unnecessary, and is totally 
 neglected." This, perhaps, is strictly apjilicable to the hill-farmers only, 
 and not to so many of them as formerly. Since tlie English language has 
 begun to be spoken, at least by a portion of the inhabitants of the princi- 
 pality, they are more aware of the existence and the worth of improvements 
 in other parts of the kingdom, and are not so jealous of the interference of 
 strangers with their long-cherished prejudices. 
 
 Tiie mountain-sheep are of the same size and character that they have 
 oeen from time immemorial ; but in the upper inclosed farms, and par- 
 ticularly in the valleys, other and larger breeds have been introduced, and 
 answer well. The Dorset, the Ryeland, the Cotswold, and the Leicester 
 are to be found pure in some parts of Caermarthensliire ; and crosses, with 
 various results, have been attempted between most of them and the native 
 breed. The practice of buying in the spring and selliiig again in the autumn, 
 although frequent, is somewhat on the decline ; for agriculturists are 
 becoming more and more aware of the natural resources of the county, 
 and the readiness with which they may be increased. The Cotswolds seem 
 to be most easily naturalized, and to be most profitable in the valleys, for 
 few districts will fully bear the Leicesters. 
 
270 SHEEP 
 
 PEMBROKESHIRE. 
 
 This county occupies tlie projecting western promontory of Wales, 
 between St. George's Channel on the west and north, and the Bristol 
 Channel on the south. The hills are covered with the same kind of slieep 
 as in the other counties, and subjected to the same mismanagement. On 
 the enclosed and vale farms, crosses with the Dorset, Soutli Down, and 
 Cotswold are found, as well as flocks of the pure breeds of each of them. 
 The pure Ryelands also were for a considerable time in high repute. The 
 Leicesters have penetrated even to this extremity of Wales, and have 
 answered in a few favourable spots ; but on others they have been found 
 too heavy for the soil and pasture. 
 
 CARDIGANSHIRE. 
 
 Mr. Little, in his " Observations on Mountain Sheep," gives a singular 
 account of the hill-management of the sheep in Cardiganshire in 1800, of 
 which the following is the substance. There are considerable tracts of bogs 
 and mosses, but the hills are generally dry, and covered with herbage to 
 the very top. A portion only of the sheep on one of these hill-farms 
 belongs to the tenant ; but he takes in all he can get for a summer's run, at 
 the price of half the wool ; the owners of these sheep having usually some 
 low-lying farm, where a part of them, that may not have been sold, are 
 sent in the winter, and returned to the mountain in the summer. The 
 other half of the wool is supposed to pay the landlord's rent, while the 
 lambs, and the ultimate price of the sheep, are the farmer's remuneration 
 for the winter's keep, the risk, and the capital. In June begins the 
 clipping. The ewes, wether hogs, and lambs are all collected together, 
 and swum in the same pond, until they are supposed to be sufficiently 
 washed. Then comes the difficult task of separating them ; and having 
 no dogs that will turn a sheep, and the very '•haracteristic of these 
 mountain-sheep being wildness, it is an almost endless task to sepa- 
 rate the different flocks. This, however, being accomplished, and the 
 clipping over, no more attention is paid to them until Michaelmas, when 
 the three-year wethers are sold to the English butchers and graziers. The 
 lambs are never weaned, nor are any of them sold, if it is thought that they 
 can hve through the winter. The ewes are always kept, however old, while 
 it is likely that they can bring lambs. Those that were brought from the 
 low country are sent off as soon as the stubbles are cleared, and the finest- 
 wooUed and most delicate of the tups go with them ; the stronger and 
 coarser ones stay with the ewes and younger wethers on the hills. Nothing 
 is then done through the winter, except to see that they do not wander too 
 far; but whatever storms may rage, the farmer never thinks of providing 
 for his sheep — they may either live or die ; and on this account there are 
 often serious losses, and particularly among the lambs, and the oldest of 
 the ewes, 
 
 In the course of a few good years, all the lambs and the old ewes having 
 been kept, the land is overstocked, and the flock pines away, or various 
 diseases break out among them. If a severe winter follows, a consider- 
 able portion of them perish, especially of the lambs and the old sheep ; and 
 even the younger ones are barren — and there are no lambs at all, and the 
 farmer complains of his bad luck ; but such luck he is almost sure to have 
 once in every three or four years. The management of the land is equally 
 bad with the management of the sheep. No one thinks of draining the 
 parts which he knows full well give the rot to half his flock. No one 
 raises any artificial shelter, even in the bleakest situation The dead 
 
THE RADNORSHIRE SHEEP. 271 
 
 covering of the moor is never burned, ana no part is enclosed ; but every- 
 thing is allowed to continue in its natural state. 
 
 There are some parts of Cardiganshire and of the Welsh mountains in 
 which the management of the sheep is not essentially improved at the 
 present time; but they are rapidly diminishing. Few things have more 
 contributed to effect this than the translation into the Welsh language of 
 some tracts of plain instruction on the most useful branches of husbandry. 
 To the patriotic men, and especially in North Wales, who have attempted 
 and effected this every well-disposed mind will wish increasing success. 
 
 In the upland districts, on the north of the county, the wool is of a 
 longer staple, and coarser than it is towards the south. Below Airon 
 the wool is shorter and thicker on the carcase, but otherwise the sheep are 
 of the same description as in the other counties of Wales, — or, if there is 
 any difference, the soil and the climate of Cardiganshire seem to be pecu- 
 liarly adapted for sheep husbandry. 
 
 RADNORSHIRE. 
 
 The flocks of sheep in this county are numerous, and not inferior to 
 those in the other districts of South Wales. Their general character, and 
 treatment, and produce is the same ; and it is needless to add anything to 
 the account already given of the South Wales sheep, except to correct an 
 error of Mr. Luccock — a writer usually very accurate, and on every point 
 regarding the fleece of the sheep communicating the most valuable infor- 
 mation. Giving a rapid and off-hand sketch of the different varieties of 
 British wool, Mr. Collins says that " the Radnorshire wool, compared 
 with the Shropshire, is thicker, harder, filthy, and more sandy*." Mr. 
 Luccock, evidently quoting from him, says that the Radnorshire fleece, 
 compared with the Glamorgan, is " thick-haired, filthy, and sandy." This 
 is not true : for many of the Radnorshire flocks will vie with the best of 
 the Glamorgans ; and, on an average of the whole county, the Radnor- 
 shire is the superior wool. 
 
 Luccock, writing in 1809, says that " throughout the whole principality 
 wool is manufactured in the houses of those who grow it, and the consump. 
 tion for articles of dress and of furniture must be considerable. The people 
 of both sexes are clothed in woollens, and most commonly wear a great 
 quantity of them. In the north, females are generally seen in felt hats, 
 and large blue cloaks ; those of the south are fond of exhibiting the various- 
 coloured borders of two or three petticoats, and wear upon their shoulders 
 a square piece of red cloth." Time and fashion, and the change which has 
 taken place in the fleece, have effected great alterations in these particulars. 
 Much flannel is still made in Wales, and particularly in North Wales — also 
 some kinds of coarse cloths, both strong and small ; but with the exception 
 of stockings and socks, the manufacture is comparatively rarely carried on 
 in the farmer's house, or in any private habitation, but is much more cheaply 
 and better effected in the manufactories, on a great or small scale, which 
 are now established in almost every part of the kingdom. 
 
 According to the computation of Mr. Luccock, South Wales contained 
 2,035,000 acres, on which were fed 683,000 sheep, — producing 5700 packs 
 of wool. The principal marts for wool in Wales are Llanrwst and Bangor. 
 Mr. Hubbard has not made any alteration in this statement; but, while the 
 short-wool has not perhaps diminished to any considerable degree, a con- 
 siderable quantity of long-wool is now grown in the southern part of the 
 principality. 
 
 * Agric. Mag., May, 1803. 
 
SHEKP. 
 
 NORTH W\LFS, 
 
 -^^ 
 
 The Polled Jiehh Sheep. 
 
 As, wlien d -scribing the cattle of North Wales, it seemed to be most 
 probable that in Anglesey, at the farther extremity of the princi|mlily, and 
 separated from the main land although but by a narrow channel, we should 
 find the original breed, — or, at least, with the smallest degree of admixture, 
 — so fhe inquiry respecting the sheep of Nortli Wales shall commence at 
 the same place. 
 
 ANGLESEY. 
 
 The old farmers say that the breed longest ago remembered were freckled- 
 faced, with a fair proportion of wool, neither long nor short ; and the Rev. 
 James Williams of Treffos, a skilful and zealous improver of the Cam- 
 brian sheep, relates, that when he first imported the South Downs, some of 
 the old people said that thev resembled the former sheep of the country, only 
 they were blacker in the face. 
 
 These sheep seem in process of time to have undergone some, although 
 very trifling, change ; for the likeness to the unimproved South Down is yet 
 too striking to escape observation. They are long in the neck, liyht in the 
 brisket, narrow and loose in the loin, too steep and short in Uie hind- 
 quarters, and too high on the leg. They are mostly without horns — the 
 face sometimes of a dusky white, or yellow, and sometimes freckled with 
 dusky yellow; the yellow and silky-faced ones having the finest wool, and 
 the wool generally approaching to the character of the South Down. The 
 average weight of a good Anglesey wether, at two years oUl, is from 16 to 
 18 lb. the quarter. The above cut is a fair representation of this species of 
 Anglesey sheep. 
 
 " I have lately heard," says the Rev. Mr. Vincent, of Gorddinog, (from 
 whom the author has leceived much valuable information on the subject of 
 the Anglesey sheep, and whose almost unsolicited kindness he begs to acknow- 
 
THE ANGLESEY SHEEP. 273 
 
 ledge,) " that, in the northern part of Anglcsea, there exists a variety of sheep 
 with (lark faces, descended from some that were brouglit from a wreck on the 
 coast a great many years ago. They still preserve the dark face, and are 
 larger and have heavier fleeces than the greater number of sheep in the county. 
 There is a variety of sheep in Anglesea with a vvhite face, which is by some 
 called native ; but from all the inquiries I have made, I suspect that the 
 freckled or dun-faced is the oldest." 
 
 The wool of some of the native Angleseys is very fine : it is even equal 
 to the South Downs. They also have great aptitude to fatten ; at least, to 
 lay on fat inwardly, and that at an early age. They uniformly surpass in 
 proof any expectation which a person unacquainted with them could form 
 from their outward appearance, and this has made them great favourites with 
 the butcher. 
 
 The ewe is remarkably prolific, producing commonly two lambs ; and she 
 is so good a nurse as often to fatten them for the butcher on very ordinary 
 food, and afterwards to afford a considerable quantity of milk for cheese- 
 making. 
 
 Possessing all these valuable qualities, it is much to be regretted that the 
 Anglesey sheep should be so neglected as it is by most of the farmers ; but 
 the same carelessness and idleness and jealousy of improvement pervade 
 the common Anglesey farmer, as are found in the greater part of the Princi- 
 pality. One excuse, however, should be made: Anglesey is not a sheep- 
 breeding country, the attention of the agriculturist being chiefly or almost 
 exclusively directed to the raising of corn, and the growing of black cattle. 
 In consequence of this, the poorest and most exhausted ])ortions of many 
 of the farms have been allotted to the sheep, and no provision of artificial 
 food is made for their winter support. If, therefore, so little pains have 
 been taken with regard to their keep, it can scarcely be expected that much 
 or any attention would be given to the improvement of the breed by careful 
 selection ; nor has it been so given, any farther than it was a common rule 
 to select the largest ram for a tup, with some reference indeed to his own 
 individual form, but without consideration as to his descent, or the quality 
 of the flesh or the wool. ^ 
 
 There were, however, some praiseworthy exceptions to this system of 
 total neglect. The principle of selection was, perhaps, never followed scien- 
 tifically, and to its full extent ; but many efforts were made to improve the 
 Angleseys by the introduction of foreign stock. Thirty years ago, Mr. 
 Price of Cadnant imported the new Leicesters pure, and afterwards endea- 
 voured to establish a cross between them and the Angleseys; and his 
 sheep were not kept on the starving system too prevalent in this island, 
 and in Wales generally. It was his decided opinion, that the native breed 
 was more profitable than either the pure Leicesters, or the cross with the 
 Leicesters. The experiment has, however, been lately repeated by Sir 
 R. W. Bulkeley, and to a very considerable extent with decided success. 
 The Rev. Mr. Pritchard of Dinam had for many years a valuable flock of 
 Angleseys crossed with the Leicesters, until they had the appearance of 
 pure Leicesters. He is now crossing these with the Cotsvvolds. Mr. 
 Evans has pursued the same experiment. 
 
 Mr. Williams of Llanidan purchased some Merinos with a view to im- 
 prove the Anglesey fleece ; but the experiment did not answer his expecta- 
 tion. The fleece was improved, and there are some sheep, even at the 
 present day, who give evidence of Merino descent by the characterestic tuft 
 on the head, and still more by the fineness and yolkiness of the wool ; but 
 the produce of the cross was in other respects so inferior that the increased 
 
 T 
 
274 SHEEP. 
 
 value of the fleece was not sufficient to cou Ucrba'ance the loss of constitu- 
 tion and hardiness. 
 
 The late Lord Bulkeley imported some of tlie black-faced Derbyshire 
 sheep : they were hardy and active, but inferior in wool to the natives, and 
 not superior to them in any other respect. He tried the South Downs, as 
 did some other spirited agriculturists nearly at the same period ; the result 
 of this was not perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 The white-faced Yorkshire sheep were tried by Mr. W. P. Lloyd, and 
 in his opinion the weight of the native fleece was increased without its 
 quality being deterior^ed, and that of the carcase without diminishing the 
 hardiness of the animal. 
 
 Last of all, and promising considerable success, Mr. Evans and the Rev. 
 Messrs, Pritchard and Vincent have introduced the Cotswolds. The 
 experiment k under trial, but the Cotswolds are more hardy, and active,, 
 and thrifty than the Leicesters, equaUing them in fleece, and not so likely 
 to disappoint as breeders. 
 
 While many valuable sheep have crossed the passage from Anglesey to 
 Caernarvon, this county has furnished the island with a small breed, or 
 with a variety of the breed common to both, which does not average more 
 than eight or nine lbs. the quarter, and the fleece not weighing more than 
 one or one and a half lb. This sheep, on account of the delicacy of its 
 fle h, is in some request in gentlemen's establishments and parks*. 
 
 CAERNARVON. 
 
 T/ie Hurned Welsh Sheep. 
 
 * An old writer on the agriculture of Anglesey gives a curious account of the man- 
 ner in which the sheep of this island are occasionally prevented from exercising their 
 natural tendency to break bounds and to wander. " They are put in fetters made of straw 
 or hay, neatly plaited, by which the fore and hind legs are bound together on each side. 
 They seanri to feel great uneasiness from this bondage, and in wet weather are often 
 galled by it. When under such restraint and pain," he adds, " it is impossible that 
 they can ever thrive." Kay's Survey of Anglesey. 
 
THE MKUIONETHSHIRE SHEliP. 275 
 
 The sheep-farms in Caernarvonsliire, and most of the counties of North 
 Wales, usually comprise both summer and winter pasture ; or where the 
 cultivated parts, or the sheep-walks, are disproportionately large or small, 
 the neighbouring farmers accommodate each other. The flocks are gene- 
 rally all mingled together without any distinction as to age ; the wethers 
 are sold at four and five years old, and very little attention is paid to tlie 
 quality of the wool. Although the sheep and their wool almost ever form 
 the principal dependence of the farmers, and in the uplands constitute 
 their sole hope, yet these animals are almost abandoned during the winter on 
 the bleak hills, and the protection afforded by smearing has never been 
 resorted to in these districts. The above cut is the portrait of one of the 
 best kind of Caernarvonshire sheep, and especially of that kind with which 
 the London market is chiefly supplied. A few of the farmers, however, 
 keep their flocks at home during the winter, and others hire winter-pas- 
 ture for the yearlings, at the rate of about Is. 6d. per liead. Where 
 neither cattle nor corn are produced it is calculated that the rent should 
 be defrayed by the price of half the wool. It was the acting on this cal- 
 culation which, when the price of wool so rapidly fell at the commencement 
 of the change in the manufacture of this material, lessened tlie value of 
 land full one-fourth, and ruined so many of the tenants. Messrs. Kennedy 
 and Grainger, writing in 1829, state that what were then considered remu- 
 nerating prices in the mountain farms of North Wales, were from 14s. to 
 16s. per head for wedders ; 5s. to 6s. for ewes ; 6s. to 7s. for lambs ; and 
 from lOd. to Is. per pound for wool. 
 
 Caernarvon is one of the most mountainous counties in North Wales, 
 but, fortunately, the hills are green to the very summit, and are covered 
 with fine, although short, pasture for the sheep. On the Anglesey side 
 of the county the breed is comparatively large, averaging from fourteen 
 to sixteen lbs. per quarter, but the natives of the hills seldom weigh more 
 than eight or nine lbs. Luccock averaged the fleece of the hill sheep at 
 somewhat less than two lbs., which probably is about the weight of it at 
 the present time. 
 
 MERIONETHSHIRE. 
 
 This county is situated on the south and the east of Caernarvon, and 
 also on the borders of St. George's Channel, and is almost as mountainous 
 and wild as Caernarvon. Sheep-farming is the staple business of the agri- 
 culturist, and if any comparison could with certainty be made, it might 
 be affirmed that the Welsh sheep is found in a greater state of purity in 
 Merioneth than in any other county, although they are evidently capable of 
 great improvement by a proper selection of rams, and few attempts of this 
 kind have been made for more than a century back. The utmost that the 
 farmer has done has been to send occasionally for a ram to Tallyllyn, at 
 the foot of Cader Idris, where the purest and best blood in North AVales is 
 supposed to be found. The Tallyllyn sheep are somewhat larger and longer- 
 bodied than the common breed. * The true Merioneth sheep is small witli 
 light bone. The wether is fattened at five years old — he does come to 
 his best at an earlier period. The weight rarely much exceeds 10 lbs. per 
 quarter, but at that age the flavour and quality of tlie meat are excellent, 
 particularly when fattened upon the mountains. 
 
 The sheep are here also clipped twice in the year, not because it is sup- 
 posed that more wool is obtained either by natural growth or by its being 
 
 * Kay's Statistical Account of Merionethshire, 
 
 T 2 
 
276 . SHEEP. 
 
 preserved from the briars, but, contrary to actual experience (vide p. 6S), 
 because it is imagined to be of a finer (|uality. The weight of the fleece does 
 not on an average exceed 1^ lb., but the quality is good, and well adapted 
 for and chiefly used in the manufacture of Welsh flannel. 
 
 Some attemjits have been made of late years to cross the Welsh sheep 
 with the black-faced Scotch ; but both one and the other seem to lose their 
 original character, and the produce is inferior to both of the progenitors. 
 AVe are thankful to Mr. Sharp, of Rhagatt, for some valuable hints on this 
 subject. 
 
 The ewes are usually brought down from the hills in order to lamb, 
 and the lambs are fed in the valleys during the first winter ; but, with 
 these exceptions, the flock is usually kept on the mountains during the 
 whole of the year. Under this management the sheep are rarely ripe until 
 they are three or four years old. The lambing season is in March and 
 April. 
 
 MONTGOMERYSHIRE, 
 
 The hills of Montgomery are also covered with sheep, which are sent in 
 the spring from all parts of the low country. The farmers in the neighbour- 
 hood send their whole flocks ; the wethers and hogs alone come from 
 those at a greater distance. The strongest wethers remain on the moun 
 tains during the winter, and without the slightest artificial provision for 
 their support ; the others are brought down into the low grounds about 
 Michaelmas, to be returned in the spring. Under such a system of ma-' 
 nagement the native breed can scarcely be kept pure, and there is much 
 diff'erence in the character of the sheep that occupy these wastes. Towards 
 the south and west a small white-faced breed prevails; on the north-east a 
 black-faced native breed, scarcely larger than the white- faced ones is found, 
 and much valued on account of their hardiness. The breed in the valleys 
 has undergone greater change, and has been materially improved, princi- 
 pally by sheep from Shropshire. 
 
 The sheep on the higher grounds are not in perfection until four years 
 old or more ; those in the valleys are sooner fit for the butcher. The 
 former weigh about 10 lbs. the quarter, the latter 12 or 14 lbs. ; the fleece 
 of the former, clipped once in the year, weighs about 1|-, the latter 2 lbs. 
 The lambing season is in March ; seldom more than one lamb is produced, 
 and that one well woolled ; the lambs are shorn in August, and the 
 greater part of the wool sent to Shrewsbury to be manufactured. There 
 are, however, considerable woollen manufactories within the county ; and, 
 on the whole, the wool of Montgomery is equal to any that the Princi- 
 pality will produce. 
 
 DENBIGHSHIRE AND FLINTSHIRE. 
 
 Of the sheep of these two counties, bordering on Shropshire and 
 Cheshire, little needs to be said. There are fewer sheep in them, and par- 
 ticularly in Flintshire, than in any of the other counties, and these few are 
 of various breeds, more or less mixed with breeds of English extraction. The 
 weight varies from 10 to 20 lbs. per quarter, and the fleece from 2 to 51bs. 
 There is, however, more artificial food than in the other parts of North 
 Wales, and a great deal more than there used to be a few years ago. 
 
 Mr. Luccock, in his account of the wool in North Wales, states the 
 number of acres in that part of the Principality to be 2,285,000, the sheep 
 571,000, or about 1 to 4 acres ; and the total number of packs of short 
 wool yielded by them 3570. Mr. Hubbard admits the accuracy of this 
 calculation, but says nothing of the small portion of long wool which is 
 now grown in this district. 
 
THE WESTMORELAND SHEEP. 
 
 LANCASHIRE. 
 
 A great part of this county is too thickly inhabited, and too exclusively 
 devoted to manufactures, to leave room or inclination for the breeding of 
 sheep ; and south of the Ribble there are few found, except those that are 
 grazing for the butcher. Even in the western and northern parts of Lan- 
 cashire the flocks are few and neglected. Luccock says, that " some flocks 
 are kept upon the mountains, in a very poor and neglected condition, and 
 others are found on the low and fertile pastures of the west ; but the stock 
 of sheep is small and ill-attended, and the wool is very dirty, and coarse, 
 and kempy, and the greater part of it possesses all the bad properties of 
 that kind which is produced by the neglected mountain sheep*." This 
 is very severe criticism, and doubtless was perfectly just at the time. More 
 attention is now paid to sheep husbandry, but not so much as it deserves. 
 
 The prevailing breed is what is here called the Woodland Horned sheep, 
 a variety of the heath or mountain sheep, which, beginning to apjjear on the 
 hilly country on the Yorkshire side of the county, are spread over the whole 
 of the north, to the very extremity of Scotland. They are found jmre, or 
 with almost every variety of cross ; but the principal crosses, and which are 
 decided improvements, are, according to the nature of the country, with 
 the Leicester or the South Down, and by means of which both the carcase 
 and the wool are increased in weight and value. Both of these sheep, and 
 also the Cheviots and the Cotswo!ds, are found here. In the neighbour- 
 hood of Garstang the Cheviots are numerous. A few Ryelands are kejjt 
 near Preston, and although so much farther north than in their native 
 country, they are never cotted : they feed and fatten well, and their wool 
 maintains its full reputation. 
 
 Towards the borders of Westmoreland the Silverdale breed of sheep are 
 found. They are natives of that part of the country, and singularly con- 
 fined to it. It is a horned breed, with white faces and legs, depasturing on a 
 rocky limestone land. The wool is long and white, and the sheep fattens 
 kindly ; but with all its superiority over the darker neighbouring breeds, 
 the Silverdale sheep is far inferior to the Cheviot. 
 
 According to Luccock, Lancashire contained 310,000 short-wooUed 
 sheep, the fleece averaging 3j lbs., and producing 4522 packs of wool. 
 According to Mr. Hubbard, the number of sheep is the same, but the fleece 
 has increased to 4^ lbs., and 5812 packs of wool are grown. Surely there 
 is a sufficient quantity of long wool grown in this county to deserve some, 
 record of it, 
 
 WESTMORELAND. 
 
 The sheep on the mountains and commons are alone referred to at present* 
 They are of the same character as those on the hills of Lancashire, and if 
 the account given by Mr. Lawrence could be credited, the management of 
 them would be a disgrace to any country ; but while the sheep on the lower 
 grounds have been crossed and improved, and rendered truly valuable, those 
 on the hills, although comparatively neglected, have not been quite stationary. 
 Luccock computed that there were 223,725 short-woolled sheep in West- 
 moreland, the fleeces of which averaged 3^ lbs., and the whole amounting to 
 3262 packs. Mr. Hubbard imagines that the average length of the staple 
 is five inches, and the number of packs 4660, evidently taking it for granted 
 tliat the number of sheep had increased in Westmoreland, yet giving no 
 account of the great number of long-woolled sheep first introduced by Mf.. 
 Culley, and with which the better pastures are novv covered 
 
 * Luccock on Wool, (,. 31'i. 
 
278 SIIV.KP, 
 
 CUMBI-.RLAND. 
 
 This county, and especially the southern part of it, is truly mountainous, 
 the sheep are there kept on the highest grounds during the summer, and 
 driven in the winter to better pastures. On the less elevated ridges they 
 are left to abide the pelting storm, without the slightest Bhelter, or the 
 smallest supply of artificial food. 
 
 The march of improvement was as slow in Cumberland as in the counties 
 tliat have been just described, Messrs. Bailey and Culley, in their excel- 
 lent Survey of Cumberland, were observing some singularly rough-legged, 
 ill-formed sheep. On asking an old farmer whence they got that breed, or 
 where they obtained their tups, he replied, " Lord, Sir, they are sik as God set 
 upon the land, we never change any." " The latter part of this simple 
 statement," say the writers, " we readily believe ; but that God set upon 
 the land such ill-formed, unprofitable animals, we cannot so easily assent to, 
 but rather think they have acquired their present deformity and bad pro- 
 perties, by the indolence and ignorance of their owners." 
 
 Most of the tups used to be procured from Kentmore, with narrow backs, 
 long and thin carcases, large and rough legs, and coarse hairy wool hang- 
 ing from their throats to their breasts, giving them more the appearance of 
 goats than sheep. The work of improvement had, however, commenced 
 even in the time of these authors. The hills would not be quite neglected 
 when the Leicesters began to people and to enrich the vales, and in the 
 history of the next county it will be seen what these mountain sheep have 
 now become. 
 
 The Herdwick is the most valuable sheep on the mountains of Cumber- 
 land. In the beginning of the last century a ship was stranded on the 
 coast of Cumberland, that had on board some Scotch sheep which seem 
 to be now unknown in that country. They were got on shore, and 
 being driven up the country were purchased by some farmers who lived at 
 Wasdale-head, in the neighbourhood of Keswick. They were small, active, 
 polled, and their faces and legs speckled, having a great proportion of 
 white, with a few black spots strewed upon it. They were turned at once 
 upon the neighbouring hills. They had not been there long before they 
 evinced a peculiar sagacity in foreseeing the approach of the snow-storm, 
 for, a little before its coming, they clustered together on the most exposed 
 side of the mountain, and where the violence of the wind usually prevented 
 the snow from lodging. This instinct caused them to be regarded with a 
 degree of interest, and almost of superstition ; and their excellent qualities, 
 and adaptation to their new situation, became speedily evident. Their 
 fleece was considerably finer than that of the common black sheep, and the 
 matted quality of the wool enabled them to endure any severity of weather, 
 and even to pass the whole of the winter without the smallest quantity of hay 
 being expended upon them. They were continually moving about, and 
 therefore rarely or never overwhelmed by the snow ; and by their ceaseless 
 activity they scraped away the snow, however deeply the herbage might be 
 buried under it. 
 
 The proprietors of these useful animals determined to keep them as 
 much as possible to themselves, and they formed an association, one 
 of the regulations of which was, that they never should sell a ram, and 
 not more than five ewe-lambs in one season. Means, however, were 
 6oon found to elude this illiberal and shamefid monopoly, and the sheep 
 gradually found their way to several of the mountainous districts of Cwm- 
 be-tland and Westmoreland. They were called the Herdukk breed, from 
 
THE NORTHUMBERLAND SHEEP. 279 
 
 the supposed custom of farming out a flock of sheep to a herdsman, who 
 was to retain a certain number of them in lieu of wages. They give little 
 trouble in the rearing and management of them. The lambs, .which are 
 not dropped until May, are well protected by wool. The wethers are in 
 their prime at three and four years old, and then weigh from 10 to 12 lbs 
 a quarter, and the ewes from 7 to 9 lbs. Notwithstanding the scanty 
 herbage on which they are fed, they are slaughtered as they come from the 
 hills, and are supposed to be most in season, and their meat to possess a 
 superior flavour, from June until September, when the heath plants are in 
 bloom. The ewes are kept as long as they will breed, and are often ten or 
 fifteen years old before they are sent away. The principal value of this breed 
 is its hardiness ; and it was in order to improve this quality in other breeds, 
 that the Herdwick rams were once so much sought after by the breeders of 
 the mountain sheep. 
 
 The cross between the Herdwicks and the native mountain sheep is 
 variously coloured about the head and legs, some being white and others 
 speckled, and not a few perfectly black. They are horned, high-shouldered, 
 narrow-backed, flat-sided, and with coarse and rather long hair. 
 
 Mr. Luccock estimated the number of sheep in Cumberland to be 
 378,400 ; the fleece 3f lbs. in weight, and the number of packs of wool 
 5915. Mr. Hubbard states the present weight of the fleece to be 5 lbs. 
 and the number of packs 7883. Although the latter gentleman says nothing 
 of the long wool grown in Cumberland, yet many flocks of Leicesters are 
 established in the level country, and, as they deserve, are highly valued. 
 
 NORTHUMBERLAND. 
 
 In this county, although the northernmost in England, scientific hus- 
 bandry seems to have fixed her chosen residence. It is occupied by the 
 three breeds of sheep which divide not only it, but the whole of .Scotland 
 among them. In the western part of Northumberland, and in most of the 
 alpine and bleak and barren districts of Scotland, the black-faced sheep 
 mostly prevail. The Cheviots occupy the hills of that name in Northum- 
 berland : they are found on all the upland and grassy districts, and they are 
 successfully contesting the possession of many of the more elevated and 
 exposed situations. In Northumberland, in the whole of the south of 
 Scotland, and far towards its northern extremity, the new Leicester sheep 
 graze on the plains, and will not yield in purity of blood, or in any valuable 
 quality, to those found in any district in England. In the time of 
 Luccock the Leicesters do not appear to have penetrated so far northward 
 as Northumberland ; but the breeds of sheep were exclusively short-woolled, 
 amounting in number to 538,162 ; the fleece weighing about 5 J lbs., and 
 the county yielding 12,333 packs of wool. At present the fleece is of 
 nearly the same weight, but the black-faced sheep have comparatively dis- 
 appeared. The Cheviots are not so numerous as they formerly were, but 
 the Leicesters liave been cultivated wherever the soil and its produce will 
 support them. Thence it has happened that the number of packs of short 
 wool has diminished to 6167, and 6166 packs of long wool are now grown. 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 As these three breeds of sheep, with some trifling varieties of form, and 
 weight of wool, occupy the whole of the country north of the Tweed, it 
 would be tedious to enter into the consideration of the sheep-husbandry of 
 each race. A general history of the middle-woolled black-faced sheep and 
 tlie short-woolled Cheviots in this chapter, and of the long-woolled Loicea- 
 tcrs in the next, wiil answer every useful purpose. 
 
SHEEP. 
 THE BLACK-FACED OR HEATH SHEEP. 
 
 The Black-faced Sheep. 
 
 We have begun to observe them on the mountainous parts of Lancasliire ; 
 we have traced them through Westmoreland and Cumberland ; and they 
 are ibuud in many parts of Nothumberland, and over the whole of Scotland. 
 It is doubtful whether they are the aboriginal breed of these districts. Mr. 
 Culley, and he is high authority, imagines that the dun-faced sheep were 
 the early inhabitants of this mountainous range, and some of which now 
 remain. Their faces are of a dun or tawny colour ; the wool is fine, and 
 mixed and streaked with different colours. They are polled, small in size, 
 weighing, at four or five years old, not more than 7 or 8 lbs. a quarter, 
 the flesh being of excellent flavour. They are hardy and require little 
 trouble ; but in every essential quality, except the fineness of the wool, 
 they were far inferior to the black-faced *. 
 
 There can be no doubt that a breed of sheep, producing wool far 
 superior to that which the black-faced sheep now yield, was once common 
 in Scotland. Dr. Anderson proves that, three or four centuries ago, a fine 
 woolled breed of sheep was common in Scotland. It prevaled in Annandale, 
 Niddesdale, and Galloway. It lingered longest in some of the mountainous 
 parts of Aberdeen. It was known not fifty years ago in Fifeshire, and at 
 present the Fifeshire is a mixed breed. If any trace of it now remains, it 
 is in the islands of Shelhmd f. 
 
 * Culley on Live Stock, p. IGO. 
 
 t Hector Boethius, who wrote about the jear 14G0, takes notice of the fineness of the 
 wool produced in various parts of Scotland. Speakiuj^ of the sheep in the vale of Ksk, 
 and where of late, until the introduction of the Cheviots, the roui^h-woolled black-faced 
 sheep alone were found, he saj's, as translated by HoUingshed, ''Whose sheep have such 
 white, fine, and excellent wool, as the like of it is hardly to be found again in the 
 whole island." Sebastian Monster, in his Cosmographia Universalis, publisheil ninety 
 years afterwards, says," The sheep pasture in each country (he is speaking of Englaud 
 and Scotland) is such that no where is there better or finer wuol." It is somewhat diffi- 
 cult to account for the thorough and disgraceful change ; but the knowledge that it has 
 taken place should stimulate the sheep-masters of Scotland once more to vindicate the 
 honour of their native tleece. — Andeison on Slieep, Appendix ii. 
 
THE BLACK- FACED SHEEP. 1'81 
 
 It is a common oelief in Scotland, tliat the black- faced sheep are of 
 foreign origin, and the forest of Eltrick has been selected as their first 
 locality in the north Dr. Walker mentions a tradition that this breed was 
 planted in a farm on this forest by one of the Scottish kings. The flock 
 contained 5000 sheep, kept for the use of the royal household, and from 
 that stock the whole race of the black-faced sheep succeeded ; but where 
 this ancient monarch found a breed of sheep so different in shape and wool 
 from the old inhabitants of the mountains, and so admirably suited to the 
 situation in which he placetl them, is not stated*. 
 
 They have mostly horns, more or less spirally formed, but the females 
 are frequently without horns. The faces and legs are black, or at least 
 mottled ; the eyes are wild and fierce. They are covered with wool 
 about the forehead and lower jaw, and the wool generally is somewhat 
 open and long, and coarse and shaggy ; not so long, however, but that 
 the sheep may be properly classed among the middle-vvoolled breeds, 
 lliere is a hardness of feeling about the wool which materially lessens its 
 value. 
 
 The form of this sheep has been considerably improved by good selection, 
 even vviihin the last few years, and the carcase has become so short, round, 
 firm, and handsome, as to acquire it the name of short sheep, in opposition 
 to the Cheviots, or long sheep. They are a hardy active race, and belter 
 calculated to resist the severe winters of this mountainous district than any 
 other breed, or at least with only one exception, the Cheviots ; and the pro- 
 priety of that exception is to be presently inquired into. 
 
 Those of the best descriptions are bred chiefly in the hilly districts of the 
 south of Scotland, where breeding stocks can be profitably kept, and are, 
 when designed for grazing, bought while lambs, or at one year old, from 
 the breeders, and kept on the Grampians, or other similar pastures, until 
 they are three years old, when they are sold to the low-country farmers, in 
 order to be fattened on turnips, and sent to a near or distant market in the 
 following winter or spring. 
 
 Lanarkshire may be considered as the nursery of the black-faced sheep 
 for the more northern counties. A great many ewe-flocks are kept in this 
 county ; and the wether-lambs are sold to sheep-farmers in the mountainous 
 districts. The age at which it is wished that the ewe should produce her 
 first lamb is two years; but the flock being suff"ered to run together, many 
 of them have lambs at an earlier age, and when they are not strong enough 
 to endure the severity of the climate. This being almost exclusively a 
 breeding district, some approach towards a proper care of the flock is made. 
 Circular open stalls or pounds, the wall being five or six feet high, are 
 erected, and in a few places this wall is surrounded by fir-trees. The sheep 
 and the shepherd may here find some protection against the pelting storm. 
 It is the commencement of improvement in this respect. A little more 
 provision will by and by begin to be made for their winter fare. Their 
 continuance in the stall will never be compulsory — they will be suffered to 
 pursue their own tract, if, as it is said, they will not be put out of the way 
 of it as long as by any means they can supply themselves, while refuge and 
 food will always be accessible when the grass is too deeply covered with 
 snow for them to get at it. 
 
 Since the regular passage of steam-vessels from Scotland to the English 
 metropolis, great numbers of these sheep have been sent to Smithfield, and 
 they are rapidly becoming favourites in the London market, on account of 
 
 * Farmei's Magazine, Feb. 1824. 
 
282 SHEEP, 
 
 their resembling, more than any other breed, tlic Soutli Down and Welsh 
 mutton in the fineness of its grain, and the delicacy of its flavour. The 
 nature and variety of the herbage on which they are fed during summer, 
 and the age they must arrive at before they are fattened, sufficiently 
 account for the fineness of the mutton. The greatest fault found in 
 them by the southern butcher is the thinness of the shoulder. 
 
 The present price of lambs, from the breeder, is now (May, 1836) from 
 7*. to 12.9.; hoggets, or one-year olds, will bring from 14s. to 18s. ; and 
 at three years old they are worth from 20s. to 25s. This throws much 
 light on the present state of sheep husbandry in these districts, for, taking 
 into account the unavoidable loss by disease and the severity of the climate, 
 the highland grazier has little more to look to than the annual clip of wool 
 for the payment of his rent, the expenses of herdsmen, materials for smear- 
 ing, and a piece of wintering ground in the lower districts during the 
 severest part of the season, so that his profits (although, from the demand 
 for coarse wools, they have lately been fair) must always be precarious and 
 fluctuating. When the sheep are put out to winter pasture, the expense is 
 calculated to be Is. 6d. or 2s. per head *. 
 
 The weight of one of these sheep, when fattened, is from 16 to 20 lbs. 
 per quarter, and the weight of the wool laid or unwashed is about 5 lbs., 
 and that of a fleece of white or washed wool 3 lbs. When the price of 
 v/hite wool is 1 Is. the stone, that of laid wool is 8s. 6d. The turnip feeder 
 thinks himself well paid if he gets at the rate of 2s. per month, in addition 
 to the benefit which the land derives from the manure. Some prize sheep, 
 shown at the meetings of the Highland Society, have been brought to 
 40 lbs. per quarter ; but it is, if possible, more uniformly true of the High- 
 land sheep than of other breeds, that when they are forced beyond their 
 natural size, the meat becomes coarse, and the flavour is lost. The pre- 
 ferable size of one of these black-faced sheep is about 16 lbs. per quarter. 
 
 The improvements that have been made in the black-faced sheep have 
 mostly been effected by judicious selection. The crosses have generally failed, 
 even those with another excellent mountain sheep, the Cheviot. The ad- 
 vocates of both breeds acknowledge this. They confess that " a good sheep 
 is never produced from their being crossed, but the offspring is always ugly 
 and ill-shapedf ." " To effect a change in the old forest breed," says Mr. W. 
 
 * Messrs. KenLedy and Grainger, writing in 1829, thus compute the profit and loss 
 from a stock of 1000 black-faced breeding ewes, in Inverness-shire: — 
 
 126 ewes, at 9/. per score of 21 ..... £54 0*. 
 105 shot lambs, at 2/. 10s. per score of 21 . . . 12 10 
 
 252 Wedder lambs, at 6/. per score of 21 . , . 72 
 
 180 stones of laid wool, at 5s. per stone . . . 45 
 
 DEDUCTIONS. 
 
 Smearing 
 
 Two shepherds, meal, &c., besides pasturage 
 Interest of money .... 
 
 
 183 10 
 
 £25 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 — 
 
 70 
 
 Remaining for that and all public burdens . . £1 13 10 — p. 140. 
 
 This sum was considerably short of what was wanted for the landlord ; and the only 
 resource for the tenant, in order to enable him to make up the deficiency and keep his 
 family, was the keep of a few cows, and the growth of potatoes, but which, after all, would 
 yield a very unprofitable return for the time employed and the capital invested. The 
 rent however is now lowered, and the price of wool considerably raised. 
 
 j On Breeding the Cheviot and Black-f'actd Shtep, by a Lamniermuir Farmer, p. 7" 
 
THE BLACK-FACED SHEEP. 283 
 
 Hogg, " Cheviot rams were admitted to the hardy natives of the more 
 elevated parts of tlie country. The independent liabits of the mountain 
 flocks were lost, and a mongrel progeny of a clumsy figure occupied the 
 lowest and warmest of the pastures. Although both of the parents were 
 hardy, the issue of the two were easily subdued by the cold of winter*." 
 
 The hire and wages of the shepherd are nearly the same in almost every 
 part of Scotland. If he is a married man, he is allowed a house capable of 
 being divided into two apartments, a little garden, extra ground for potatoes, 
 grazing for one cow, or sometimes two, and also for a certain number of 
 sheep, varying from eight to fifty or more, during the summer and winter, 
 with their lambs to a certain time ; and in addition to this a certain quantity 
 of oats, and barley and peas for the subsistence of his family. Single men 
 live in the farmer's house, and in addition to their subsistence have wages 
 varying usually from HZ. to 16/. per annum, and pasture for their sheep. 
 Usually twenty, and sometimes, but injudiciously, forty scores of sheep are 
 placed under his care. 
 
 This mode of payment much resembles that adopted in the patriarchal 
 times, and it is founded on excellent policy, for the interest of the servant 
 is combined with that of the master. On extensive sheep-farms several 
 shepherds must be employed, each having not only his master's sheep to 
 watch and attend to, but some of his own, and probably of those belonging 
 to his fellow-servants ; thus they are bound together by a common bond of 
 interest, and are all anxious that justice should be done to the flock, f 
 
 This will be better discussed when the Cheviots have been described. 
 
 * Quarterly Journ. of Agricul., i. 175. 
 
 |- Kennedy and Grainger on Tenancy, p. 89. — If there is one work which more than 
 another ought to find a place in the library of every hill sheep-fanner, it is " Little's 
 Practical Observations on Mountain Sheep." An abstract of his account of the qualifi- 
 cations of a mountain-shepherd will be, to a certain extent, useful to the shepherd every- 
 where. " The shepherd should be honest, active, careful, and, above all, calm-tem- 
 pered. A shepherd who at any time gets into a passion with his sheep, not only occa- 
 sionally injures them, but acts at great disadvantage both in herding thtm and working 
 among them. A good-tempered man and a close-mouthed dog will effect the desired 
 object with half the time and trouble that it gives to the hasty passionate man." This 
 is a golden rule, and cannot be too frequently and strenuously enforced. " The quali- 
 fication of a shepherd is not to train his dog to running and hounding, but to direct Ihe 
 sheep according to the nature of the soil, and the climate, and the situation of the 
 farm, in such a manner as to obtain the greatest quantity of safe and nutritious food 
 at all seasons of the year." This precept deserves to be written in letters of gold. "It 
 is not by walking much, or seeming to be doing much, that a shepherd proves himself to 
 be a good one ; but by walking so as to disturb the sheep the least, and by doing, and 
 at the time, whatever is necessary to be done. There is not an experienced shepherd 
 who does not as soon as he rises in the morning, and observes the state of the weather, 
 know almost to a certainty where to find every sheep on ihe hill, and he will accordingly 
 take his course to the place where he knows his presence is most wanted. If any of his 
 own or his neighbour's sheep have trespassed, it is foolish to dog or to abuse them; but 
 the more quietly they can be turned back the better. If the boundary should be on the 
 top or ridge of a height, towards which sheep are apt to draw at night, it is better to 
 turn his own a little closer to the boundary in the afternoon, than to drive back his neigh- 
 bour's ; it will better answer the same purpose ; and after the flocks have been a few times 
 gently divided in the morning, without dogs, they will become so well acquainted with 
 their own side, that at the very eight of the shepherd they will take to it without trouble. 
 Those shepherds who dog and force their flocks, I take to be bad herdsmen for their 
 masters, and bad herdsmen for the neighbouring farmers. If the boundary be a bourn 
 or brook on low ground, where the sheep graze in the middle of the day, the same plan 
 should be adopted by turning the sheep down tolerably early in the day." — P. 79. The 
 abstract shall not be continued farther, for the reader will be disposed to look for the 
 continuation of it in the work itself 
 
284 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 THE CHEVIOT SHEEP 
 
 J jr 
 
 The Cheviot Ram. 
 
 The Cheviot Hills are a part of that extensive and elevated range which 
 extends from Galloway through Northumberland into Cumberland and 
 Westmoreland, occupying a space of from 150 to 200 square miles. The 
 majority of them are pointed like cones ; their sides are smooth and steej), 
 and their bases are nearly in contact with each other. The soil, except on 
 the very top, is fertile ; and from the base to the summit of most of them 
 there is an unbroken and rich greensward. 
 
 On the upper part of that hill in Northumberland, which is properly 
 termed the Cheviot, a peculiar and most valuable breed of sheep is found. 
 They have been there almost from time immemorial. Tradition says that 
 they came from the border districts of Scotland ; but they are totally dif- 
 ferent from the black-faced sheep, and bear little or no resemblance to the 
 original dun-faced Scottish stock. How two breeds, so totally different 
 from each other, came to inhabit the neighbouring districts of Ettrick 
 forest and the Cheviot hills, neither history nor tradition has attempted to 
 explain*. 
 
 The Lammermuir farmer, an ardent admirer of them, says, that they are 
 hornless ; the face and legs generally white ; the eye lively and prominent ; 
 the countenance open and pleasing ; the ear large, and with a long space 
 from the ear to the eye ; the body long, and hence they are called " long 
 sheep," in distinction from the black-faced breed. They are full behind 
 the shoulder, they have a long straight back, they are round in the rib, 
 and well proportioned in their quarters ; the legs are clean and small- 
 boned, and the pelt is thin, but thickly covered with fine short wool. The 
 wool extends over the whole of the body, and comes forward behind the 
 
 ♦ Farmer's Mag., Feb. 1824. 
 
TUE CHEVIOT SHEEP. 285 
 
 ear, but leaves the face uncovered— a circumstance, as will be evident from 
 an inspection of the cuts (pp. il2 and 284) that give a very pleasing ap- 
 pearance to the face and head. The muscle and the wool fall well down 
 towards tlie knee ; and although on the thigh the wool is somevvbat coarse, 
 the farmer is compensated by tbe abundant growth of it on that part*. 
 
 Those who are accustomed to the Cheviots pay much attention to their 
 appearance when young. The eyes and ears are carefully examined in the 
 lambs, and if there is a redness about the one or the other, the aninia. 
 is considered not to be in health, and he seldom shakes off the fever 
 under which he is then labouring in sufficient time to overtake his 
 companions in growth and endurance. The coat is also closely examined, 
 and especially that of the young ram, for if it is not thoroughly compact, no 
 beauty of form can compensate for the want of hardiness which this clearly 
 indicates. 
 
 The Cheviot possesses very considerable fattening properties, and can 
 endure much hardship both from starvation and cold. He is now fit for 
 the butcher at tliree years, and at two years when crossed with the Leices 
 ter. The wethers average from 12 to IS lbs. per quarter, and the mutton 
 is of excellent quality. They have been exhibited at the Highland cattle- 
 show, 30 and 32 lbs. per quarter. The wool is inferior to the South Down, 
 and it is not so fine as it was before the improvement of the carcase com- 
 menced. It is longer and more useful for many combing purposes, but is 
 quite abandoned in the manufacture of fine cloth. Mr. Varley's evidence 
 on this point contains much truth and sound philosophy, and deserves the 
 serious consideration not only of the Cheviot breeder, but of every sheep- 
 master. " The Cheviot wool is deteriorated very much in point of hair, 
 and will not make fine cloths now as it once would. I went into Scotland 
 on purpose to inspect the Cheviot wool, and I gave it up in consequence 
 of its being so much altered. It is coarser and longer, and although fit for 
 combing, yet only to make low coatings and flushings. I allude to the 
 Cheviot which has a partial cross of the Leicester. As sheep increase in 
 weight, the wool will necessarily do so ; it becomes longer in the hair and 
 coarser t." It follows as a matter of necessity that if, as Mr. Sutclifie 
 states, the grazier " can now get as much weight in sixteen months in the 
 Cheviot and Leicester cross, as he could in a three-year old wether in 
 former times,'' that the wool must necessarily undergo a corresponding 
 changej. 
 
 Sir John Sinclair's description of them in 1792, and before they were 
 thus changed by the admixture of the Leicester, is too valuable to be 
 omitted even in this rapid sketch of the history of the Cheviots. It is here 
 given in a somewhat condensed form : — " Perhaps there is no part of the 
 whole island where, at first sight, a fine woolled breed of sheep is less to 
 be expected than among the Cheviot hills. Many parts of the sheep-walks 
 consist of nothing but peat bogs and deep morasses. During winter the 
 hills are covered with snow for two, three, and sometimes four months, and 
 they have an ample proportion of bad weather during the other seasons of 
 the year, and yet a sheep is to be found that wil' thrive even in the wildest 
 part of it. Their shape is excellent, and their fore-quarter in particular is 
 distinguished by such justness of proportion, as to be equal in weight to 
 the hind one. Their limbs are of a length to fit them for travelling, and 
 
 * On breeding the Cheviot, &c. p. 71. 
 
 + Evidence before the House of Lords, in 1828, p. 156. 
 
 J Ditto, p. 183. 
 
286 SIIliKP. 
 
 enable them to pass over bogs and snows, througli which a shorter legged 
 animal could not penetrate. They have a closer fleece thun the Tweeddale 
 and Leicester breeds, which keeps them warmer in cold weather, and pre- 
 vents either rain or snow from incommoding them. Tlieir fleece is shorter 
 and consequently more portable over mountainous pastures. They are 
 excellent snow travellers, and are accustomed to procure their food by 
 scraping the snow off the ground with their feet, even when the top is 
 hardened by frost. They have never any olher food, except when it is pro- 
 posed to fatten them, than the grass and natural hay produced on their own 
 hills. Their weight, when fat, is from 17 to 20lbs. per quarter ; and when 
 fed on heath, and kept to a proper age, their meat is fully equal in flavour 
 to any that the Highlands can produce." 
 
 Mr. Culley, an excellent judge of live stock, differs from Sir John Sinclair 
 in this respect, and says of the Cheviot sheep — " Fore-quarter wanting 
 depth in the chest, and breadth both there and on the chine *.'' This might 
 be correct as to the Cheviots of that day; but the system of crossing with 
 the Leicesters which has been pursued, has remedied this defect. 
 
 The black-faced sheep and the Cheviots share the mountainous parts of 
 the north of England and the whole of Scotland between them. Each has 
 its advocates, and each is a useful and valuable sheep. There are three 
 important points of comparison between them — the wool, the carcase, and 
 the hardiness. 
 
 First, as to the wool. Here there can be little doubt: a certain weight 
 of the wool of the Cheviot sheep is, on an average, fifty per cent, better 
 than the same weight of the wool of the black-faced breed ; and the white 
 Cheviot wool is more valuable in a still higher proportionf. Lord Napier, 
 in his examination before the Lords, estimates the diff'erence in value to be 
 yet greater, for he says, " The black-faced sheep produce a wool only half 
 the value of the Cheviots." 
 
 This is an important consideration to the sheep-farmer, whose wool is 
 nearly or quite three-eighths of the produce of his farm. The Cheviot is 
 capable of much improvement in this respect. By careful attention to 
 selection it might be made finer in the pile ; it might be shorter in the 
 staple, and closer and thicker on the body of the animal, losing nothing in 
 weight, but forming a warm and more impenetrable coat ; and lastly, a 
 very important desideratum with regard to the Cheviots, for the want of it 
 is their grand defect — there might be more equality in point of fineness 
 and felting property on the different parts of the carcase. Very con- 
 siderable progress has been made within a few years towards the effecting of 
 all these purposes, and particularly the last. 
 
 The second point of comparison between these sheep has reference to 
 the carcase. It cannot for a moment be denied that the Cheviot is by far 
 the most contented of the two on whatever kind of pasture he may be put, 
 and there is no axiom so universally admitted as that contentedness and a 
 disposition to thrive are inseparable companions. The Cheviot comes to 
 maturity a twelvemonth at least sooner than the black-faced sheep ; and at 
 whatever age the fattening process commences with them, the Cheviot will 
 ever leave the black-faced far behind. Placed upon turnips, the Cheviots 
 will gain many weeks on the black-faced, or placed on the scantiest pasture 
 he will manage to retain his condition as much and as long as his anta- 
 gonist. It is true that from the superior size and weight of the Cheviot so 
 
 * Culley on Live Stock, p. 150. 
 t Little on Mountain Shepp, p. 98. 
 
THE CHEVIOT SHEEP. 287 
 
 many of them cannot be kept on tlie same quantity of ground as of the 
 black-faced sheep, but a greater quantity of mutton will be produced, and 
 a greater profit to the farmer, and it is on this account that the sheep-farms 
 are more numerous than they used to be, and the value of them has almost 
 doubled, and the number of sheep has multiplied almost beyond belief. 
 Much of this is doubtless to be attributed to the superior system of manage- 
 ment which has been adopted ; but that superior system of management 
 takes for granted a superior animal on which to work. A very great pro- 
 portion of Scotland is now exclusively employed in the rearing of sheep ; 
 and there are very few parts of the South Highlands at least in which the 
 Cheviot has not superseded, or is not rapidly superseding, the native black- 
 faced sheep^ 
 
 One point of comparison alone remains — hardiness ; the power of re- 
 sisting the combined and long-continued influence of cold and hunger. 
 When the contest first commenced on this point, there is no doubt that the 
 black-faced sheep claimed a decisive victory. The Cheviots did not weather 
 the inclemency of a Highland winter ; and the loss of the ewes and lambs 
 almost, and in some cases more than balanced the advantage of finer wool 
 and early maturity. But the trial was not fairly made : the pasture, the 
 soil, the nature of the climate from which the Cheviot was taken, and to 
 which he was brought, were not compared ; they were often as dissimilar 
 as possible ; it was therefore not to be wondered at if he sunk under the 
 unaccustomed hardships to which he was exposed. The black-faced sheep 
 sent to the Cheviot Hills would probably have yielded if exposed to similar 
 trials. The cases, however, are exceedingly few in which the Cheviots 
 have failed to maintain their ground, especially those that have been im- 
 ported from their native hills ; for with them it was a change of locality, 
 but not of habit, or of food, or of climate. Lord Napier, in his evidence 
 before the House of Lords, says unequivocally of the forest of Ettrick, and 
 of the whole of Selkirkshire, that " the black-faced sheep have been all 
 driven out of that part of the country, and substituted by the Cheviots." 
 And even in the northern part of Scotland, in Sutherland, Mr. Patrick 
 Sellar states, that from the year 1805 to 1820, from a few hundred Cheviot 
 sheep, which the county then contained, their numbers had so increased 
 that 100,000 Cheviot fleeces were annually sent from Sutherland to the 
 manufacturer, and 20,000 ewes and wethers to the grazier ; and he adds 
 this annual extraction from the Alpine plants of 20,000 carcases of mutton 
 and 100,000 fleeces of wool is indeed most wonderful*. 
 
 There still are many strenuous advocates of the black-faced sheep. They 
 maintain their ground in the west of Scotland, in the greater part of the 
 islands, in some portion of the southern mountains, and they are numerous 
 in the north. There probably may be localities in which, on account of 
 climate or of food, or possibly the want of food, they may fail when the 
 native sheep of the mountains may maintain their ground. The opinion of 
 Mr. Watson of Keillor, to whom, on this as well as on other sul)jects, the 
 author is much indebted, is doubtless founded on truth. He is speaking 
 of the Grampian hills, and they will try the constitution of any sheep. 
 " On some of the more sheltered hill grazings Cheviot sheep have been 
 tried, and are thriving well. They pay better than the native sheep where 
 the land is adapted for them ; and it is admitted by many of the stock 
 farmers, that by a judicious arrangement on some of the extended farms, 
 Cheviots and crosses with the mountain -sheep might profitably occupy a 
 
 * Farmers Magazine, Nov. 1820. 
 
288 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 pari of what is at present entirely occupied by the native Highland. But 
 the most experienced agree that on the wildest of the Grampian pastures 
 no other stock can exist but the black-faced mountain sheep." 
 
 The contest is still carried on between these valuable breeds, but de- 
 cidedly in favour of the Cheviots. With every improvement in agriculture 
 they advance. From simple cold their fine and close coat protects them 
 perhaps more effectually than the coarser and looser one of the black-faced ; 
 they may not be quite so patient endurers of hunger, but even on scanty 
 fare they will thrive as well as their rivals — on average or somewhat supe- 
 rior pasture they will leave them far behind ; and the time will probably 
 arrive when, with the exception of a few and not very extensive districts, 
 it will be acknowledged to be the only breed worthy of the Highlands of 
 Scotland*. 
 
 This may not be an improper place to describe those dreadful storms 
 which so often put to the test the hardiness of both these breeds, and under 
 which they occasionally both succumb. The poet of Ettrick has given a 
 most interesting account of them in his " Shepherd's Calendart-" 
 
 He first dtscribes " The Thirteen Drifty Days," some time about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. " For thirteen days and nights the 
 snow drift never once abated : the ground was covered with frozen snow 
 when it commenced, and during all the time of its continuance the sheep 
 never broke their fast. The cold was intense to a degree never before re- 
 membered, and about the fifth and sixth days of the storm, the young 
 sheep began to fall into a sleepy and torpid state, and all that were so 
 affected in the evening, died in the night. About the ninth and tenth days 
 
 * The following tables — the first supplied by Mr. Laidlaw, and the second by Messrs. 
 Kennedy and Grainger — will place the relative value of the fleece and the carcase of the 
 Cheviot and the black-faced sheep in a satisfactory point of view : — 
 
 The price of Cheviot Wool and Sheep in Selkirk from 1821 to 1831, 
 inclusive. 
 
 The price of Black- 
 faced Sheep in 
 Lanarkshire. 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 II 
 I* 
 
 III 
 
 a 
 
 It 
 
 Vj 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 
 I . 
 
 It 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 J? 
 
 L 
 
 o S 
 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 '5 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 iii 
 
 1821 
 1822 
 1823 
 1824 
 1825 
 1826 
 1827 
 1828 
 1829 
 1830 
 .1831 
 
 s. d. 
 
 10 6 
 
 11 
 96 
 
 12 
 19 6 
 10 
 10 6 
 
 83 
 7 9 
 10 6 
 16 6 
 
 s.d. 
 
 •• 
 
 18 
 18 
 25 
 
 13 
 
 14 6 
 13 
 10 9 
 U 
 20 
 
 s. d. 
 
 210 
 22 
 28 
 
 15 6 
 
 16 6 
 16 
 14 
 16 6 
 24 6 
 
 s. d. 
 
 12 
 
 13 6 
 19 
 12 6 
 12 6 
 15 
 
 12 6 
 10 6 
 
 13 6 
 
 s.d. 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 15 6 
 
 14 6 
 
 11 6 
 14 6 
 
 s. d. 
 
 12 6 
 18 
 
 14 
 116 
 90 
 10 6 
 
 s.d. 
 5 6 
 5 6 
 5 6 
 5 9 
 10 6 
 53 
 70 
 8 
 70 
 50 
 7 
 
 s. d. 
 46 
 4 6 
 4 
 
 4 
 8 3 
 3 9 
 
 5 9 
 7 
 59 
 3 9 
 56 
 
 s d. 
 
 12 
 10 
 
 9 6 
 14 
 21 
 10 3 
 14 6 
 14 6 
 14 6 
 
 9 6 
 14 9 
 
 s. d 
 
 18 6 
 
 22 
 30 6 
 
 19 
 18 6 
 22 
 21 
 17 
 21 
 
 s. d. 
 
 15 
 18 
 23 6 
 30 
 18 
 23 r, 
 23 6 
 
 20 
 17 
 
 21 
 
 s. d. 
 10 
 8 6 
 8 9 
 
 10 6 
 13 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 12 C 
 
 s. d. 
 5 6 
 5 6 
 5 8 
 5 10 
 9 
 5 8 
 7 3 
 7 6 
 
 s. d. 
 9 
 5 4 
 
 5 6 
 
 6 6 
 10 
 
 5 6 
 5 6 
 56 
 
 jf 
 
 t Vol. II., p. 254. 
 
THE HIGHLAND STORMS. 285 
 
 the shepherds began to build up huge semi-circular walls of their dead, iti 
 order to afford some shelter to the remainder; but shelter availed little, 
 for the want of food began to be felt so severely that they were frequently 
 seen tearing one another's wool. 
 
 " When the storm abated on the fourteenth day, there was on many a 
 high-lying farm not a living sheep to be seen. Large misshapen walls of 
 dead, surrounding a small prostrate flock, likewise all dead and frozen stiff in 
 their layers, were all that remained to the forlorn shepherd and his master. 
 In the extensive pastoral district of Eskdale-muir, which previously con- 
 tained more than 20,000 sheep, only forty young wethers were left on 
 one farm, and five old ewes on another. The farm of Phants remained 
 without stock and without a tenant for forty years after the storm ; and an 
 extensive glen in Tweedsmuir became a common to which any man drove 
 his flocks that pleased, and so it continued for nearly a century." 
 
 The winters of 1772 and 1795 were also remarkable for their severity; 
 by them all the subsequent hard winters have been estimated, and when 
 the balance turns out in favour of the calculator, he is thankful. No 
 apology is made for the insertion of the following picture : — " I know of no 
 scene so impressive as that of a shepherd's family, sequestered in a lone 
 glen during the time of a winter-storm. There they are left to the protec- 
 tion of Heaven alone, and they know and feel it. Before retiring to rest the 
 shepherd uniformly goes out to examine the state of the weather, and make 
 his report to the little dependent group within. Nothing is to be seen but 
 the conflict of the elements, nor heard but the raving of the storm. Then 
 they all kneel around him while he recommends them to the protection of 
 Heaven ; and though their little hymn of praise can scarcely be heard even 
 by themselves, and mixes with the roar of the tempest, they never fail to 
 rise from their devotions with their spirits cheered, and their confidence 
 renewed. Often have I been a sharer in such scenes, and never in my 
 youngest years without having my heart deeply impressed. We lived, as it 
 were, inmates of the cloud and the storm, but we stood in relationship to 
 Him who directed and governed them." 
 
 The sheep have generally an unerring foresight of the approach of these 
 storms, or rather of the coming wind which will drift ; and they will hurry 
 away to some tried and approved shelter, when the shepherd sees not a 
 cloud, and dreams not of the wind. " I had left," says one of these Alpine 
 shepherds, " my sheep under their accustomed shelter, and where I had 
 never missed to find them safe and comfortable in the morning, and I was 
 plodding my weary way homeward ; but before distance and darkness closed 
 them from my sight for the night, I looked back to see if they had given 
 over work, (ceased to dig for their food, for there was snow upon the 
 ground,) when I was surprised to see them on their march down hill 
 towards a small plantation which would afford securer shelter, and to which 
 I had been accustomed to drive them when I feared the coming tempest. 
 They had fallen into rows, pacing one after the other until they reached 
 the plantation, and there was nothing to suggest to my mind the return of 
 a drift, but their movement and their bleating. They passed through the 
 plantation, and took that side of it which would afford them a safe shelter 
 from the south-west hurricanes. It however happened, that, although 
 their instinct had admonished them that a tempest was impending, it had 
 not taught them from what quarter that tempest would come, and it soon 
 began to blow from the north-east, from which they had no defence. When 
 I came to them in the morning, the wreath was higher than the dyke, and 
 Was leaning over upon the trees. Some of the strongest sheep had still 
 
 u 
 
<>m SHEEP. 
 
 kept treading down the snow as it gathered around them, and were on the 
 top of the wreath ; but many of them farther back were quite immersed in 
 the snow. However, by means of probing and digging, I got them all out, 
 except two hogs that had been crushed by the weight of the snow, and their 
 comrades struggling above them*." 
 
 Sometimes the storm overtakes the flock at a distance from any shelter, 
 and they crowd together, or are driven together by the shepherd, in the vain 
 liope of protecting and warming each other : but, very shortly, some of the 
 iambs are overwhelmed ; and tlie mothers, as if to augment the confusion, 
 lose all maternal instinctive sense, and are no longer able to recognize 
 tlieir own offspring, but run about bleating in wild amazement, or stop to 
 smell at the various spots under which lie the victims of the blast, or 
 where the plaintive cry of the little striiggler may perhaps still be heard. 
 All this wild agitation of the mothers aggravates the evil to a dreadful 
 degree ; and a scene of confusion and misery ensues which will scarcely 
 ever be forgotten by bin. who has witnessed it. It is better for the mother 
 and her larr.D when she is separated a little from the flock; she will then 
 quietly lay herself down, opposing herself to the blast, and while life re- 
 mains to her she will continue to shelter her offspring with her own bodyt. 
 
 The time which the sheep survives when thus buried in the snow, de- 
 pends on the natural strength and endurance of the animal, the degree of 
 cold, and the possibility of obtaining a little portion of food. A sheep 
 near Kendal was, in the winter of 1800, buried in the snow thirty-three 
 days and nights, without the possibility of moving, and yet survived]:. In 
 the same winter, a sheep near Caldbeck, in Cumberland, was buried thirty- 
 eight days ; when found it had completely eaten the wool off' both its 
 shoulders, and vvas reduced to a skeleton. It, nevertheless, perfectly re- 
 covered§. It is seldom, however, that one cold night is not fatal to some 
 of the weakly ewes or lambs. 
 
 The Hon. W. J. Napier has published a very interesting work on moun- 
 tain store-farming, in Vt'hich lie enters into many calculations respecting 
 the loss sustained by the sheep-farmer from the occurrence of these storms. 
 Reckoning from 1672 to 1822, a period of 150 years, he shows that there 
 have been twenty-five bad seasons, or one in every sixth year, and several 
 of them attended with an immense loss of sheep ||. He has calculated the 
 
 * Farmer's Magazine, Feb. 1824. 
 
 f Edinburjrh Fanner's Magazine, Feb. 1824. 
 
 j Annual Register, 1806. 
 
 § Agricul. Magazine, Feb. 1808. 
 
 II " Of all the storms that ever Scotland witnessed, or I hope will again behold, 
 there is none of them that can be compared to that of the night between the 24th and 
 - 2oth of January, 1794. This storm fell with peculiar violence on that division of the 
 south of Scotland that lies between Crawfurd-muir and the Border. In these buunds 
 seventeen shepherds perisbcd, and upwards of thirty were carried home insensible, who 
 afterwards recovered. The number of sbeep that were lost outwent any possibility of 
 calculation. One farmer alone lost seventy-two scores, and many others in the same 
 quarter from thirty to forty scores each. Whole flocks were overwhelmed with snow, and 
 no one ever knew where they were until the snow dissolved, and they were all found 
 dead. I myself witnessed one particular instance of this. There were twelve scores of 
 excellent ewes, all of one age, that were missing all the time that the snow lay, which was 
 only a week, and no traces of them could be found. When the snow went away they 
 were discovered all lying dead with their heads one way, as if a flock of sheep had 
 dropped dead going hom the washing. Many hundreds were driven into waters, bourns, 
 and lakes, by the violence of the storm, where they were buried or frozen up, and these 
 the flood carried away, so that they were never seen by the owners at all. The greater 
 part of the rivers on wliich the storm was most deadly, run into the Solway Frith, on 
 which there ia a place culled the Beds of Esk, where the tide throws out and leaves 
 
THE HIGHLAND STORMS. 291 
 
 average of these losses, or their excess ahove the usual ordinary losses ; 
 and, relying on the authority of an experienced slieepmaster, Mr. Laidlaw, 
 he concludes that it is at least 50/. a-year above the usual loss in every 
 farm containing 1000 head of sheep*. 
 
 On seriously considering the matter, he felt convinced that a very great 
 portion of these losses might have been easily averted by attention to food 
 and to shelter. He adopted a better smearing process for his sheep. It ia 
 not possible to maintain the health and vigour of sheep exposed to the 
 vicissitudes of the weather in these mountainous regions, without the appli- 
 cation of a certain composition to the fleece, usually consisting of tar and 
 butter — the tar destroying the insects and diseases of the skin to whicli 
 sheep are subject in exposed situations, and also matting together the wool 
 and rendering it impervious to cold or wet, and the butter likewise assisting 
 in making the fleece water-proof, and nourishing the growth of the wool. 
 Mr. Napier adopted a somewhat preferable application, consisting of spirits 
 of tar and whale oil. He drained some portions of his farm, where the 
 soft and washy grass, he thought, produced weakness in the sheep, and dis- 
 abled them from struggling with the severity of the situation and climate. 
 He enclosed a park for the })rescrvation of his hay, and he built in the most 
 exposed situations a few circular stells, or rudely constructed covered build- 
 ings, yielding sufficient shelter, and supplied with hay. The consequence 
 was, that although in 1 SI 8-1 9 he lost fifty-five sheep, besides a great 
 number of lambs, in the following year he lost but thirty ; in the next nine- 
 teen, and in the next thirteen, being a most satisfactory return for the ex- 
 penditure of about 100/. for park drains and stells. In addition to this 
 the whole flock was more healthy, and 1^:> usual summer loss materially 
 diminished t. 
 
 It is scarcely twenty years ago that these simple yet effectual contrivances 
 for the safety of the sheep and the shepherd, and the profit of the farmer, 
 
 •whatever is carried info it by the rivers. When the flood, after tlie storm, subsided, there 
 were found in that place and the shores adjacent, 1840 sheep, 9 black cattle, 3 horsea, 2 
 men, 1 woman, 45 dogs, and 180 hares, besides a number of meaner animals." — 
 Hogg's Shepherd's Calendar, Vol. II., p. 360. 
 
 '■■"" Napier's Treatise on Practical Store- farming, p. 44. 
 
 -f- These stells should be substantially built, and which may Le done at comparatively 
 little expense. The public are much indebted to the Hon. Captain Napier for putiing 
 this matter in an unanswerable point of view. He calculates — and he enters into all the 
 particulars — that each circular stell would cost o')s. — that each would, clo.sely packed, 
 accommodate seventy-five sheep, being thirty feet in diameter inside ; and that, conse- 
 quently, the stells would hold 1014 sheep, and tb.e cost of these fourteen stells would be 
 'jL7I. Gs. In case, however, of sudden storms, and the sheep being scattered wide, he re- 
 commends that the stells should be more ti.ickly placed, and that twenty-four shoidd lie 
 trected, at an expense of 64/. 16s., or an interest of little mure than 3/. per annum. In 
 nearly average severity, it bus already been seen that the saving to the farmer, by means 
 tif the {.rotection afforded to the sheep, would shortly repay the principal. He had the 
 opportunity however of showing, on the authority oifMr. Laidlaw, the difference to the 
 farmer in years of more than usual severity. There were two farms on Ettrick, Bower- 
 hope and Crosscleugh. Bowerhope was provided with stells, and Croshclengh had none. 
 The winters of 1816 and lalB were very destructive to sheep. The extra loss of sheep 
 and lambs on Crosscleugh was 400 lambs, and 70 old siieep, amounting in value to 
 230/. That on Bowerhope amounted to 120 lambs, and 18 old sheep, worth 66/., leaving 
 164/. saved by the stells. But Bowerhoj.e kept at least one-third more sheep than 
 Crosscleugh, and therefore the saving was considerably more than 200/. Had this its 
 proper effect on the sheep-farmers? Did they become wiser from experience.'' No! 
 " They consoled themselves," says Mr. Laidlaw, " with repining at the bad seasons, and 
 tliey trust merely to better times, and to the landlord's generosity, to save them from im- 
 pending ruin." — Napier's Practical Store-farming, p. 126 ; and Farmer's Magazine, 
 Nov. 1822. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 SHEEP 
 
 began to be adopted on the mountain sheep-farms, and they are far from being 
 so well known, or so extensively used as they deserve to be. " At the 
 commencement of the fall," says Mr. Napier, " the sheep accustomed to 
 the stells would naturally draw forward and reach them with little exertion, 
 and there they would remain in safety, satisfied with the hay with which the 
 stell is stored. When tlie sleet and snow drive fiercely down the glens, 
 they seek for shelter in the stell ; but, the blast gone by, they return to their 
 labour among the snow ; and so much do they prefer the half-green grass 
 to the best hay that can be provided, that they persevere in working 
 through the snow to get at it as long as they feel themselves proof against 
 the cold, and it may be left to their own choice whether to work without, or 
 to find their sustenance within ; and they will be seen many times in the day 
 passing and repassing, according to the change or the prevalence of the 
 blast. Instinct will teach them when to fly for shelter, and when to return to 
 the pasture ; and at the same time the shepherd may be with them rejoicing 
 in the consciousness of his own safety as well as theirs.'' 
 
 Let this be compared with the account which the Ettrick Shepherd has 
 given of a snow-storm to which he was exposed. The storm had raged 
 during the whole of the night. He and his fellow-servants and his master 
 rose two hours before day, for they had a lot of 800 ewes a long way dis- 
 tant, and they were resolved to make a bold effort to reach them. The en- 
 closure or park round the house was not more than 300 yards, but the snow 
 was so deep and drifting, and the wind so violent, that it was full two hours 
 before they had cleared the enclosure. It was two hours more before they 
 reached the sheep. 
 
 The ewes were standing in a close body, one-half of them covered over 
 with snow to the depth of ten feet. They were got out safe ; but there 
 were a hundred more in another place near by, of which few alone could be 
 saved before the night closed upon them. There were still 340 under the 
 immediate care of Hogg, but nothing coidd be done for them until the 
 following dawn, when they all set out again to look after them. They 
 passed by a deep glen full of trees ; there was not the top of one of them 
 to be seen. They came to the ground were the sheep should have been, but 
 there was not one of them above the snow. Here and there they could 
 perceive the heads or horns of stragglers appearing, and these were easily 
 got out ; but when they had collected these few, they could find no more. 
 It was a kind of sloping ground, and the snow was from six to eight feet 
 deep, and under this the sheep were lying, scattered over at least 100 acres 
 of heathy ground. They went about boring with their long poles, but 
 they often did not find one sheep in a quarter of an hour. At length a 
 white shaggy colly (sheep-dog), named Sparkle, seemed to have com- 
 prehended their perplexity, for he began to scrape the snow, and look 
 over his shoulder at them. On going to the spot they found that he had 
 marked right over a sheep. From that he flew to another, and then to 
 another, as fast as they could get them out, and ten times faster, for he 
 had sometimes twenty or thirty holes marked beforehand. 
 
 They got out 300 of that division before night, the greater part of which 
 would have been lost had it not been for Sparkle ; and before the snow 
 went away, which lay eight days, they got out every sheep on the farm, 
 either dead or alive, except four, and that these were not found was not 
 Sparkie's fault, for though they were buried beneath a mountain of snow 
 fifty feet deep, he had again and again marked on the top of it above them. 
 The sheep were all living when they were found ; but those that were 
 buried in the snow to a certain depth, being in a warm, half-suffocated 
 
CROSSES OF THE CHEVIOTS. 293 
 
 otate, though on being taken out tliey bounded away like roes, were 
 instantly afterwards paralysed by the sudden change of temperature, and 
 fell down deprived of all power of tlieir limbs. They were carried home 
 and fed with the hand, and many of them recovered ; but those that had 
 been buried very deep all died. " We lost about sixty in all," says Mr. 
 Hogg, " and I am certain that Sparkle saved at least 200 ; but there were 
 thousands of sheep lost in the neighbourhood, and several of the shepherds 
 perished in the snow*." 
 
 Various crosses of the Cheviots with other breeds have been attempted. 
 One of the earliest of southern blood that was tried was with the South 
 Down. It has been stated, v/hen speaking of this valuable breed of sheep, 
 that they have rarely done well in tiie north. There are exceptions to this; 
 and a very striking one at the present moment exists on the Sidlaw part of 
 the Grampians at Keillor. Mr. Hugh Watson has a flock of 1000 pure 
 South Downs, which he has carefully preserved for the last twenty years, 
 and which are now quite naturalized to the climate, and as healthy as any 
 stock in the kingdom. 
 
 After selecting the number necessary to keep up the pure stock, he 
 annually puts the old ewes to pure-bred Leicester rams, and these produce 
 a cross of the most valuable description, both for wool and carcase. The 
 wool at present is worth 2s. per lb. ; and the carcase, after clipping (the 
 sheep being well fed on turnips during the winter), will make from 30s. to 
 35s. ; or on an average of the last five years, the sheep, when fifteen months 
 old, have produced 42.?. each. This speaks much in favour of that svstem 
 of breeding which has been so often recommended to the attention of the 
 Brhish sheep-farmer, namely, to look more to the improvement of the car- 
 case, and to be satisfied with that wool, which, although longer and coarser, 
 is adapted for many useful purposes, and yields a fair remunerating price. 
 
 The cross of the Cheviot with the South Down has not been successful. 
 Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger state that, early in the present century, an 
 attempt was made to improve the quality of the Cheviot wool by crossing 
 a considerable number of the best ewes that could be selected from the 
 flocks of the principal sheep-farmers with two South Down rams, pur- 
 chased at a very high price from Mr. EUman of Glynde. The experiment 
 was pursued during several successive years, but totally failed ; the produce 
 not having sufficient hardiness to endure the severity to which the Cheviots 
 are usually exposed. 
 
 At a later period, the experiment was repeated in the county of Suther- 
 land. A South Down ram, very carefully selected, was put to a number 
 of Cheviot ewes, with rather coarser wool than usual. This was continued 
 five or six years, the seasons being favourable, and it began to be imagined 
 that a cross breed of considerable value had been established ; but in the 
 winter and spring of 1816, came a frost — a killing frost — and not one of 
 the mixed-blood was left alive upon the farm. 
 
 The Cheviots have also been crossed with the Leicesters, and tl«s re- 
 peated again and again until there was comparatively none of the Cheviot 
 blood remaining. The result of these crosses — whether attempted in a 
 slight degree, or carried to their full extent — will be best considered wlien 
 the long-woolled sheep are described. 
 
 On surveying the whole of Scotland with reference to the mountain- 
 sheep, the breeding is mostly pursued in the southern parts, and the rear- 
 ing of wethers in the northern districts. The ewes and their lambs will 
 fare well in the former, and the wethers can find a subsistence in the latter. 
 In first procuring a stock, the farmer should be anxious to obtain it, if pos- 
 
 " Hoe;g's Shepherd's Calendar, vol. ii., p. 266. 
 
294 SHEEP. 
 
 sible, from a poorer and more exposed situation, rather than from a more fer- 
 tile and sheltered one. The sheep will be satisfied, and thrive in the former 
 case; but will often be discontented and wandering, and will lose condition 
 in the latter. If the time of selection is at the option of the farmer, it 
 should be when his pastures are most thickly covered with grass, and, for 
 the same reason, that the sheep may be belter disposed to settle on their 
 new situation. On the same account, the land should not be at first too 
 heavily stocked ; and the lambing time should be somewhat later, that the 
 ewes and the lambs may be in better condition. The lambs, when cas- 
 trated, should be used gently, and kept clean, and never dogged. 
 
 The time for shearing, in a mountain-farm, is of considerable importance, 
 and will vary with the breed and the situation. It should be when the 
 new wool has risen from the skin, and the old wool is beginning to be 
 detached, — when that which had been a defence and a comfort during the 
 winter is becoming a burden. The general fault is that the wool, and par- 
 ticularly that of the wethers, is kept on too long. 
 
 The following cuts of the microscopic appearance of the Cheviot wool 
 contain an accurate delineation of two samples kindly forwarded by Mr. 
 Adam, of Beaufort, Invernessshire. 
 
 I. Ue Cheviot— Hill Fed. 
 
 t^^^^^^m 
 
 This fibre of wool is from a hill-fed Cheviot. The pasture was consideriibly expused 
 to the west wind, but the sheep had turnips during the last winter. The fibre was 7^ 
 inches in length ; the diameter as nearly as possible that of the Leicester, g^th. part of 
 an inch. 
 
 1. It is viewed as a transpurent object ; the number of serrations are 18G0 to the 
 inch — precisely the number found on a fibre of Leicester wool ; they are tolerably dis- 
 tinct, and sharp, althoujj;h not very projecting. 
 
 '2. Viewed as a transparent object, the pointed tips of the leaves composing the cups 
 are very striking. There is a great resemldance to the Leicester; and the derivation of 
 the breed is weU illustrated by the formation of tlie fibre. 
 
 The Cheviot— Good Pasture. 
 
 The fibre here drawn is from a t,'. i - i to be sent to the market, 
 
 and that had always been kept on exceller.t pasture. 
 
 \. The fibre observed as a transparent object, was 9 inches in length, and its dia- 
 meter a very little larger than tliat of No. 1. There is a marked difference iti the 
 number of the serrations: there are but nine in the field of view, or 1440 in the space of 
 an inch. The serrations vary considerably in their projection : some of them form nearly 
 a right angle, some more than this, and others less. 
 
 2. It is here seen as a transparent object. The first notion that presents itself to the 
 mind is the likeness of the fibre to a glass tube filled with broken spar; but on closely, 
 or rather painfully, inspecting it, the pointed leaves forming the cups are detected. 
 Some principle has been at v.'ork to disturb the usual formation and growth of the fibre. 
 
THE CHEVIOT SHEEP. 295 
 
 Nothing can be more satisfactory in showing the influence of food on 
 tlie growth and character of the fleece, as well as on the developement of 
 the frame generally. The length, the structure, and the uses of the wool 
 are materially injured by this mountain-sheep being taken from the locality 
 which nature assigned to him. There is much to learn on this point of 
 sheep-husbandry, and the change which is now taking place in the fleece 
 of the sheep will render this knowledge of incalculable value. 
 
 The time of weaning deserves consideration. It is dependent on the 
 nature of the pasture, and somewhat also on the time at which the neigh- 
 bouring fairs or markets are lield. It should scarcely be before the middle 
 of July, and it should be completed before the end of the following 
 month. The practice of milking the ewes after weaning is getting into dis- 
 repute, and will, in process of time, be quite abandoned. 
 
 Later in the autumn comes the drafting of the old stock. The custom of 
 keeping the ewes as long as they are likely to bring lambs is too generally 
 adopted, to the manifest detriment of the value of the flock, both as it 
 regards the wool and the flesh. A ewe should rarely be kept after she is 
 five and a-half years old. She will, at that age, or earlier than that, 
 become more rapidly fit for the butcher, and there will be no danger of 
 degeneracy to the flock. 
 
 The question of smearing, and the best composition for this purpose, 
 will be more fully considered when the skin of the sheep is described. 
 Laid, or unsmeared, wool bears a considerably higher price than that 
 which is smeared ; but the additional profit on the fleece would be dearly 
 acquired at the lo^s of many a valuable sheep, and tlie miserable want of 
 condition of the whole flock. Diflerent breeds possess different degrees of 
 hardihood ; but there is no breed that would not cease to thrive and rapidly 
 fall away if abandoned to the severity of some of the highland districts. 
 
 The time of taking the tups to the ewes, and consequently the period of 
 lambing, must depend on the situation and character of the farm ; but there 
 is one rule applicable to mountain sheep-farming everywhere, — namely, 
 that, all other tilings being alike, it is much better, both for the mother 
 and the offspring, to have the lambing time a little too late than a little too 
 early. The inclemency of the weather will be more likely to be passed — 
 the ewes will be a little recovered from the trials of the winter — the lambs 
 will have less to contend with — and the ewes themselves, comfortable and 
 in good condition, will be more kindly to their lambs, and more careful 
 about them.. The tups, however, should not remain too long with the 
 ewes, otherwise the ewes will be injured for the ensuing season. The 
 average lime for lambing in one of these farms would probably be from 
 the middle to the end of April *. 
 
 Among the improvements in mountain sheep-farming may be reckoned 
 the introduction of inclosures, where they can be made at small expense. 
 The sheep are sheltered ; the lives of many are saved during the winter ; 
 and the grass is uniformly earlier, better, and greater in quantity. Drain- 
 ing, while it has increased the quantity and the quality of the grass, and 
 afforded a dryer and more comfortable bed for the stock, has most ma- 
 terially lessened the ravages of the rot, and improved the general health 
 and thriving of the flock. The erection of wide and simple bridges over 
 which sheep may pass, when, in the night-time, or during a stonn, they 
 will travel from one side of the brook to the other, has saved many a 
 life. The habit of burning the moss and heath on various part? cf the 
 
 * Little on Mountain Sheep, p. 5 1 . 
 
296 SHEEP. 
 
 farms has produced more and better food for the sheep. Mr. Laidlaw, 
 whose authority will be admitted by every practical man, said, when he 
 was keeping about 2000 sheep, that he would rather lose bOl. than one 
 year's burning. This deserves the consideration of those who suffer so 
 much land to be comparatively barren and unprofitable, for the sake of 
 affording shelter to their moor-fowl*; and yet even the moor-fowl would 
 be benefited by the heath being occasionally burnt, providing it be not done 
 during the breeding season. The best broods are always found in heath 
 of a moderate growth. 
 
 The introduction of top-dressing, or surface lining, has had admirable 
 effect, and also the more general adoption of that which, fifty years ago, 
 was almost unknown — the providing of food against the necessities of a 
 stormy winter. Mr. Little proposes a cheap and admirable plan of collect- 
 ing a certain portion, at least, of winter's food, namely, — " To begin early 
 in the season, when every kind of herbage on common sheep-pasture is 
 green and full of sap, to mow all kinds of roughnesses, as heath, ling, bent, 
 and ferns, that will cut with the scythe, and make them into hay. Mowing 
 would be the greatest expense, and could easily be performed by the shep- 
 herds ; the grass would require very little drying, on account of the great 
 quantity of dry stuff cut along with it, and might be set up in low ricks in 
 the places where it is made. These, on an average of two years out of 
 three, would, along with their ordinary pasture, be sufficient for the support 
 of the sheep f." 
 
 One other suggestion from this excellent writer is quoted, — namely, the 
 letting the ewes, the gimmers, and the hogs, go at large on the same pas- 
 ture. The land is more equally pastured — there is no trouble or danger in 
 shifting — the hogs, in time of storm, are better led in search of food along 
 with the old sheep than by themselves ; being continued in the place where 
 they were lambed, they are not so apt to stray from the farm — the shep- 
 herds are not at so great a loss in looking over the hill or sheep-walk in 
 storms and in lambing-time,and the healthiest and the strongest sheep can go 
 to situations where the more weakly cannot, and are more easily discovered 
 in selecting a breeding stock. Those that pasture on the higher and bleaker 
 parts of a farm, and are accustomed to bear cold, hunger, and fatigue better 
 than if bred on a lower part, whenever they are driven from the high land 
 by a storm, return to it again as soon as the weather brightens : the 
 flock is divided into two lots, and the different breeding and the difierent 
 hardihood of the two divisions are unerringly marked^. 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 The sheep on the different islands on the coast of Scotland are chiefly 
 of the native breed, but somewhat differing in colour and size. 
 
 was formerly devoted almost exclusively to the breeding of cattle, but there 
 now are many sheep-walks in various parts of it. The black-faced sheep 
 was introduced from Argyleshire about thirty years ago, and has answered 
 exceedingly well ; but the greater number are still of the ancient native 
 breed, distinguished by their dun or yellow faces and legs, and the fine 
 flavour of their mutton. They do not weigh more than 7 or 8 lbs. per 
 quarter. 
 
 * Little on Mountain Sheep, p. 20. t Ibid. p. 47. 
 
 X Ibid. p. 88. 
 
THE ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 297 
 
 ISLA.Y, 
 
 the greater part of which beiongs to Mr. Walter Frederick Campbell, 
 contains about 4000 sheep, principally of the black-faced breed. These 
 sheep are too much neglected, and the wool is even coarser than that of 
 flocks of the same breed on the mainland : but if they were removed from 
 the ground which they now occupy, the island would be fit for nothing 
 but shooting and deer-stalking. Mr. Campbell calculates that the wool — 
 about 4 lbs. to the fleece — pays the rent of his tenant, and the carcase is 
 placed against the expense of management. The ewes are sometimes 
 clipped four times in the year, and the wethers seldom less than twice. 
 
 The cattle have nearly disappeared from this island, and it has become 
 one large sheep-walk. The breed is the same as in Islay. 
 
 THE HEBRIDES. 
 
 Tiie original breed is very small, with white faces and horns, and bearing 
 considerable likeness to some of the Shetlanders. The general colour is 
 white, but there are individuals of all colours — black, brown, and grey. 
 They are active and handsome. The black-faced breed has been lately 
 introduced ; and being of a larger size, yet not too large for the pasture, 
 they answer well. They are not, however, quite naturalized, for they are 
 often subject to diseases from which the natives are exempt. The sheep 
 in the Hebrides are principally kept on account of their wool, a great part 
 of which is used in the rude manufactures of the inhabitants. The women 
 spin the wool, and dye the yarn, and in almost every family the articles of 
 clothing are made within doors ; a small supply only of calico, handker- 
 chiefs, and hats, is obtained from Glasgow. The Hebridean woollen stuffs 
 are coarse enough, but they are well adapted to the climate *. 
 
 THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. 
 
 The accounts given of the sheep of these islands are exceedingly unsa- 
 tisfactory. They are said to amount in the whole to at least 50,000, and 
 they produce a very fine wool ; but they are neglected to a degree which 
 would scarcely be thought credible so near to a civilized country. 
 
 The number of the Orkney Islands is no less than sixty-eight, more 
 than half of which are uninhabited, but they all yield some nutriment for 
 cattle and sheep. These animals are turned at perfect liberty — the sheep 
 being caught, or driven home, only once in every year, and the cattle, in 
 many cases, not so frequently. Mr. Low, a good naturalist, and a pleasing 
 writer, gives the following account of this annual meeting between the 
 sheep and their owners : — " About midsummer there is a particular day 
 published for rowing ; when all the men in the parish, attended by their 
 dogs, turn out and drive the whole flock, without any preparation of 
 washing, into narrow pens, and thence, I may say, to the place of execu- 
 tion, where the wool is torn — not shorn — off their backs ; an operation 
 which brings the whole blood into their skin, and is not only disgusting, 
 but, if the season proves harsh, is the cause of great destruction. But, 
 however cruel this may seem, it is almost the only notice that is taken of 
 these useful animals until the next crop of wool is ready to be pluckedf.'* 
 There is not, however, so much cruelty in this operation as might be 
 
 * Transactions of the Highland Society, vol, ii., p. 263. 
 f Fauna Orcadensis, p. 7. 
 
898 SHEEP. 
 
 imagined — or, rather, there is no cruelty at all — for the wool is at that time 
 beginning to separate from the skin ; it is removed without pain to the 
 animal, and if it were not tlius obtained a great portion of it would be lost. 
 The same writer gives no very favourable account of their flesh. " The 
 mutton is here, in general, but ordinary, owing to the sheep feeding much 
 on sea ware ; to procure which these creatures show a wonderful sagacity, 
 for no sooner has the tide of ebb begun to run, than they, although at a 
 great distance, immediately betake themselves at full speed, one and all, to 
 the shore, where they continue until the tide begins to flow, when they as 
 regularly retire*." 
 
 THE SHETL,^ND ISLANDS 
 
 These islands are situated still farther northward, nearly half-way \o the 
 coast of Norway. They produce a sheep that has from the earliest period 
 been celebrated for the unrivalled fineness of its wool. There can be no 
 doubt that it was originally derived from Denmark, and was brought over 
 by the first settlers in these islands, who were of Danish extraction ; for 
 the Shetland isles then acknowledged the Danish sway. Some of the 
 Jutland sheep much resemble the Shetlanders in general form, but they 
 cannot compete with them in the fineness of their wool. 
 
 The Shetland sheep are small, generally without horns, seldom weigh- 
 ing more than 9 or 10 lbs. per quarter, and frequently not more than 
 7 or 8 lbs. They are of two kinds : one of them — the native breed — pro- 
 duces the finest and softest wool ; sometimes white, and of an unequalled 
 brilliancy of colour ; and on other sheep, of a grey, russet, or even black 
 colour. From its peculiar sofmess, it is called the cottony wool. 
 
 The numbers of this breed are considerably diminished, for the Shetlanders 
 were not content with the treasure which they possessed in this beautiful 
 wool, but attempted to increase the size of the animal ; and sheep of almost 
 every breed were in their turn imported into these islands. A somewhat 
 larger breed, but with an impaired fleece, was partially established on the 
 coast; but it does not thrive there — it is unable to bear the rigour of a 
 northern winter, and often perishes from absolute cold, or from the priva- 
 tions and austerity of the slow-coming and ungenial spring. 
 
 Many of the native breed, however, still remain. Possessed of great 
 activity, and frequenting, in general, the more desolate wilds, and at the 
 greatest distance from the abodes of men, they withdraw themselves from 
 the others, and the breed is only partially debased by accidental stragglers. 
 Mr. Johnson gives the following description of a ram of the pure breed : — 
 " His skin, when the hair is parted, and his palate, and the bridge of his 
 nose, and his horns, and his hoofs, should be white. His horns also, if he 
 has any — but the hornless breed is the best — should be set wide at the 
 roots. The body should be long, the legs short, the hoofs broad, the head 
 narrow, and the countenance pleasant ; the wool fine on almost every part 
 of the sheep, and weighing- from H to 2 lbs., and worth, on the average, 
 from 3s. to 4s. per lb. By the cross with the Dutch, and which used to be 
 the prevailing one, the carcase is heavier ; the wool coarser, and often even 
 on the neck and shoulders ; and the fleece weighing 4 lbs. or more, but 
 not worth one-fourth so much per lb. The tail is about six inches long, 
 and shaped like a flounder, whence arose their name — " the flounder-tailed 
 hheep t." 
 
 There is, perhaps, no part of the world in which the breed, or the few 
 
 * Fauna Orcadensis, p. i). t Survey of the Shetland Isles, 
 
THE SHETLAND SHEEP. 299 
 
 of it that are at present found, have remained, century after century, pre- 
 cisely in the same state. This admits of a ready explanation. The pure 
 Shetland sheep deserves not the name of a domestic animal. He is scarcely 
 seen more than once in the year, when he is hunted home in order to be 
 pulled. Often he is scarcely seen even at that period, for he left his coat 
 among the bushes, and is suffered to escape disregarded. He cannot, there- 
 fore, be improved by selection : nay, it seems determined that he shall not. 
 The ewes and lambs are driven home at the pulling time, not, indeed, with- 
 out difficultv, but few of them that retain their wool are eventually missing ; 
 the rams, however, are apt to wander far away to other flocks, and one or 
 more of them are frequently found wanting at the time of reckoning, and are 
 occasionally lost entirely. If, therefore, the sheep-owner observes a ram- 
 lamb in his flock that yields more than the average quantity of wool, or wool 
 of unusual fineness and value, he does not devote him to the purpose of 
 improving his flock — he cannot do so in the way his sheep are managed — 
 but he makes sure of his fleece for some succeeding years by castrating 
 him. Well might Dr. Anderson say — " There is not upon record so strik- 
 ing an instance to be found of the powerful tendency of nature to preserve 
 a breed, in spite of the eftbrts of art to destroy it, as this case aff"ords *." 
 
 The superior and pure bree-d is called the kindly breed. They are most 
 frequent in the small and otherwise uninhabited islands or holmes, and on 
 the mountainous parts of the larger islands. The wool is nearly of the 
 same quality all over them, in the debased breed there is often fine wool 
 about the neck, but on other parts of the body it is comparatively coarse. 
 In both breeds it is mixed and adulterated with hairs, resembling the 
 ruminants of almost every cold climate, but the proportion of hair not 
 being so great. A portion of that hair is of the nature of, and scarcely 
 inferior to, the softest fur. 
 
 The process of shedding the coat resembles that which takes place in 
 other ruminants, and, to a greater or less degree, in all other animals in cold 
 countries. The wool begins to loosen at the roots towards the close of the 
 winter, and gradually rises through and separates from the hair, and would 
 be eventually detached and lost ; but in order to prevent this the Shet- 
 lander, towards the end of March or the beginning of April, collects all his 
 sheep together in funds and crues — folds of different construction — in 
 order to pull away the wool. The common operation of shearing is out 
 of the question here. The hairy coat would render it difl[icult or almost 
 impossible to be accomplished. The wool is pulled through the hair ; it is 
 only the process of nature fully accomplished a little before its time, and 
 that with little inconvenience and no pain to the sheep. It is the best, or, 
 perhaps, the only method which could be adopted in order to obtain the 
 fleece of these animals. The wool being thus detached, a great many hairs 
 are found mingling with it, and which must be separated before the fleece 
 is ready for the manufacturer. The animal is still covered by a thick 
 coat of hair, forming a sufficient defence against the cold which in such 
 a climate accompanies the early months of the spring. 
 
 The lambs are now examined, and a selection is made of those that are 
 to be castrated, and, for the reason just mentioned, that the ram is apt to 
 wander from the flock, the fleece of every kindly lamb is secured by mak- 
 ing liim a wether ; while those that are spared for breeding wear the 
 coarsest fleece and have the most unpromising form of any in the flock. 
 Too many of these are left ; for it frequently happens that in a Shetland 
 
 * Anderson on Sheep, p. 96. 
 
300 SHEEP. 
 
 flock there are not more than three ewes to a ram. Such a system is most 
 injurious and absurd ; yet most of the Shetland agriculturists obstinately 
 adhere to it. The exceptions to this practice are, however, becoming more 
 numerous ; and, in process of time, the owner of the sheep will be better 
 aware of his true interest. 
 
 The wool again beginning to grow, and having attained the length of 
 about three inches, the hair in its turn drops off; but this is a slower pro- 
 cess, and regulated by the growth of the new hair beneath. It is not alto- 
 gether accomplished until the approach of winter, when a perfect double 
 coat, one of wool and one of hair, again is formed upon the animal, being 
 a wise and kind prorision against the inclemency of such a winter as he is 
 to endure. 
 
 When the wool is separated from the fors, or hairs with which it is mixed, 
 it is peculiarly soft and fine. A portion of fur mingles with it, whether 
 showing the near analogy between these productions, or being the rudi- 
 ment of the future hair — the first form which it assumes. It is consider- 
 ably used, and valued as a fur. 
 
 The Highland Society, in its report on the northern wool, states that 
 " the exact nature, quality, and uses of the Shetland wool have never been 
 fully ascertained. It is certainly preferable to any other for stockings, and 
 probably for all light woollen manufactures, as shawls and waistcoats. Per- 
 haps, mixed with Spanish wool, it might be employed in making broad- 
 cloth. There can be no doubt of its answering for hats, a manufacture 
 that ought to be encouraged in the Highlands*." 
 
 Dr. Anderson gives a somewhat similar account of it : — " It is a very 
 fine combing wool. It has a peculiar softness, and is much finer than any 
 combing wool of the growth of this kingdom that I ever saw ; but it is by 
 no means equal to the Spanish wool, neither does it seem to be capable of 
 being spun in any other manner than as worsted f. Even for the purpose 
 of worsted yarn, there is so great a difference in the fineness and value of 
 the fleece, that stockings have been manufactured from one sort, which sold 
 at two guineas the pair, while those woven from the wool of other sheep 
 would have been dear at sixpence J." 
 
 The whole number of sheep, good and bad, which the Shetland Isles 
 contain, are computed at about 115,000. The improvement of them was 
 once deemed a national object. Their hardiness well fits them for the 
 situation in which they are found. They are pleasing objects for the natu- 
 ralist to study ; but their size is so diminutive, and the uses of the fleece so 
 limited, that they are scarcely deserving of more extended cultivation §. 
 
 In some of the smaller of this group of islands, there is, for such a cli- 
 mate, very fair herbage for these little sheep ; and on the others, in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of the coast, there is some green mossy pasture, to 
 which the sheep resort during the greater part of the summer ; but as the 
 autumn approaches, they are compelled by the storms to betake themselves 
 to the inland and hilly walks, where scarcely a blade of grass presents 
 itself amidst the heath. This sudden and total change of pasture is trying 
 to the native breed, and very destructive to the newly-imported sheep. 
 
 * Report on Highland Wool, p. 3. 
 
 f A Letter to the Bath Society on Wool, p. 25. 
 
 J Report on Highland Wool, p. 4. 
 
 ^ An amusing and intelligent writer, speaking of the aboriginal and wilder sheep, 
 says that " In the Shetland Islands there is a gull which defends the flock from 
 eagles, and is therefore regarded as a privileged bird. Many inquiries have been 
 made respecting this, but without any satisfactory answer." — T/ie Beat/lies, Harmonies, 
 and Sublimities of Nature, vol. iii. p. 34. 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ENGLAND. 301 
 
 Nature, however, has not quite abandoned them. The storms which drive 
 them from the pastures in the immediate vicinity of the coast, strew that 
 coast with abundance of sea-weed ; and the flocks, as in the Orkney- 
 Islands, by some instinctive impulse, or by the result of their own observa- 
 tion, knowing precisely the time of the ebb, rusli from the hills, and hastily 
 devour that which is thus provided for them. When the snow lies deep ort 
 the hills above, this is often the only food which they can obtain for many 
 successive weeks. These periodical excursions, however, are attended with 
 considerable danger ; and many sheep, remaining to the last moment, in 
 order to lay in provision for the long fast that is to succeed, and previously 
 weakened by hunger and disease, are unable to climb again the precipitous 
 rocks over which they had descended, and are swept away by the returning 
 tide, or perish in the clefts and coves in which they had taken refuge. 
 
 ISLE OF MAN. 
 
 This island, although lying in the Irish Sea, and some hundred leagues 
 from the Shetland group, will be most conveniently considered before the 
 mainland is revisited. Tlie sheep are small on the hills, seldom exceeding 
 8 or 10 lbs. the quarter, and producing a fleece of short or middle wool, 
 weighing 2^ lbs. They bear much resemblance to the Welsh sheep, and 
 have most of their peculiarities and bad points. They are narrow-chested, 
 narrow-backed, long in the leg, and deficient in the shoulders. They are 
 found both horned and polled, mostly of a white colour, but some of them 
 grey, and others of a peculiar snuff" or brown colour, termed in the island 
 a Laughton colour. This colour, either covering the whole of the sheep, 
 or appearing in the form of a patch on the neck, is considered as the pecu- 
 liar badge of the Isle of Man sheep. 
 
 In the valleys a larger sheep, with longer wool — a proper long-woolled 
 sheep — the fleece averaging 7 lbs., and the quarter from 12 to 16 lbs. — is 
 found. The flesh of both breeds is said to be good, and the wool of the 
 hill sheep is valued in the manufacture of stockings and some other worsted 
 goods. Some attempts have been made to improve the vale breed by 
 crosses with the South Down, Leicester, and Merino, and with considerable 
 success. 
 
 THE EASTERN COAST OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Quitting Scotland, the eastern coasf of England is now traced. 
 
 NORTHUMBERLAND 
 
 has already been spoken of, containing, in 1800, short-woolled sheep 
 alone, comprising the black-faced and the Cheviots, and being the 
 birth-place of the latter. 
 
 There was, however, a very singular sheep of the short-woolled breed 
 occupying the Glendale Ward division of Northumberland, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the river Till, called the Mugg sheep, from their faces being 
 so covered with wool that tlieir eyes could scarcely be seen. The wool 
 likewise grew down to their very toes. Their loins were high and narrow, 
 their shoulders sharp and hollow behind, their sides flat, and their wool, 
 although coarse, short, and hairy. They were a variety of the short sheep. 
 They have given way to the equally hardy, and far superior Black-faced 
 and Cheviot sheep*. 
 
 In 1828, the Leicesters, having penetrated thus far north, dispossessed 
 the original sheep of full one-half of their native vvalkB; and, at the 
 
 * Agric Mag. 1803, p. 303, 
 
302 SHEEP. 
 
 present day, they have mingled with and changed the character of one of 
 the aboriginal breeds of sheep, and more strictly confined the other to 
 the pasture for which nature designed it. In 
 
 a greater change has been effected. It was not exclusively possessed in 
 Luccock's time by the short-wool breed; for although he reckons 159,385 
 sheep of that breed in the county, and calculates that they sent into the 
 market 3320 packs of wool, he acknowledges that 67,000 long-woolled 
 sheep were to be found, yielding 2520 packs of wool. In 1828, however, 
 Mr. Hubbard assigns the whole of the county to the long-woolled breed, 
 or considers that so few short-woolled sheep remain jn Durham as to be 
 unworlliy of record In 
 
 YORKSHIRE 
 
 the long-woolled breed of sheep was, in 1800, almost entirely con- 
 fined to the banks of the Humbcr and the Tees ; the old Teesw.lter 
 sheep prevailing in the latter district, and the same animal, but ini- 
 ^■toved by a mixture of the Leicester blood, in the former. They consisted 
 jf about 100,000 sheep, and furnished 3300 packs of wool. Of the short- 
 woolled variety there were more than a million sheep, producing 19,000 
 packs of wool. How stands the account now ? The long-woolled sheep still 
 possess the Humber and the Tees, and have also established themselves in 
 every Riding. In the West Riding they equal the short-wools in number; 
 and they have completely driven them from the East Riding. In the 
 North Riding alone the short-wools maintain the ascendency — a circum- 
 stance which is easily explained by tl;e mountainous and dreary character 
 of that district. 
 
 The two ranges of hills, the Western and Eastern Moorlands, occupy the 
 greater part of it They are cold and desolate, and covered with heath, 
 but the valleys by which they are intersected contain much good soil, and are 
 well cultivated. The sheep that are found on them live on the open heaths 
 all the year round. Their summer food at least, and often their winter 
 food too, consists of heath and rushes and a few of the coarsest grasses. 
 The long-woolled sheep could not live there, and their owners have wisely 
 refrained from contesting the possession of these wilds. 
 
 The Moorland sheep are horned, and have black or mottled faces and 
 legs. Their horns spread wide, and they bear much general resemblance 
 to the Norfolks, presently to be described. Mr. Marshall says that the 
 covering of their buttocks is mere hair, resembling the shag of the goat 
 more than the wool of a sheep ; but this is considered to be a mark of 
 hardiness. They are small, being not much larger than the heath .sheep 
 of Norfolk. The ev/es weigh from 7 to 10 pounds the quarter, and the 
 wethers from 10 to 14. 
 
 Mr. Marshall was a good judge of sheep, and there can be no doubt that 
 this description was accurate at the time when he wrote ; but tlie farmers 
 have become better informed, and the sheep have materially improved. 
 The characteristic black spot on the neck is yet to be seen on many of 
 them, but the South Down has penetrated to the Moorlands of Yorkshire : 
 he has established himself on various parts of this range of mountains, or 
 he has improved the breed that still retains possession of its native pasture ; 
 and some flocks of Cheviots find on these hills a locality suited to them. 
 A great many of the black-faced Scots are grazed on different portions of 
 the Moorlands. They ave bought early in the summer, and sold again 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ENGLAND. 303 
 
 before the winter. In one respect, the management of the Moorland 
 farmers is well worthy of notice. Exposed as their sheep are to the incle- 
 mency of the weather in such a locality, much danger would attend their 
 yeaning at the usual time. The ewes are therefore seldom put to the ram 
 before the end of November, that the lambs may not be dropped until the 
 snow is well melted away from the hills. The consequence of this is, that 
 comparatively few of them are lost. 
 
 Although Mr. Hubbard does not acknowledge the production of any 
 short wool in the East Riding, the native short-woolled sheep are not all 
 gone. There are several flocks of South Downs, and some Cheviots and 
 black-faced horned sheep ; beside which there is a seemingly aboriginal 
 breed with black faces and legs, but without horns. The wool is of various 
 quality, but not held in high estimation. 
 
 In "the West Riding, and on the borders of Lancashire, a breed of shovt- 
 woolled sheep has existed from time immemorial. They are horned, with 
 mottled or spotted faces and legs ; some of them, however, are white-faced. 
 They are called the Penistone sheep, from the town situated between Shef- 
 field and Huddersfield, to which they are usually driven for sale. There 
 is the same, or a kindred breed, in Craven. The wool is of moderate 
 quality, and the carcase averages from 14 to 16 lbs, the quarter. It has 
 been crossed, more towards the south of the Riding, with the Cheviot and 
 the Leicester, and has been improved by both. The cross with the Che- 
 viots produces an excellent breed. Towards the north it has been oftener 
 crossed with the heath sheep, and then the legs and faces are black or 
 grey, or spotted : but the fleece is not improved, becoming more coarse 
 and open. John Lawrence says that " Ryeland tups have been tried with 
 the Penistone ewes, a cross which made a considerable improvement*." 
 This, however, was not attempted on any extensive scale, or long conti- 
 nued. The short-woolled sheep are diminishing in the West Riding, and 
 the long-wools are found wherever the pasture is good enough to support 
 them. 
 
 The comparative produce of wool in Yorkshire was, in 1828, accord- 
 ing to Mr. Hubbard, 17,224 packs of long wool, and only 57QS of short 
 wool. 
 
 LINCOLNSHIRE. 
 
 The lower parts are exclusively devoted to the iong-woojs ; but although 
 unnoticed in the tables of 1828, some short-woolled sheep mingle with the 
 Leicester breed in the northern and western districts. Many flocks of 
 pure South Downs are found in this part of the county, and there are 
 some remains of an old middle-wooUed sheep, which, however, is rapidly 
 passing away. The fibre was about four inches in length, coarse, and yet 
 weak; little sought after by the manufacturer, and not capable of much im- 
 provement. Mr. Luccock asserts that in 1800 there were nearly 124,000 
 short-woolled sheep in Lincolnshire ; Mr. Hubbard, on the contrary, has 
 erased them altogether from his list. 
 
 Thus journeying towards the south, before the Norfolk breed of sheep 
 is considered it will be proper to take a hasty glance at 
 
 THE MIDLAND COUNTIES — NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Mr. Luccock speaks of a small breed of horned sheep with black hair 
 on its face and legs, producing about 2 lbs. of short and fine clothing wool, 
 
 * Lawrence on Cattle, p, 418, 
 
304 SHEEP. 
 
 and which was found on tlie extensive tract of sand on the west of the 
 Trent*. Tlie forest of Sherwood contained a small polled slieep, with grey 
 faces and legs, and yielding a fine clothing wool, but in a quantity not ex- 
 ceeding 1 lb. to the fleece, and the carcase seldom weighing more than 
 8 or 9 lbs. the quarter. Both these breeds have comparatively passed 
 away, having been crossed and changed, or superseded, by the Lincoln and 
 Leicester sheep, and principally by the latter; so that instead of 4112 
 packs of short wool, calculated by Mr. Luccock as being yielded in 1800, 
 6910 packs of long wool are now produced, and the short wool is passed 
 over in utter silence. A few of the native breeds are, however, yet found 
 in a state of comparative purity, and the South Downs have established 
 themselves on some of the farms. 
 
 DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 The northern parts of this county used to be occupied by a breed of 
 small sheep, with large horns and black faces and legs. The wool differed 
 materially in quality, according to the nature of the soil or the mineral 
 substances by which it was impregnated ; but a great proportion was valued 
 for its closeness, softness, and feltiness. There were others that were 
 polled, with a fleece, compared with the preceding, coarse and hairy. These 
 too have been crossed with ihe Leicesters and the South Downs, but with 
 the former principally ; and both the carcase and the wool have been im- 
 proved, and the ewes are valued on account of the early and excellent 
 lambs which they yield. Some South Downs are established in the south 
 of Derbyshire, but, taking the aggregate of the county, the 4530 packs of 
 short wool have given way to 9060 packs of long wool. 
 
 LEICESTERSHIRE 
 
 This is one of the few counties which had not its early breed of short- 
 wooUed sheep. The forest sheep here, still to be met with in the district 
 of Charnwood, and probably the original breed of the county — the common 
 stock whence the prevailing sheep of the midland counties sprung — were 
 long-wools. Some had horns and others were polled ; most of them were 
 white, but a few had their legs and faces grey ; all, however, were covered 
 with coarse combing-wool. 
 
 RUTLANDSHIRE 
 
 presents no trace of short-woolled sheep, with the exception of a few flocks 
 of South Downs, which are not successfully contending with the improved 
 Leicesters by which they are surrounded. 
 
 WARWICKSHIRE 
 
 Mr. Luccock computes the quantity of short wool grown in this county 
 to be 2287 packs, and that of long wool 3333 packs. Some wool of the 
 former description used to be grown in the north and west of Warwick- 
 shire, yet it was a kind of middle woo), more than the short wool of that 
 period ; but, with the exception of the South Downs that have been since 
 introduced, it would be difficult now to find a short-woolled breed in this 
 district. 
 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
 
 Scarcely a middle-wooUed sheep can now be found in the whole of this 
 county, with the exception of some flocks of pure South Downs ; but the 
 
 " Luccock on Wool, p. 311, 
 
THE MIDLAND COUNTIES. 305 
 
 old Northamptons are thus described by Mr. Donaldson in his Survey : — 
 " About or a little before the middle of the eighteenth century, when this 
 district was, in general, in the open field state, no attention was paid to the 
 improvement of the breed of sheep. The points that marked a good sheep 
 in the opinion of the people of those days were the wool thick set on 
 the back, an open rump, loins wide, legs open, and clear from wool. 
 They were generally sent to the market from 2^ to 4 years old, and weighed 
 on the average about 18 lbs. the quarter. This breed is now very rare, 
 and confined to the commons and waste lands. It was afterwards crossed 
 by the Warwickshire sheep, noted for their great size, and the Lincoln- 
 shire, celebrated for their quantity of wool. This practice went on during 
 many years, and the farmers gave themselves no trouble to inquire whether 
 the increase in size and weight was beneficial or not. At length came the 
 crosses of the new Leicester, and afterwards the substitution of the Lei- 
 cesters for every other breed*,'' Accordingly, even in the time of Luc- 
 cock, no short wool worthy of record was produced, but 16,000 packs of 
 long wool were annually grown. 
 
 HUNTINGDONSHIRE, 
 
 in the time of Luccock, possessed many small sheep, derived principally 
 from Cambridgeshire ; the size of the carcase and the length of the 
 wool increasing as the traveller approached the confines of Bedfordshire. 
 Accordingly, he calculated the quantity of short wool annually shorn to be 
 2000 packs. The Leicesters were then rapidly establishing themselves, 
 and yielded 2550 packs. They have now completely superseded the Cam- 
 bridge blood, and the wool of Huntingdonshire is all long, and amounts to 
 4480 packs. 
 
 CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 
 
 There is some diflSculty in determining the character of the original 
 Cambridge sheep. It seems to have been horned, possessing considerable 
 similarity to the Norfolk breed, with spotted faces and legs, and wool of 
 middle length, inferior to that of the Norfolks, and differing materially in 
 different parts of the county, and different kinds of pasture. In the fens 
 it lost all these peculiarities, and became in a manner identified with the 
 Lincoln sheep. The weight of wool produced by the fen sheep exceeded 
 that from the shorter-fleeced sheep, the former being about 1400, and the 
 latter only 1100 packs. Within the last thirty years, however, the quan- 
 tity of short wool has been increasing in Cambridgeshire ; for although 
 the fen sheep have materially improved, those with short wool have made 
 more rapid advances. The South Down blood has been introduced with 
 decided good effect ; and there are many crosses of the South Down and 
 the Norfolk, which are much valued in Cambridgeshire, and also crosses 
 between the South Downs and the Leicesters. The pure Downs are highly 
 esteemed, and have established themselves in many parts of Cambridge- 
 shire ; but a cross between the Leicesters and the South Down is evi- 
 dently gaining ground. 
 
 BEDFORDSHIRE. 
 
 If any decided character could be affirmed of the Bedfordshire breed, it 
 would be that the Leicestershire blood decidedly prevails, and is to be found 
 pure in many parts ; nevertheless there are few counties that contain a greater 
 
 * Donaldson's Survey of Northamptonshire, p. 53, 
 
3D6 SHEEP. 
 
 variety of soils, or in which may be expected and found a greater variety of 
 sheep. The sandy tract, which runs through the county ahnost from east 
 to west, will support only a small-carcased and lighter-wooUed sheep. The 
 southern tract of chalky hills best suit the South Down, and many flocks of 
 them are established there. In Francis Duke of Bedford this breed of 
 sheep found an early and a strenuous advocate. After all, however, it is only 
 on comparatively a few farms that any distinct breed of sheep can be said 
 to prevail. Bedfordshire is one of the halting-places for sheep in their 
 journey to the metropolitan markets. The jobbers are continually buying 
 and selling, and driving to the various markets, almost every description 
 of sheep, and it will necessarily happen that a distinctive breed cannot 
 always be kept up ; but, regarding the county generally, the Leicestershire 
 is undoubtedly the prevailing breed. It is singular, however, that Luccock 
 should characterize them all as short-wools, and Hubbard as long-wools — 
 and that both should compute the quantity of wool to be the same, namely, 
 4250 packs. 
 
 HERTFORDSHIRE 
 
 is too near the metropolis to possess any distinctive breed. It also is a 
 halting and a grazing place for the flocks ultimately destined for the London 
 markets. Where there are established flocks, the long and the short-wools 
 may be said to divide the county between them. The long-wools consist 
 of the pure Leicesters, and the short-wools of the South Downs, the Wilt- 
 shire breed of them being generally preferred. Luccock consigns every 
 Hertfordshire fleece to the short-wool division ; but Hubbard, with greater 
 truth, supposes that nearly equal quantities of the short and long-wool are 
 produced. The soil of the larger portion of the county consists of a gra- 
 velly loam, resting on a bed of chalk, and is consequently well adapted for 
 the production of a valuable fleece. It is free from that moisture which is 
 injurious to the yolk, and the chalk does not lie sufficiently near to the sur- 
 face to affect the quality of the wool. The proximity of Hertfordshire to 
 the metropolis, however, determines its character as a grazing far more 
 than a breeding district. A great many house-lambs are suckled in Hert- 
 fordshire, and particularly in the neighbourhood of Rickmansworth. Hert- 
 fordshire yields about 2900 packs of wool. 
 
 MIDDLESEX 
 
 can scarcely be expected to be a breeding county. The few sheep that are 
 found, except as sojourners, are mostly short-woolled. They are not calcu- 
 lated at more than 45,000, and yield 750 packs of wool. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, 
 
 like Middlesex, is not a breeding county, but is much employed in the 
 fattening of lambs and wethers for the London market. The course that 
 has been for nearly a century adopted is to purchase ewes, wethers, or 
 both, for this purpose in the autumn. On a dairy-farm ewes with lamb are 
 generally bought in the autumn, and kept during the winter upon hay. 
 The lambs are fattened and sent to the market as soon as possible in the 
 spring, and the ewes follow them in the course of the summer. On the 
 Chiltern Hills, and where folding is systematically adopted, wethers are 
 j)urchased with the ewes, and are fattened and disposed of when ready for 
 the market. Mr. Priest says that, supposing a farm of 400 acres has 300 
 sheep, 200 of them will usually be wethers to be fattened upon turnips, and 
 100 ewes to produce lambs for the early market — themselves following in 
 
\ 
 
 THE MIDLAND COUNTIES. 307 
 
 the course of the summer*. The breeds preferred for these purposes are 
 the Dorset, and, next to them, the Berkshire and the Gloucester. 
 
 Some sheep, however, are bred in Buckinghamshire, Luccock says, en- 
 tirely of the short-wooUed variety ; Hubbard says <jf the long-woolled. Luc- 
 cock assigns to Buckinghamshire nearly 2800 packs of short wool ; Hubbard 
 calculates that it yields 4650 packs of long wool. Luccock was probably 
 right at the time at which he wrote. On the chalky Chiltern Hills he find's 
 the Wiltshire sheep with short clothing wool • On the hills which separate the 
 Ouse from the waters tributary to the Than^'fes he meets with a smaller sheep ' 
 and on the wood and common land a smaller still : but on both sides of the 
 Ouse a middle-sized sheep, some of the fleeces having a length and tenacity 
 adapted to the comb; and again, in the Vale of Aylesbury, a soil favour- 
 able to tlie growth of a heavier staple. He sums up this account with the 
 observation, that in general the wool of Buckinghamshire is fit for the 
 clothier's use, being short, soft, and pliablef. This summary might have 
 been more correct if he had ranged the products of the banks of the Ouse 
 and the Vale of Aylesbury among the long wools. Mr. Hubbard, however, 
 is farther from the truth when he classes the fleece of the hills, and especi- 
 ally the Chiltern Hills, among these wools. The Leicesters have increased 
 in number, and are excelled in few parts of the kingdom ; but the Wilt- 
 shire and the Dorsets, and the Berkshire South Downs, are yet found, and 
 the pure South Downs have become more numerous. 
 
 OXFORDSHIRE. 
 
 If the tables of Messrs. Luccock and Hubbard could be implicitly depended 
 upon, as complete a revolution has been effected in Oxfordshire as in Berk- 
 shire : but the long-woolled sheep flourished on the banks of the Charwell, 
 and in the greater part of the country south of Oxford, in the time of the 
 former ; and although the Berkshires have now been nearly expelled, and 
 the Wiltshires are not so much seen, and the Leicester sheep are abun- 
 dantly the most numerous in the greater part of the county, yet many flocks 
 of South Downs are found, and which are increasing rather than diminishing. 
 
 A peculiar variety of heath sheep has been found in the counties of Nor- 
 folk and Suffolk from time immemorial. The carcase was long and slender, 
 the legs long, the face and legs black or mottled — an unmingled and 
 intense black being considered as a proof of purity of blood ; the face long 
 and thin, flat on the forehead, and pointed at the muzzle — the countenance 
 lively, and expressive of mingled timidity and wildnessj. The horns of the 
 ewes and wethers were of a middle size and somewhat straight, re- 
 sembling those of the Dorset ewe ; the horns of the ram long and spiral, 
 like those of the old Wiltshire ram. The loin was wide, according to 
 Marshall, who was a strenuous advocate of the Norfolks, but most observers 
 would say that it was narrow ; the hind quarters sufficiently large for the 
 general make ; but the fore quarters deficient, the shoulder low, and the 
 chine sharp and unsightly ; the wool short and fine, but small in quantity. 
 Taken altogether, there was more resemblance to the deer in the Norfolk 
 sheep than has been observed in any other species§. They fattened readily 
 
 * Priest's Survey of Buckinghamshire, p. 310. 
 
 I Luccock on Wool, p. 278. Marshall, vol. i., p. 363. 
 
 { Luccock on Sheep, p. 238 
 
 § Luccock on Wool, p. 278. Marshall, vol. i., p. 363. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 at two years old ; and would bear without fatigue a journey to a distant 
 fold, — a circumstance winch rendered them exceedingly valuable to tlie 
 Norfolk farmer, who had often a great deal of heath-land, and no means 
 of cultivating it but that tf the fold. 
 
 Old Norfolk Ram, 
 
 Until nearly the close of the last century this sheep did not much excel 
 the heath sheep of other districts ; but its quality of thriving to a certain 
 extent with coarse and scanty food, and its immense utility, and especially 
 in the western part of the county, as a folding sheep, in rendering that land 
 on which scarcely a blade of grass would grow, capable of bearing a plentiful 
 crop of corn, could not fail of directing the anxious care of the farmer to the 
 preservation and improvement of it. Of the wool, when the Norfolk sheep 
 was supposed to be in its prime, Luccock thus speaks : " In the course of a 
 few years the wool has undergone a great alteration ; the colour is superior 
 to that of the old fleece, and there is not so much coarse breech wool ; the 
 filaments are finer, and retain those excellent qualities which at first obtained 
 them a distinguished regard among clothiers. The wool is well adapted to 
 the manufacture of cloth, possessing a great degree of the felting property, 
 and but little of that elasticity which often proves hurtful in the wool of 
 some other parts of the kingdom *." 
 
 On these accounts the Norfolks were great favourites in their native 
 districts ; and there were not a few of the Norfolk farmers who preferred 
 their own breed of short-vvoolled sheep to that of any other county. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting very briefly to state the points of compa- 
 rison between them and the South Downs at the period now under consi- 
 deration. The Norfolks were better folding sheep ; and when the spirit of 
 agriculture first began to pervade that extensive county, they were invaluable 
 in aflbrding almost the only manure that could be obtained. The South 
 
 * Luccock on Wool, p. 240. 
 
THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, 309 
 
 Downs were good folding slieep, but they were better suited to a country 
 in which the system of inclosure had made considerable progress. The 
 Norfolks would bear with somewhat less injury than the South Downs a 
 journey to distant markets, and yet no great complaint could justly be 
 made against the latter on this account. The Norfolks possessed the pro- 
 perty of doing well on coarse sour pastures, such as would be frequently 
 found in a district beginning to come under arable cultivation, and which 
 the South Downs could scarcely be induced to touch, and certainly on which 
 they would not thrive. The Norfolks were favourites with the butcher, 
 for they carried quite as much loose fat as any other sheep of their weight, 
 and, generally speaking, considerably more kidney fat than any breed what- 
 ever. On the otiier hand, the tractable, contented disposition of the South 
 Downs rendered them far more valuable than the wild and restless Nor- 
 folks : their superior endurance of the inclemency of the winter, and dimi- 
 nution of food ; the quietness with which they would settle themselves in a 
 new pasture, instead of trampling down and destroying as much as they 
 ate ; the smaller quantity of food which they consumed in proportion to their 
 size 5 the superior weight which they gained from that proportion of food ; 
 the greater quantity of wool, in the proportion of three to two, which they 
 yielded, and the readier market and higher price which it obtained; the 
 greater number of lambs that were produced, and the superior and more 
 attentive nursing of the ewes, — all these circumstances soon turned the 
 balance decidedly in favour of the South Downs. The Norfolks were first 
 crossed with them, and with evident advantage. The cross, however, was 
 not equal to the pure South Down ; and at length the superiority of the 
 South Downs was acknowledged even in the county of their antagonists, 
 and large flocks of them were introduced into Norfolk, and the native breed 
 rapidly, and to a very considerable extent, diminished*. 
 
 The Norfolks, although they will not bear any comparison with the 
 South Downs as a profitable breed of sheep, are remarkable for the dehcacy 
 
 * This cannot be placed in a more satisfactory point of view than by quoting the pub- 
 licly declared opinion of two very estimable men, and extensive and scientific Norfolk 
 agriculturists, during the contest between the two breeds. The judgment which they then 
 publicly pronounced they never saw occasion to reverse. The Earl of Albemarle presided 
 at the Thetford Wool Fair in ISO.'f. He stated, that, so far as his experience had gone, 
 the South Downs were much superior to the Norfolks. He found them to produce mure 
 lambs, to be better nurses, to possess a much greattr degree of hardiness, to yield more 
 wool, and that wool to be mure valuable. He kept, he said, two Hocks, consisting of 
 900 Norfolks and 9U0 South Down ewes, and each having the same number of acres, and 
 of nearly an equal quality, assigned to them. During the last year the 900 Norfolk ewes 
 produced 752 lambs ; the 900 South Downs reared 826 lambs. During the time of lambing 
 there were always from fifteen to twenty-five Norfolk ewes penned up, in order to induce 
 them to own and take to their lambs. Of the Suuth Downs not a single ewe during the 
 whole season was put into the pens or deserted her lamb. Of the 900 Norfolks eighteen 
 died in lambing ; of the South Downs only four. Of the Norfolks lo^ fleeces went to 
 the tod of 28 lbs. ; on an average of the 900 South Downs 11 fleeces made up the tod; 
 and he obtained 24-. per tod more for the South Down wool than he did fur the Norfolk. 
 He thus concluded : " After having stated these facts, I shall leave it to the company to 
 make their own comment ; but for my own part I shall increase my South Down flock." — 
 Agricultural Magazine, August, 1803. 
 
 At the Norfolk Agricultural Society, July, 1809, Mr. Cokethusexpressedhimself: ''Al- 
 though the prejudices of many farmers have made them slow converts from thefavourable 
 opinion which they had entertained of the Norfolk sheep, I will challenge any man to point 
 out to me a flock-master who has changed his Norfolk flocks for the South Downs, that 
 ever reverted fwm the South Downs to the Norfolks again. It is the farmer's object to 
 keep tbat breed which is the most profitable, and the superiority of the South Downs is 
 now universally acknowledged." — Agricultural Magazine, July, 1809. 
 
310 SHEEP, 
 
 of the mutton which they produce, and will probably be long preserved as 
 a luxury for the tables of the rich. 
 
 A"-riculture made rapid progress in Norfolk, and the food of the sheep • 
 became more abundant and nutritious ; more so, in fact, than in many 
 other counties. Mr. Herbert, an excellent writer on many points of agri- 
 culture, says, that " after the summer and autumnal pastures and seed and 
 meadow grass mowings are consumed, they feed both their breeding and 
 fattening, as well as their young store sheep and lambs, upon meadow and 
 seed hay, winter tares, and turnips, both Swedes and round. The Norfolk 
 farmers and graziers seem much more partial to turnips than any other 
 green winter food. They generally allow an acre for every ten fattening 
 wethers or twelve breeding ewes ; and when these do not perfectly consume 
 their allowance, they are followed by the tegs, or previous year's lambs, 
 who generally make very clean work of it, while they contribute materially 
 to the improvement of the soil*. 
 
 The genuine Norfolks that now remain, and all the various crosses, 
 and various they are, between the old sheep and the South Downs, 
 and the Leicesters, and also the pure South Downs and the Berkshire 
 and Wiltshire varieties of them have participated in the improvement of 
 agriculture in this county, and have been materially changed by it. They 
 have increased in bulk and in aptitude to fatten, and in weight and length 
 of fleece. The fleece that used to weigh from 2 lbs, to 2ilb8., including 
 the hogget, is now increased to 3^ lbs, and 4 lbs., but there has been, 
 until lately, a corresponding deterioration in the price. The farmer who 
 attends chiefly or almost exclusively to his wool, has not felt this so much ; 
 but he who, instead of fattening and selling his sheep between two and 
 three years old, is now forcing them on, and selling them from one to two 
 years, must expect that some of the extra nutriment which is allowed them 
 will be expended on the fleece, and that it will become longer, coarser, 
 and heavier, Mr, Coke has established a most valuable breed of sheep at 
 Holkham : it is a cross between the South Down and Hampshire, It 
 yields a greater quantity of mutton, and that with the desirable proportion 
 of lean meat, and more of that useful wool which the altered fashion of the 
 times demands. Particular attention is also paid to the hoggets ; they are 
 preserved with great care, and more abundant and nutritive food is given 
 to tliemt. 
 
 The reader is here presented with a fair sample of Norfolk wool of the 
 last year's growth. 
 
 1. Is the appearance of the fibre when viewed as a transparent object. The diameter 
 
 js the -j^nth of an inch, or finer than that of the pure South Down ; the serrations are 
 only 10 in the 40th part of an inch, or 1600 to the inch. The number of serrations iu 
 ♦he South Down wool was 13 in the field of view, or 2050 to an inch. They are long, 
 
 * British Farmer's Magazine, Nov. 1830, 
 
 t Mr. Fison's Evidence before the House of Lords. 
 
THE MIDLAND COUNTIES. 3U 
 
 weak, gradually eluding the sight, and having no liook. They look as if they were 
 spliced to the stem of the fibre. They jiresent the character of easiness of felt, and 
 attended with more softness than the South Down, but not so much strength of fibre. 
 
 2. Represents the same wool combed. The serrations are very indistinct, and some 
 of them have altogether disappeared. It is well adapted for combing purposes, and 
 would retain much of its softness and pliancy. 
 
 3. Gives a somewhat indistinct picture of the vegetable-like structure of the wool. 
 The deep divisions of the leaves of which the cup is composed can be satisfactorily 
 traced. About five of them would complete the cup. 
 
 The wool is principally sent into Yorkshire and Lancashire, and made 
 into flannels, or it is mixed with foreign wool and made into low cloths. 
 From the fine broad cloths it is, like the South Down wool, altogether 
 banished. The quantity of wool produced in Norfolk was computed by 
 Luccock to be 5700 packs of short wool, and 1120 of long wool. Mr. 
 Hubbard imagines that the short wool has decreased to 4-300 packs, and 
 the long wool increased to 8550 packs. However this may be, it is certain 
 that the whole quantity of wool produced in this county has been doubled 
 within the last twenty years. More sheep are kept on the marsh land ; a 
 greater quantity of wool is yielded by each sheep in the more cultivated 
 districts, owing to the improved system of agriculture ; while thousands of 
 sheep are now kept on land on which, twenty-five years ago, scarcely 
 one was to be seen *. 
 
 Mr. Herbert thus calculates the dead weight of the present breed of 
 Norfolk sheep. The cross between the Norfolk and the South Down — 
 the wether from 8 st. 4 lbs. to 12 st. Smithfield weight, or from 4 st. 12 lbs. 
 to 6 st, 12 lbs, imperial stone of 14 lbs. ; and the ewe from 7 st. to 10 st. 
 41bs. Smithfield weight, or from 4 st. to 6 st. imperial weight. The cross 
 between the Norfolk and the Leicester — the wether from 9 st. 4 lbs. to 
 13 St. Smithfield weight, or from 6 st. 6 lbs. to 7 st. 6 lbs. imperial weight, 
 and the ewe from 8 st. 4 lbs. to 11 st. 4 lbs. Smithfield, or 4 st. 12 lbs, to 
 7st. 2 lbs. imperial. 
 
 This can scarcely be called a breeding county, so far as it relates to 
 sheep, although there are some large breeding flocks in it. There are not 
 so many Leicesters, or crosses with the Leicesters ; but the principal busi- 
 ness of the farmer is to rear early lambs for the butcher. For this purpose he 
 uses South Downs almost exclusively, which are sold as soon as they get fat. 
 Ipswich lamb fair is the market whence the farmer principally obtains his 
 sheep, and nearly 100,000 sheep and lambs are there exposed for sale every 
 year. The quantity of short wool yielded by the Suffolk short-wooUed sheep 
 was estimated at 5176 packs. It has increased, according to Mr. Hub- 
 bard, to 8800 packs ; and although the worsted manufacture has existed in 
 Suffolk from the 14th century, and there is much land on which a long- 
 wooUed sheep might be profitably bred, a sufficient quantity of that staple 
 wortliy of record is not produced in the whole of the county. This is 
 another of the numerous instances that have been stated in this work of 
 the triumph of prejudice and obstinate adherence to old customs and ways 
 over the suggestions of interest and common sense.t 
 
 Mr. Luccock speaks of a native breed of sheep in Essex yielding a long 
 and coarse fleece, weighing about 4 lbs. ; and of little light mountain 
 
 * Mr. Fison's Evidence before the House of Lords, 
 t Luccock on Wool, p. 247. 
 
312 SHEEP. 
 
 animals, with some features that resemble the stock of the Principality, 
 found upon Epping Forest, and on the numerous commons with which 
 Essex abounds. Tlie former have entirely passed away, and comparatively 
 few of the latter remain. In fact, this county is now inseparably connected 
 with the supply of the London markets. It is the last stage at which a 
 great many of them halt, and especially the different crosses of the Norfolk 
 with the South Downs and the Leicesters. If any sheep can be termed 
 favourites here, and bred more extensively than others, they are tlie South 
 Downs. Essex yielded nearly 6500 packs of short wool in 1800, and that 
 quantity has now increased, according to Mr. Hubbard, to 8650. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 THE LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS OF SHEEP. 
 
 Although there is reason to believe that the short wool was used in the 
 manufactory established at Winchester by. the Romans, it is not to be thence 
 concluded that this was the only kind of fleece which the British sheep then 
 yielded. In all the different districts of the kingdom we find various breeds 
 of sheep beautifully adapted to the locality which they occupy. No one 
 knows their origin; they are indigenous to the soil, climate, and pasturage, 
 the locality on which they graze ; they seem to have been formed for it 
 and by it. 
 
 There was a sheep-walk in Norfolk stocked jointly with Lincolnshire 
 and Norfolk sheep; the first large and inactive, the others agile and light. 
 This walk contained also a variety of soil . one ])art, lying low, yielded a 
 plentiful but coarse herbage ; the other, lying higher, had a dryer, lighter 
 soil, and bore a hard benty grass. The sheep of both kinds were bred on 
 this walk, yet, whenever they were turned on it, they would in a short 
 time separate themselves even to a sheep : the Lincolnshire would draw off 
 to the Lincolnshire soil, and the Norfolks to their own dry, sandy loam ; 
 and while there continued to be grass in both parts, the two breeds would 
 keep themselves perfectly distinct*. 
 
 In the same manner, probably, from the time that Britain was first inha- 
 bited, the different localities and pastures of the kingdom were covered by 
 an appropriate breed of sheep, which the art of man might improve in 
 many respects, but which he could never essentially change. The long- 
 vvoolled sheep could not traverse or endure the rigour of the mountains of 
 the north, and the short-woolled one would assume another dress and cha- 
 racter on the luxurious pastures of the valley. 
 
 Historians had something else to write about besides the localities of 
 the different breeds of sheep, and the kind of wool of which certain fabrics 
 were composed ; we are, therefore, not able to trace the rise or the existence 
 of the two families of sheep in the earliest records of our island. In the 
 twelfth century, however, accounts are given of the exportation of wool 
 from England to the continent. The kind of wool is not then mentioned ; 
 but circumstances, afterwards occurring, prove that it was for the supply of 
 the serge manufactories in Flanders and in Spain, and, consequently, that 
 it was long wool. It soon obtained a high character, and was in great 
 request among the foreign merchants ; and in the fifteenth century a royal 
 present of Cotswold wool was sent to the King of Portugal. 
 
 * Marshall's Norfolk, vol. ii. p. 75, 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 313 
 
 Some writers, without a shadow of autliority, refer to the importation of 
 the Leicester and Lincohishire sheep a little before the middle of the last 
 century. They had occupied those districts from time immemorial, and had 
 mainly contributed, by the d^ity on tlie exportation of their fleece, to sup- 
 port tlie splendour of the British throne during many a successive reign. 
 
 There is much more similarity between the long-wools than those of 
 shorter fibre. The length, the colour, the weight, and the uses of the 
 wool, coincide to a remarkable degree ; and the animals themselves give 
 undeniable indications that they belong to the same family. In the want 
 of horns, the form of the head, the expression of the countenance, and the 
 white faces and legs, they all agree ; and it is but to study the character of 
 one of them in order to have a tolerable conception of the long-wooUed 
 sheep generally. They belong to each other, and the history of some of 
 them can be traced through many a century. They were, as truly as the 
 short-wools, aboriginal inhabitants of our islands*. 
 
 In reviewing them, it will be convenient to begin with that variety which 
 ill the course of the last half-century has materially changed the character, 
 and value, and uses of all the rest. 
 
 THE OLD LEICESTER SHEEP. 
 
 This was a large, heavy, coarse-wooUed breed, common to most of the 
 midland counties, and reaching from the south of Yorkshire, and the York- 
 shire Wolds, as far as Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. It had a white 
 face, no horns — it was long and thin in the carcass, flat-sided, with large 
 bones — thick, rough, and white legs — and weighing, the ewe from 15 to 
 20 lbs., and the wether from 20 to 30 lbs. the quarter. It was covered 
 with wool from 10 to 14 or 15 inches in length, coarse in quality, and 
 weigliing from 8 to 13 lbs. The pelt and ofi"al were thick and coarse; 
 the animal was a slow feeder, and the flesh was coarse-grained, and with 
 little flavour. 
 
 THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP 
 " That larger sort, of head defenceless, seek, 
 Whose fleece is deep and clammy, close and plain ; 
 The ram short-limb'd, whose form compact describes 
 One level line along his spacious back. 
 Of full and ruddy eye, large ears, stretched head. 
 Nostrils dilated, neck and shoulders broad, 
 And spacious haunches.''-) 
 
 In page 110 a description was given of the new and improved Leicester. 
 The principles on which the attempt to effect this change was founded, the 
 means by which it was accomplished, and the important consequences 
 which it has produced, demand some lengthened detail, because they had 
 so beneficial an eff"ect upon all the different breeds of domestic animals. 
 For several of the first pages of this detail, the author is indebted to one 
 whose name he may hereafter have the power and the pride of divulging ; 
 but at present he can do no more than append a few notes in elucidation 
 or corroboration of the opinions here stated. 
 
 It was about the middle of the last century that Mr. Bakewell of Dishley, 
 near Loughborough, in Leicestershire, first ajjplied himself to the endea- 
 vour to improve the then existing breed of sheep in that county , Up to this 
 period very little care had been bestowed upon the breeding of sheepj. 
 
 * Luccock on Wool, p. 154. 
 
 t Dyer's Fleece, Book 1. 
 
 I It'is commonly believed that, a little before Mr. BakeweU's time, a farmer of the 
 
314 SHEEP. 
 
 Two objects alone appear to have engrossed the attention of the breeders ; 
 first, to breed animals of the largest possible size; and, secondly, such as 
 should produce the heaviest fleeces. Aptitude to fatten, and symmetry ot 
 shape, that is, such shape as should increase as much as possible the most 
 valuable parts of the animal, and diminish in the same proportion the offal, 
 were entirely disregarded. 
 
 Mr. Bakewell perceived that smaller animals increased in weight more 
 rapidly than those very large ones ; and that they consumed so much less 
 food that the same quantity of herbage applied to feeding a larger number 
 of small sheep would produce more meat than when applied to feeding the 
 smaller number of large sheep which alone it would support. He also 
 perceived that sheep carrying a heavy fleece of wool possessed less propen- 
 sity to fatten than those which carried one of a more moderate weight. 
 
 Acting upon these observations he selected from the different flocks in 
 his neighbourhood, without regard to size, the sheep which appeared to 
 him to have the greatest propensity to fatten, and whose shape possessed 
 the peculiarities which he considered would produce the largest proportion 
 of valuable meat, and the smallest quantity of bone and off"al. 
 
 In doing this, it is probable that he was led to prefer the smaller sheep, 
 still more than he had been by the considerations above stated, because it 
 is found that perfection of sliape more frequently accompauies a moderate- 
 sized animal than a very large one. 
 
 He also was of opinion that the first object to be attended to in breeding 
 sheep was the value of the carcase, and that the fleece ought always to be a 
 secondary consideration. The reason for this is obvious : the addition of 
 two or three pounds of wool to the weight of a sheep's fleece is a difference 
 of great amount ; but if to procure this increase a sacrifice is made of the 
 })ropensity to fatten, the farmer may lose by it ten or twelve pounds of 
 mutton. 
 
 The sort of sheep, therefore, which Mr. Bakewell selected were tho=e 
 possessed of the most perfect symmetry, with the greatest aptitude to fat- 
 ten, and rather smaller in size than the sheep then generally bred. Having 
 formed his stock from sheep so selected, he carefully attended to the pecu- 
 liarities of the individuals from which he bred, and, it appears, did not 
 object to breeding from near relations, when by so doing he put together 
 animals likely to produce a progeny possessing the characteristics that 
 he wished to obtain. 
 
 Mr. Bakewell has been supposed by some persons to have formed the 
 new Leicester variety by crossing different sorts of sheep ; but there does 
 not appear to be any reason for believing this: and the circumstance of 
 the new Leicesters varying in their appearance and qualities so much as 
 they do from the other varieties of long-wooUed sheep, can by no means 
 be considered as proving that such was the system which he adopted. Every 
 one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animak must have expe- 
 riencetl that, by careful selection of those from which he breeds, and with a 
 clear and defined conception of the object he intends to effect, he may pro- 
 cure a progeny in which that object will be accomphshed. 
 
 name of AUom, of Clifton, in Leicestershire, possessed a superior breed of long-woolled 
 sheep, and that the neighbouring farmers, and many from a distance, purchased ram- 
 lambs from him, for which they paid him the extravagant sum, at that time, of two 
 and three guineas per head. This does not in the slightest degree interfere with Mr. 
 Bakewell's claims ; it would rather be creditable to him that he was eager to tread in 
 the same path ; that he beyond comparison excelled his predecessor; and that while 
 the character of Mr. Allom's sheep is now utterly forgotten, Bakewell's sheej) still re- 
 main in all their pristine perfection, and unrivalled in their own country or iu the wi^rld. 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 315 
 
 At the present time, in the new Leicester breed of sheep, a practical proof 
 of this may be seen in the flocks of Mr. Buckley and Mr. Burgess. Both 
 of these flocks have been purely bred from the original stock of Mr. Bake- 
 well for upwards of fifty years. There is not a suspicion existing in the 
 mind of any one at all acquainted with the subject that the owner of either 
 of them has deviated in any one instance from the pure blood of Mr. Bake- 
 well's flock ; and yet the difference between the sheep possessed by these 
 two gentlemen is so great, that they have the appearance of being quite 
 different varieties. This difference, however, has only been produced by 
 their respective owners having pursued with perseverance a different sys- 
 tem ; one of them having aimed at attaining merits of one description, and 
 the other having aimed at attaining merits of a different nature. 
 
 This being the case, and there not existing any well-authenticated facts, 
 or, indeed, any facts resting upon any authority whatever, to prove that the 
 New Leicester breed of sheep were produced by Mr. Bakewell by crossing- 
 different sorts, it is highly probable that it was improved to its present 
 state of perfection simply by selection from the then-existing breed of 
 long-woolled sheep. 
 
 Having thus established his flock, Mr. Bakewell adopted a practice, 
 which has since been constantly followed by the most eminent breeders of 
 sheep : this was to let rams for the season, instead of selHng them to those 
 who wished for their use. This is an improvement of great value, beneficial 
 alike io the proprietor of the ram, and to the person who hires him. It 
 enables the ram-breeder to keep a much larger number of rams in his pos- 
 session, and, consequently, greatly increases his power of selecting those 
 most suitable to his flock, or which may be required to correct any faults in 
 phape or quality that may occur in it ; it also enables him, by cautiously 
 using a ram for one season, or by observing the produce from a ram let to 
 some other breeder, to ascertain, by actual observation of the produce, the 
 probable qualities of the lambs which such ram will get, and thus saves him 
 from the danger of making mistakes which would deteriorate the value of 
 his stock. This system is equally beneficial to the farmers who hire the 
 rams : it gives them the opportunity of varying the rams from which they 
 breed much more than they otherwise could do ; and it also gives them the 
 power of selecting from sheep of the best quality, and from those best cal- 
 culated to effect the greatest improvement in their flocks. 
 
 The effect of this system has been to introduce a sort of division of 
 labour into the breeding of sheep: some flock-masters applying themselves 
 almost exclusively to the rearing of rams for the purpose of letting them, 
 and finding it, therefore, their interest to apply a more minute attention to 
 improving the valuable qualities of their sheep than the time or other 
 opportunities of an ordinary farmer could permit him to do ; while the 
 ordinary farmer gains the advantage of this attention paid by others, and 
 is tolerably sure of always procuring a ram, which, without such minute 
 attention on his part, will keep his flock in a profitable and improving state. 
 It is said that when Mr. Bakewell first determined to adopt this practice, the 
 idea was so novel that he had great difficulty in inducing the farmers to act 
 upon it, and that the first sheep he let was let for sixteen shillings. Since 
 then a sheep has been let for the season at a thousand guineas, and many 
 others for prices approaching that sum *, 
 
 * It was about the year 1760 that this first ram was let to Mr. Wilbore, of Illson-on- 
 the-Hill, and two others were let at the same fair atjd on the same day at 17s. 6d. each. 
 Mr. Bakewell '• had great difficulty in inducing the farmers to act upon his plan. His 
 whole scheme of improvement was ridiculed and opposed, and most of all by those who 
 
316 SHEEP. 
 
 After the reputation of Mr. Bakewell's flock had been establislied, and 
 its superiority over that of any other breeder then existing very generally 
 
 lived in his immediate neighbourhood. In fact, he shared the common fate of those 
 whom posterity hail as the best frieuds of their country. 
 
 He, however, had deeply considered the course which he was pursuing; and being 
 confident of ultimate success, he held on his way. He received sometimes a guinea, 
 and on rare occasions two or three, for the use of a ram ; but it was not until the year 
 1780 that he began to receive a remunerating price for them. This was a long struggle 
 against the ignorance and prejudice and jealousy of his brethren — a struggle of 20 
 years. 
 
 In 1780 he received ten guineas for the hiring of some of his choicest rams ; and, 
 his reputation as a successful breeder being now completely established, the remunera- 
 tion which he so well deserved rapidly increased, so that in 178 1 and 1785, the hiring of 
 his best rams had risen to 100 guineii'<. 
 
 In 178G Mr. Bakeweli let two-thirds of one ram (reserving to himself one-third of the 
 usual number of ewes) for 200 guineas, rating the entire service of the ram at 300 
 guineas. In that year he received more than 1000 guineas for the letting of rams. 
 In 1789 he made 1200 guineas by three rams, and 2000 guineas by seven others. He 
 likewise received 3000 guineas from the Dishley Society for the use of the rest of his 
 stock*. 
 
 The most extraordinary letting which occurred was that of a favourite ram called 
 Two-pounder, for the use of which during one season he obtained 400 guineas each 
 from two breeders, still reserving one-third uf the usual number of ewes for himself, the 
 value of the ram for that season being thus estimated at 1200 guineas. '•' There is a 
 consolation, if not a complete remedy, for almost every thing," says Captain Basil Hall, 
 " and by honourable means and persevering exertions, there are few difficulties which 
 may not be surmounted." 
 
 The business of letting rams was soon adopted by other farmers, who had previously 
 hired of Mr. Bakeweli, and who had thus obtained a valuable flock ; and calculating 
 the average letting at ten guineas, and the number of persons hiring rams at 1000 (and 
 such is the fickleness of human opinion, that they soon far exceeded that number), 
 10,000/. a year were expended by the Midland and other farmers in this wayf . Lawrence 
 multiphes this by ten, and calculates that 100,000/. were annually spent by the Midland 
 farmers in the hiring of rams. This, however, is scarcely credible. 
 
 Some rams were kept at home by Mr. Bakeweli and others ; the usual price for having 
 ewes tupped by them was from ten to sixty guineas per score J. Mr. Marshall gives a long 
 account of the manner in which this ram letting was managed, an abstract of which may 
 be interesting to the reader. Before the season of business, the rams were reduced from 
 the cumbrous state of fatness in which they were shown. At the middle of Sei>fember 
 the time of sending them out commenced, and they travelled to their place of destina- 
 tion in carriages hung on springs. Instead of turning the ram loose among the ewes 
 at large, he was placed in a small inclosure, two ewes being left with him to induce him 
 to rest quietly. The ewes were then brought to him singly, and each was served once 
 only; by this means, from 100 to 120, instead of the usual number of 60 or 80, were 
 served by one ram in the course of the season. The hirer was expected to keep him 
 well, to permit him to serve none but his own ewes, and only the stipulated number 
 of them, and to send him home safe about the beginning of December. The owner, on 
 receiving him, immediately set to work to get all his former fat upon him, and to make 
 him look as handsome as ever for the next show. 
 
 As to the ewe, as much care and thought were necessary with regard to her as with 
 regard to the ram. In the first place, it was necessary that she should be deeply tinc- 
 tured with the Dishley blood, in order to produce an offspring that would possess the 
 true Dishley qualities. She was to be perfect in flesh, fat, form and wool ; she should 
 have been at moderate keep, and without any alteration of pasture, unless double lambs 
 were desired, when she might have a flush of keep for a little while before she was put 
 to the ram ; it being, however, remembered that all this has reference not to the kind 
 of keep which the farmer usually allows, but to the extra nourishment which these high 
 bred animals are always indulged in. (It was objected to the new Leicesters, when they 
 were beginning to establish themselves, that they were not so prolific as either the South 
 Downs or the old Leicesters. The true principle of breeding has been brought to bear upon 
 this point, as well as others, and the objection is now greatly diminished where the 
 flock is kept in good condition, and not deteriorated and debilitated by an injudicious 
 Bystera of breeding.) There was no difference fiom the usual keep during the winter, 
 
 • Marshall's Midland Counties, vol. 1. p. 126. t lb., p. 427. t IK !>• 430. 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP 317 
 
 admitted, he was enabled to establish the Dishley Society. There can be 
 
 little doubt that the object which he had principally in view in forming 
 
 this Society was to promote his own interest, and that of the members of 
 
 the Society, and its establishment has very mainly contributed to preserve 
 
 the purity of the new Leicester breed, and has thus been very beneficial to 
 
 the country. Its principal rules are, — 
 
 1st. No member shall hire or use a ram not belonging either to Mr, Bake- 
 well or to one of the members of the Society. 
 
 2nd. No member shall give his rams, at any season of the year, any other 
 food than green vegetables, hay, and straw. 
 
 3rd. No member shall let more than thirty rams in anyone season. 
 
 4th. No member shall let a ram for less than ten guineas to any person, 
 nor for less than forty guineas to any person who lets rams. 
 
 5lli. No one ram shall be let to serve the flocks of more than two persons. 
 
 6ih. No member shall let a ram to any one who lets or sells his rams at 
 fairs or markets. 
 
 7th. No member shall take in ewes to be served by more than one ram, at 
 his own residence, in any one season, unless they belong to members of 
 the Society, nor to be served by any ram he uses for his own flock, with 
 the same exception. 
 
 8th. Mr. Bakewell engages not to let any ram for less than fifty guineas 
 to any person residing within one hundred miles from Dishley. 
 
 9lh. No member shall let a ram to any person residing within thirty miles 
 from Leicester, and not being a member of the Society, who shall have 
 hired a ram of Mr. Bakewell during the preceding season. 
 
 10th. No member shall sell any ewes or rams of his own breed, to breed 
 from, unless he sells his whole flock of sheep, except to members of the 
 Society. 
 
 11th. From the 1st to the 8th of June the mevnbers shall not show their 
 rams, except to one another. They shall begin their general show on 
 the 8th of June, and continue to show their rams till the 8th of July : 
 
 but the utmost attention during lambing time. From the period of lambing to that of 
 yeaning, the ewes were indulged with more and better food, in order that the lamb 
 mij;ht be pushed on as quickly as possible, and because the Leicester ewes are occa- 
 sionally deficient in milk. The time of weaning was the latter end of July or the 
 beginning of August. The ewe lambs were put on good keep, but somewhat inferior 
 to that of the rams, and they were kept from the ram during the first autumn*. 
 
 The ram-lambs that were kept for breeding were selected more on account of their 
 parentage or blood than their form; for full dependence could not be placed on that at 
 so early an age. From the weaning-time in July or August, to the shearing-time in 
 the following August, they had every indulgence of keep. Clover that had beey mown 
 early and got a second time into head was usually their first food ; and after this, tur- 
 nips, cabbages, &c., with hay and corn. Such shearlings as did not possess the requi- 
 site form and fatness were castrated, or sent to the butcher. In shearing-time the rams 
 were exhibited in lots of four or five of the same age, or shigly : the choice of the ram 
 was guided by the object of the hirer. If his object was to get rams for the improve- 
 ment of the breed or for hire, he selected one with a small head, light bone, good flesh, 
 and beautiful form ; he trusted to his ewes and the natural tendency of the breed to 
 bestow on the offspring size and substance. The grazier looked for strength of frame, 
 in addition to form. This was the distinction between the " ram-getter" and the " wed- 
 der-getter." No price was set on the rams, but the hirer made his own valuation, and 
 bid what he pleased. The hiring was not rendered legally binding by any written 
 articles, but left to the honour of the parties ; and the price was not paid until the ram, 
 or another as good, had impregnated the stipulated number of ewes; and if he died 
 while he was away, whether through disease, accident, or neglect, the loss fell on the 
 letter. 
 
 • Marshall's Midland Conntiea, vol i. p. 433. 
 
318 SHEEP. 
 
 from that day until the 8th of September they shall not show them to 
 
 any one, but shall then open their show again, and continue it until the 
 
 end of the season. 
 12th. On the 8th and 9th of June, although the rams may be shown, no 
 
 ram shall be let or engaged to be let, nor shall the price which will be 
 
 required for him be mentioned by any one. 
 13th. Every member, refusing or neglecting to abide by the rules of the 
 
 Society, or withdrawing himself from it, shall no longer be considered a 
 
 member. From that time he shall not be permitted to hire any ram or 
 
 share of a ram f'/m any of its members, until readmitted into the Society 
 
 at a general me*, mg. 
 
 From the inspection of these rules, it will be evident that the tendency 
 of the first four w58 to preserve the purity of this new breed of sheep, 
 and the peculiar excellencies of the sort; because, while the first rule 
 renders it impossible that any ram should be used by a member of the 
 Society, which was not purely bred, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th render it pro- 
 bable that no ram, except such as possessed considerable merit, could be 
 let. The remaining nine rules have for their object evidently the esta- 
 blishment of as close .* monopoly as could be effected among the members 
 of the Society. 
 
 Such is the origin of the New Leicester breed of sheep, which have 
 within little more than half a century spread themselves from their native 
 county over every part of the United Kingdom, and are now exported in 
 great numbers to the continents of Europe and America. Such, indeed, 
 have proved to be their merits, that at the present day there are very few 
 flocks of long-woolled sheep existing in England, Scotland, or Ireland, 
 which are not in some degree descended from the flock of Mr. Bakewell. 
 A pure Lincoln or Teeswater flock is very rarely to be found ; and although 
 some flocks of the pure Cotswold breed remain, in the greatest number 
 of instances it is probable that they have been crossed with the New 
 Leicesters. 
 
 No other sort of sheep possesses so great a propensity to fatten— -no 
 other sort of sheep is fit for the butcher at so early an age— and although 
 they are not calculated for the poorest soils, where the herbage is so scanty 
 that the sheep must walk over a great deal of ground for the purpose of 
 procuring his food, no other sort of sheep, in soils of a moderate or superior 
 quality, is so profitable to the breeder. 
 
 They vary very much in size, weigliing at a year and a half old, with 
 ordinary keep, from 24 to 36 lbs. per quarter. In this respect, therefore, 
 they are inferior to the Lincoln, the Cotswold, and the Teeswater sheep. By 
 crossing them with either of these sorts, the size of the sheep may be con- 
 siderably increased ; and it is said that this may be done without diminish- 
 ing perceptibly either their inclination to become fat, or the early maturity 
 for which they have always been remarkable. - It would, however, be very 
 unfortunate if the temptation which this increase of bulk holds out to the 
 breeders, was to have a tendency ta diminish the stocks of pure-bred New 
 Leicesters at present existing, because there can be little doubt that it will 
 be always essential to the preservation of the peculiar merits of this sort oi 
 sheep that the breeders may be able to have recourse to pure-bred rams. 
 
 The preference which Mr. Bakewell was inclined to give to a smaller 
 race of sheep than the ordinary long-woolled sheep were at the time he 
 commenced his improvements, and the decision he came to of attending 
 more to the carcase than the fleece of the sheep from which he bred, 
 undoubtedly led some of his immediate followers into considerable mis- 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 319 
 
 takes. They seem even to have imagined tliat want of size was a merit of 
 itself, and instead of looking to the fleece of the sheep as a secondary con- 
 sideration only, neglected it entirely, or even preferred sheep with bad 
 fleeces to those with good ones. At present, however, these mistakes are 
 corrected, and the principal breeders of tlie New Leicester sheep give their 
 due and sufficient weight to all the qualities which are likely to produce a 
 profitable animal *. 
 
 AVe have said above, that the principles on which Mr. Bakewell acted have 
 been of essential benefit to all the different breeds of our domestic animals. 
 The great improvement which he made in the breed of sheep proved how 
 important it is to a breeder of animals to attend to the peculiarities which 
 distinguish the parents, and so to put the males and females togetlier as to 
 remedy any defects which may exist in either, Previous to the time of Mr. 
 Bakewell, the importance of this care had not been understood ; but the 
 attention of breeders having been then called to it, the reasonableness of 
 the principle was apparent, and it has since been attended to, more or less, 
 by all those who have been anxious to improve their stock f. 
 
 The result of the diffusion of the new Leicester sheep through every 
 part of the United Kingdom is, that botli friends and foes have been 
 enabled to put fairly to the test their supposed excellencies and defects ; 
 and there seems now to be a common agreement of opinion, if not pre- 
 
 * The following is the account which Mr. Luccock gives of the actual improvement 
 of the wool in the new Leicesters: — " Throughout this extensive tract, (from Stafford- 
 shire to Derby and Rutland,) the Dishley breed of sheep has been generally cultivated. 
 Its qualities have been infusid not only into the flocks which graze upon the most valu- 
 able lands, but into those which lodge upon fallows, and in some instances have pene- 
 trated the close-bitten commons. The staple which it produces is from five to seven 
 inches long, very commonly well-formed, and of a colour .beautifully white ; and there 
 are few districts m the kingdom, I conceive, where the fleece is kept so clean, or sent to 
 market in such good order, and not many where the grazier has been more amply repaid 
 for his attention to the coat as well as the carcase of his sheep. When compared with 
 the ancient stock of the county, they yield a larger quantity of w ool on a given surface 
 than that formerly produced ; and being cleaner than the sheep formerly were, the in- 
 trinsic weight of the wool produced by an individual is not very deficient. The fleece 
 is softer and frner, more evenly grown, and possessing some other qualities of wool iu 
 great perfection ; and although too short and weak to be admitted among the first ranks 
 of combing wool, is well adapted to the manufacture of worsted yarn, and has become 
 very useful in the hose-trade." — Luccock on Wool, p. 212 
 
 The following instance of the extraordinary produce of wool from a yearling pure 
 Leicester ram, and also of his excelltnt condition, deserves to be placed on record. He 
 was bred by Mr. Howgate, of Hay Park, near Knaresborough. He was yeaned iu 1822, 
 and had no other extra food than a few oats and beans. He was shorn on the 21st of 
 April, 1823, and produced 17^ lbs. of good wool, without salve •, his live weight without 
 wool was 17 St. 8 lbs. imperial weight, or 246 lbs. — Farmefs Journal^ June 10, 1823. 
 
 t " It will most probably come out that no cross with any alien breed whatever has 
 been used, but that the improvement has been effected by selecting individuals from 
 kindred breeds — from the several breeds or varieties cf long-wooUed sheep with which 
 Mr. Bakewell was surrounded on every side ; and by breeding in and in with this selec- 
 tion, solicitously seizing the superior accidental varieties produced, associating these 
 varieties, and still continuing to select with judgment the superior individuals." — Mar- 
 shaWs Midland Counties — Sheep, vol. i. 
 
 The state of improvement to which he brought his flock cannot be better expressed 
 than in the language of Lord Somerville : — " To such extreme perfection has the frame 
 of this animal befen carried, that one is lost in admiration at the skill and good fortune 
 of those who worked out such an alteration. It would seem as if they had chalked out 
 upon a wall a form perfect in itself, and then had given it existence." — Sotnerville's 
 Illusiralions, p. 59. 
 
 Mr. Paget, of Ibstock, was an associate of Mr. Bakewell, and an ardent and euc- 
 cessful breeder of the new Leicester sheep. His stock of ewes was sold by auction on 
 Nov. 16, 1793. The prices which they fetched and the names of the purchasers should 
 
3-20 SHEEP. 
 
 oisely between tliese two opposite classes, yet between all impartial judges. 
 The new Leicesters, on good keep, will yield a greater quantity of meat, for 
 the same quantity of food, than any other breed of sheep can do. This is 
 their fundamental character and excellence. On moderate keep they will 
 do as well as most breeds : but they cannot travel far for their food, nor 
 can they hear, so well as many others, occasional scantiness or deprivation 
 of nourisliment. These properties plainly mark out for them the situation 
 in which they should be placed, and the j'urposes for which they should be 
 bred. 
 
 The kind of meat which they yield is of a peculiar character. When the 
 sheej) are not over fattened, it is tender and juicy, but, in the opinion of 
 many persons, somewhat insipid. When they are raised to their highest 
 state of condition, the muscles seem to be partially absorbed ; at least 
 much fatty matter is introduced between their fibres. The line of distinc- 
 tion between the fat and the lean is in a manner lost, and, with the ex- 
 ception of a few joints and a small part of them, the carcase has the ap- 
 pearance and the taste of a mass of luscious fat. There is the same dif- 
 ference between the overfat Leicester and South Down, which there is 
 between the short-horn and the Kyloe when forced into an unnatural state 
 of condition. This, however, is no solid objection to the breed. It marks 
 the point, easily attained, to which the fattening process should be carried, 
 and where it should stop. It marks the character of the animal, and the 
 profit which may be derived from it, and it is the fault of the grazier if he 
 converts an excellence into a nuisance. 
 
 It is to be doubted whether this disposition to over fatness remains to as 
 great an extent as it did in the early existence of the New Leicesters. 
 Whether it arises from the fashionable but injurious system of many of 
 the cultivators of these sheep, or from some gradual impairment of the 
 constitution of the breed, there can be no doubt that the size of the New 
 Leicesters has materially diminished. Occujiying the same farm, and the 
 
 be placed on record as a proof of the esiimation in which the new Leicesters were then 
 held, and as a just tribute of respect to the early and zealous improvers of the breed. 
 
 wes. ' 
 
 Guineas each. 
 
 5 
 
 at 62 
 
 5 shearlings 
 
 52 
 
 5 ditto 
 
 45 
 
 5 
 
 30 
 
 f) 
 
 30 
 
 5 
 
 29 
 
 f) 
 
 25 
 
 5 . 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 
 22 . 
 
 f) 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 20 
 
 5 . . 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 20 
 
 5 . . 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 18 
 
 5 shearlings 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 5 shearlings 
 
 16 
 
 30 before the sah 
 
 Bhy 
 
 privatt contract, 20 
 
 Guineas. 
 
 Purchasers. 
 
 310 
 
 Mr 
 
 . liuckley. 
 
 260 
 
 
 Pilkington. 
 
 2-2 J 
 
 
 Pilkini^ton. 
 
 150 
 
 
 Breedon. 
 
 150 
 
 
 S. Stonp. 
 
 145 
 
 
 Bennett. 
 
 1 25 
 
 
 Bennett. 
 
 110 
 
 
 S. Stone. 
 
 110 
 
 
 Boyer. 
 
 100 
 
 
 Stubbings. 
 
 100 
 
 
 Tomalin. 
 
 100 
 
 
 Freyer. 
 
 100 
 
 
 Deverell. 
 
 100 
 
 
 Martin. 
 
 100 
 
 Lord Kgremont. 
 
 90 
 
 Mr 
 
 .^Vnlgfield. 
 
 85 
 
 
 Meland. 
 
 80 
 
 
 Powrise. 
 
 80 
 
 Lord Ef^remont. 
 
 80 
 
 
 Ilarborough. 
 
 130 at,on the average, 25/. 16«. 1 \J. each; — ^^ 
 whole amount £3200 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 3i.'l 
 
 cultivation of that farm being the same, the management unchanged, and the 
 sale taking place at the same time of the year, there is an evident diminu- 
 tion of both live and dead weight. This, perhaps, may be chiefly owing to 
 the continued application of that principle which did credit to the judgment 
 of Bakewell when he was surrounded by large and coarse animals onlv, 
 namely, to look to symmetry alone, and to trust to chance or to nature for 
 the size and weight; but which must have an injurious tendency when 
 the characteristic of the breed is neatness and beauty of form, Tiie 
 heaviest pure New Leicester sheep, of which there is any authentic account, 
 belonged to Mr. Morgan, of Loughton : its live weight was 368 lbs., and 
 the weight of the carcase 248 lbs. It was killed in April, and had been 
 with the ewes until November the 1st*. The heaviest of Mr. Painter of 
 Buvghley's pen of 32 months old Leicester wethers exhibited at the Smith- 
 field cattle show in 1835 weighed but 165 lbs.; the two others were 155 lbs. 
 and 143 lbs. The three South Downs, of the same age, exhibited by Mr. 
 Stephen Grantham, of Stoneham, weighed 168 lbs., 165 lbs., and 163 lbs. 
 
 The Leicester sheep were never favourites with the butcher, because they 
 had little loose inside fat. It has been well said that " tallow is a kind of 
 boon which, if not forthcoming, produces a disappointment that the butcher 
 cannot brook." It ought, nevertheless, to have been recollected that the 
 smallness of the head, and the thinness of the pelt, would in some measure 
 counterbalance the loss of tallow : that there is that about the Leicester 
 sheep which would fully make amends to the butcher for the diminution of 
 oflal, namely, the property of weighing considerably more than the appear- 
 ance of the animal would indicate ; and that this very diminution of the 
 offal, whatever the butcher may think of it, is advantageous to the grazier, 
 for it shows a disposition to form fat outwardly, and is uniformly accom- 
 panied by a tendency to quickness of improvement. 
 
 It must also be conceded that the New Leicester sheep has a smaller 
 quantity of bone in proportion to its weight than is to be found in any 
 other breed, a circumstance highly advantageous to the consumer, 
 although, in more ways than one, it may not be so profitable to the butcher. 
 
 There is another good quality in the New Leicesters of essential im- 
 portance, namely, their early maturity. They are sooner prepared for the 
 butcher than any other description of sheep, and the pasture left ready for 
 other purposes. This was undeniably the case when they were first intro- 
 duced. It was a point which, for many years afterwards, their most pre- 
 judiced enemies could not deny. Mr. Price, in his Treatise on Sheep, 
 gives a satisfactory illustration of this. " In the spring of 1806 I called 
 upon the Earl of Thanet, in Kent, in order to view his breed of sheep : 
 his Lordship is for giving every breed a candid trial. He then had the 
 New Leicesters, the South Down, and the Romney Marsh breeds together. 
 He informed me tliat the New Leicester breed suited his purpose far better 
 than any of the others, for they were ripe for the slaughter-house in April ; 
 whereas the South Down and the Kents would not be so until the latter 
 end of the summer. The advantage which he received was that of making 
 two returns on his pasturesf." 
 
 Great improvement has been effected in the system of sheep husbandry 
 since that time, and other breeds of sheep have materially advanced. 
 Between some of them and the Leicesters it would occasionally be a neck 
 and neck race, or the old favourites might now and then be left behind ; 
 but, as a general rule, and all circumstances being equal, the New Leicester 
 
 • Farmev's Journal, Aiiril, 1822. f Price on Sheep, p. 186. 
 
982 SHEEP. 
 
 sheep will get the start of their competitors ; and they will not be left 
 behind, although dearer and more stimulating food than used to be allowed 
 is given to their rivals. 
 
 The New Leicesters, however, are not without their faults. They are 
 not, even at the present day, so prolific as most other breeds. This was 
 too much overlooked in the time of Bakewell and his immediate followers. 
 Their object was to produce a lamb that could be forced on so as to be 
 ready, at the earliest possible period, for the purposes of breeding or of 
 slaughter, and therefore the production of twins was not only unsought 
 after, but was regarded as an evil. It was considered that, during the 
 period of gestation, few ewes would be able to bring to their full foetal 
 growth two such lambs as the Leicestershire breeders desired to have. 
 The fact, also, which, if they had seriously thought of the matter, must 
 have appeared to be unavoidable, too soon began to be evident, viz., that 
 when the energies of the system were systematically directed to one point — 
 the accumulation of flesh and fat as early and to as great an extent as pos- 
 sible — there must be a deficiency in some other point ; and the Leicester 
 tup.s were not such sure lamb getters, and the ewes were not so well dis- 
 posed for impregnation, and the secretion of milk was not so abundant as 
 in other breeds. When, however, the contest for the highest character as 
 a tup-breeder, and the highest price for the letting of the tups, was somewhat 
 passed over, and the Leicesters were subnfltted to the usual routine of 
 sheep husbandry, they became better breeders and better nurses. 
 
 It was likewise, and not without reason, objected to them that their 
 lambs were tender and weakly, and unable to bear the occasional incle- 
 mency of the weather at the lambing season. This also was a necessary 
 consequence of that delicacy of form, and delicacy of constitution too, which 
 were so sedulously cultivated in the Leicester sheep. The circumstance of 
 their indisposition to accumulate fat internally was however much in their 
 favour here. Had they " died as well," or, in plainer language, contained 
 as much fat within as their external appearance bespoke, there would have 
 been no room for the growth of the little one, and its puny form could not 
 have endured the slightest hardship. 
 
 The last objection to the New Leicester sheep was the neglect and defir 
 ciency of the fleece ; but this has already been hinted at. It was a great 
 objection in the early history of the improved breed. The weight and quality 
 of the fleece were not merely, as they should be, somewhat secondary con- 
 siderations, but they were comparatively disregarded. There is little cause, 
 however, for complaint at the present period. The wool has considerably 
 increased in length, and has improved both in fineness and strength of 
 fibre ; it averages from 6 to 7 lbs. the fleece, and the fibre varies from five 
 to more than twelve inches in length. It is mostly used in the manufac- 
 ture of serges and carpets. 
 
 The principal value of the New Leicester breed consists in the improve- 
 ment which it has effected in almost every variety of sheep that it has 
 crossed. A rapid glance at the districts that have passed in review will 
 aff'ord satisfactory proof of this, as it regards the short-woolled breed. The 
 Leicesters had nothing to do with the original formation cS any of them, 
 for each grew out of the situation in which it was placed : but they have 
 formed useful and improved varieties with most of them, and in various 
 instances a cross with them has superseded the native breed. 
 
 They had nothing to do with the formation of the South Downs, and tlie 
 early crosses with them were not successful. The activity and the hardi- 
 liood of the Sussex sheep were to a certain degree impaired, and the wool 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. " 323 
 
 was lengtliened, weakened, and could no longer be used in the manufacture 
 of cloth : but, when a complete revolution had taken place in the cliaracter 
 and u ( s of the British short wools — when a finer and a better wool than the 
 South Downs ever produced was brought into the market, and rapidly 
 superseded that of British growth — when, in point of fact, the South 
 Down wool was driven from all its old markets, and had to seek new and 
 perfectly different ones, many farmers, reluctantly and hesitatingly at first, 
 began to cross the South Down ewe with the Leicester ram. The conse- 
 quence of this was, that although the South Downs lost some hardihood, as 
 it regarded both keep and weather, they obtained a carcase not materially 
 diminished in value in the estimation either of the consumer or the butcher 
 — coming somewiiat earlier to the market, and yielding a fleece longer in 
 its staple, finer in its fibre, with much of its former strength, and feltiness 
 too, and nearly doubled in weight — a true combing wool, valued by the 
 manufacturer, having ready sale, and producing a fair remunerating price*. 
 
 Crosses between the New Leicester and the Dorset sheep have not been 
 attempted on any extensive scale ; but now that the middle wool finds so 
 easy and profitable a market, the experiment will doubtless be resumed. 
 
 Still farther in the west the Leicesters have been eminently useful. 
 Both the Dartmoor and the Exnioor sheep owe much to them, with 
 respect to earlier maturity, increased size so far as it is desirable, and a far 
 more valuable fleece. Mention will presently be ^lade of the Devonshire 
 Bampton sheep, a cross of the native sheep with the Leicesters, and now 
 become scarcely inferior to the Leicesters themselves. 
 
 In Cornwall the Leicester blood has been introduced with decided ad- 
 vantage, not only in improving the sheep that were obtained from Dart- 
 moor and Exmoor, but in imparting a better fleece and a better carcase 
 to the native breed on the downs and heaths of the farther extremity of the 
 county ; and that, without seeming to diminish in any material degree the 
 hardihood by means of which they are so well adapted to the situation which 
 they occupy. 
 
 In Somersetshire, their influence may be traced in the Bamptons, ex- 
 tending from the borders of Devonshire to the river Parrett ; and their form 
 and character will not be overlooked in many of the flocks that wander on 
 the Mendip Hills. 
 
 The cross of the Leicesters with the Ryelands has already been de- 
 scribed. For a while it was of doubtful advantage — tlie carcase was 
 enlarged, but the animal suff'ered in the fineness of the fleece and the flavour 
 of the mutton. Now, however, that the Ryeland sheep has participated in the 
 fate of all those of the short-woolled breed, and is no longer employed in the 
 manufacture of fine cloth, the change produced in the fleece by the intro- 
 duction of the Dishley blood is beneficial rather than injurious, as it better 
 fits the wool for its new destiny, while it adds materially to the weight of the 
 sheep. In the present state of sheep-husbandry and the employment of 
 wool, a cross with the Leicester is advantageous to the farmer, as materially 
 increasing his profit from both the carcase and the wool. 
 
 * This cross was early tried by Dr. Wilkins for another purpose. The situation of 
 his farm was favourable to the sale of grass lambs. He reasoned that the dispositioa 
 to fatten in the Leicester being greater than in the South Down, the lambs of the 
 cross would go earUer to market than those of the pure South Down breed — that the 
 same disposition to fatten would be extended to the ewes of the breeding stock ; while 
 the hardy constitution of the South Downs would enable the cross to live on less food 
 than the pure Leicesters would require. The speculation seemed to succeed for a while, 
 but was finally abandoned, because the best properties of these sheep were not brought 
 fairly into play, gr developed and improved by a cross for such a purpose. — Agric, Mag, 
 Jpril, 1803, 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 SHEEK 
 
 In the adjoining: county of AVorcester the Leicester sheep has also 
 been at work, and profitably too, for the sheep farmer. In tlie north of 
 the county the prevalent breed is composed of the grey-faced Sliropshire 
 and tlie Leicester ; and, towards tlie centre and the south, of the Leicester 
 and the Cotswold. Tins is likewise the character of all the Shropshire long- 
 woolled sheep; while there is scarcely a short-woolled breed that has not 
 now some of the Leicester blood in its veins. In Staffordshire the case is 
 little different. Those crosses which were considered to be of doubtful 
 advantage before the short wool was either deteriorated in itself, or driven 
 from tiie market by German and Spanish fleeces, are now regarded in a dif- 
 ferent lioht. It was often a dubious question whether the enlargement of 
 the carcase was not dearly purchased by the altered character of the fleece, 
 but in Staffordshire, as elsewhere, the pasture suiting the sheep, a double 
 advantao-e is now evidently gained, and the farmer is becoming more dis- 
 posed to take advantage of it. 
 
 Into South Wales, and even to the farthest extremity of it, the Leices- 
 ters have penetrated, and generally with success ; but they have met witii 
 powerful antagonists in the Cotswolds, that, or crosses from them, inhabit 
 the fertile valleys with which the southern parts of the principality abound*. 
 
 In North Wales the Leicesters have been used with some but not uni- 
 form success in crossing the mountain breeds. Sir W. Bulkeley and Mr. 
 Prilchard employed them with decided advantage in the Isle of Anglesey. 
 In other places the improvement was not so evident. In fact, there seems 
 so much contrariety in form and habit between the Leicester and the moun- 
 tain sheep, that uniform or frequent success could scarcely be expected. 
 Tlie Cotswold sheep, although heavier than the Leicester, is more active 
 and more patient both of cold and scanty food, and therefore more likely 
 to produce a cross suited to such a country. The pure Leicesters were 
 cultivated by some farmers, but they did not answer so well as crosses of 
 them with the native breed ; this was naturally to be expected. 
 
 In Lancashire, in Westmoreland, and in Cumberland, the native shorf- 
 woolled sheep have been crossed by the Leicesters with much benefit. 
 
 In Northumberland the black-faced sheep are numerous, and it is the 
 native county of the Cheviots ; and from this district both breeds extend to 
 the northern extremity of Scotland. The features of the country in an 
 agricultural point of view are exceedingly dift'erent in various parts of 
 Scotland, and the cattle and sheep that are bred in the different localities 
 can possess but few qualities in common. The black-faced sheep can alone 
 thrive, or even exist, on the heath and peat of the northern Highlands. The 
 grassy and less exposed districts of this mountainous region will support a 
 somewhat heavier sheep, and there and in the central Highlands the Cheviots 
 are cultivated with advantage ; while the valleys and plains, and they are 
 numerous and fertile, will bear the larger Leicester breed. 
 
 It mi^ht, on first consideration, be questioned whether any cross was 
 necessar'y between these, — whether the highland, or the upland, or the vale 
 sheep could . receive improvement by admixture with each other, and 
 whether the only rational method of proceeding was not to keep the breeds 
 pure and distinct, and improve them by careful selection alone. 
 
 * The reader will {.lease to substitute the word " small" for « heavy" in page 267, 
 line 33, of this work. Those who arc acquainted with sheep well know that the Cots- 
 wold is larger and heaviee than the Leicester. The Leicester was deemed to be too 
 small, the Cotswold was substituted, and a cross was produced that was supposed to pro- 
 duce the desired change. Tht- author is indebted to his kind friend Mr. Evan David of 
 Rad^ r.forthe discovery of this important, although apparently small, typographical error. 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 325 
 
 Sir John Sinclair has recorded his opinion on this point. " The Dishley 
 breed is perhaps the best ever reared for a rich arable district ; but tlie 
 least tincture of this blood is destructive to the mountain sheep, as it makes 
 them incapable of standing the least scarcity of food." Experience, how- 
 ever, has proved that both the highland and the upland sheep may be 
 much improved by admixture with lowland blood ; they may obtain the , 
 faculty of turning every particle of food to nutriment, and the early 
 maturity, which constitute the value of the Leicester breed. 
 
 The breed itself cannot be changed. " I occupied a farm," says aLam- 
 mermuir sheep-master, " that had been rented by our family for nearly half a 
 century. On entering it, the Cheviot stock was the object of our choice, and 
 so long as wc continued in possession of this breed every thing proceeded 
 with considerable success ; but the Dishley sheep came into fashion, and 
 we, influenced by the general mania, cleared our farm of the Cheviots 
 and procured the favourite stock. Our coarse lean pastures, however, were 
 unequal to the task of supporting such heavy-bodied sheep ; and they gra- 
 dually dwindled away into less and less bulk : each generation was inferior 
 to the preceding one ; and, when the spring was severe, seldom more than 
 two-thirds of the lambs could survive the ravages of the storm*." This 
 was a sufficient illustration of the folly of placing certain breeds of sheep 
 on situations which nature had not formed them to occupy ; but it is 
 another question whether there are not certain qualities belonging to sheep 
 occupying a very diii'erent locality that may be advantageously imparted to 
 other breeds. 
 
 The Cheviots occupy the upland districts — they are valuable in many 
 particulars, but may they not obtain from another source a disposition 
 to fatten more kindly and to arrive more early at maturity ? They used to 
 weigh from 17 to 20 lbs. per quarter, and to be ready for the market at 
 three years old. They were crossed with the New Leicester sheep. They 
 had sufficient inherent hardihood in them to thrive as well as ever on 
 their native hills ; they did not much increase in weight when they were 
 in condition for the butcher, although some of them have been exhibited, 
 weighing 30 and 32 lbs. per quarter, but, on the same pasture, and stocked 
 as closely as before, they arrived at maturity at less than two years old, 
 and were frequently ready for the butcher at sixteen months. Nothing 
 more needs to be stated in order to show their increased value, and that 
 derived from the New Leicester cross. It is true that the wool underwent 
 considerable change as well as the carcase. It was longer, heavier, and 
 soon devoted to another purpose; but, before the revolution in the charac- 
 ter and destiny of British wool the increased weight compensated for 
 decrease of price, and, now that the middle wool is devoted to so many use- 
 ful purposes, the farmer gains by the fleece as well as by the carcase. 
 
 The black-faced sheep seemed obstinately to resist the influence of 
 foreign crosses. The Leicester, and even the Cheviot blood, added little 
 to the value either of the fleece or of the carcase, while they materially 
 lessened the hardihood of the sheep. Steam navigation, however, has been 
 lately introduced. There are few parts of the Highlands which cannot to a 
 greater or less degree profit by it ; and it is now an object of new and 
 rapidly increasing interest to prepare the lambs as early as possible for 
 the country, or the metropolitan markets. For this they, formerly, were not 
 ready until three or four years old. The Leicesters were now taken into 
 
 * On the Breiding, &c. of Cheviot and Llack-faced Sheep, by a Lammermuir Fairaerj 
 p 66. 
 
326 SHEEP. 
 
 requisition for tliis new purpose. The cast-ofF ewes of five or six years old 
 were crossed with Leicester rams, and then retained on the farm, or sent 
 to the Lothians, as suited the convenience of the owner. The lambs 
 arrived at maturity before they were two years old, and were sold in the 
 neif^hbourhood, or shipped for the London market. This system of sheep- 
 farming soon became so profitable that on many farms — Lanarkshire will 
 be a fair illustration of this— the whole of the stock was crossed with the 
 Leicesters, the lambs sold, and ewe hogs regularly bought, in order 
 to keep up the requisite number. These were the undeniable and important 
 effects of crossing with the Leicester sheep. 
 
 Travelling rapidly southward, fresh illustrations of the changes effected 
 present themselves in almost every county. The short-wooUed sheep have 
 become nearly extinct, or are essentially changed and improved. Even in 
 Norfolk the aboriginal breed has almost disappeared. It has given way 
 to the pule South Downs, or the Norfolk and the South Down, or the 
 Norfolk and Leicester, or the pure South Down and the Leicester ; and 
 everywhere the fleece has undergone as much change as the sheep itself. It 
 has ceased to be a carding wool ; it is a valuable combing wool : and, 
 could some of the causes of the depression of agriculture be removed, it 
 would appear that, the weight of the sheep being increased, and the weight 
 of the fleece also increased, the farmer actually derives a better remunera- 
 tion from his flock than when his wool was short and fine, and of little 
 weight, although it obtained a higher price. 
 
 The Leicesters bore a prominent part in the improvement of the fleece 
 in the early period of the British Australian settlements. The first sheep 
 were obtained from Bengal. They were a compound of almost every bad 
 quality that a sheep could possess. Importations of the Leicesters and 
 the South Downs were obtained as speedily as possible, and, by means of 
 crosses with them, the fleeces of the Australian sheep were rendered almost 
 as good and as valuable as the South Down and Leicester fleeces in Eng- 
 land. It was not until some years after this that the Merinos began to be 
 established in various parts of Europe, and that they reached those distant 
 settlements, and found there a soil and climate so conducive to the 
 development of their most valuable qualities. 
 
 The sheep that first inhabited the North American settlements were or 
 the old Leicester breed. The improved Dishley breed were not long in 
 finding their way across the Atlantic. The Merinos soon followed them ; 
 but, at the present moment, the Leicesters are acknowledged as the most 
 widely diffused and most valuable breed. The West Indian and South 
 American sheep are altogether of a different character. 
 
 The establishment and the flourishing state of the Leicester sheep in 
 France have been already described in this work, at page 165. 
 
 The author of the present treatise has lately (October, 1836) had an op- 
 portunity of examining a considerable portion of this flock, remaining at 
 Alfort under the care of Professor Yvart. The sheep appeared to him 
 somewhat diminished in size, and in compactness too. It was longer, and 
 it was thinner. It appeared to be housed and to be nursed a little too much. 
 It was treated as if it were a Merino. The sterling excellence of the Dishley 
 sheep was sacrificed in an attempt at rivalling a fleece to which its own 
 bore no affinity. The improvement, however, which the Leicesters had 
 already effected in the hornless long-wooUed breeds along the coast, and 
 throughout Normandy and Picardy, could not escape the observation of 
 the traveller. 
 
 The other breeds of long-woolled sheep must now pass in review. The first 
 
THE NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 327 
 
 of them are found in Northumberland itself. Along the sea-coast, from 
 North Durham southward, through the district called Bamburgh shire, and 
 extending below Alnwick, there has been a long-woolled breed of sheep 
 from time immemorial. Although far from being a valuable sort, it 
 possessed many good qualities, especially as contrasted with its neigh- 
 bours, the mugs. Its countenance was open and its legs clean ; it was 
 well-formed, and its wool, although not so long as at present, was thick 
 upon the pelt, and tolerably fine. It had been frequently crossed with the 
 Lincolnshire breed, ere that sheep began to lose some of its good qualities. 
 It had likewise mixed with the Teeswater, but obtained little advantage 
 from that alliance except the questionable one of increase of size. 
 
 It was in 1767 that the Messrs. Culley entered upon the farm of Fenton, 
 near Wooller, and in the immediate neighbourhood of these sheep. They 
 were contemporaries of Mr. Bakewell. They had associated with him, and 
 entered into all his views ; and it was at this time that he was struggling 
 with his principal difficulties. They brought with them some of his sheep, 
 and, in the spirit of honourable rivalry, they strove to carry into effect the 
 plans of Bakewell in the northern counties. After a long and severe 
 struggle, their triumph was as signal and complete as that of their master. 
 
 Mr. Charge, of Newton, on the Yorkshire side of the Tees, had, pre- 
 vious to the arrival of the Messrs. Culley, brought Dishley tups to Mor- 
 peth, but he had not received much encouragement, nor had he let his 
 rams for any great price. The Culleys were the first who set themselves 
 down in the county, and publicly adopted this new plan of sheep-breeding. 
 Mr. Thompson, then of East Lilburn, was one of the first who hired tups 
 of them, and he continued constant in his adherence to them during several 
 years; l3ut various rivals began to enter the field, and among the fore- 
 most were Messrs. Cleaver and Kenal. They likewise professed to let tups 
 for the improvement of the Northumberland breed, and they brought to 
 Morpeth some which they had obtained at the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, 
 and which were deeply imbued with the Lincolnshire blood. They had 
 large heads, large bones, and a great deal of curled, shaggy wool. Novelty, 
 however, or the benefit expected to arise from such a complete cross, 
 induced many to try this new kind of sheep ; and, among the rest, Mr. 
 Thompson began to cross the sheep of the Culleys with those of the new 
 comers. The rage for these novel animals became so great, tliat the 
 Messrs. Culley, instead of letting to the amount of 500^. or 600/., did nut 
 receive 50/. during a whole year. Mr. Thompson soon discovered his mis 
 take, and, although he had hired one of these Lincolnshire tups for two years, 
 he would not use him the second season, but, candidly and honourably 
 confessing his error, he returned to Fenton, and re-established his connec- 
 tion with the Culleys. 
 
 The other farmers of the neighbourhood soon became so convinced that 
 the Lincolnshire tups were destroying every good point in their breed, that, 
 when a new parcel of the intruders arrived at Morpeth, no one could be in- 
 duced to hire them ; and, after being driven about from fair to fair, they 
 were sold at the price of two or three guineas each. This opposition was 
 most serviceable ,to Messrs. Culley, and fully established the reputation of 
 the Dishley breed. To them, and particularly to Mr. George Culley, 
 must be awarded the honour of having effected that important change in 
 the breeds of the northern sheep which Mr. Bakewell established in the 
 midland counties. They both deserve well of posterity. 
 
 One of the celebrated sheep-fairs in Northumberland is St. Ninian's, 
 about six miles from Wooller and twelve from Berwick : it is held at the 
 
328 SHEEP. 
 
 latter end of September. An account of this fair, in the year 1835, will 
 give a satisfactory idea of the character of the Northumbrian sheep, and 
 the present mode of management to a certain extent. The number of 
 sheep wore about 20,000, the most of which were draft-ewes. Three-fourths 
 of the whole were Leicester draft-ewes, generally four years old, and of the 
 best quality. They were almost all bought by dealers from Yorkshire, who 
 drive them to the diflierent markets in that county, or Bhow them at their 
 own homes, to be disposed of to the farmers as breeding-ewes. A lamb is 
 taken from them in the next spring, and both lambs and ewes are fed in 
 the following summer, and sold to the butcher. A few of them were pur- 
 chased by the East Lothian farmers in order to produce early lambs for 
 the Edinburgh markets. The remainder of the sheep shown were Leicester 
 and half-bred shearlings, half-bred ewes, a few Cheviots, and about 100 
 Leicester rams. The half-breds are obtained by crossing Cheviot ewes 
 with Leicester rams. The shearlings were bought by Morpeth dealers and by 
 farmers to feed on turnips. The half-bred and Cheviot ewes were purchased 
 for lambs in the neighbourhood, and the adjoining counties of Scotland. 
 The Leicester rams were brought for sale and hire for the season. Some 
 oi" tliem were sold or let as high as 10/. or 15/. each ; but the current price 
 for a good sheep was from 5/. to 8/. Some years ago much higher prices 
 were given, but there are now so many breeders of fine Leicester rams in 
 this part of the country, that prices are kept down by the competition*. 
 
 * Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. v., p. 282. 
 
 The following account of the sheep-markets lately instituted in the neighbouring county 
 of Berwickshire will further illustrate the state of the different breeds and the sheep 
 management in the border counties. They are held at Dunse, a small town at the southern 
 base of the Lammermuir hills, fourteen mileo from Berwick, and ten from Coldstream. 
 
 The first market is held on the fourth Wednesday in March, principally for the sale 
 of ewes in lamb, although several lots of hogs and wethers are brought in. The ewes 
 are mostly of the Cheviot and black-faced breeds, from the Lammermuir hills, with a 
 few Leicesters and half-bred ewes. They are purchased by the Berwickshire and East 
 Lothian farmers and graziers. If there are any lots of fat sheep, they are bought by 
 the Morpeth dealers. 
 
 The second sheep-market is on the third Wednesday in May. Half the sheep con- 
 sist of Leicester and half-bred hogs, and the other half of Cheviot hogs, Cheviot and 
 black-faced wethers, black-faced ewes and lambs, and a few fat sheep. The greater 
 part is purchased by farmers in the neighbourhood. Some of the Liecester hogs are 
 nearly fat, and only require a few weeks' feeding after having been clipped. 
 
 The third market is on the second Wednesday in July, principally for the sale of 
 Inmbs. Two-thirds of them are Leicester and half-bred, between the Leicester ram and 
 the Cheviot, or black-faced ewe, and the remainder are Cheviot, or black-faced. The 
 Leicesters and half-breds are purchased by farmers who keep no breeding stock : they 
 are well turniped during the winter, and clipped and fattened in the following season. 
 Some of the Cheviots and black-faced are bought for the same purpose ; but most of 
 them, if fat, are pmchased by butchers and dealers, who give them an upland pasture, 
 and keep them only in growing condition ; for this kind of stock does not come so early 
 to maturity as the Leicester. 
 
 This is also a great wool-market, and attended by most of the principal wool-staplers 
 in Yorkshire ; and more wool is bought and sold here than at any other market in the 
 south of Scotland. 
 
 Tiie fourth sheep-market is held on the fourth Wednesday in September. About 
 2000 are shown, consisting principally of draft-ewes, about two-thirds of Avhich are 
 Leicester and half bred, and the remainder Cheviots and black-faced ewes, with a few 
 wethers and fat sheep. The ewes are purchased by the neighbouring farmers and 
 others, from East Lothian, who keep no breeding stock. Lambs are obtained from 
 them, which are sold fat from the mother iu May, June, and July. The ewe is imme- 
 diately afterwards fattened and sold. It is considered to be a fair remuneration to get 
 the lafnb and the wool of the ewe for ten or twelve months' keep of the ewe. The 
 average prices are about lbs. for Leicesters, 23*. for half-breds, and 20*. for Cheviots. 
 Qreater profits are often m^de by the East Lothian graziers, who force their lambs early 
 
THE TEESWATER SHEEP. 
 
 THE TEESWATER SHEEP. 
 
 329 
 
 The Teeswater Sheep, 
 
 This animal derives its name from the river that separates Durham from 
 lorkshire, and on the banks of which it was originally bred. The district 
 that It occupied was a very confined one, and extended not much farther 
 than the lowlands on either side of the river. It, doubtless, ori"-inallv pro- 
 ceeded from the same stock as the old Lincolnshires, and, like Uiem,"it has 
 passed away. It was a tall, clumsy animal, polled, and with white face and 
 legs : the bones small compared with those of other large breeds, yet support- 
 ing a thicker, firmer, and heavier body than their size would indicate ; 
 wide upon the back, somewhat round in the barrel, and yielding a heavier 
 carcase than any other sheep*, but proportionably longer in growing to 
 perfection ; the meat, however, was finer grained than could be expected 
 from such an animal. The old Teeswaters had one valuable property to a 
 very great extent ; the ewes were exceedingly prolific. Mr. Culley records 
 a singular case of this. Mr. Eddison had a ewe which at two years old, in 
 1772, brought him four lambs, five in 1773, two in 1774, and five in 1775, 
 being sixteen in four years. On each of the two following years she 
 bore twins. The wool of the Teeswater sheep was remarkably lon^ and 
 coarse, but thinly set upon the skin ; the fleece of this large animal seldom 
 weighing more than 91bs. 
 
 Much inconvenience attended the keeping of a sheep of this sort. The 
 pasture could not be heavily stocked with it, and there was a necessity 
 for Its being of a superior kind. It was on this account that the pastures 
 on the banks of the Tees were so exceedingly and inconveniently small, 
 
 into the Edinburgh market; but considerable expense attends this mode of sheen- 
 farming.— Quarterly Journ. of Agile, vol. v., p. 267. ^ 
 ♦Mr Hutchinson of Stockton, had a Teeswater wether-sheep, which was killed at 
 V • £.? *.* Christmas, 1779. The four quarters weighed 17st. libs., or 2491bs. 
 being 6 Jibs. 4'jz. per quarter, besides I'lbs. ot loose fat.— Culley on Live Stock, p. 122. 
 
330 SHEEP. 
 
 in order tliat a few only of the sheep might be kept in each, and the grass 
 not trodden down and destroyed. Even in that sheltered part of the 
 country hay was given to them throughout the winter, and the ewes were 
 supplied with corn for a considerable time after lambing. 
 
 Although the Teeswaters had their zealous advocates, they were some 
 of the first to experience the beneficial effects of a cross with the Dishley 
 sheep — a somewhat kindred breed, but possessing every good point 
 in which the others were manifestly deficient. The consequence of this 
 cross was a sudden and very considerable diminution of size. This at first 
 somewhat alarmed the breeder, but he soon learned to appreciate the 
 advantage of it. The carcase was smaller, but it was rounder and more 
 compact, and the animal came to maturity earlier ; so that considerably 
 more sheep were kept and more mutton was produced on the same quantity 
 of landjthan before. The Leicester mutton was not so delicately flavoured 
 as the Teeswater, and yet the consequence of the cross was that the flesh 
 of the Teeswater was evidently improved. The staple of the fleece was also 
 shortened ; but it was finer and closer, and a greater quantity of it grew on 
 the same exteiir of surface. The wool, however, did not improve so 
 rapidly as the carcase, and for a plain reason— that the Dishley sheep 
 were at this time bred principally, or almost exclusively, with a view 
 to quick fattening and early maturity. These were points which constituted 
 the characteristic of the sheep, and were sure to be transmitted to the 
 offspring. Any excellence of wool was accidental, and might, or migjit 
 not, belong to the lamb. Therefore, many years after the Dishleys had 
 established themselves on the banks of the Tees, although it was ac- 
 knowledged that the wool was improved in the fineness of the fibre, and 
 therefore was fit for other and for better manufactures, yet it was hard — it 
 was diminished in toughness, and not always true. It was finer at tlie 
 bottom of the staple than at the top, and the breech-wool was often as 
 coarse and as hairy as before. The wool has now, however, received its 
 due share of improvement, and the sheep from Durham or from York, or 
 pasturing on the shores of the Tees, will yield to few varieties of the New 
 Leicester blood. 
 
 Asa proof of the tendency to early maturity which the cross had derived 
 from their Leicestershire progenitors, so early as 1804, the following ex- 
 periment by Mr. Mason of Chilton, whose reputation as a breeder stands 
 deservedly high, is related: — On the 15th of August, he turned into good 
 pasture, and fed in the usual way, four lambs of five months old. At the 
 expiration of one year and two months he weighed them again, and found 
 that each of them had gained, on the average, 114^ lbs., or at the rate of 
 1 lb. 15 oz. per week. This was a more than remunerating price for their 
 food. He kept them to the autumn of the following year, when they were 
 two years and seven months old. They had gained in this last year only 
 33 lbs. each, or not more than 10 oz. per week, which was far from being 
 a remunerating price. This was an interesting and instructive experiment ; 
 not only showing the general disposition to fatness, but the age at which 
 the increase of weight was most rapid, and the animal most profitable to the 
 farmer. 
 
 The disgraceful breed of the Kentmore sheep, and all their crosses, are 
 now supplanted by a better animal in the county of Cumberland. 
 
 The original long-wooUed breed of sheep that pastured on the lower 
 grounds of Westmoreland have disappeared, and the Leicester or the 
 Cheviot blood universally prevails. 
 
 In Yorkshire the long-wooUed sheep may be considered as purely of 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE SHEEP. 331 
 
 Leicester extraction, except that on the banks of the Humber, and to a 
 less extent in the vale of Cleveland, there may be some portion of Lincoln 
 blood. The old, large, coarse-boned, slow feeders, under the name of the 
 Old Teeswaters, and a strange and inexplicable degeneration even of th^m, 
 has vanished from the North Riding ; and, where the pasture is suitable, 
 the New Leicesters, in nearly their perfect purity, prevail. 
 
 THE LINCOLNSHIRE SHEKP. 
 
 It is asserted by some writers on husbandry, that the Lincolnshire sheep 
 first reached England about the year 1760 ; but nothing can be so devoid of 
 foundation. Ellis, who published his '' Shepherd's Guide" in 1749, speaks of 
 them as the established breed in the fens of Lincoln, and gives a description 
 of them, which differs little from the accounts uniformly related by agricul- 
 turists, before they had been improved and altogether changed by the Dishley 
 sheep. The country does not exist whence they could have been imported. 
 The long-woolled sheep on the French coast are acknowledged to be of 
 British origin ; and the more valuable Flemish breeds owe many of their 
 good qualities to a cross with the Kentish sheep. Instead of tracing their 
 origin to so recent a date, it may with more reason be affirmed that they 
 were the parents of the English long-woolled breeds. Li the fens of Lin- 
 coln such an animal must in process of time have been formed, and 
 thence would spread to other parts of the country. The Lincoln sheep, 
 according to Ellis, who is the oldest agricultural writer in whom any 
 description of them is found, were the " longest legged and largest car- 
 cased sheep of all others ; and although their legs and bellies were for the 
 most part void of wool, yet they carried more wool on them than any sheep 
 whatsoever*." 
 
 Culley thus describes them towards the close of the last century : — 
 " They have no horns, white faces, long, thin, and weak carcases; the 
 ewes weighing from 14 lbs. to 20 lbs. per quarter; the three- year-old 
 wethers, from 20 lbs. to 30 lbs. They have thick, rough, white legs, 
 large bones, thick pelts, and long wool, from ten to eighteen inches, and 
 weighing from 8 lbs. to 14 lbs. per fleece, and covering a- slow-feeding, 
 coarse-grained carcase of mutton f." A larger quantity of wool was clipped 
 from tlie Lincolnshire sheep than from any other in the kingdom ; and 
 thence arose the error into which the Lincolnshire breeders fell : they bred 
 for the fleece, and for the fleece alone. Bakewell neglected the fleece — 
 the Lincolnshire farmer neglected the carcase ; hence the opposite errors 
 of each, and the reasonableness and advantage of the plan by which both the 
 carcase and the fleece were at length brought to the highest degree of perfec- 
 tion. Culley, however, was a prejudiced man ; he was a zealous disciple of 
 Bakewell, and could with difficulty perceive any excellence in a rival breed. 
 
 If the Lincolnshire farmer too much neglected the carcase, there 
 were times when the sheep, or when nature, would vindicate its claims. 
 It is true that the form was gaunt and somewhat unsightly, but the ex- 
 cellence of the breed, as a grazing sheep, would occasionally appear. 
 If the Lincoln would consume more food than the Leicester, it would 
 increase in weight proportionably to the extra quantity of food which it 
 ate ; and this, together with the additional weight of wool, rendered it 
 nearly or quite as profitable to the farmer. If the Lincolnshire breeder, 
 bestowed somewhat too much thought on the fleece, it should be recol- 
 lected that these were the pastures which during five successive centuries 
 
 * Ellis's Shepherd's Guide, p. 44. | Culley on Live Stock, p. Ill, 
 
332 SHEEP. 
 
 had fully supplied the looms of Norfolk, and, perhaps, with the exception of 
 the Cotswolds — and their wool was of a different character — had yielded 
 a fleece which no other part of the world could rival. 
 
 There was a long and acrimonious contest between the Leicesters and the 
 Lincolns for the point of supremacy. In one respect the Lincolns were 
 decidedly inferior — they were fen sheep — they were made for and by the 
 kind of pasture on which they were found ; and when they were removed 
 even to good keep, but in a different district, and of a different description, 
 they rapidly deteriorated. The Leicesters would thrive wherever they 
 found a sufficiently nutritious pasturage. 
 
 The continuance however of the contest, and the doubt which even now 
 exists in the minds of some with regard to the relative value of the respec- 
 tive breeds, show that the old Lincolnshire should not have bgen spoken of 
 in so disparaging a way. Before they were allied to the Leicesters, and 
 ill -formed and rough as they were, they had attained no small degree of 
 excellence both in the carcase and the wool. 
 
 At length a union was established between them. The Lincolnshire 
 ewe was put to the Leicester ram, and the progeny certainly displayed, and 
 to a very great and profitable extent, the excellences of the male parent ; 
 the wether attained its maturity a full year sooner than it was accustomed 
 to do, and with less comparative expense of food even in that time ; and 
 when the ewe was drafted, she too was sooner ready to be sent to the 
 market, and weighed considerably more than she was wont to do, and was 
 in higher repute and more readily sold. 
 
 Mr. Clarke of Canwick, in 1827, exhibited two wether sheep in Lincoln 
 market, the fleeces of which had yielded 24 lbs. of wool. They were slaugh- 
 tered — the carcase of the larger one weighed 261 lbs. ; the fore quarters 
 were, each of them 73 lbs., and the hind quarters 57^ lbs. On the top of 
 the rib the solid fat measured nine inches in thickness. Tiie weight of 
 the srnaller one was 250 lbs.* 
 
 ♦ British Farmer's Mag., May, 1827. Mr. Dawson of Witheall, on 21st Sept. 1826, 
 killed three more extraordinary sheep. The admeasurement of the heaviwit is given at 
 length. 
 
 miliam (T/iree Shear). 
 
 Length from the top of the head to the tail . 
 
 Breadth across the chine . . • 
 
 Girih behind the shoulders . . 
 
 l-'rom the top of the shoulders to the breast- end 
 Breadth across the rump .... 
 Round the rump from hip to hip . 
 
 From the centra of the hip to the bottom of the flank 
 From the bosom point to the rump . . 
 
 Length of the face, from the crown to the nose . 
 
 Breadth from eye to eye . . . 
 
 Round the crag ..... 
 Round the chop .... 
 
 From the knee to the fetlock . . • 
 
 Tliickness of the foie-leg under the knee • 
 
 From the hock to the fetlock . . • 
 
 Thickness of the hind-leg . . . 
 
 Height 
 
 AVeight— 27 stones (14 lbs.) 8 lbs., or 386 lbs. 
 
 Magnum Bonum {Two Shear). 
 Weight— 26 stones^ or 364 lbs. 
 Height ..... 
 
 'eet. 
 
 Incht 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 2^ 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 1" 
 
 lOi 
 
 ,3' 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 10^ 
 
 
 
 3^ 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 8i 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE SHEEP. 333 
 
 But tlie wool ? These two fleeces weighed 24 lbs. There are instances 
 of still greater weight : yet the fleece ceuld not, on an average, be reckoned 
 at more than S or 9 lbs. It has since become finer and the colour is im- 
 proved, but it is shorter, a material objection in some fabrics, and it has lost 
 some of that toughness which is an indispensable quality in the best comb- 
 ing wool. If these defects could be removed without bringing back the 
 original coarseness, the fleece would indeed be improved as well as the car- 
 case. The light and tender kind of wool is valuable in the manufacture of 
 the rougher woollen articles, but it is not suited to the finer worsted fabrics. 
 
 In page 91a delineation was given of the microscopic appearance of 
 the Leicester wool ; the reader is now presented with that of the Lincoln 
 wool. 
 
 ^t^ixw-ij.'^*'^- 
 
 Lincoln Wool. 
 
 1. Gives a correct view of it as a transparent object. It is the 4S0th part of an inch 
 in diameter, or a very little thicker than the pure Leicester : it is probable, however, that 
 this is a very fine specimen of the Lincoln wool, and that there is generally more differ- 
 ence in the bulk nf the fibre. There are 1280 serrations in the space of an inch ; the 
 Leicester prest-uted 18G0 serrations. In addition to this, the serrations are not so distinct 
 as in the Leicester wool — they are superficial, irregular; they are like exceedingly short 
 spines, lying upon, or rather within one another, and scarcely projecting from the fibre. 
 They well mark the less degree of felting properly possessed by the Lincoln wool, and 
 explain why it is placed nearly at the bottom of the list, so far as the felting property is 
 concerned. It will be interesting to the reader to compare this representation of the 
 Lincoln wool, in which much feliiness would be an evil, with the South Down and the 
 Merino (pp. 90 and S9), in the first of which, and in its uniform destination until the la-,t 
 few years, it was an advantage; and in the second, it was the most valuable property. 
 
 2. It is given as it appears when combed : a few of the serrations are disturbed ; they 
 are evenmade to appear somewhat prominent; but the majority of them are obliterated. 
 They are fairly rubbed out. The worsted manufacturer knows how to take advantage 
 of this, 
 
 3. The vegetable character of the fibre is here beautifully displayed, and the turning in 
 of the leaves forming the cups, — they seem to present their rounded part instead of their 
 edges. There cannot be much feltiness in such a fibre. There could not possibly have 
 been a more satisfactory elucidation of the character and uses of the Leicester and Lin- 
 Carcase K. (^Shearling.') 
 
 Weight — 20 stone 4 lbs., or 284 lbs. Feet. Inches. 
 
 Height ...... 2 7 
 
 Kennedy and Grainger's Tenancy. 
 This record is important, not only as showing the weight to which the Lincolns, as they 
 now are, crossed with the Leicesters, will attain, and the proportions of the animal, but 
 also presenting another illustration of the period during which the sheep is profitable to 
 the farmer. It is taken fur granted that they were somewhat similar sheep. Between 
 the first and second year the animal gains 80 lbs., a fair remuneration to the farmer— 
 between the second and third years he gains but 22 lbs. He ought to have beensenc 
 earlier to the butcher, for he was not paying fur his keep. 
 
334 SHEEP. 
 
 colashire woolSt and the reason why the wool of thii Leicester and even of the cross 
 between the Leicester &ad the Lincolnehire is not so useful in the manufacture of cer- 
 tain worsted goods, as that ol'thu old Liiiculu slieep. 
 
 The ingenious authors of the " Present State of the Tenancy of Land" 
 give an account of the present management of Lincohishire sheep. The 
 sheep bred in the wokls are deeper crossed with tlie Leicesters than those 
 on the marsh lands, which may account for the difference in the fleece * ; 
 it being much heavier and coarser on the marshes than on the wolds. 
 The breed of slieep generally has been greatly increased since the intro- 
 duction of the turnip system. The sheep bred in the wolds, and indeed 
 in every part of the district where this system is pursued, are reared chiefly 
 on artificial grasses. There are, however, great numbers bred on old pas- 
 tures ; but of these pastures, the best are kept for the purpose of fattening 
 sheep, 
 
 The usual time for sheep-shearing is about the month of June; tlie 
 washing taking place ten days previously. No ointment or grease is used 
 after the shearing. The average weight of a fleece from the present sheep 
 is about 7 lbs., (from the true Lincoln it would not be more than 9 lbs.,) 
 and the length of the staple from eight to nine inches. The sheep are not 
 kept in flocks, but in separate pastures, and are classed according to their 
 different sorts, and the respective qualities of the pastures. They have 
 their first larftb when about two years old, in March or April. 
 
 Of the returns from a sheep farm, the fleece is estimated at about one- 
 fourth, or between a third and a fourth ; but this depends upon the state of 
 the markets at different periods ; the price ♦• both of the wool and the 
 carcase greatly varying. The prices which are considered as remunerating 
 ones, are for the wool 30s. per tod, for two year-old wethers 52^. ; for one 
 year-old 35s. ; for ewes 27s. ; and for lambs 21s.t 
 
 Skirting the eastern coast, there are no long-woolled sheep deserving of 
 notice until the Kentish marshes are approached, and there a valuable breed 
 presents itself — the 
 
 UOMNEY MAJJSH SHEEP. 
 
 Romney Marsh is an extensive tract of land recovered from the sea in 
 a very early period of English history. In the year 1350 the laws for the 
 preservation of it are called ancient and approved customs. There is some 
 poor sandy soil in various parts of it, but the greater portion consists 
 of fine rich pasture never turned up by the plough, on which sheep are 
 bred and fattened ; and for the improvement of which, in many parts, no 
 other means are employed than what are derived from the sheep and cattle 
 with which it is stocked. A long-woolled and highly valuable breed of 
 sheep has been kept on Romney Marsh from time immemorial, and until 
 within a very few years they have undergone little change, 
 
 Mr. Price, occupying a farm on the edge of the Marsh, gives the follow- 
 ing description of the Kentish sheep thirty years ago : — " The pure Rom- 
 ney Marsh-bred sheep are distinguished by thickness and length of head, 
 a broad forehead with a tuft of wool uj)on it, a long and thick neck and 
 carcase. They are flat-sided, have a sharp chine, are tolerably wide on 
 the loin, have the breast narrow and not deep, and the fore-quarter not 
 heavy nor full. The thigh full and broad, the belly large and tabby, 
 the tail thick, long, and coarse ; the legs thick with large feet ; the muscle 
 coarse and the bone large ; the wool long- and not fine, and coarsest on 
 
 * Kennedy and Grainger on the present State of the, Tcnancjr, vol ii.p. 158. 
 f Ibid. ' 
 
ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 335 
 
 the breast ; they have much internal fat, and are great favourites with the 
 butcher. They have much hardihood ; they bear their cold and exposed 
 situation well, and they require no artificial food during the hardest winter, 
 except a little hay. The wethers seldom reach the market until they are 
 three years old — they then weigh from ten to twelve stones (14 lbs.), and 
 the ewes from nine stones to eleven*.*' The average weight of the fleece 
 was 6^ or 7 lbs. ; the wool was tolerably fine and long and of a good 
 colour, and more than 20 lbs. weight used to be produced on each acre of 
 marsh land. It was useful in some of our own finest goods, and the 
 Flemish and the foreign market, generally were principally supplied by it. 
 
 It will be readily acknowledged that there were many good points about 
 this sheep, and that it was a most valuable breed for the situation in which 
 it was placed, and the purposes for which it was reared. It demanded a 
 pasture of unusual richness, and found it on these marshes. The produce 
 in wool, and the thickness in stocking, were scarcely equalled in any other 
 breed or situation. It was not unusual for six or seven tegs and seven or 
 eight fattening wethers to be placed on one acre. 
 
 However valuable the old Romney sheep might be, there were many points 
 which a sheep-breeder would wish to V ectified ; and, although later than 
 in most other parts of the kingdom }■ d Leicester sheep found their way 
 into Kent. The Kentish mer-'^'^Pjf .sly resisted every encroachment oil 
 tlieir favourite breed, and prec'^j'^P disappointment and loss in all possible 
 varieties of form. For a whilc'^.t seemed as if they had reason on their side, 
 for the size of the sheep was ■ considerably lessened, and the wool was not 
 so valuable nor yielded in its former quantity. By degrees, however, it 
 began to be found, that these smaller, deeper, closer, and more compact 
 sheep weighed heavier than the old long-legged and long-bodied ones — that 
 they did not consume so much food, and that the hard stocking of former 
 days might be increased — that they were ready a full year sooner for the 
 market, and therefore became far more profitable — that the fat began to 
 form more on the exterior of the animal, wliere it was most advantageously 
 placed for the farmer and the consumer, and did not accumulate within for 
 the profit of the butcher alone ; and that, by careful selection, although the 
 wool was somewhat shorter and lighter, and weaker, it was improved in 
 fineness, in colour, and in felting property where that was wanted. There 
 can be no doubt that the old breed of sheep was materially improved. 
 
 The pure Leicester would not be sufficiently hardy for the marsh lands, nor 
 would their progeny preserve all their good qualities when exposed to cold 
 and privations to which they had not been accustomed. They would rapidly 
 degenerate, and become the bony and coarse animals which such a situation 
 would almost necessarily produce ; but they would effect some valuable 
 service in producing greater depth and roundness, and symmetry of form, 
 and, connected with these, earlier maturity and greater propensity to 
 fatten. This they have done, and the advantage is retained among judi- 
 cious sheep-owners, by occasional recourse to the breed whence the improve- 
 ment was derived ; — occasional recourse — for it is easy to introduce too 
 much of the Leicester blood, and to make the progeny too tender for the 
 bleak and exposed pastures of the marsh. In Lincolnshire, the Leicesters 
 might be suffered, not merely to mingle with, but to preponderate over 
 the native breed. In the Teeswater and tlie Cotswold this preponderance 
 would be manifestly advantageous, but although compactness and early 
 maturity might be imparted to the Romney Marsh by the influence of the 
 
 • Price on Sheep, p. 109. 
 
336 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 Leicester cross, care should be taken that the sterling properties of the 
 native sheep are not impaired, or destroyed by too frequent recourse to 
 foreign blood. 
 
 Kentish Sheep. 
 
 The full stocking of the sheep on the Marsh, and long-established cus- 
 tom, have induced the Romney breeders to send their lambs to the farmers 
 in the uplands to be kept during the winter. They are first turned on the 
 stubbles, and if they were earlier shifted to the pastures they might do well ; 
 but generally they are not removed until the weakly part of the flock is 
 materially injured. Being removed, those which have escaped the probable 
 mischief from a too long delay in tlie stubbles, thrive and grow in a very 
 satisfactory way; but the weakly ones experience still farther mischief 
 from this change, for their digestive organs are too debilitated to bear tlie 
 stimulus of the increased and more nutritive food. When the winter 
 comes on and the young stock begin to be pinched by the cold, and the 
 pastures are become bare or trampled down, it is a cruel and destructive 
 practice to deny them a little hay ; the additional expense would not be 
 much, and the diminished number of deaths, and the j)ower of keeping a 
 much larger stock, would abundantly repay the extra trouble and outlay. 
 
 Formerly the ewe-flocks on the Marsh were even more cruelly aban- 
 doned than the youngsters on the uplands. In the severest weather, when 
 the stale herbage, their only food, was deeply buried beneath the snow, 
 and cutting winds set in upon them from the sea, and they were destitute 
 of food and shelter, thousands have been destroyed in the course of the 
 winter. Many have been lost in the fence dykes, esi)ecially when there 
 was ice of sufficient strength to bear the snow, but not the sheep, AVhen 
 the ice would everywhere bear the flocks, the marsh became one widely- 
 spread common, and it would have been folly to have attempted to afford 
 relief, even if each individual could find and separate his own flock*. 
 
 * Marshall's Southern Counties, vol. i. p. 378. 
 
THE BAMPTON SHEEP. 337 
 
 The fatal effects of the cold easterly winds to which^these marshes are 
 so much exposed are peculiarly evident in lambing time. There are few 
 buildings for the reception of the ewes at that period ; few hedges ; 
 scarcely a few hurdles to break the force of the wind : but it is one vast 
 unsheltered level. The blast blows keenly and the sleet falls, and in some 
 severe nights almost every lamb that drops is destroyed. If they could be 
 placed under some sheltering roof, however rude — if there were even a 
 liedge to shield them from the blast, they would be saved. These are now 
 found in some spots, and no farmer whose humanity or regard to his own 
 profit has induced him to contrive them, has ever had reason to regret the 
 expense. The simple placing of brush-fagots, fastened to the ground by 
 small stakes, along the sides of the ditches, will afford shelter to the lambs 
 and ewes that couch close beside them * they will he attended with no 
 greater expense than carrying them thither and taking them away when 
 the season has passed, and many hundred lambs that used occasionally to 
 be drowned in the marsh ditches in the course of one stormy night will 
 be saved. The better way, however, where it is practicable, is to have a 
 well-fenced field, and perhaps with a small building within it, for the recep- 
 tion of those that may be weakly or their yeaning difficult*. The time is 
 not far distant when it will be more generally acknowledged that one of the 
 most important and pleasing and profitable divisions of agricultural science 
 and practice, consists in attention to the comfort of the animals of whicli 
 the farmer's stock is composed. 
 
 Continuing to skirt the southern and western coasts, no distinct breeds 
 of native long-woolled sheep present themselves, between Kent and Devon- 
 shire. In the latter county there are three distinct breeds ; or at least so 
 far different in their character and locality as to deserve distinct notice. 
 
 THE SOUTH-HAM NOTTS. 
 
 These sheep inhabit the southern part of Devonshire from Axminster, or 
 the vale of Honiton, almost to the borders of Dartmoor. Their early his- 
 tory cannot be distinctly traced ; but they bear so close a resemblance to 
 the Romney Marsh sheep, that the conclusion is almost inevitable that they 
 have the same origin. They differed, however, from the Kentish sheep in 
 having brown faces and legs. The South Ham sheep had the same 
 crooked back, flat side, and coarse bone. They carried a long-woolied 
 fleece of somewhat loose fibre, and from 9 lbs. to 10 lbs. in weight. At 
 thirty months old they averaged 22 lbs. per quarter of well-flavoured 
 mutton. They were crossed by the Leicesters as soon as these sheep had 
 penetrated so far westward ; and although here as elsewhere the native 
 breed was somewhat diminished in size, and the fleece lessened in weight, 
 a belter form was given to the animal, and a greater disposition to fatten, 
 and at an earlier period. The brown stain was likewise removed, and the 
 white countenance of the long-woolled sheep restored or imparted. 
 
 THE BAMPTON SHEEP 
 
 These inhabit the lower and good pasture-land of the north of Devon- 
 shire, and extend to the vale of Taunton, and far into Somersetshire, They 
 derive their name from a village on the borders of the two counties, where 
 they are supposed to have been first bred. An early agricultural writer gives 
 the following account of them : — "They are the best breed in Devonshire, 
 and have existed in the neighbourhood of Bampton from time immemorial, 
 A fat ewe of lliat breed rises to 20 lbs. a quarter on an average, and wethers 
 • Price on Sheep, p. 118. 
 
 Z 
 
S38 SHEEP. 
 
 to 30 lbs. or 35 lbs. a quarter at two years old. They are white-faced ; 
 the best breed living, more like the Leicestershire than any other, but 
 larger boned, and longer in the legs and the body, yet not so long as the 
 Wiltshires, by which they have been crossed,— iiior so broad-backed as the 
 Leicesters. Eighteen pounds of wool have been shorn from a ram of this 
 breed that was supposed to be 40 lbs. the quarter. The carcase is coarser 
 than that of the Dorsets, and the wool about 2d. per pound cheaper. This 
 breed, I should conceive, may be greatly improved by crossing with the New 
 Leicesters*." 
 
 It has been crossed with the New Leicester, and with evident advantage, 
 although the usual complaints were loudly and pertinaciously made, that 
 the carcase was unprofitably diminished, and the wool lessened in weight 
 and length, and toughness, and the lambs more tender and difficult to 
 rear. Tliese prejudices have gradually subsided, and the Bamptons now 
 contain far more of the Leicester than of the old Noit blood, and bear 
 the closest possible resemblance to the Leicesters. They are ready for 
 the butcher at twenty months old, weighing 20 lbs. or 22 lbs. the quarter, 
 and yielding, on an average, 8 lbs. of wool. 
 
 With whatever truth it may he said that some of the Devonshire long- 
 wooUed sheep, and the Bamptons among the number, were originally 
 derived from the Western Downs, and from ancestors that were short, or 
 at least middle-vvooUed, they are now properly long-wooUed sheep, and of a 
 very valuable description. 
 
 THE EXMOOR NOTTS 
 
 have been described as a kind of middle-woolled sheep ; but those 
 that have been deeply crossed with the Leicester rams have not only 
 increased in weight and kindly disposition, but in length of fleece. Many 
 of them may at present be said to be a small sort of long-woolled sheep — 
 the fleece frequently weighing 4j lbs. of washed wool, and the sheep, on 
 the kind of ground which it occupies, being mostly kept for the profit 
 yielded by the fleece. 
 
 THE COTSWOLD SHEEP. 
 
 If thy farm extends 
 
 Near Cotswold Downs ■ 
 
 Regard this sort, and hence thy sire of lambs select. — Dyer's Fleece, Book I. 
 
 They are so called, according to Camden, from the cots or sheds in 
 which they were housed either at night, or permanently, in the winter; and 
 the wolds, or open hilly grounds, on which they were pastured in the 
 summer. This mode of protecting the sheep from the inclemency of the 
 weather seems to have been, in some former period, generally practised in 
 the contiguous counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcester- 
 shire. It was not ahvays a very rude kind of protection that was thus 
 afforded ; for Camden goes on to say, that these cots were long ranges of 
 buildings, three or four stories high, with low ceilings, and with a slope 
 at one end of each floor, reaching to the next, and by which the sheep were 
 enabled to ascend to the topmost one. 
 
 The Cotswold sheep have been held in high estimation from a very early 
 period of history. Drayton, who flourished in the time of Henry VIIL, 
 
 * Annalj of Agriculture voU xvii,,p. 300. 
 
THE COTSWOLD SHEEP. 339 
 
 represents in one of his singular, but still beautiful poems, Cotswold as 
 King of the Shepherds, and thus speaks of him, — 
 
 " T' whom Sarum's plaine gives place, though famous for its flocksj 
 Yet hardly doth she tythe our Cotswold's wealthy locks ; 
 Tho' Leinster* him exceed in fineness of her ore. 
 Yet quite he puts her down foe his abundant store." 
 
 It has already been stated (page 211) that in 1437 Don Duarte, king of 
 Portugal, and brother-in-law to the king of Castile, from whom he might 
 have obtained the finest of the short Spanish wool, made application to 
 Henry VI. for liberty to export sixty sacks of Cotswold wool, in order 
 tliat he might manufacture certain cloths of gold at Florence for his 
 own use. 
 
 Stowe, in his " Chronicle," under the year 1467, twenty-seven years after 
 the exportation of this wool, has the following passage : — " Shepe transported 
 into Spain. — In this yere King Edward IV. gave a license to pass over cer- 
 tain Cotswold shepe into Spain, by reason whereof it has come to pass at 
 this day, that the staple of the wools of Spain, except at Baydes (Bruges) 
 in Flanders, is so great, that our staple is not comparable to it." 
 
 With the exception of Anderson, and Lawrence, and Dickson, the nature 
 of these regal presents is well understood and explained. They were lono- 
 wools and long-woolled sheep that were sent to Spain, not designed to mingle 
 with and improve the wool, or the breed of the migratory sheep of Spain, 
 but to form a lighter serge-like fabric. The greater part, or the whole of 
 the wool that was exported from Great Britain at that time, and for cen- 
 turies before, was long wool, and the Cotswold sheep were then, as now, 
 long-woolled. Stowe is in manifest error when he attributes any change 
 in the breed of Spanish sheep to the animals thus exported. 
 
 In the year 1390 no fewer than 130,000 sacks of wool were exported 
 from the different ports of Great Britain. This, reckoning 364 lbs. to 
 the sack, would amount to 47,320,000 lbs. of wool. Where were 
 the number of short-wooUed sheep to be found that would suj)ply this 
 immense quantity of wool, besides that which was required for the home 
 manufacture? The fleece of the short -woolled sheep would scarcely 
 average more than 2^ lbs. ; and ^ consequently the number of slieep 
 which then covered our pastures must have been nearly 19,000,000, 
 exclusive of those that were to supply the home manufacture. The 
 whole number of sheep in England and Wales, according to Mr. 
 Luccock's calculation, was but 26,000,000 in 1800. In 1741 it was but 
 17,000,000 ; and in 1698 they were calculated by Gregory King to be 
 only 12,000,000. Nothing more needs to be stated in order to prove that 
 they were long-woolled sheep that yielded this immense quantity of ex- 
 ported wool ; and reckoning 7 lbs. to be the average weight of the fleece, 
 6,760,000 sheep would be requisite: still an immense number, and show- 
 ing how decidedly the English people were, at that time, growers of slieep. 
 It is requisite only to add that Markham, a writer on agricultural affairs 
 in the time of Queen Elizabeth, says that the Cotswold sheep were, as 
 they continued in every period of their early history, " a long-woolled and 
 large-boned breedf.' 
 
 * The Leinster, or Leominster ore, to which the poet here alludes — wool as precious 
 as ore — was at that tiire finer than the Cotswold, as it is at the present period the 
 finest in England. — Fide Annals of Agriculture, vol. xv., p. 455. 
 
 t After all these historical notices, it is really unaccountable to find such otherwise 
 excellent writers as Mr Herbert and others, gravely tell the public that " the first of the 
 
 z2 
 
340 SHS£P. 
 
 Very few flocks of pure Cotswolds now exist, and these are rapidly 
 diminishing. They are taUer and longer than the improved breed, com- 
 paratively flat-sided, deficient in the fore-quarter, but full in the hind- 
 quarter; not fattening so early, but yielding a longer and heavier fleece. 
 Tiiere can be no doubt that the Cotswolds have been materially improved 
 by an infusion of the Leicester blood ; and in the same way as in the other 
 long-wooUed breeds. The degree to which the cross may be carried must 
 depend on the nature of the old stock, and on the situation and character 
 of the farm. In exposed situations, and somewhat scanty pasture, the old 
 blood sliouid decidedly prevail. On a more sheltered soil, and on land 
 that will bear closer stocking, a greater use may be made of the Leicester. 
 Another circumstance that will guide the farmer is the object that he prin- 
 cipally has in view. If he expects to derive his chief profit from the wool, 
 he will look to the primitive Cotswolds ; if he expects to gain more as a 
 grazier, he will use the Leicester ram more freely. In the latter case he 
 will have a smaller sheep, but one that will yield as much or more weight 
 of carcase than his taller competitor, and more of which may be kept 
 on the same space of ground. 
 
 It is curious to observe the diff"erent size and appearance of sheep, essen- 
 tially the same, in diff"erent parts of Worcestershire and Gloucester, and 
 often on the same farm after the lapse of a few years. Caprice or 
 fashion produces strange aUerations in sheep stock. The prevalent breed 
 may be said to consist of half Cotswold and half Leicester. The farmer, 
 perhaps, finds his sheep to diminish in size more rapidly than he likes ; he 
 has not the same weight of wool ; he fancies that the constitution of his 
 flock is becoming delicate, and that he has not the number of lambs which 
 he had a right to expect. He buys or he hires a Cotswold ram, and these 
 defects are immediately remedied. He breeds on with the Cotswold, and 
 his sheep are not brought quite so early to the market, and they are 
 becoming too large for the quality of his land, and he goes again to the 
 Leicester ram. It is in this alternate play between the two breeds, that the 
 business and the skill of the sheep-master here consist. The tide of opinion 
 is now prevailing in favour of the smaller breed of sheep, and the Leicesters 
 are much in requisition. The land suiting his purpose, he is wise who will 
 content himself with this smaller breed, so many more of which he can 
 have upon his land, and which he can bring to the market so much sooner. 
 
 The two-year old wether of the improved sort, and consisting of half 
 Cotswold and half Leicester, will weigh from 20 to more than 40 lbs. per 
 quarter, and yield 7 or 8 lbs. of wool per fleece. 
 
 old Lincolnshire and Leicestershire breeds reached England about the year 1760; Bix 
 or seven years after which, Mr. Turner introduced into Herefordshire a cross between the 
 Leicester ewe and the small Ryeland ram ; whence the origin of the Cotswold or large 
 Herefordshire breed." — British Farmer's Magazine, Nov. 1830, p. 440. 
 
 It is also singular to find Lawrence and Dickson, and the whole herd of compilers, 
 describe the thorough change from short to long-wooUed sheep which has taken place 
 within the last forty or fifty years on the Cotswold hills. Mr. Marshall says that he 
 made every inquiry on the subject when he visited this part of the kingdom, and had 
 opportunity of conversing with some of the oldest and most intelligent farmers and shep- 
 herds ; and he could come no nearer to the probability ofthe breed having formerly been a 
 short-^vooUed one, than the circumstance that the inclosures had done in Gloucester- 
 shire what they had dcme in every other district, increased the carcase and lengthened 
 the wool of the sheep. — Marshall's Western Agriculture, p. 8. 
 
 The writer of the present treatise begs leave fully to confirm Mr. Marshall's account. 
 He tried in vain to obtain intelligence of this former fine shcrt-woolled breed. 
 Changed only with the change of sheep farmiag, the Cotswold sheep are what they 
 have been from time immemorial. 
 
THE MIDLAND LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. 341 
 
 Dr. Dickson states that in Devonshire they have succeeded in the cross 
 of the New Leicester upon the Cotswold : wethers of eighteen months, 
 averaging 19 lbs. the quarter, and giving 7 lbs. of unwashed wool; and at 
 thirty months weighing 25 lbs. the quarter, with an unusual quantity of inside 
 fat, — the fleece weighing 9 lbs., and being a penny a pound better than 
 that of the Exmoor, Bampton, or South Devon. The writer of the pre- 
 sent treatise has not seen any of these sheep, but he can readily subscribe 
 to the opinion of Dr. Dickson, that " in this breed, which is large and 
 Ijcavy in the carcase, and full in the fleece, with a degree of fineness, there 
 is the combination of a good and useful form that greatly suits the general 
 demand*." 
 
 THE MIDLAND LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. 
 
 The description given of the old Leicester sheep in page 314 will apply 
 with little alteration to those of all the midland counties. It was a 
 caricature which Mr. Marshall gave of them, when he describes the old 
 Warwickshire ram as having "a frame large and remarkably loose ; his 
 bone heavy, his legs long and thick, terminating in great splaw feet ; his 
 chine as well as his rump sharp as a hatchet, his skin rattling on his ribs, 
 and his handle resembling that of a skeleton wrapped in parchment." 
 Husbandry had not in those days assumed the form of a science : it com- 
 prised one principle alone, namely, to pursue, with the least possible variation, 
 the system of their forefathers ; and a great deal of money and good pasture 
 were wasted on animals which ill repaid the care that was bestowed upon 
 them. When however the Dishley sheep was moulded by the master hand 
 of Bakewell, the ill-formed and unprofitable animals that had existed from 
 time immemorial began speedily to disappear. In some districts they were 
 given up at once, and the sheep of Bakewell substituted ; but by more, 
 and perhaps eventually with equal or better judgment, the old stock was 
 crossed and recrossed by the Dishley ram until it was made up of the New 
 Leicester blood, or only so much of the old leaven was left as would 
 naturalize the new comer, make him a part and portion of the soil, and 
 secure to him that hardihood which many of the situations in which 
 he afterwards might be placed would require. In the other districts that 
 have passed in review, the New Leicester improved the native breed, to a 
 greater or less degree, yet always essentially ; but in the midland counties 
 he completely superseded the native flock. The old sheep has altogether 
 vanished ; and from the north of Derby and of Nottingham to the south of 
 Oxford, there is now but one breed of long-woolled sheep. 
 
 The management is essentially the same everywhere ; it therefore can only 
 be necessary for the author to transcribe the substance of a communication 
 from his old and excellent friend Mr. Mayer, of Nevvcastle-under-Lyme, 
 describing the management of the Leicester sheep in Staffordshire, in order 
 to give the reader a sufficient idea of the present state of the breed, and of 
 sheep husbandry generally, in all the midland counties. 
 
 He describes the Leicester in his neighbourhood as a quiet, large-bodied 
 sheep, fine and light in the bone, thick and plump in the carcase, broad 
 across the loin, with the back-bone well covered, not rising into a ridge, 
 but sinking into a channel which runs from the withers to the rump, fine 
 and clean in the neck and shoulders, and not too short in the leg. Weigh- 
 ing, at a year old, from 15 to 20 lbs. a quarter; the hind quarters good; 
 the fore quarters heavy and full. From eighteen months to two years old, 
 
 • Dickson's Complete System of Improved Live Stock Management, vol. i. p. 365. 
 
34-2 SHEEP. 
 
 the ewes weighing from 20 to 25 lbs. a quarter, and the wethers from 24 
 to 28 lbs. ; and, after that, some select sheep weighing 40 and 50 lbs, a 
 quarter, and even more. The ewe fleeces weighing about 6 or 7 lbs., and 
 that of the rams and wethers from 8 to 10 lbs. while they are yearlings, 
 the fibre from 6 to 7 inches in length and of excellent quality. The wools 
 being used in the manufacture of stuff goods, such as shalloons, camlets, 
 moreens, bombasins, &c. : a large quantity of it being also made into what is 
 called horse millinery, consisting of girths, fringes, and other articles of use or 
 ornament, either in horse or carriage equipage, and the coarser wool being 
 converted into warps for carpets, &c. The wool having been much im- 
 proved within the last twenty years, both in length and fineness of staple, 
 in consequence of the breeders being more choice in the selection of the 
 rams employed ; greater care being also taken to keep up the condition and 
 health of the sheep during the inclemency of the winter; and therefore the 
 break in ths fibre which occasionally interfered so much with the value of 
 the wool, and the purposes for which it is employed, being now rarely seen. 
 
 The Leicester ewes, although they do not bring so many lambs, nor rear 
 them so certainly, nor make them so fat as sheep of a more hardy descrip- 
 tion do, yet have very much improved in these respects, and actually rear from 
 110 to 120 lambs from every 100 ewes ; the ewes that are barren being 
 mostly fit for the butcher, and those that lose their lambs getting fat in 
 much less time than any other breed. On account of this promptitude to 
 fatten, the Leicesters are brought into the market, and average as 
 much per quarter at one year old as those of most other breeds do at two 
 and three ; the farmer also having the power to stock harder and closer 
 with them than with any others of equal weight, as they are always in 
 good condition, even when suckling lambs, or hard kept. The ewes will not 
 fatten their lambs for the butcher ; but this is no eventual loss to the 
 farmer, as lambs of this breed are much better kept on for mutton and 
 wool, and it would be a pubHc detriment to slaughter them prematurely. 
 
 Some farmers, however, finding a great and steady demand for lamb as 
 well as for mutton, have been induced to keep an annual stock of sheep, 
 consisting only of ewes and wethers bought in at Michaelmas, principally 
 of the Cheviot and Anglesey breeds. The ewes are immediately put to a 
 Leicestershire ram. The lambs are fattened and sold in June or July, and 
 the ewes are afterwards fed on clover grass, and sold in October or Novem- 
 ber. The Cheviots are good sucklers and generally make fat lambs, averaging 
 about 1 5 lbs. the quarter, while from 3 to 4 lbs. of wool are cut from each. 
 
 The wethers are of the same kind, and are bought about May or June, 
 from one to four years old. They are fed on clover or grass, and mostly 
 sold in the autumn, averaging about 16 lbs. the quarter, and yielding from 
 3^ to 4^ lbs. of wool. Sometimes they are kept on until the following spring 
 and fed upon turnips ; but being of a restless disposition, they seldom increase 
 more in Weight than from 2 to 3 lbs. per quarter, from October to March. 
 
 The Leicester ewes are put to the ram at the beginning or middle of 
 October, and taken from him again about the second week in November. 
 One ram will serve from 60 to 70 ewes, but if he is kept in a close, and a 
 teaser employed, he will serve from 80 to 100. He is raddled at the time 
 that he is put to the ewes, and those which are served are taken from him 
 once a week and numbered. They are then put to another ram that has been 
 blackened, in order to distinguish the ewes that are served again. These 
 are likewise drawn every week and marked with a different number. This 
 precaution will save nmch trouble when they are drawn for lambing, which 
 ought always to be done. 
 
THE MIDLAND LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. 343 
 
 The ewes will approach tlieir time of yeaning about the beginning or 
 middle of March ; and this being often an inclement season, and the Leices- 
 ters requiring more attention than the hardier kind of sheep, the ewes that 
 are coming to the last week of pregnancy should be separated from the others 
 according to their numbers, and brought nearer home, that they may be 
 put into a yard at night, constructed for this purpose, having a good shed 
 in it, and being well protected from the cold wind. They should have a plen- 
 tiful supply of turnips, ox-cabbage, &c. The greatest attention should be 
 paid to them at this time, and the sliepherd should be with them as much as 
 his other duties will permit. If it is a peculiarly valuable flock, the shepherd 
 should sleep on the premises, for the Leicester ewes are more liable to 
 require assistance when yeaning than any other sheep are. The lambs are 
 generally large, and the ewes very fat, and so a double difficulty occurs. 
 
 The lambs are kept up for a few nights, leaving them out with the 
 mothers in the day-time. They should be castrated when about a fortnight 
 old ; but a fine and dry day should be selected, and they should be kept up 
 for two or three nights afterwards. They should likewise be tailed at the 
 same time. The lambs remain with their mothers until the beginning or 
 middle of July ; they are then weaned and turned into good pasture of seeds 
 or grass, until the latter end of October, when they are put ui)on turnips, — 
 Bometimea the common turnips first, and afterwards the Swedes ; but they 
 do better upon turf, provided it is to be had — a few turnips being drawn 
 when the weather is severe. The ewes remain on the ordinary pasture, 
 which probably will bear from seven to eight per acre, until within three 
 weeks of their being put to the ram, when they should be changed into 
 good pasture, which will cause them to flower sooner and more regularly. 
 The ewes continue on the old pastures until the end of November, from 
 the time the rams are taken away, when they are sometimes hurdled upon 
 turnips, the fat sheep having been penned upon them first, and the ewes 
 following to make clean work. 
 
 The lambs are seldom shorn until the second year, when the fleece will 
 weigh between 7 and 8 lbs., the length of the staple being from ten to 
 twelve inches. The aged ewes yield from 5^ to 6 lbs. of wool. The usual 
 time of shearing the store sheep is from the beginning to the middle or 
 end of June ; sometimes, however, they are shorn in May, and yield from 
 7 to 9 lbs. of wool. The washing usually takes place in tlie last week in 
 May ; after which the sheep are sent into clean pastures for a week or a 
 fortnight before they are shorn. Some farmers permit a longer time to 
 elapse in order to allow the yolk to rise into the wool ; this makes it 
 weigh heavier, and also work better in the manufacturing process. The 
 yearling wethers are generally separated from the theaves at the time of 
 shearing, and they are put upon good keep, and most frequently upon 
 seeds. The theaves run upon the common pasture until the ewes go to 
 better keep, previous to their being sent to the ram. The wethers are 
 generally kept on turnips, and sold in the early part of the following spring. 
 On large and well-conducted farms they have a rack in the field, well 
 supplied with coarse hay or straw, and a trough is fixed under the rack 
 containing common or rock salt. The system of folding is rarely adopted 
 where the New Leicester sheep are kept : neither the nature of the sheep 
 nor the size of the farms will often allow it. 
 
 No apology is made for the insertion of this simple, intelligible, and com- 
 plete system of long-woolled sheep-husbandry : it should, however, be 
 stated that it more accurately describes the course pursued by the large 
 than tlie small farmer. 
 
Number of Sheep and Quantify of Sheep's Wool produced in Enj^land, according to Mr. Luccotk's 
 Tables, revised by Mr. Hubbard, and made applicable to 1828. 
 
 
 1800, 
 
 
 
 1823. 1 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Weight 
 
 Number 
 
 Number of 
 
 Number 
 
 Weight 
 
 Number 
 
 Number of 
 
 COUNTY, 
 
 of Short 
 
 o? 
 
 of 
 
 Long 
 
 of 
 
 of 
 
 Packs of 
 
 Packs of 
 
 
 Wool Sheep. 
 
 Fleece. 
 
 Packs. 
 
 Wool Sheep. 
 
 Tacks. 
 
 Fleece. 
 
 ShortWool 
 
 LougWool 
 
 Northumberlan 
 
 d . 538,162 
 
 54 
 
 12,333 
 
 ,. 
 
 .. 
 
 •H 
 
 6,167 
 
 6,166 
 
 Durham . 
 
 . . 159,383 
 
 5 
 
 3,320 
 
 
 
 5| 
 
 . . 
 
 3,818 
 
 Ditto 
 
 • . 
 
 9 
 
 
 67^200 
 
 2,520 
 
 gi 
 
 
 2,380 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 . . 378.400 
 
 3J 
 
 5^915 
 
 
 
 5' 
 
 7,883 
 
 
 Westmoreland 
 
 . . 223,725 
 
 4 
 
 3,262 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 4,660 
 
 
 Yorksh. W. Kit 
 
 ing. 383,122 
 
 var 
 
 6,678 
 
 
 .. 
 
 54 
 
 4,390 
 
 4^389 
 
 . East R 
 
 ding 306,2-10 
 
 5 
 
 6,380 
 
 . , 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 7,656 
 
 N T?i;] 
 
 ng . 365,326 
 
 var 
 
 5,939 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5,708 
 
 1,902 
 
 
 Holderness 
 
 . . 
 
 8 
 
 
 84,000 
 
 2,800 
 
 8 
 
 
 2,800 
 
 Other parts of Y 
 
 orks. 
 
 8 
 
 
 14,310 
 
 477 
 
 8 
 
 ,, 
 
 477 
 
 Lancaster 
 
 . . 310,000 
 
 3i 
 
 4,522 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 5,812 
 
 .. 
 
 Chester . 
 
 . . 65,000 
 
 var 
 
 926 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 1,218 
 
 .. 
 
 Derby . 
 
 . . 362,400 
 
 3 
 
 4,530 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 9,060 
 
 Nottingham 
 
 . . 255,147 
 
 var 
 
 4,112 
 
 ,, 
 
 ',[ 
 
 H 
 
 ,, 
 
 6,910 
 
 Lincoln . 
 
 . . 123,648 
 
 H 
 
 2,833 
 
 
 .. 
 
 6 
 
 ,. 
 
 3,091 
 
 
 d . . . 
 
 9 
 
 ., 
 
 1,241,625 
 
 46,561 
 
 9 
 
 . , 
 
 46,561 
 
 ■ — marslie 
 
 i . 
 
 8 
 
 
 87,500 
 
 2,916 
 
 9 
 
 , , 
 
 3,281 
 
 
 land *. '. 
 
 8 
 
 
 505,057 
 
 16,855 
 
 6 
 
 
 12,641 
 
 
 Rutland . 
 
 . 
 
 5 
 
 
 114,000 
 
 2,370 
 
 6 
 
 
 2,850 
 
 Northampton 
 
 . . 
 
 6 
 
 .. 
 
 640,000 
 
 16,000 
 
 6 
 
 .. 
 
 16,000 
 
 Warwick 
 Ditto 
 
 . . 182,962 
 
 3 
 5 
 
 2,287 
 
 160,*000 
 
 3,' 333 
 
 }« 
 
 • . 
 
 8,574 
 
 Leicester 
 Ditto 
 
 '. '. 20*000 
 
 ?* 
 
 '291 
 
 380*523 
 
 ii,*ioo 
 
 )» 
 
 .. 
 
 10,013 
 
 Oxford . 
 
 *. ! 304 ; 584 
 
 var 
 
 5*303 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 .. 
 
 6,345 
 
 Bucks . 
 
 . . 222,968 
 
 3 
 
 2,787 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 5 
 
 
 4,645 
 
 Gloucester 
 
 . . 355,000 
 
 var 
 
 5,400 
 
 ,. 
 
 . , 
 
 6 
 
 .. 
 
 8,875 
 
 Ditto 
 
 . 
 
 8 
 
 
 200,000 
 
 6,666 
 
 8 
 
 
 6,666 
 
 Somerset 
 
 . . 500,' 700 
 
 ^ 
 
 9,' 388 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5,215 
 
 5,216 
 
 Worcester 
 
 . . 330,504 
 
 ^ 
 
 4,820 
 
 .. 
 
 
 4f 
 
 .. 
 
 6,541 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 . . 177,619 
 
 var 
 
 1,431 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 2,960 
 
 Hereford 
 
 . . 500,000 
 
 2 
 
 4,200 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2,778 
 
 .5,555 
 
 Shropshire 
 
 . . 422,034 
 
 2k 
 
 4,397 
 
 
 .. 
 
 4 
 
 2,344 
 
 4,960 
 
 Stafford . 
 Ditto 
 
 . . 183,120 
 
 2' 
 7 
 
 1,526 
 
 3, '720 
 
 "ii3 
 
 }4* 
 
 .. 
 
 3,503 
 
 Bedford . 
 
 ! ! 204 j 000 
 
 5 
 
 4, ''250 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 ., 
 
 4,250 
 
 Berks , 
 
 . . 306,600 
 
 H 
 
 4,151 
 
 
 , , 
 
 34 
 
 4,471 
 
 , . 
 
 Huntingdon 
 Ditto 
 
 . . 108,000 
 
 4^ 
 7 
 
 2,000 
 
 87*500 
 
 2*552 
 
 }H 
 
 
 4,480 
 
 Cambridge 
 
 '. 67^744 
 
 4 
 
 I, i2B 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 1,270 
 
 
 Ditto 
 
 . 
 
 8 
 
 
 4 1 ',688 
 
 1,390 
 
 8 
 
 
 1^390 
 
 Suffolk . 
 
 . 497,000 
 
 24 
 
 5,'i76 
 
 
 
 4i 
 
 8,801 
 
 .. 
 
 Norfolk . 
 
 . 683,704 
 
 2 
 
 5,697 
 
 
 
 4j 
 
 4,273 
 
 8,546 
 
 Ditto 
 
 . 
 
 7 
 
 
 38,500 
 
 1,'I23 
 
 74 
 
 .. 
 
 1,203 
 
 Essex . 
 
 . 519,000 
 
 3 
 
 6,486 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 8,650 
 
 .. 
 
 Hertford 
 
 . 277,000 
 
 ^ 
 
 5,297 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 2,885 
 
 2,885 
 
 Middlesex 
 
 45,000 
 
 4 
 
 750 
 
 . . 
 
 ., 
 
 5 
 
 937 
 
 
 Kent 
 
 . 524,475 
 
 •U 
 
 7,000 
 
 
 . , 
 
 4i 
 
 .. 
 
 10.380 
 
 Romney m 
 
 kt. 
 
 7 
 
 
 185,000 
 
 5,400 
 
 64 
 
 . . 
 
 5,010 
 
 the Marsh 
 
 . 
 
 7 
 
 
 108,330 
 
 3,160 
 
 64 
 
 .. 
 
 2,934 
 
 Surrey . 
 
 . 283,000 
 
 3 
 
 3,540 
 
 ,. 
 
 
 H 
 
 4,127 
 
 
 Sussex . 
 
 . 316,800 
 
 2 
 
 2,540 
 
 ., 
 
 
 3 
 
 3,960 
 
 , , 
 
 
 3 . 547,000 
 . 516,600 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 6,837 
 6,457 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 6,837 
 6,157 
 
 
 lowiana 
 
 Hampshire 
 
 ;; 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 3 
 
 ;; 
 
 Isle of Wight 
 
 . 61,000 
 
 3J 
 
 800 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1,010 
 
 .. 
 
 Wilts downs 
 
 . 533,500 
 
 2f 
 
 0,684 
 
 
 .. 
 
 2} 
 
 6,685 
 
 ., 
 
 pasture 
 
 . 117,500 
 
 3 
 
 1,460 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1,958 
 
 
 Dorset 
 
 . 632,240 
 
 3| 
 
 9,880 
 
 . , 
 
 
 n 
 
 9,878 
 
 
 Devon 
 
 . 436,850 
 
 4 
 
 7,280 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 2,275 
 
 6.826 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 193^750 
 
 6^458 
 
 8 
 
 
 6,458 
 
 Cornwall 
 
 ! 203^000 
 
 4 
 
 3^382 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 7 
 
 •• 
 
 5,920 
 
 ^Total . 
 
 . 14,854,299 
 
 
 193,475 
 
 4,153,308 
 
 131,794 
 
 
 120,655 
 
 263,847 
 
THE MIDLAND LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. 345 
 
 1800— Short fleeces .... 193,475 
 
 Long fleeces . . , , , 131,794 
 
 325,269 
 Short and long skin and lambs' wool . 58,705 
 
 383,974 
 Part of Wales not included in tho above tables . 9,262 
 
 Increase from 1800 to 1828 . . . 69,933 
 
 463,169 
 
 1800— Packs of short wool . , , ,193,475 
 
 182S— Ditto , do. . , . . 120,655 
 
 Decrease » • . 72,820 
 
 -Short fleeces . . . . 120,655 
 
 Long fleeces ..... 263,847 
 
 384,502 
 Short and long skin and lambs' wool . , 69,405 
 
 453,907 
 Wales taken as before . . , 9,262 
 
 463,169 
 
 1800— Packs of long wool .... 131,794 
 1828— Ditto do. .... 263,847 
 
 Increase . , . 132,053 
 
 1800— Total quantity of short wool . 193,475 
 Ditto of long wool . 131,794 
 
 1828— Total quantity of short wool . 120,655 
 Ditto of long wool . 263,847 
 
 325,269 
 384,502 
 
 Increase of wool . . 59,233 fleeces. 
 
 Increase of skin and lambs' wool 10,700 
 
 Total increaso . . 69,933 
 
 The wool from slaughtered sheep and carrion not mentioned in this table ; but allowed 
 for above. 
 
 The reader will be pleased to see the foregoing Tables of Luccock and 
 Hubbard, of which mention has been so frequently made, contrasted with 
 each other. Neither of them is perfectly correct, but they both approximate to 
 the truth ; and they present a very fair delineation of the change which the 
 fleece underwent in the interval between the dates of the two tables. They 
 are taken from that invaluable work, M'Culloch's Dictionary of Commerce. 
 The country will, however, soon require other tables of a somewhat different 
 construction. The fleece of the Leicester and short-woolled sheep must have 
 a distinct column ; or the middle-woolled sheep yielding, to all in- 
 tents and purposes, a combing-wool, it must rank with the long-wools : in 
 either case, the proper short-wools will present a strangely diminished 
 number of packs, yet the breeders of these sheep may still be proud of them, 
 and will have no reason to complain. 
 
346 SHEEP. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 THE IRISH SHEEP. 
 
 The sheep has been an inhabitant of Ireland from the earliest period of 
 the history of that country ; and even in the very region of legendary lore 
 there is no tradition of the source, foreign or domestic, whence it sprung. 
 
 The skin of the sheep formed the sole dress of the Gothic tribes by which 
 Ireland was first peopled. The body, bearing many a rude delineation of 
 sacred or terrific objects, was naked, but the shoulders were covered by a lamb 
 or sheep's skin. The old chroniclers give some amusing accounts of the 
 changes which this simple vestment underwent, first extending upward in 
 the form of a hood, and then trespassing upon the paintings on the chest, 
 and at length spreading over the whole of the upper part of the body; 
 but always composed of sheep-skin. In the sixth century it was changed to 
 a kind of rug or mantle, that is, the woollen manufacture began to be 
 established in Ireland. Whether the mantle was felted or woven does not 
 appear ; but there are some curious anecdotes of the colour and the 
 length, and the form of it, and the difficulty of restraining both the lay and 
 the clerical wearer within the bounds of decorum*. 
 
 The sheep, or a portion of them at least, were black. Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis, another monkish historian, describes his brethren as being " lightly 
 clad in woollen garments, barbarously shaped, and for the most part black, 
 because the sheep of the country are blackf.'' It was, probably, as in 
 many other countries that have passed in review, by careful and continued 
 selection alone, that the dingy hue of the native breed was here changed to a 
 whiteness which in many parts may challenge competition with the choicest 
 of the English flocks. 
 
 History is silent as to the period when this was effected, as she is with 
 regard to almost all other improvements in Ireland, and seems to have 
 confined herself to a narration of the dissensions, and massacres, and 
 wrongs which succeeded in rapid and unvaried succession. 
 
 Scarcely any country could be better adapted than Ireland for the breed- 
 ing and perfecting of the sheep. The climate was equally remote from 
 chilling cold and intense heat. There were, indeed, several millions 
 of acres that were waste and abandoned ; for in few periods of the Irish 
 history had the agriculturist much inducement to improve his land or the 
 flocks which it bore : but the soil was generally prolific, almost beyond 
 belief; the highest mountains were pasturable, except in unusually cold 
 seasons, and the low grounds were covered with perpetual verdure. It was 
 in the grasses principally that Ireland was fertile. She was comparatively 
 deficient in trees and the larger vegetables, but, everywhere, her surface was 
 covered with the most luxuriant and seemingly inexhaustible pasture. 
 
 Incidental mention is made of her sheep and her wool When she fell 
 under the alleged, but incomplete dominion of England, although there 
 were no large manufactures of woollen goods established in any part of the 
 island, the value of her fleece was recognised in the numerous prohibitory 
 laws which were enacted against the exportation of it, and the impossi- 
 bility of carrying them into effect. Thousands of packs of wool were 
 smuggled away from the western coast of Ireland and conveyed to France 
 
 * Colgan. Act. Sanct. Hib. i. 398. 
 t Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, p. 332, 
 
THE IRISH SHEEP. 347 
 
 and to Flanders, and immense fortunes were made by this contraband 
 trade. 
 
 There were no large manufactories, because, for many an age, from the 
 peculiarity of the civil state of the people there was no capital to found 
 them ; there was no fuel to carry on the different processes ; there was a 
 melancholy deficiency in almost every branch of useful knowledge that 
 could be made subservient to the purposes of such a manufacture ; there 
 was no market, and there would not be any for a considerable period, because 
 the cottagers and the little farmers spun their own wool, and made it into 
 coarse but comfortable garments for themselves and their families, and 
 because, the material being thus extensively used, sufficient could not be 
 obtained for the purpose of a large manufactory except at an enormous 
 price. There was no scarcity of sheep or of wool ; but the wool was be- 
 spoken, and it could not be withdrawit from its natural and long-esta- 
 blished channel without a sacrifice in price that would materially dimi- 
 nish, or altogether destroy, the profit of the manufacturer. One cause more 
 of the want of woollen manufactures in Ireland, — a disgraceful but an all- 
 powerful one — was the jealousy of the sister kingdom. England cultivated 
 the sheep and manufactured its fleece ; and she was afraid that the pros- 
 perity of Ireland would be inconsistent with, or would diminish, her own. 
 
 The universality of the home or coarse manufacture in Ireland will suffi- 
 ciently account for a circumstance which has appeared strange to many 
 persons, that while the flesh of the sheep was considerably dearer in Eng- 
 land than in Ireland, wool was nearly 50 per cent, dearer in Ireland than 
 in England. The greater part of the wool was never brought to the 
 market ; it was shorn and spun, and woven, and nothing was thought of 
 the value or the price of it. It was the surplus only, and that a small 
 quantity, and, from that circumstance, very dear, that could be procured by 
 those who did not rear the sheep. Arthur Young inquired into the price of 
 wool in every one of the Irish counties, and he found that the average was 
 135. 8d. the stone of 16 lbs., while wool of the same or a better quality 
 would not obtain more than 9s. 3d. in the English market*. 
 
 There was another species of home, or private manufacture. The well- 
 disposed cottager (and he was a far different person in former times than 
 since the population has so rapidly increased, and his employment and pro 
 vision so materially changed) would spin a great deal more of the wool 
 than he used, and the combers would establish themselves in every village, 
 and buy up the wool that was not used, and comb it, and at very little 
 expense would have it converted into yarn by the women and children of 
 the place. In 1772, 204."} stones of wool were exported from Ireland to 
 England, and no less than 115,754 stones of worsted yarn, the principal 
 part of which was sent to Norwich and disposed of in the manufactories of 
 that town. The population of Ireland increased, and the character of the 
 agricuUural class, and of the little tenants especially, materially changed. 
 The conacre t system came into fashion, and the cottager had no longer 
 
 \ 
 
 * Young's Tour in Ireland in 1780, part ii. See also Transactions of the Irish 
 Academy, vol. ix. p. 240. 
 
 t On the cowacre system a small tract of land is let for the cultivation of potatoes 
 in the first instance. It is usually peaty or lately recovered bog-land, and exceedingly 
 fertile. It is of that quality which does not require manuring-. In some cases it is so 
 rich that the potatoes grow, as it were, upon the grass; no regular digging taking jdace, 
 and only a little of the earth being thrown over them in order to cover them. Tins land 
 is let in very small quantities, from the eighth of an acre upwards, and from £7 to £10 
 per acre. 
 
 The second year a little care is bestowed upon it — it is dug, but it is not manured j and 
 
348 SHEEP. 
 
 his two or three sheep to manure his little farm, and to supply him with 
 milk and wool : but the sheep were principally cultivated by the larger 
 farmers alone, and the cottager and his family abandoned themselves to 
 idleness, or to something worse, and the wool was no longer spun at 
 home. How stood the exports then ? Take them in ISll : 2407 stones 
 of wool were exported, and 3412 stones of worsted yarn. The quantity 
 of yarn had diminished more than 112,000 stones, and the surplus wool was 
 devoted to the Irish manufactories, by which it could now be procured 
 much cheaper, and which were established in Dublin and Cork, and 
 "Waterford, and Bandon, and Lismore, and in many other places, and 
 which have almost uniformly and rapidly increased and flourished. 
 
 Sir William Petty, writing in 1691, thus computes the number of sheep 
 in Ireland. The wool which was annually exported amounted to above two 
 millions of pounds. In order to furnish this, allowing for the lambs not 
 shorn, and for sheep slaughtered, tnere must be nearly a million of sheep. 
 The quantity of v^'ool consumed in the home manufacture amounted to a 
 great deal more than six millions of pounds — which would require two mil- 
 lions of sheep, making in all four millions. At this period, according to 
 Geoffrey King, there were only twelve millions of sheep in the whole of 
 Great Britain*. 
 
 There are two breeds of sheep in Ireland, the short-woolled and the 
 long-woolled. The short-woolled are most prevalent in the county of 
 Wicklow, and have established themselves upon its mountains from time 
 immemorial. Tliis sheep has a small head, narrow face, and short, round, 
 and pricked ears ; the head and face smooth, and covered with short hair, 
 the wool extending only to the joining of the head and neck ; the neck long, 
 the general proportions good, but rather too slender ; the legs small and 
 clean, and not very long ; the hair of the tail remarkably coarse, even more 
 so than in long-woolled sheep ; the fleece coarse or wavy, and occasionally 
 matted, yielding from 2 to 3 lbs. a fleece, and the fibre about two inches in 
 length. This wool is appropriated to the manufacture of flannel, of which 
 a great quantity is made, and chiefly sold at Rathdrum. 
 
 A few of these sheep still remain pure on the mountains, and are care- 
 fully preserved from admixture with the " Bull" breed — so the English 
 sheep that have been introduced here are called. The pure breed is termed 
 the Cottagh sheep. It used to be found in considerable quantities in Gal- 
 way, and particularly on the Connamara mountains. Its numbers, how- 
 ever, are now much diminished from crosses with different breeds, but most 
 of all, because, although there is room for the cultivation of the short-wool 
 to a far greater extent than it has yet been carried, the general soil and 
 pasture of Ireland are better suited to the long-woolled species, which are 
 rapidly establishing themselves in every part of the island. No care has 
 been taken to secure this native and valuable breed. The breeding ewes 
 are suffered to wander on the mountains, often quite neglected, and tlie 
 loss of lambs from eagles, foxes, and the inclemency of the weather, is 
 
 thus it goes on for three or four, or 6ve or six years, according to its quality ; there being 
 after this a succession of white crops. The land which brought £10 for potatoes, will let for 
 about £7 or £8 for oats, at the commencement of that system of cropping. Two years after- 
 wards it will not yield more than £6, and then £4, and so on until it becomes almost 
 worthless. There is an end to all sheep husbandry upon this system ; and there is a 
 gradual deterioration of the land, the idtimate and not distant consequence of which 
 must be deplorable. The rapidly increasing population of the country has led to it, and 
 without it there would be no provision for the poorer classes. — Evidence before the 
 House of Lords in 1833. 
 
 * Political Anatomy of Ireland, p. 56. 
 
THE IRISH SHEEP. 34d 
 
 enormous ; wliile, strange to record, tlie sides of the mountains and the 
 lowlands immediately beneath them afford facilities for better management, 
 and particularly for the introduction of the turnip husbandry, which ought 
 not to have been neglected*. 
 
 The mountain sheep has been crossed witli the South Down, and with 
 evident advantage — yet from tlie prejudice and jealousy of the Irish farmers, 
 this admixture has not been established to the extent which it deserves. 
 The Merino and the mountain sheep have also been brought together, but 
 the cross has been regarded as a failure. The Merinos are not suited for 
 the wet and cold pastures of the Wicklow hills. 
 
 The pure South Downs have been introduced, and under the most flat- 
 tering auspices. The Farming Society of Ireland sent several South Down 
 rams into Wicklow for the gratuitous use of the breeders there. They were 
 first crossed with the mountain ewe, and great improvement of the fleece 
 seemed to be the immediate result. Some of the wool, that used to sell at 
 I4d. or I6d. per lb., advanced to 3s. fid. ; and the Earl of Meath obtained 
 As. 2d. for a considerable portion of his fleeces. 
 
 Many South Down ewes were then imported, and the breed of the South 
 Downs zealously cultivated. At the annual sale of clothing wool at 
 Dublin, in 1809, some of Mr. Symes*s South Down wool was sold at 7«. per 
 lb. ; some belonging to Lord Claremont at 5s. 7d., to the Marquess of 
 Sligo at bs. 3d., and some of the fleeces of Mr. Wynne's flock at 3s. 6d. 
 
 At the sale in the following year, Lord Claremonl's wool sold at 5s. 6d., 
 Mr. Grierson's at bs. 7fi., Mr. Critchley's at 6s. 6d., Mr. Wynne's at 
 6s. Id., Mr. Dudley's at 7*., Mr. Beresford's at 7s. lid, and Mr. Symes's 
 at 8s. bd. Some South Down lamb's wool belonging to Mr. Symes was 
 sold at 5s. 2d. 
 
 These prices may appear extraordinary to those connected with the wool 
 trade ; but the sum was much enhanced by the premiums off"ered by the 
 Society for the best piece of cloth manufactured of South Down wool. 
 This occasioned a great competition among the buyers. At an after 
 period, when these premiums were no longer ofi'ered, and there was an 
 adequate supply of this wool in the market, it speedily sunk to the com- 
 mon price of English woolf. 
 
 No speculation could have bidden fairer than this, to realize the most 
 sanguine expectations of those concerned in it ; but it did not succeed. It 
 probably had not fair play. Patronised as it was at its starting, it had a 
 fearful amount of prejudice to struggle with ; and the result was, that neither 
 the South Down sheep nor the South Down cross was permanently established 
 in Wicklow. Many flocks of South Downs are found in various parts of 
 Wicklow ; and in most of the Irish counties there is plenty of ground that 
 seems to be beautifully adapted to their constitutional habits ; but they are 
 not the breed of the country. 
 
 The long-woolled sheep — the established Irish sheep — had not for a long 
 time justice done to them. Mr. Culley attended the fair at Ballinasloe 
 at nearly the close of the last century, and the following is the account 
 which he gives of the Irish sheep: — "I am sorry to say I never saw 
 such ugly sheep as these — the worst breeds we have in Great Britain are 
 by much superior. One would almost imagine that the sheep-breeders in 
 Ireland have taken as much pains to breed awkward sheep, as many of the 
 people in England have to breed handsome ones. I know nothing to 
 
 • Quarterly Journal of April, 1835, p. 172. 
 T "VVaktfield's Account of Ireland, p. 713. 
 
350 SHEEP. 
 
 recommend them except their size, which might please some old-fashioned 
 breeders who can get no kind of stock large enough. But I will endeavour 
 to describe them, and leave my readers to judge for themselves. These 
 sheep are supported by very long, thick, crooked, grey legs ; their heads 
 long and ugly, with large flagging ears, grey faces and eyes sunk ; necks 
 long and set on behind the shoulders ; breast narrow and short, hollow 
 both before and behind the shoulders ; flat-sided, with high narrow herring 
 backs ; hind quarters drooping and tail set low. In short, they are almost 
 in every respect contrary to what a well-formed sheep should be* '' 
 
 A great deal of this must be set to the score of prejudice. The thick- 
 ness of the leg did not consist so much in the bone ; it was covered with 
 wool to the very feet. The ugliness of the head also depended far more on 
 the wool by which it was covered, than on the actual largeness or defor- 
 mity of the skull. Compared with the beautiful sheep that Mr. Culley was 
 breeding at that time, there was a length of neck, and narrowness of 
 breast, and high herring-back, displeasing to his eye, but which, in the 
 estimation of any other person, would not have presented such a mass of 
 ugliness ; and that they had many good points about them was very soon 
 apparent from tlie rapidity with which they improved when crossed with 
 the Dishley breed. 
 
 Many of their owners were as sensible as Mr. Culley could have wished 
 them to be, of the imperfections of the native breed ; and a very short time 
 elapsed before they effected an almost incredible improvement in them. 
 The first serious attempt at improvement commenced in Kilkenny. Mr. St. 
 George and Mr. Astley of Odston imported some sheep selected from the 
 flocks of Mr. Paget of Ibstock, Mr. Stubbings of Holm, Mr. Buckley of 
 Normanton, and some others of the chief breeders of the New Leicesters. 
 They bred from this valuable selection, and were soon acknowledged to 
 be in possession of a flock of sheep not inferior to that of the most success- 
 ful English breeders. 
 
 They soon commenced the useful and profitable business which had been 
 established by Mr. Bakewell, and let their tups to farmers in diff"erent parts 
 of the country at very considerable prices. In 1800 they let thirty rams for 
 i£l744. The price of one of them was to have been 150 guineas and 5 ewes 
 sent; but such was the prejudice which existed against the breed, and the 
 malignity that was excited in the minds of some dastardly opposers of the 
 improved system, that the poor animal was murdered the night after it had 
 arrived at the farm of Mr. Cossan, near Tipperary, by whom it had been 
 hired. In 1801 the letting was to a greater extent. The names of tlie 
 hirers are here recorded as those who, by their zeal to improve the Irish 
 breed of sheep, deserved well of their country. 
 
 Mr. Wynne of Halevvood, in Sligo, and the Rev. Thos. Radcliffe of 
 Castlecoote, Roscommon, hired rams at 150 guineas each. Mr. Millet of 
 Scotsborough, Kilkenny, and Sir R. B. St. George, Bart, of Woodgift, 
 hired some at 100 guineas each. Mr. Lewis of King's County, Mr. 
 Murphy of Tipperary, and Mr. Lalor of Ballyragget, at 60 guineas. Mr. 
 Langley of Brittas, Tipperary ; Mr. Lloyd ; Lord Doneraile of Doneraile, 
 Cork ; Lord Donoughmore of Knocklofty, Tipperary ; and Mr. Brown of 
 Mount Prospect, Roscommon, at 50 guineas. Mr. Kirwan of Mayo, at 
 40 guineas. Mr. Reinael of Reinella, West Meath, at 30 guineas ; and 
 Mr. M'Cullough of Ballyragget, Kilkenny; Mr. Mitchell of Goresgrove, 
 Kilkenny ; Mr. Lalor of Kildare ; Mr. Boyce of Bishopshull, Kilkenny ; 
 
 ♦ Culley ou Live Stock, p. 166. 
 
THE IRISH SHEEP. 351 
 
 Mr. Neville of Mary Mount, Kilkenny ; Mr. Levinge of Bellevieu, Kil- 
 kenny; Mr. AVade of Fort William, Roscommon; Mr. Mitchell of Ros- 
 common; the Rev. Dr. Butler of Kilkenny; Sir Edward Crofton, Bart, of 
 Moate, Roscommon ; Colonel Bagwell of Marlefield, Tipperary ; Mr. 
 Kirvvan of Mayo, and Mr. Tighe of AVoodstock, Kilkenny, at 20 guineas 
 each, 
 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick of Urlingford likewise distinguished himself in the 
 letting of Leicester tups. He had a show for them on the 4th of June. He 
 exposed them first in their wool, and then shorn. They were kept entirely 
 on green food, it being considered a point of honour not to allow them 
 any corn. 
 
 It would be superfluous to repeat the story of the Dishley sheep. The 
 new breed struggled for a while against prejudices and difficulties of every 
 description, and at length completely triumphed. The bad and unsightly 
 points of Mr. Culley disappeared one by one. The sheep became smaller 
 but more compact, and nearly or quite as heavy — more of them could be 
 kept on the same quantity of ground, and they came to maturity twelve or 
 eighteen months sooner than they had previously done. They gradually 
 spread over the whole of Ireland. A few of the short-wools were left, 
 maintaining with them an unequal conflict ; but every long-woolled breed 
 was changed, ameliorated, or totally removed from the land ; and the Irish 
 sheep that are now brought so plentifully to the English market will scarcely 
 yield to the best improved Leicesters that any part of Great Britain can 
 produce. 
 
 The wool appeared at first to be shortened, and the breeder was some- 
 what alarmed ; but it eventually proved to be thicker set on the pelt, and 
 was in fact heavier and better. It assumed very much of the character of 
 the Romney Marsh wool, so valued in the foreign market. Its price at 
 the present moment (Sept. 1836) is from a shilling to fourteen pence 
 in the pound, and the fleece weighs from 6i to 7 lbs. ; the hogget fleece 
 weighs from .5 to 5^ lbs. 
 
 The following is the microscopic appearance of a fibre of fair Irish long 
 wool — 
 
 1. Viewed as a transparent object, it is the 560th part of an inch in diameter. The 
 Leicester wool was the 500th part. The serrations are 1920 in the space of an inch ; 
 the Leicester wool had 18C0 serrations; but they are not of so decided a character as 
 those iu the Leicester ; many of them are indistinct, and few only can be said to be at all 
 hooked. It is evidently adapted for a somewhat different fabric than the Leicester; it 
 approaches nearer to the Romney Marsh wool, but it does not manufactme so well. 
 
 2. It is viewed as an opaque object ; the leaves that form the cups are rather indis- 
 tinct : six or seven of them constitute the cup ; they are pointed, but evidently weak. 
 
 The Irish wool is very useful for the manufacture of stuffs, bombasms, 
 and bombazetts ; a great deal of it is now sent to the English market, and 
 in return the Irish manufacturers purchase a considerable quantity of South 
 Down wool to work into some of their finer goods. 
 
 The improvement in the fottening quality and early maturity of the 
 Irish sheep has opened a new trade. The breeder, being now able to send 
 that animal to market at a little more than two years old, which he was 
 
352 SHEEP. 
 
 formerly compelled to detain until it was nearly or quite four, and having 
 even his hoggets ready for the butcher, finds that he can compete witli 
 the English breeder on his own soil. He therefore now sends over 
 a vast number of live sheep to Liverpool principally, and a few to Bristol. 
 The steam-boats enable him more readily and with less expense to accom- 
 plish his purpose. The export of live sheep, from Ireland commenced in 
 1797 ; at least so few had been previously sent, that no account was taken 
 of them in the books of the Custom-house. In that year there is an entry 
 df 1S75, which found their way across the Irish Channel. In 1811 that 
 number had increased to 26,029; and in 1831, 134,762 were sent from 
 Ireland to Liverpool. Sheep were then dear in England on account of 
 the great number that had died of the rot in the two preceding winters, 
 but in the following year 74,260 vvere exported*. 
 
 The rapidity with which the steam-boairs perform their voyage has sug- 
 gested a new method of supplying the English market. The sheep is 
 killed in Ireland , it is then neatly packed up, and arrives at Liverpool early 
 on the following morning ready for sale. The numbers thus imported are 
 rapidly increasing. In addition to all these sources of supply, more than 
 ^,000 lambs, in good market condition, are every year sent across the 
 l|i8h Channel. 
 
 This is an immense drain upon Ireland, and many persons have doubted 
 whether it is not an unnatural state of things, that must soon terminate 
 in the exhaustion of the country. One thing, however, is certain, that the 
 improvements which first induced this traffic can increase the supply to an 
 almost indefinite extent. From the earlier maturity of the sheep, and the 
 improvement in agriculture generally, a greater number of sheep can be 
 reared and fattened on the same space of ground ; and there are millions 
 of acres in Ireland, now almost useless, that may be converted into sheep- 
 pasture. In addition to this it should be remarked, that a comparatively 
 small quantity of mutton is used for human food in Ireland. The poor, — 
 the great mass of the population, — rarely or never touch it. Tiiey live 
 chiefly or entirely on milk and potatoes ; and if, on some extraordinary 
 festival, their fare is amended, it is their own porker that provides them 
 with the unusual luxury. - Where human ingenuity can accomplish it, and 
 here it well may, the supply will keep pace with the demand. 
 
 The more general introduction of turnig^ husbandry, and for vvliich the 
 greater part of Ireland is suitable, would open another almost inexhaustible 
 source of sheep-provender and supply. The mildness of the climate 
 enables the Irish stock-master to do with little winter food ; but this 
 natural advantage proves an artificial evil, for it prevents those exertions 
 which the farmers in other countries are obliged to make in order to 
 support their flocks and herds. Turnip husbandry was established in 
 Tipperary as early as, and more extensively than, in any other part of 
 Ireland ; and the consequence was that the sheep farmers there had a 
 plentiful supply for the metropolitan market in the earliest part of the 
 spring. 
 
 Some peculiarities in the management of sheep in the different districts 
 
 * The charge of the freight of sheep from Dublin to Liverpool is now from 35*. to 
 42*., and of lambs 20«. to 30*. per score. The agents of the steam companies take 
 charge of them at Dublin or elsewhere, and transmit them to Liverpool without trouble 
 to the owner. There are several large dealers always attending the Dublin markti.. 
 If prices fall in consequence of a large supply, they are always ready to take ihe 
 advantage of this, and make extensive purchases late in the day, and when the farmer 
 is probably induced to take almost any price that, they will offer, while the dealers 
 understaud each other too well for there to be much competition among them, 
 
THE IRISH SHEEP. 353 
 
 of Ireland will be best noticed by taking a rapid survey of tlie respective 
 counties. It will be convenient to commence at the southern extremity 
 of the province of Leinster, and, pursuing a northern direction, make a circuit 
 of the island. 
 
 There is nothing out of the usual routine in Wexford. The original 
 breed was, if possible, worse than that in the neighbouring counties, but it 
 has nearly disappeared ; the taint however has not quite passed away. The 
 Wexford sheep are not those from among which the grazier would select 
 his favourite stock ; in fact they are not the principal object of the farmer's 
 care. 
 
 Kilkenny will always be a district of peculiar interest to the sheep- 
 breeder. The great work of the amelioration and perfection of the Irish 
 long-woolled sheep was begun and zealously pursued here, and yet per- 
 haps districts might be pointed out, farther to the south and the west, 
 where a better sheep than even the Kilkenny one is now to be found. Wonder- 
 fid changes have taken place in the management of the sheep since the intro- 
 duction of. the improved breed. The lamb is now rarely shorn in the first 
 year, but left to become a hogget. The milking of the ewes for two or 
 three months afier the lambs are weaned is a practice nearly difeonti- 
 nued, and the celebrated ewe-milk cheeses are not in so much request in 
 Kilkenny market. 
 
 In Kilkenny some of the most satisfactory experiments were made on 
 the Merino sheep at the manufactory of Messrs. Newlan, as related in 
 page 183 of this work. Crosses of the Merino with other breeds were 
 also made here. That with the Ryeland sheep was deemed the most valu- 
 able. The Merino and the Leicester made a good wool in its second or third 
 cross, and which was useful for general purposes. With the South Down the 
 staple was fine, but there was much of the harshness and want of felling 
 property of the Down sheep. With the mountain breed from the Wicklow 
 hills the cross was considered as valuable*. Sixteen years have 
 since passed, and all these crosses are comparatively abandoned, or got 
 into disrepute : the pure Merino wool is alone used for fcl;ing purposes, 
 and the British wools are all taking their stations among the middle or 
 long-wooUed varieties. 
 
 A considerable quantity of blankets is manufactured in Kilkenny: 
 they are in good estimation, and might be rendered sufficient for the 
 home consumption. 
 
 Carlow has lately suffered much by the disunion which political and 
 religious dissensions have produced between the landlord and the tenant ; 
 but it still continues to furnish the most pleasant tasted of the Irish butters, 
 and the siieep of this di-strict are of a superior description. Many of them 
 are fattened for the supply of the Dublin markets and for foreign ex- 
 portation. 
 
 Wicklow has been already mentioned as the native county of the Irish 
 short-wooUed sheep. The mountains of Wicklow are admirably adapted 
 for such a breed, and, in a severe winter, will put their hardihood to the 
 test. Few of the genuine breed of Wicklow sheep now remain ; but thev 
 have been crossed in almost every possible way, in order better to aw;)|"t 
 their wool to the altered demand for itf. 
 
 * Agricultural Magazine, August, 1820. 
 
 f Mr. Hamilton of GlencuUen, about thirty years ago, purchased several of these 
 slieep from a family of mountaineers who had preserved the breed pure from time 
 immemorial. He meant to breed from them alone, and to try how far he could 
 iinprove them on the principle of selection hui he failed, from a cause that was thea 
 
 2 A 
 
354 SHEEP. 
 
 VVicklow being a contiguous county to Dublin, the practice of preparing 
 lambs for the January markets occupies much of the attention of the sheep- 
 farmers. Some of the contrivances are singular enough. The flock of the 
 farmer consists usually of a hunched ewes, which are kept as well as his pas- 
 ture will allow. In the beginning of June he turns the rams among them, and 
 before the end of July the greater part of the ewes are impregnated. This 
 early disposition in the ewes for the ram is the joint effect of habit and of 
 breeding. If at the end of July any of tliem sliould not have been im])reg- 
 nated, they are put into a small barn or enclosed yard, and driven about 
 until they are heated and fatigued; the rams are then admitted, and the 
 ewes offer no resistance. 
 
 The lambs, at a fortnight old, are separated from their dams, and placed 
 in small pens in the lamb-house. Tlie ewes are driven into this building 
 twice every day ; the mothers of the lambs that have been sold off are first 
 admitted, and held for the remaining lambs to suck them, after which the 
 lambs are suffered to go to their own dams. When the lamb is very young 
 the milk of the ewe will afford it sufficient nutriment ; but as it increases in 
 strength assistance from the cow becomes necessary ; and, beginning with 
 a quarter of a pint, the lamb will gradually come to the use of a pint of 
 cow's milk twice in the day, exclusive of the milk from the ewe. The four- 
 and -twenty-hours are divided as equally as convenience will permit, and the 
 lambs are fed with the cow's and ewe's milk alternately. Much attention 
 is paid to this, and also to another important object — cleanliness : the 
 boarded floors are so contrived that all moisture shall drain away, and the 
 lambs are always dry and warm upon wheaten straw. 
 
 At about six weeks old, or sooner, they are fit for the butcher, and pro- 
 duce, according to the time of sale, from 20*. to 52s. The whole secret of 
 this vaunted practice consists in regularity and cleanliness ; but it is strange 
 that no provision is made, and particularly at the early part of the season, 
 to supply the ewes with turnips or artificial food, so that there may be less 
 call upon the dairy*. 
 
 A large wool fair is held in a spacious hall at Rathdrum. It is singular 
 to see the people thronging in on horseback from the country, with their 
 bales of wool, or cloth, or flannel, on either side of them. " On one horse," 
 says Miss Plumptree, " were, beside two very large bales of cloth, two 
 vrry well-dressed women, who, just before they got to the fair, alighted, 
 
 too prevalent, and which made the mountains of Dublin and Wicklow almost a desert. 
 There were whole villages of families, that had been from generation to generation 
 notorious marauders and sheep-stealers, inhabiting the beautiful glens which separated 
 those lofty hills. Their residence and their occupation were well known, yet they were 
 permitted to remain there without disturbance. There were stories then afloat about 
 this, and some n;imes were mentioned as implicated in these disgraceful transactions 
 tbat should have been above suspicion. However, Mr. Hamilton's sheep were nearly all 
 destroyed, and he was compelled to sell the miserable remnant. The failure of such an 
 experiment was a national loss. — Transactions of the Dublin Society, vol. v. p. 64. 
 
 Parkinson, about the same time, relates an instance of this propensity to pilfer among 
 some of the lower classes of the Irish. " There was one species of theft that was new 
 to me, namely, the pulling the wool off the sheep's back when alive in the field. They 
 will also take regularly from the land hoih cow-dung and sheep's-dung, the fonmer to 
 burn, the latter for the scouring of their thread. On account of these depredations of 
 various kinds, it was the custom with the breeders of sheep to agree with the shepherd 
 to find a lamb for every ewe. This prevented the lambs from being stolen from the 
 ewes, which was a very common mode of thieving. There were about twenty lambs 
 stolen from one flock last season, notwithstanding all my contrivances to prevent it, and 
 although I had cured my people of stealing anything else, — Parkinson's Practice of 
 English Agriculture on an Irish Farm, pp, 146 and 182, 
 
 * Radcliffe's Agriculture of Wicklow. 
 
THE IRISH SHEEP. 35;^ 
 
 and, sitting down on the roadside, drew on their stockings ; lliey then re 
 mounted their nag, and rode on into the fair*." 
 
 Much, worsted yarn is brought here for sale. The manufactured goodsj 
 consist of flannels, and other coarse fabrics, wholly composed of native 
 wool. This trade is in a flourishing state ; and Rathdrum is the regular 
 nd well-established mart for the whole of this districtf. 
 
 KiLDARE. — Many ewe flocks are kept in this county, for the purpose of 
 supplying the Dublin market. They are bought at the autumn fair at Bal- 
 linasloe. The lamb is sold in June or July, and the mother in November. 
 There is no breed peculiar to tnis district. There is a manufactory of 
 coarse cloths at Kildare, 
 
 Queen's County. — Several of the sheep-farmers of this county zealously 
 assisted in the improvement of the Irish sheep. Messrs. Mayer, Steele, 
 and O'Flaherty deserve honourable mention. Many sheep are grazed here, 
 as in Kildare, for the Dublin market. In tfie mountain districts many 
 cattle and sheep are brought into store condition. The privilege of grazing 
 is let at so much per coflop. A collop consists of three yearling cattle, or 
 one yearling bullock and one two years old, or four sheep. 
 
 King's County. — The same system of management prevails here, and 
 also in Westmeath and Longford ; in the former of which there is an ex- 
 cellent breed of long-woolled sheep. 
 
 Meath. — This is also a decided grazing county, and without any specific 
 breed. Few of the sheep, in proportion to the numbers fiittened here, are 
 natives of Meath. The flocks of the graziers are sometimes very numerous. 
 In the month of October they all start for Ballinasloe fair, and each of 
 them buys that which will suit best his system and means of feeding. He 
 that has rape or turnips, &c. purchases those that are the nearest to being 
 fat, and he sells them at Dublin, in the spring, at a considerable profit. 
 They who have not any artificial food, but who feed their winter stock of 
 sheep where their summer stock of cattle had been before, buy those that 
 are in store condition : they turn them on their grounds, and feed them with 
 hay during the winter ; and, as soon after shearing time as may be, these 
 are likewise sold in Dublin. Some possibly are not ready until the end of 
 the summer, but all are got rid of before the ensuing Ballinasloe fair J. 
 
 * Narrative of a Residence in Ireland, in 1814 and 1815, by Anna Plumptree, p. 182. 
 
 t Transactions of the Irish Academy, vol. ix. p. 238. 
 
 J ]Mr. Parkinson, the author of a valuable work on " The Breed and Management of 
 Liive Stock," once occupied a farm at Slane in this county. It was an unsuccessful ex- 
 periment ; but the reader will derive some amusement and a great deal of instruction 
 from the perusal of the narrative which he jiublished of his proceedinj^s. (See Parkin- 
 son's Practice of English Agriculture in Ireland.) The prmcipal causes of his failure 
 were the untractableness of those with whom he had to do, and the want of a conve- 
 nient market for the produce of his farm. His account of the manner of sheep-washing 
 and shearing may afford some amusement. " At the proper season they told me they 
 had the best method, and the most convenient place possible; but when I came to see 
 the place, and understood their mode of proceeding, I deemed them both to be the 
 worst possible. The sheep were taken to the side of ihe river Boyne, where four or five 
 men were stationed to throw them into the water, and ten men to wash them, and there 
 was a double set of these. One man took hold of the fore legs of the sheep, and another 
 of the hind legs, as soon as they could seize him in the water, and thus they tossed him 
 to and fro several times in the water. The next two men then seized him and served 
 him in the same waj', and so with the other six. There was evidently considerable 
 danger of accident, besides a great deal of confusion. They drank four gallons of whisky 
 among them, and they only washed half of my sheep. In the evening I began to cal- 
 culate my exi)euse. The thirty people employed cost me 2.3s., the four gallons of whisky 
 they drank cost 24s. more; and altogether it amounted to more than 2«. 6d. per score ; 
 whereas I used to have my sheep washed in England at 4d. per score. I resolved by 
 
 2 a2 
 
3:-)6 SHEEP. 
 
 Dublin.— No flocks of sheep are permanently bred in this county but 
 some are g. sized for the home market ; otliers tarry awhile in the neigh- 
 bourhood ot tlie coast before they are embarked. 
 
 Nearly the same character must be given of Louth and Monaohan : 
 the land is employed in tillage, and cattle and sheep are neglected. In 
 Monaghan the goats are more numerous tlian the sheep. 
 
 Mr. Wakefield gives a singular account of the sheep management of 
 Down SHI RE in his time, and traces of it still remain. The butcher, in almost 
 every town, buys his sheep singly or in pairs from the little farmers, and 
 the farmers purchase them in the same way, when lambs, at some of the 
 summer fairs, and keep them as long as they find it profitable or conve 
 nient. There are a vast number of little farmers in this county ; and the 
 traveller can proceed a very little way without perceiving a sheep tethered 
 in tlie corner of a field or the side of a ditch. Their way of tethering was 
 rather curious : two stakes were driven into the ground, with a rope extemi- 
 ing from one to the other, and this rope passed through a ring attached to 
 a sliort chain round the animal's neck. 
 
 Lord de Montalt was one of the first in this part of the country to sub- 
 stitute the Leicester breed for the old long-legged Tipperary sheep ; and he 
 likewise practised folding with great success. It is a simple and profitable 
 way of disposing of the sheep at night ; but there were few things the 
 aversion to which the intelligent farmer found more difficult to conquer in 
 his dependents. 
 
 Armagh. — The traveller is here entering on the manufacturing districts 
 of Ireland. The soil is poorer, but the cultivation of it is better. There 
 are more small farms and fewer of the peasantry. Much improvement has 
 been effected in the arable management of the land, but the stock of the 
 farmer, and particularly in the western division of the county, is not good ; 
 the cows are little better than mountain cattle, and there is a great want of 
 sheep. Very little of the wool that is produced is exposed for sale, but re- 
 served for domestic purposes. It is very coarse ; and the native sheep of 
 the district is a sadly unimproved animal. The manufactures of Armagh 
 are almost exclusively those of linen. 
 
 The same observations apply to Antrim. The sheep are of a very infe- 
 rior kind ; but the people being more exclusively employed in the manu- 
 facture of linen and cotton, the wool is bought up by combers, who employ 
 
 the following day, to endeavour to save part of this expense, and I had a kind of fold 
 made in the riTer, by which means I could proceed as expeditiously with half the num- 
 lier of men. The men were tractable to a certain extent, but, contrary to common rule 
 and common sense, they would wash the sheep down the stream instead of against it, so 
 that the dirty water ran from the first man to the last. With a great deal of trouble 1 
 got the reduced number of men to wash the remainder of the sheep at an expense of 
 about 1*. 6d. per score. 
 
 " In due time came the shearing. I was promised the best set of clippers in Ireland. 
 They were to have 2s. 6d. per day each, and their victuals, which could not be calculated 
 at less than 2s. 6d. more. This may seem a very extravagant calculation, but the men 
 were unaccustomed to such living, and they ate so immoderately that without one saw 
 it one would hardly have believed it. I never supposed but these men would clip twenty 
 sheep a day at least, but the day's work proved to IJe but thirteen each ; so that the whole 
 expense of washing and clipping was 10«. 8(/. per score. I could have had it done in 
 England much lietter for 3s Ad. a score. 
 
 " Beside all this, these Irish clippers do not clip round the sheep as the clippers Ho 
 in England ; but they clip short strokes, catching a bit of wool from one place, and a 
 bit from another. If they are not narrowly looked after, they will leave many parts un- 
 touched, such as the head and Ifgs, and the inside of the thighs and tail. But every 
 kind of rustic work in Ireland is dune iu i similar manner." — Parkinson's Practice of 
 Agriculture, p. 187. 
 
THE IRISH .SIIKKP. 357 
 
 women and cliiklrcn to sjiin it into yarn ; it is tiien sent to some fore.gn 
 market. 
 
 Londonderry is not a grazing county, and the flesh of the sheep is little 
 used for food, except in the towns. Some of the small landholders have .1 
 few sheep, but they are tethered tou;ether in couples ; a flock of sheep is 
 rarely seen, and when found, both the carcase and the wool are of an infe- 
 rior character. The wool is generally disposed of in the same way as in 
 Antrim. There are still a few mountain- sheep in Londonderry, but they 
 are rapidly disappearing*. 
 
 Donegal. — Tiie sheep husbandry of tliis county is not very different 
 from that of Londonderry. Thrre are very few sheep in the lowlands, 
 and the mountain-sheep used to partake of the same character as those de- 
 scribed by Mr. Sampson. Wlicn the corn was carried home the shea^) of 
 all the small tenants, " as fleet as so many greyhounds, were suffered to 
 herd together, and rove about v/ithout distinction wherever they could finil 
 food; and in regard to breed, it was impossible to imagine a worsef." 
 
 In Tyrone, Fe.imanagk, and Cavan, the sheep are few in number, and 
 of an inferior breed. 
 
 Leitrim is in the province of Connaught, which is, with Munster, the prin- 
 cipal sheep district, where the slieej) are most improved, and whence comes 
 the chief supply of the home consumption and of the increasing exporta- 
 tion. The rich grazing soil of Connaught, however, lies to the south of 
 Leitrim, and the sheep here are neither numerous nor much improved. 
 
 In Sligo the work of improvement has not onlv commenced but consi- 
 derably advanced. There are many flocks of the modern Irish breed which 
 do credit to their proprietors ; but, in general, the farms are small, and tiie 
 sheep oftentimes neglected. 
 
 In Mayo, neither on its heathy mountains nor its fertile valleys, is the 
 oreeding of sheep pursued on an extensive scale. The farmer, however, is 
 now awakening to a sense of his true interest in this respect, and in the 
 district of Kilmain, in particular, the sheep are becoming more numerous 
 and valuable. 
 
 Roscommon is both a breeding and a grazing county, and some of the 
 best sheep in Ireland are reared and fattened there. They are of the true 
 long-wooUed kind — the old Irish improved, or superseded by the Dishley 
 blood. Roscommon, Galvvay, Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary, may be 
 
 * The account which Mr. Sampson gives of these sheep is too singular to be omitted. 
 •' Our best sort are bought eitlu-r in the fairs of the south-western counties or else at 
 Dervock, to which they are driven by jobbers from these pasture districts. Our own 
 sheep are of all shapes and qualities — horned and without horns. coarse-wooUfd and fine 
 — and almost all of them humpy-honed and restless. We get a considerable number irom 
 the mountains of luishoen, from 7 lbs. to 10 lbs. per quarter. I have crossed a selection 
 of our own ewes with a strong Connaught ram, and with much advantage. 
 
 '' In BallymuUans, near Learmount, sheep wrre formerly kept in great numbers ; at 
 present much fewer are permitted, on account of their inroads into the plantations. Not 
 1< ng ago one might see hundreds of sheep travelling Irura farm to farm, unnoticed and 
 t.nowned. Every servant bi)y in the country who had a few shillings laid them out in 
 * sheep or two, which he let loose on the bounty of Providence and the toleration of his 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 " Towards May all these flocks were driven to the mountains. The value of their wool 
 and their progeny greatly overpaid the grazing and the risli. In the time of snow 
 1he^e depredators, like the locusts of b^gypt, devoured every thing before them. I have 
 lost at one time two thousand heads of curled kale. They get no winter fodder but 
 what they can steal. The lambs come in from June to August, and are sold in general 
 at half a guinea each. The ewes are killed from three to four years old, and weigh 
 fwm 8 lbs. to i 1 lbs. per quarter." — Sampson's Survey of Derry.p. 213. 
 {• Wakcfi.ld's Tour, vol. i. p. 34.5. 
 
358 SHEEP. 
 
 considered as containing almost all of shecp-liusbaiulry that is valuable in 
 Ireland. A great deal of land in them, and that of the best hind, is de- 
 voted to breeding or to grazing. There is, however, nothing peculiar in 
 the management of the Roscommon sheep by which the traveller needs to 
 be detained. 
 
 Galw^ay rears as great a number of sheep and in as high a state of per- 
 fection as any of the professed sheep districts. It must not, perhaps,. be 
 literally said of them, as one reporter hesitates not to affirm, that " some 
 of tlie finest flocks in the world are to be found in Galway*," or, as another 
 asserts, *' that they," the old sheep, " have nearly all disappeared, and given 
 j)lace to a fine breed not to be equalled by the general stock of the long- 
 woolled breed in England t ;" but nothing would so readily dispel the pre- 
 judice against Irish prod'^ctions as a tour through tho:>e portions of Galway 
 which are devoted to the breed'ng and grazing of sheep. Fault would be 
 found with the management both of bullocks and sheep, and the seeming 
 abandonment of these beautiful and valuable animals to liunger and cold J, 
 but the traveller will not be insensible to their excellent qualities. 
 
 Ballinasloe fair — the Falkirk tryst of Ireland — is held at the latter end 
 of October. It is the mart of all these sheep-breeding and grazing dis- 
 tricts. From 60,000 to 80,000 sheep are generally exhibited, and some- 
 times very nearly 100,000, and more than four-fifths of them are usually 
 sold. Between 30,000 and 40,000 cattle are frequently driven to Ballina- 
 sloe for sale. 
 
 Ballinasloe is the place for the traveller to resort to in order to convince 
 himself of the true character of the Irish long-woolled sheep. So im- 
 proved have they become by the first intermixture of the Dishley blood, 
 by the continued importation of Leicester rams, and by the judicious selec- 
 tion of tups of Irish growth, that no one would recognise a single trace of 
 the uncouth, worthless animal wluch Cully depicted. 
 
 It is pleasing to see the ordt-rly manner in which, during the time of 
 business, the whole is conducted. The ewes and wethers are shown in 
 separate parcels — the ewes in lots of from 100 to 300 or 400, and the 
 wethers in lots of from 200 to 500 or 600 ; the ewes having a red mark 
 across the loins, and the wedders being without any mark. The different 
 lots stand within a few yards of each other, leaving just room enough to 
 admit of the- purchasers walking round in order to inspect the flock. 
 
 Each lot is surrounded by a number of shepherds in the employ of the 
 owners of the sheep. They are all dressed in coarse dark-brown woollen cloth. 
 These are Connaughtmen : and the greater proportion of the sheep belong to 
 Connaught. Every one has his crook, in the use of which he is exceedingly 
 expert. There is another lot of men dressed in the same kind of cloth, but 
 of a grey or frieze colour ; these are Leinster men — the shepherds of the 
 intended buyers. There has from time immemorial been a feud between the 
 Leinster and Connaught men, and this leads to many a rude jest, or sarcas- 
 tic remark; but there is no breach of the peace until the fair is over. No 
 sliepherd's dog is permitted in the whole fair. 80,000 slieep were shown 
 
 * Wakefield's Tour in Ireland, vol. i. p. .346. 
 
 t Buttons Survey of Galway, p. 115. 
 
 X " Catlle and sheep are seldom housed even in the severest weather, but range 
 al)out the laud, poking it full of holes. On the 1st of June, 1810, upwards of six thou- 
 sand sheep were destroyed, in this county alone, by a severe storm of hail, and show, and 
 rain. The jnornings of the end of May were frosty, and many breeders lost more than 
 sixty, mos^ly ewes, which had been shorn only two days before.'' — Button's Survey of 
 Galway. (;.niijn wrote in 1S24, and evi'ji at that time the same negligence and inhu- 
 manity pievailed. 
 
THE IRISH SIIEKP. 359 
 
 at tlie fair of 1834, of which more than 70,000 were sold ; and their value, 
 at 345. per head, was nearly 120,000^.* In 1836, only 61,094 were shown, 
 of which 53,214 were sold. The average price of wethers was from 45^. 
 to 55^. ; that of ewes was from 35s. to 45*. ; and of hoggets, from 30s. loSSs. 
 
 The husiness ofthe fair being terminated, another act commences. The 
 love of whisky, and the love of fighting, are, by a kind of prescriptive 
 right, permitted to display themselves in all their glory ; and the play ter- 
 minates with the customary number of broken heads and other eontusions. 
 
 Ballinasloe summer fair used to be the principal and almoat the only 
 wool-mart in Ireland ; and strange scenes were there exhibited, in full keep- 
 ing with Irish propensities and character. The meeting in July seemed to 
 be devoted more to the purposes of conviviality and the endeavour to over- 
 reach each other, than the honest sale and purchase of wool. The buyers 
 and the sellers loitered about the streets arj inns of Ballinasloe, disputing 
 about a few pence in the price of a stone of wool, day after day, and almost 
 week after week, spending ten times more than the sum which the one would 
 have paid or the other received. Sometimes a party of them would start 
 away for some distant place of amusement or resort, and return not to the 
 fair during many days, hoping then to find their antagonists completely 
 wearied, and ready to agree to any bargain. The bad habits too natural 
 to the Irishman were indulged in without restraint, and the foundation for 
 neglect of business, intemperance, and eventual ruin, was often laid at Bal- 
 linasloe fair. The wool is now disposed of in a more orderly way in the 
 principal towns of the respective counties, or it is sent to the wool-mart at 
 Dublin t. 
 
 In the mountains of Connamara, and in the hands of a few gentlemen, 
 some of the native short-woolled sheep remain. The shearing, at least 
 among the small proprietors, was singular enough, and the practice is not 
 quite discontinued at the present day. The wool is cut as it is wanted, and 
 one sheep is seen with one side shorn, and another with a single limb 
 clipped. When a woman wants a little wool in order to finish her work, 
 she trips away to the mountain, claps the sheep's head between lier knees, 
 and shears just as much as she thinks will complete her task. The same 
 -jlieep is often shorn three times in the year, and this operation is not con- 
 fined to the summer months. It is thought, but to a considerable degree 
 erroneously, that the animal suffers little from this singular practice J. 
 
 A great deal of flannel and other woollen goods is prepared in Galway, 
 The cottager, or farmer's wife, spins the wool into yarn, and sends the yarn 
 to the weaver, and often earns sufficient to pay the rent of her little tene- 
 ment. There is not, however, in the whole of the county any large manu- 
 factory. This is not a little extraordinary, considering the extent of 
 
 * This account is chiefly extracted from that valuable agricultiiral periodical, the 
 British Farmer's Magazine, vol. viii. p. 565. The correspondent of that per\ dical 
 adds a word or two of advice which may not be useless to the traveller. He is supposed 
 to be returned from the fair held in Lord Clancarty's demesne, and to have arrived at 
 Ballinasloe. " You will begin to think of your bed ; the price you may have to pay for 
 it may also strike you. This for a good bed is seldbm less than half-a-guinea a night 
 and Irequently a guinea ; sometimes four guineas for a room for a week. Never sleep in a 
 double-bedded room if the second bed is to be occupied, unless j'ou well know, and are par- 
 ticularly intimate with the person who is to occupj' it, and take care to sleep with a blan- 
 tet xuider you, and one over you. By not attending to these cautions your purse or your 
 life may be sacrificed." — p. o6S. 
 
 f Button's Survey of Clare, p. 12'9 ; and Wakefield's Account of Ireland, vol. i. p. 710 
 
 { Dutton's Survey of Galway, p. 430. 
 
3^,0 SHEliP. 
 
 Gnlwav ; that it possesses wool of both kinds, and each of good quality ; and 
 that there are so many spots where a manufactory could be establislied vviili 
 evident advantage*. 
 
 Clare is in the province of Munster. In this county, Limerick, and 
 Tipperary, the sheep vie with the best of those in Connaught ; and the state 
 of agriculture, and the manners and habits of the peasantry, are consider- 
 ably improved. Clare is both a breeding and grazing county. A great 
 part of the limestone district is devoted to the breeding of the long-wooiled 
 sheep that are afterwards sent to Ballinasloe fair. The lower and richer 
 tracts are set apart for grazing. There is nothing peculiar in the manage- 
 ment of the sheep in this county f. 
 
 Limerick is not a breeding county, but many excellent sheep are fat- 
 tened here. There is a great deal of fine pasture land in Limerick; a por- 
 tion of it is called, on account of its fertility, the " Golden Vein." 
 
 The Conacre system is here fully established. Only a few days ago the 
 author read an account of a certain portion of land being let at no less than 
 121. per acre, and of no fewer than sixteen white crops being successively 
 produced without the expenditure of a single load of manure. Such a system 
 must eventually be produclive of irreparable mischief. 
 
 A great many lambs used to be sent from Tipperary to be wintered in 
 Limerick. They were received in October and returned in May. The 
 propriety of ihis was doubted by some ; for the Tipperary land is, generally 
 speaking, drier than that in Limerick. The practice is now much dis- 
 continued. 
 
 Keruy. — There are not so many sheep in Kerry as its pastures would 
 profitably bear They are occupied by the grazing of cattle for the Cork 
 mirkets, or the manufacture of butter. The mountains of Kerry continue 
 to produce a breed of small short-vvoolled sheep, which, when fattened, 
 y4e]d excellent mutton ; many hundreds of them were shown at the Bal- 
 linasloe fair in 1836. Most of the islands on the coast of Kerry contain 
 cattle and sheep ; but the county generally is devoted to the former, and the 
 latter are comparatively neglected. 
 
 Cork. — There are two objections to the sheep being an object of much 
 consideration, or thriving to any great degree, in Cork, namely, the vast 
 number of dairies, and the smailness of the farms. Lord Doneraile first 
 introduced the Dishley sheep into Cork, and the improvement of few flocks 
 was so rapid and complete. The breed has been since neglected in various 
 parts of Cork on account of the prevalence of the dairy system. 
 
 A few of the native breed are yet found in the mountains, and in the wild 
 parts of the west ; but those that are seen in the lower ground are long- 
 wooUed. Mr. Townsend gives an account of the management of the sheep 
 in this dairy county. " Farmers of every description keep a few ewes, as 
 well for themselves as for their labourers, and from which a small supply 
 of milk is obtained at the cost of the poor lambs, to whom is left a very 
 small portion of their natural aliment. In fact, the poor sheep is sadly })ut 
 upon here. In its youth it is stinted to half the proper quantity of food ; 
 when grown up it is compelled, by the bondage of fetters, to remain on 
 the barest fields of the farm ; and during the winter the sheep alone is denied 
 the occasional protection of a shed, being exposed to every blast, without 
 the comfort of a good bellyful of food. A few of the lambs are fattened for 
 
 * Dutton's Survey, p. 424. 
 
 t Wakefieltt's Account of Ireland, vol. i. p. 342. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 361 
 
 the market, and the rest, excepting what tlie farmer requires in order to 
 keep up his stock, are sold off at the summer fairs*." 
 
 A considerable quantity of a coarse kind of carpet is manufactured in 
 Cork. A cloth manufactory likewise flourished here, in which much of the 
 Irish short-wool, mixed with some of foreign growth, was used in the fabri- 
 cation of broad cloth. The material here, as well as in every other place, 
 has changed with the change of times and of wool. A great deal of wool 
 used to be brought from Galway and Roscommon, combed by the combers, 
 and spun into worsted yarn, and exported to Yarmouth and Norwich. 
 
 Waterford is likewise so occupied by the dairy system, that the sheep 
 are comparatively neglected, and cannot boast of any peculiar excellence of 
 breed or management. 
 
 TiPPERARY. — The farmers in this county, at the first introduction of the 
 Dishley breed, took a leading part in the improvement of the sheep. Mr. 
 Dexter was one of the most zealous and skilful among them. It is said 
 that his first sheep had some serious defects; they had too much belly and 
 offal ; their necks were too thick ; and they had not the roundness and com- 
 pactness of form which Bakewell so sedulously cultivated. Mr. Dexter had 
 the good sense to perceive and acknowledge these defects, and he imported 
 some valuable ewes from England, and selected with caution and care from 
 his own flock, and at length obtained a breed scarcely or not at all inferior 
 to that of Bakewell himself f. His zeal and skill were appreciated and 
 rewarded. He too became a tup-letter, and obtained considerable prices 
 for his rams : and at the present day, when a farmer wishes to improve 
 bis flock, he sends into Tipperary for a Dexter ram, and his object is cer- 
 tainly accomplished. Messrs. Lloyd and Going also deserve honourable 
 mention in the early history of the Tipperary sheep. The management of 
 the sheep in Tipperary does not differ from that in Kilkenny or the other 
 neighbouring counties. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF 
 
 THE SHEEP.— THE SENSORIAL FUNCTION. 
 
 That which is necessary to be known of the structure of the sheep, in 
 order to understand the most profitable way of managing him, and of pre- 
 venting or curing the diseases to which he is subject, will be most simply 
 and intelligibly stated by considering the various functions on the proper 
 discharge of which the existence and well-being of the animal depends, and 
 the parts which are concerned in the right discharge of these functions. 
 This review will naturally commence with the nervous system, the moving 
 power of the wliole machine. 
 
 The nervous system consists of the brain, to which all sensation is re- 
 ferred or carried, and from which all voluntary motion is derived — that 
 mysterious organ, on which depends the consciousness of surrounding 
 oijects, the sensations of pleasure and of pain — and, extending through 
 
 * Townsend's Survey of Cork, vol. i. p. 254. 
 
 t '• I doubt whether the Tipperary breed of iheep can be improved. The wool is 
 good ; it sells at 17.«. 6(/. per stone of 16 lbs. The clip is from 6 to 7 lbs., and the 
 hogget from 5 to 5^ lbs. It is a fine large sheep, sometimes called the Uexter." — 
 Mr. Robert's Agricultural Report, 1833. 
 
362 SHEEP. 
 
 more numerous species and lower grades of beings than some are willing 
 to allow, the powers of the mind, and the capability of moral feeling. 
 
 The spinal cord or marroxo may be considered as a prolongation of the 
 brain, or as connected with it for important purposes. It is enclosed in a 
 hollow tube, extending through the bones of the neck and chine; and as it 
 passes along it gives out branches on either side, which divide and subdivide, 
 and spread over every part of the frame. They are the nerves of sensation 
 and voluntary molion. By means of them the sense of feeling is bestowed 
 on every part of the body, and the mind is rendered conscious of every 
 external impression or change ; the volitions or determinations of the mind 
 also are couvey,ed to the difi'erenl portions of the frame, and the animal 
 moves and acts as the will dictates. 
 
 At the posterior and lower part of the brain, where the substance and 
 probably the influence of the cerebrum and the cerebellum, the great and 
 the little brain, unite — the medulla oblongata — are the organs of other 
 nerves connected with life itself, and governing all the involuntary motions 
 of the frame. By means of them the lungs heave, and the heart beats, and 
 the stomach digests the food : while from a situation out of the skull, but 
 close to its base, arises another set of nerves, likewise belonging to life itself, 
 and probably governing the functions of secretion and nutrition, and the 
 repair and welfare of the body generally. A very brief survey will be taken 
 of these important organs. 
 
 The brain of the sheep lies in an irregular oval-formed box, composed of 
 the same number of bones, and bearing the same names as in the horse 
 and the ox. The union between these bones is more intricate and dove- 
 tailed, and stronger in this animal than in the horse or the ox, because, 
 while the head of the sheep is destitute of that muscular covering and 
 defence which may be observed in the horse, and destitute also of the 
 greater part of that space and those long partitions which exist between 
 the two plates of the frontal bones of the ox, it is the weapon of offence in 
 the animal, whether horned or polled ; and the violence of the concussion, 
 when the sheep butt each other, renders great compactness and strength of 
 bony covering absolutely necessary. It will be interesting to compare 
 together the bones of the head in the horse or the dog with those of the 
 sheep. The head of the one is not formed to withstand'percussion, because 
 it is not exposed to it; the other having a dove-tailing, serrated, deep, and 
 intricate, beyond that which, for purposes of the greatest strength, is 
 resorted to by man. 
 
 The form of the skull is also more arched than in either the horse or the 
 ox, for the purpose of strength (pp. 109 and 3S4). The frontal bones occupy 
 the same relative position as in these animals ; but that portion of them 
 which protects the brain, the parietal bones, and which forms almost the 
 whole of the roof of the skull, is so depressed as to be out of all danger 
 when the animals are butting each other (pp. 370 and 3B4). A very small 
 portion only of that which actually covers the brain can receive the con- 
 cussion of the rude encounter. If these bones, and the all-important organ 
 which they cover, are not protected as in the horse by the yielding resist- 
 ance of the temporal muscle, or as in the ox, by a multitude of bony pillars 
 and partitions between tlie plates, they are more effectually preserved by 
 being lowered out of the way of danger. This is an evident proof of design. 
 
 The horns of the sheep, like those of the ox, consist of an internal bony 
 growth, being a projection from or prolongation of the frontal bones, and 
 that covered by a horny substance denser than in the ox. The formation 
 of this compound organ deserves more attention than has commonly been 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 363 
 
 paid to it. Two projections or tubercles may be seen on the young lamb, 
 arising from (he bones of the forehead, and covered by a portion of skin, 
 unusually thick and hard. This skin gradually becomes more and more 
 dense and insensible until it perfectly changes its character, and is con- 
 verted into a hard, elastic, fibrous substance, to which we give the name of 
 horn ; and which continues to cover, and affords efFectual protection to, the 
 bony tubercles beneath. Between the horn and the bone is a delicate mem- 
 brane, highly charged with blood-vessels, and from which curiously pro- 
 ceed both the bone and the horn. Its two surfaces have the power of 
 secreting two altogether different structures ; the inner one secreting the 
 bone, which continues to increase in length and in bulk ; while the exterior 
 surface is adding new layers of horny substance on the inner side of that 
 wliicli has been already deposited. 
 
 This double manufacture is very singularly carried on at the same time and 
 by the same membrane : the one a part of the frame, and continuing after- 
 wards to be nourished by vessels forming a portion of the general system ; 
 the other a mere excretion, destitute of vessels, consisting merely of layers 
 deposited in succession, and agglutinated to each other, and, once being 
 formed, removed entirely from the influence of the living principle*. 
 
 The growth or excretion of the horn may well be supposed to differ in 
 various points from the production of other parts that continue to be 
 identified with the living system. There seems to be an alternate inter- 
 mission and increase of the excretion, giving rise to certain irregularities on 
 the surface of the horn, confined mostly to the base of it in the ox and the 
 sheep, but extending through the greater part of it in the goat and the 
 antelope. These rings are supposed to give some tolerable indication of 
 the age of the animal : the irregularities, however, are influenced by 
 various circumstances, and are too much at the control of human knavery 
 in the ox. Still less dependence is to be placed upon them in the sheep; 
 but the teeth, as has already been shown (p. 4), yield sufficient and almost 
 unerring evidence with regard to the age of the animal. 
 
 It has been already stated that the primitive sheep were probably horned. 
 Those which the Israelites possessed during their wanderings in the desert 
 undoubtedly were so. The polled breed sprung from some accidental 
 variety, and was cherished on account of the superior quietness of the 
 animal and his aptitude to fatten. Of these points in modern sheep there 
 can be no doubt. Haifa century has scarcely passed since the rams of the 
 Romney-marsh breed were all of them horned. At a little greater distance 
 of time, the midland long-vvoolled sheep were horned. At the present day 
 almost all the long-woolled sheep, and the best of the short-woolled are 
 polled ; and he would be a bad farmer who would endeavour to recall this 
 useless appendage. f 
 
 * Roget's Auijnal and Vegetable Physiology, vol. i. 513. 
 
 f The best agricultural writers, two or three centuries ago, were strenuous adyocates 
 for the polled sheep. Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, in 1523, says, "The greater the horns 
 of youc ram the worse ; for the pollard is the chiefest ram." — The Booke of Hushandrie, 
 p, 46. Baruaby Googe, who wrote in 1614, says, " When he (the ram') knows himself 
 to be armed, he will alwaies be fighting and unruly among his ewes. The pollard, 
 finding himself unarmed, is milder and quieter by much; whereibre the shepherds, to 
 restrain the rage of the unruly, doe use to hange before his homes a little boord, wiih 
 sharpe pricks inward, which keepes him fiom his madness, when he perceiveth himself 
 to be hurt by his own blood. Others saj', if you pierce his homes with a wimble next 
 to the eares, where they winde inward, he will leave his brawling."' — p. 130. 
 
 Careful selection has succeeded much more perfectly with the pollard than the horned 
 breeds of sheep, in rendering them contented with their pasture and harmless ; but the 
 want of horns is not always accompanied by good temper. There is a broad-tailed polled 
 
364 SHEEP. 
 
 In crosses of the Leicester and the black-faced sheep the horns speedily 
 disappear. The first step is a singular one — they are moveable — they cease 
 to grow from the frontal bone, and either adhere to the integument alone, 
 or are superficially attached to the membrane of the bone below. ■ •--? 
 
 The Iceland sheep sometimes carry five or six horns. Three or four 
 constitute the original number. Those which grow straight, or nearly 
 straight, from the head, and which are seldom more than three, and never 
 more than four, are projections or continuations of the frontal bonea. 
 Those which curl below the ears, like the horns of the cross just spoken of, 
 either have their base imbedded in the skin, or occupy circular cavities in 
 tlie outer plate of the frontal bone, but do not form apart and portion of it*. 
 
 It is on account of the vascularity of the membrane just described that 
 so much htfimorrhage and inflammation often ensue from a fractured horn ; 
 and that it is so necessary to stop the bleeding by the application of the 
 heated iron, or to close up the opening with plasters of tar. The bone of 
 the horn does not extend so far into it as in the ox ; and fractures of the 
 horn in sheep are usually- nearer the base than they are in the ox. 
 
 THE BOX IN THE SINUSES OF THE HEAD. 
 
 Even in horned sheep the plates of the frontal bones are not so far sepa- 
 rated from each other as in the ox, nor are the frontal sinuses so extensive 
 (p. 384), yet the sheep is subject to an excessive annoyance, from which 
 the ox is comparatively exempt. There is a fly of the Diptera order (flies 
 with two wings, and behind them two globular bodies supported on slender 
 pedicles, called, and properly so, poisers), the Qistrus Ovis, or Gadfly 
 of the sheep. It assumes its perfect winged form in some uncertain period 
 from IMay to July, and then is an intolerable nuisance to the sheep, 
 especially in woody countries, and in the neighbourhood of copses. If only 
 one appears, the whole flock is in the greatest agitation. They gather 
 together, with their heads in the centre, and their muzzles buried in the 
 sand, if they can find any, and are in continual motion, stamping with their 
 feet, and snorting, in order to guard their noses against the assault of their 
 puny enemy ; then one of them, who is more especially attacked, will burst 
 from his companions, and gallop across the field, looking fearfully behind 
 him at every step. 
 
 The oestrus, impelled by powerful instinct, endeavours to deposit its eggs 
 on the inner margin of the nose. By the warmth and the moisture of the 
 part they are almost immediately hatched, and the larvae or little maggots 
 crawl up the nose, and find their way to the residence which nature designed 
 for them. In the act of passing up the nose they seem to give great annoy- 
 ance; for the sheep gallop furiously hither and thither, and seem almost 
 mad. 
 
 Mack ram at the present time in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, that has 
 floored most of the keepers, and is master over every sheep and every beast in the i)lace. 
 
 There is some truth in the observation of old Ellis, espt cially when it is considered how 
 larf^e and heavy the horns of some sheep are, or used to be : " It is the pole sheep that 
 are most beneficial to graziers, as they fat the sooner for having no horns, because the 
 nourishment that should go to the horns is employed in fatting the carcase." — TAe 
 Shepherd's Sure Guide, p. 45. There is one disadvantage, however, attending polled 
 sheep, if they are not quiet, — that they can get through many a hedge in which tlie 
 horned sheep would stick fast. 
 
 * A sheep was exhibited in 1754 having a horn growing from the throat, and adhering 
 to the skin of that part. It was 2 feet 7 inches iu length; 2 feet 2 inches m its greatest 
 circumference, and weighed 15 lbs. There were no horns in the natural place, but 
 only two stumps, like two small Walnut-shells, laid on a fiat surface. — Geni/emaii s Mug,, 
 Nov., 1756. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHKKP. 365 
 
 Having traced their circuitous course througii an aperture under the 
 turbinated bone into the maxillary sinus, tiiey sometimes lodge tliere ; 
 others proceed tlience into the frontal sinus, and some reach the cavity of 
 the bone of the horn (p. 384). They are found occasionally in every 
 cavity with which that of the nose communicates. When it has arrived at, 
 or selected, its place of residence, the larva fixes itself on the membrane 
 of the sinus by means of two tentacula or hooks, which grow from the side 
 of the mouth ,- and there it remains, feeding on the mucus secreted by this 
 membrane, from June or July to May or June. 
 
 1. The larva or bot of the oestrus ovis half grown. All these figures, except the last, 
 are of the natural size. 
 
 2. Tlie same at its full growth. 
 
 3. The under part of the larva, showing the tentacula, and the mode of progression, 
 
 4. The oestrus ovis in the pupa state. 
 
 5 — 6. The shell after the fly has escaped, and showing the manner in which it was 
 effected. 
 
 7. — 8. The oestrus, giving a side and a full-length view of it. 
 
 9. The head of the oestrus, magnified, showing particularly the tentacula, and the 
 apparent want of a mouth. 
 
 The larva is composed of eleven rings, which form a species of cone a 
 little flattened. Fig. 1, represents it having attained about one-half of its 
 growth. It is white, with the exception of two small brown patches by the 
 side of each other at its tail ; these are the posterior stigmata, which are 
 sometimes erect, but generally enclosed within the last ring as in a purse. 
 Below and in the same ring is the anus, concealed by some fleshy folds. 
 On either side, as seen at fig. 3, is a fleshy appendage, the use of which is 
 not known. 
 
 In fig. 2 it is represented at its full size, and it will be seen that it is 
 larger than the bot of the horse, but smaller than that which is sometimes 
 found in the warbles on the backs of cattle. The head is armed with two 
 crotchets (see figs. 3 and 9) ; they are strong, and of a brown colour, and 
 have the appearance of little horns. By means of them the bot attaches 
 itself to the membrane of the cavity in which it is contained. The whiteness 
 of the young bot has now partially disappeared. The most elevated of the 
 
366 SHEEP. 
 
 rings, and particularly of those reaching from the middle of the back to 
 the tail, have gradually changed to a pale and afterwards to a dark brovvii ; 
 and on each ring are three or four round spots of a still darker colour. At 
 the edge of each of the rings are a few short stems or bristles ; and below 
 them (see fig. 2) are some small rounded spots of a darker colour. 
 
 The fleshy portions between the rings on the belly of the larva are 
 covered with small red spines, the points of which turn backward. They 
 may be felt by drawing the finger lightly over the bot from the tail to the 
 head. These spmes probably assist in progression. 
 
 At some time between the middle of April and the end of July, these 
 larvue have attained their full growth, and seek to escape from their prison. 
 They give great annoyance to the sheep while this is taking place, who 
 again are continually stamping with their feet, and violently sneezing. It 
 is rarely that the exit of the grub from the nose is seen, owing to the im- 
 patience of the sheep, and his tossing of the head and continual sneezing. 
 They who would make themselves acquainted with the appearance of the 
 bot must purchase some sheep's heads at this time of the year, and saw 
 them open. A great many will be found without any bots ; a great many 
 others will have one bot, some will have two, and a few will have three. 
 It is not often that that number is exceeded; although, in a few instances, 
 the head of the sheep has contained nearly a dozen of them *. 
 
 AVhen the worms are caught in the act of expulsion from the nose, or 
 are taken in their perfect state from the cavities of a newly-killed sheep, 
 they are very restless, and are continually marching, or rather dragging 
 
 * These worms are not confined to the sheep, but are found also in the s-inuses of the 
 head of goats and of deer. On their native mountains floats seem to suffer more from 
 these bots than sheep do. The larva of the oestrus ovis was known in veiy ancient 
 times. Alexander Trallien, a phj'sician who flourished about the year 560, makes men- 
 tion of these worms as a remedy against ejiilepsy, and of their efficacy for this purpose 
 being indicated by Apollo himself. He says that an Athenian of the name of Demo- 
 crates was tormented in his youth by freijuent fits, until at length he consulted the 
 oracle of Delphos as to the mtans of cure. Tlie answer givt-n by the Pythian priestess 
 is differently repurted. Trallien himself gives the following as the answer, changed, 
 however, into Latin verse : — 
 
 " Quos madidis cevebvi latebris procrcare capelia 
 Dicitur humores, vermem de vertice longum." 
 
 "Take the long worm from the crown, the humours which the goat is said to produce 
 in the dark cells of the brain." 
 
 Others give a different version to the oracle : — 
 
 " De grege sume caprae majores ruris alumna 
 Ex cerebro vermes. Ovis, date tergora circum 
 Multiplici vermi pecoris de fronte revulso. " 
 
 " Take, out of thy flock, the larger worms from the brain of the goat, the rural nurse ; 
 and thou, oh sheep ! lend the hide that envelops thee to the worm expelled from the 
 forehead of the herd." 
 
 Democrates was little aufait at the history of insects, and probably had never heard 
 of the existence of the bot in the head ot sheep and goats (Valisnieri, from whom 
 Reaumur, and every succeeding naturalist, has borrowed much on this subject, says 
 that he was unable to persuade the shepherds in his time that such a worm did really 
 exist) ; and the more he thought of the response of the priestess the less he understood 
 it ; he therefore went to an old man, ninety-eight years of age, who, after poring a little 
 over the enigma, suddenly broke out into expressions of admiration of the wisdom of the 
 god. He tohl the inquirer that worms were bred in the heads of goats and sheep towards 
 the base of the horn ; that they were ejected during violent sneezing, and that he must 
 endeavour to catch them in sheep-skins before they reached the ground ; or, according 
 to another interpretation, that he must string them on a piece of worsted, and wear 
 them as an amulet round liis neck. — Me^oires pour servir a THistoire des Insectes, par 
 Reaumur, vol. iv. p. 556. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 3r,7 
 
 themselves rapidly along-. When placed upon tlie Land, tliey find tlieir 
 way to the division of the fingers, and, using the points of their crotcliets, 
 they endeavour to force them apart. They soon get to the bottom of the 
 loose earth or powder in the usual insect box ; and if they are placed on the 
 ground, and tlie soil is tolerably light, they very speedily bury themselves 
 in it, and are lost. Those, however, that are not arrived at maturity will 
 quicklv perish for want of the nutriment from which they were too soon 
 taken. Those that survive, in order to undergo their pupa state, form to 
 themselves no artificial covering, but their skin gradually contracts and 
 hardens around them. In twenty-four hours it begins to resist the pressure 
 of tlie finger, and at the expiration of the second day the larva has become 
 a perfect chrysalis. Fig. 4 gives an accurate representation of it. It is 
 smaller than in its first stage of existence, but retains much of the same 
 appearance, except that it has become of a more uniform brown black 
 colour. 
 
 According as the season is more or less favourable, or in proportion to 
 the warmth of the bed or the box in which the insect has taken refuge, the 
 time of the pupa stage of existence is lengthened or shortened. M. Valis- 
 nieri states that a worm which he took on July the 5th underwent its final 
 change at the expiration of forty days ; but sixty-three days passed before 
 one that he found in April became a perfect fly. Notwithstamiing the hard- 
 ness of the chrysalis, they seemed to escape from their prison with perfect 
 ease. A small part of the head of the pupa becomes detached, and the fly 
 creeps out. Figs. 5 and 6 give a sufficiently accurate idea of this. 
 
 The fiy is considerably smaller than the size of the larva would indicate. 
 Its head and corslet, taken together, are as long as the body ; and that is 
 composed of five rings, tiger-coloured on the bacl^, with some small points, 
 and larger patches of a deep brown colour. The belly is of nearly the same 
 colour, but has only one large circular spot on the centre of each of the 
 rings. See figs. 7 and 8, which represent the oestrus of the natural size 
 and appearance. The length of the wings is nearly equal to that of the 
 body, which they almost entirely cover. They are prettily striped and 
 marked. The poisers are concealed by the small and shelly portion of the 
 wings. 
 
 The head of the fly is singularly formed. It is large in proportion fro_ 
 the general bulk of the insect. The eyes have the appearance of net-work, 
 and are of a deep and changeable green colour. They occupy less space 
 upon the head than those of most other flies. In the small space between 
 them are placed three other minute eyes, in the form of a triangle. They 
 may be discovered in a tolerable light, or by a lens of small power. The 
 rest of the head is yellow and seemingly hollow. It appears as if it were 
 perforated by a great number of small holes, like a piece of sponge, and at 
 the bottom of each of these cavities a small black spot appears. On the 
 anterior and under part of the head are two short antennae with large bul- 
 bous bases ; see fig. 9. There are very few hairs on the head, but many 
 on the body, sides, and legs. A little beneath, and towards the throat, are 
 three little brown spots or projections, in the form of a triangle. The fly 
 has neither proboscis nor teeth, and its mouth, if it has one, is between these 
 tubercles, and immediately behind the superior one ; but it has never been 
 distinctly seen, and it is usual for naturalists to describe this fly as not 
 taking any nourishment during its last and perfect state, but living merely 
 for one purpose, the propagation of its species. It is, however, a negative 
 account which must after all be given, — the fly has never been seen to eat. 
 M. Valisnieri has repeatedly offered these insects sugar and syrup, but 
 
368 SHEEP. 
 
 they could not be induced to touch it, altliough he kept one of them more 
 than two montlis. 
 
 The oestrus ovis is not the only fly which is believed to live for one im- 
 portant purpose alone. The same account is given of some species of 
 butterflies, the male of which dies as soon as the female is impregnated ; 
 but she lingers on until she has found a proper receptacle for her ova, when 
 she too expires, nature having denied to both of them the organs for the 
 prehension and the digestion of their food. 
 
 The flies, both male and female, seem to be inert and sleepy beings : they 
 will remain motionless on the side of the box for many a successive day. 
 After the difl'erent sexes have been brought together, as it were by chance, 
 the male resumes his motionless position for an uncertain time ; generally 
 but for a few hours — occasionally for some days — and then he dies ; some- 
 times, however, having impregnated a second or a third female. The female 
 likewise continues to exhibit the same picture of still life until her ova are 
 ready to be produced. The flies are to be seen at these periods on the rails 
 and walls in the neighbourhood of some flock of sheep, and the shepherd, 
 and the shepherd's boy, should be taught to distinguish and destroy them. 
 
 Both French and English writers give a fearful account of the mischief 
 which the larva effects in its dark abode. Gasparin* speaks of frequent 
 convulsions, giddiness, and half unconsciousness, distinguished from turn- 
 sick by the violent sneezing with which it is accompanied. When the larva 
 is creeping to its destined abode, and when, having reached its mature state, 
 it is restless in its habitation, and seeking a way to escape, the sheep un- 
 doubtedly suffers considerable annoyance, which it manifests by stamping 
 and sneezing; but otherwise, during the whole of the protracted abode of 
 the insect in the sinuses of the head, there is no symptom by which its 
 existence, much less the mischief which it is supposed to effect, can be 
 ascertained. It may be supposed that when parasites like these find their 
 way to cavities or parts of the frame which nature never destined for their 
 habitation, the animal who unwillingly affords them shelter may be much 
 inconvenienced, and serious disease may be set up ; but it is incompatible 
 with that wisdom and goodness that are more and more evident in propor- 
 tion as the phenomena of nature are closely examined, that the destined re- 
 sidence of the oestrus ovis should be productive of continued inconvenience 
 or disease. There are no indications of cerebral irritation in the sheep 
 which may not be fairly traced to other causes ; and the permanent comfort 
 and health, much less the life, of the sheep, would not be sacrificed to so 
 insignificant a being. 
 
 There are two ways in which it may be imagined fhat these bots are 
 serviceable, rather than injurious to the sheep ; and it is seldom that nature 
 has recourse to expedients like those which have been described, except the 
 benefit of both the parties concerned is promoted. Sheep are notoriously 
 liable to determinations of blood to the head, and to inflammation of the 
 brain. When a medical man suspects or is assured of this inflammatory 
 disease in his patient, he endeavours to set up some counter-irritation, and 
 in a neighbouring part ; and he thus diminishes or neutralizes, or entirely 
 gets rid of the evil which he feared. Nature may possibly have placed this 
 source of irritation, the presence, and sucking, and occasional motions of 
 the hot in the frontal sinuses, or at the root of the horns, in order to pre- 
 vent or to diminish the tendency to cerebral disease, to which the sheep 
 would otherwise be subject. This is Mr. Clark's suggestion. 
 
 * Gasparin, Manuel d'Art Veterinaire, p. 468. Hurtrel D'Arboval Met. Vero. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 366 
 
 It should also be recollected that the sheep feeds close to the ground — 
 much closer than does the ox ; and therefore the nasal passages are exposed 
 to annoyance, from the inhaling of dust and sand, and the intrusion of 
 insects. Nature has given the ox a provision against this, in the abundant 
 secretion of dew on the muzzle, and the singular length of the tongue, by 
 which every nuisance may be washed and wiped away, Tlie sheep has 
 apparently no defence. May not tliis habitation have been assigned to the 
 bot in order that, by his presence in the frontal and other sinuses, a certain 
 but not injurious degree of irritation may be excited, which shall increase 
 the mucous secretion, and by causing it to be constantly yet notannoyingly 
 or injuriously flowing down the nose, carrying away the accumulating 
 dust, and rendering the climbing of the insect more difficult or impossible. 
 This, however, is all surmise ; but it has a good foundation — the tendency 
 of the instincts and habits of animals to the increase of enjoyment, and not 
 suffering. 
 
 Doubting then the existence of the mischief supposed by some to be 
 effected by the bot, it would be useless to speak of ihe remedv any farther 
 than this, that the deposit of the larvae in undue numbers should, if possible, 
 be prevented ; for in spite of all our efforts a sufficient, or more than suffi- 
 cient number of them will find their way to this strange abode, and accom- 
 plish the design of nature. The shepherd should, therefore, be taught to 
 recognize tlie fly and to destroy it. 
 
 The French and Spanish writers recommend the use of the trephine. It 
 is true that the worm is generally found in the frontal sinus, but it is im- 
 possible to predict this with certainty. It has been found in the turbinated 
 bones of the nose (fig. 13 and 14, p. 884) ; it may inhabit the sinuses 
 of the jaw (fig. 17, p. 384), or it may have crept to the upper part of the 
 bone of the horn (fig. 5, p. 384). If relief was ever obtained by the use of 
 the trephine, it was not in consequence of the removal of the bot, but was 
 attributable to the bleeding that was the necessary accompaniment of the 
 operation, and by which the inflammation or congestion was diminished*. 
 
 The foramen or aperture in the bones of the forehead, for the passage of 
 blood-vessels to supply that part, penetrates, us in the ox, through the fron- 
 tal sinuses, both in the horned and polled breeds ; and as the forehead of 
 the sheep, like that of the ox, is comparatively larger than the same part 
 in the horse, there are usually two foramina on either side ; and the vessels, 
 as they escape, sink into a sulcus or trench, along which they pass with per- 
 fect security. (See fig. 6, p. 370.) This is another illustration of design. 
 In animals who use their heads as weapons of offence these blood-vessels 
 would soon be injured and destroyed if they were not thus protectetl. 
 
 THE FORM OF THE HEAD. 
 
 In order to afford space for the attachment or origin of the horns, the 
 frontal bones project both forward and laterally, which gives the peculiar 
 breadth of forehead and prominence of the eye to the sheep. This form 
 of the upper part of the face is retained in breeds from which the horn has' 
 long ago disappeared ; but it is most apparent in the English horned breeds, 
 and more particularly in the many-horned breeds of foreign countries. 
 
 The orbitar process of the frontal bones, or ihat process which c. ntributes 
 to the formation and the strength of the zygomatic arch in the horse (see 
 
 * The French reader is referred to " Memoires pour servir a I'Histoire des Insectes," 
 par Reaumur, vol. iv. p. 552 : and the English reader to Mr. Bracy Clark's Essay on tlie 
 CEstrus, in the third volume of ihe Linnaean Transactions, and which is the most ■ati8» 
 factory account of these bots which has yet been published. 
 
 2 B 
 
370 
 
 SHKEP. 
 
 p. 66, Horse) does not in the sheep, any more than in the ox, enter at all 
 into tlie composition of this arch, because in the ruminant the food is more 
 leisurely masticated, and the teeth are not the weapons of offence, and 
 tlierefore peculiar strength is not needed ; and also, because the side of the 
 head is not in these animals exposed to the violence and injury from which 
 the horse occasionally suffers. 
 
 THE SKULL OF A POLLED SHEEP. 
 
 1. The occipital bone depressed out of the reach of danger. 
 
 2. The parietal bones, the suture having disappeared, and also 
 out of danger. 
 
 3. The squamous portions of the temporal bone — the buttress of 
 the arc-h of the skull. 
 
 4. The meatus auditorius, or bony opening into the ear. 
 
 5. The frontal bones. [forehead. 
 
 6. The openings through which blood-vessels pass to supply the 
 
 7. The bony orbits of the eye. 
 
 8. The zygomatic or molar bones. 
 
 9. The lachrymal bones,"Tery much developed. 
 
 10. The bones of the nose. 
 
 11. The upper jaw-lone. 
 
 12. The foramen, through which the nerves and blood-vessels 
 proceed to supply the lower part of the face. 
 
 13. The nasal processes of the intermaxillary bones. 
 
 14. The pelatine processes 
 
 15. The intermaxillary bone, supporting the cartilaginous pad, 
 instead of containing teeth. 
 
 The bones of the skull are thus disposed of in the sheep. The frontal 
 bones occupy the whole of the broad expanse on the top of the head, 
 extending from eye to eye. (See fig. 5.) They are prolonged as far below 
 the eye as above it, encroaching upon and materially shortening the nasal 
 bones (10,10). Above, they reach to the parietal bones (fig. 2.) ; but, 
 before they arrive at this point, the head takes a sudden inclination down- 
 wards, and a little of the posterior part of the frontal bones, that which is 
 most concerned in covering the brain, is out of the reach of danger. See 
 also the cut, p. 384. 
 
 The concussion is tremendous when these animals rush against each 
 other in good earnest ; but from the peculiar arched form and the strength 
 of the bones which come in contact here, and the depression of the greater 
 part of the brain far below, serious mischief is seldom effected. The horn 
 is occasionally broken ; the ribs, the limbs, may sometimes be fractured ; 
 at the rutting season the contest may end only with the death of one of the 
 combatants ; but it is comparatively seldom that the skull is fatally injured. 
 
 The parietal hones of the sheep (fig. 2), although not elevated to the 
 summit of the arch, as in the horse, yet resume the function of which they 
 were deprived in cattle. They constitute an important part of the posterior 
 and slanting division of the skull, and have the same dense and firm struc- 
 ture which they possessed in the horse. At an early period of the life of 
 the animal they are formed, as in the horse and cattle, of two distinct bones ; 
 but the suture between thern soon disappears in the sheep, and they become 
 Dne continuous bony arch over the greater part of the brain. Consider- 
 able strength is necessary here in order to sustain or neutralize those violent 
 concussions which may occasionally be propagated from the frontal bones 
 above. 
 
 The squamous portion of the temporal bones is seen at fig. 3, at the 
 base of the arch, overlapping the lower part of the parietal bone, forming a 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 371 
 
 kind of buttress, and so contributing to the strength of the structure. The 
 situation oi the petroxts portion is marked bj' fig. 4, where is the meatus 
 auditorms externus, or bony passage leading to tlie ear. 
 
 The occipitalhone (fig. 1), forming the posterior and firmest base of the 
 cranial arch, may be traced at the edge of the parietal bones : and, con- 
 stituting the floor of the arch, but not seen in this cut are the ethmoid and 
 sphenoid bones — the former placed anteriorly, and the latter posteriorly. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SIZE OF THE HEAD. 
 
 The head of the sheep constitutes one of the principal points by which 
 his quality and profitableness may be judged of. Compared with his gene- 
 ral size, it should be small, and, particularly, not wide between the eyes; 
 too great width of forehead is an invariable proof of inaptitude to fatten, at 
 least externally. The sheep with a large head will be a favourite with the 
 butcher, because in proportion to the slowness with which he gets into con- 
 dition will be the accumulation of fat within, even if there was no natural 
 tendency to produce tallow : in other words, there will be more profit to 
 himself at the expense of the grazier and the consumer. The head should 
 be small, thin, and short. It is possible, yet not probable, that this may 
 be carried to too great an extent ; but that head must be disproportionately 
 small which can be considered as a proof of too great delicacy of constitu- 
 tion. There is considerable danger in lambing when the head of the 
 sheep is large, for the lamb will generally possess the characteristic form 
 of the sire. Mr. Price relates an anecdote which well illustrates this prin- 
 ciple. " A grazier in A[)pledore," says he, " employed Leicester rams for 
 several years, and obtained a breed with very small head and kindly dispo- 
 sition ; but he objected that they were not large enough, and did not fetch 
 a good price at market ; he therefore, in the summer of 1804, hired some 
 large Kentish rams, to give him size, as he called it. In the following 
 lambing time he lost twelve ewes in lambing, from the largeness of the 
 lamb's heads, and he was obliged to draw almost all his young ewe lambs. 
 In 1806 he had the same difficulty to encounter, and liis loss amounted to 
 nine ewes out of 250, from this cause alone *." 
 
 Tne sheep ofien suffers much from the fly attacking the head; but this 
 will be best considered wlien the general mischief occasioned by the fly is 
 taken into consideration. 
 
 SWELLED HEAD. 
 
 The sheep, browsing so close to the ground as it does, is sometimes 
 subject to swelled head from being stung by vipers, and occasionally by 
 venomous insects. The wool should be cut off round the wound, which 
 should then be well washed with warm water, and afterwards plenty of 
 olive oil should be rubbed in, and small doses of hartshorn diluted with 
 water administered internally : half a scruple of the hartshorn in an ounce 
 of water will be the proper dose, and should be administered every hour. 
 
 The Ettrick Shepherd describes a disease uf the head among the Scottish 
 sheep, almost or quite unknown south of the Tweed. He says that on 
 some of the Kells hills in Galloway, and on some of the most easterly of the 
 Grampian mountains, and also in the forest of Skye, such of the sheep as 
 frequent the bare tops of the hills, except they are driven from them every 
 night, are subject to a disease called the great head. It seems to be an 
 affection of the cellular substance beneath the skin — the head rapidly en^ 
 
 * Price on Sheeji, p. 44. 
 
 2 B 3 
 
,172 SHEEP. 
 
 larges, and at length an abscess is formed: after this the sheep quickly 
 recovers, unless he is worn down and destroyed by the profuseness of the 
 discharge. 
 
 " On the mountains around Cairn Gorm and Lochavin, the natives 
 ascribe il to an amusing, but very ridiculous cause. They say that a most 
 deformed little monster inhabits the tops of these mountains, whom they 
 call phaam; that he is very seldom seen, but whenever he is seen, it is 
 very early in the morning, immediately afier tlie break of day; his head is 
 lar^rer than his whole body — his intents are evil and dangerous — and he is 
 no earthly creature. If any man or animal comes near to the place where 
 he has been, before the sun shines upon it, the head of that man or animal 
 will immediately swell enormously, and death will often follow, after very 
 great pain has been endured. The baneful influence of this elf or goblin 
 is often very severely felt among the mountain flocks * " 
 
 Tiie most probable way of accounting for this is either to suppose it oc- 
 casioned by some poisonous herbage that grows on these mountains, but 
 the precise nature of which has not yet been ascertained, or to consider it as 
 one of those species of catarrh or influenza, such as would be likely to pre- 
 vail in these desolate wilds, and a not unfrequent symptom of which is sud- 
 den and great enlargement of the head and throat, threatening speedy suf- 
 focation. This is usually followed by one or more abscesses, the discharge 
 from which is profuse, and the signal either of the commencement of re- 
 covery or of gangrene and death. A disease of this character is sometimes 
 epidemic among horses. 
 
 THE BRAIN. 
 
 Enclosed within the bones that have been described lies the brain. It 
 possesses the same form as in the horse and the ox, but is a little more 
 prolonged in proportion to its size, and broader posteriorly than anteriorly. 
 On looking attentively at it, it is perceived to be a little larger, in propor- 
 tion to the size of the animal, than is the brain of the ox ; and, in point of 
 fact, the brain of the ox is about 1 -800th part of the weight of the animal, 
 while the brain of the sheep is l-750th. This important organ is in the 
 sheep, as in the animals already treated of in this series, composed of two 
 substances, very different in appearance and structure — the one, from its 
 situation on the outside of the brain, termed the cortical, or from its reddish 
 ashe7i colour, the cineritious substance ; and the other, found more deeply 
 within the brain, and termed, from its ^pulpy na.ture,the medullary substance. 
 (See cut of the section of the head, p. 384, fig. a and b.) 
 
 These two substances, according to the opinion of the best physiologists, 
 discharge two distinct functions: the cineritious is connected with the 
 mind — it possesses the faculty of receiving impressions from surrounding 
 objects, and of generating or producing power ; the medullary substance 
 conveys the external impression and the mandates of the will ; — the one 
 connected with intelligence and power, the other being little more than a 
 conductor. The proportion of the two substances appears to be nearly 
 the same in the sheep as in the ox, or, if there is any difference, the pro- 
 jections are bolder, and the layer of cineritious substance is proportion- 
 ably deeper, in the sheep than in the ox. 
 
 THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE SHEEP. 
 
 Does this imply that the intellectual power is greater in the sheep than 
 in the ox ? — Experience and observation would not justify this conclusion. 
 
 * Hogg's Shepherd's Guide, p. 113. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. SfS 
 
 The education of the two animals, however, is not alike : the one is trained 
 to be the servant and, in a manner, the companion of man, in more respects 
 than one ; much kindness is often bestowed upon him, and his education 
 is conducted with considerable care and labour : our connexion with the 
 other extends no further than driving him to and from his pasture, and 
 that at the expense of much fright and occasional injury, and subjecting him 
 to painful restraint and sad fright when we are depriving him of his fleece. 
 The intellectual faculties of the one are systematically cultivated, whether 
 in the dairy oi at the plough — those of the other are as systematically de- 
 pressed. 
 
 If; however, we look at the sheep either in a state of nature, or by pecu- 
 liar circumstances roused to the exercise of his powers, he is not so " silly'" 
 as some have represented him to be. The Mouflon, the wild sheep, is an 
 intelligent and courageous animal, capable of escaping, by artifice and 
 swiftness of flight, from his larger foes, or of beating off" his smaller enemies, 
 by a dexterous use of the weapons that nature has given him. Even in his 
 domesticated state, if a bull and a ram are placed in the same pasture, the 
 latter, from the very commencement, will submit to no injury or insult, and 
 if provoked to serious combat will rarely fail to beat his gigantic opponent. 
 In the gardens belonging to the Zoological Society of London is a beauti- 
 ful and powerful Brahmin bull ; he is managed with tolerable ease by his 
 keepers, but he often shows to visiters who are inclined to be too familiar, 
 that he is not to be approached without danger. It is sometime? necessary 
 to place a ram in the same house and paddock with him ; the question of 
 mastery is almost uniformly to be tried before they can quietly associate 
 together, and in every case he has been beaten by his lesser antagonist. 
 Like cattle generally, he holds his head low, and, receiving the furious butt 
 of the ram full on his forehead, he very soon withdraws from such violent 
 and painful concussions. 
 
 The domesticated flock of sheep, whatever show of resistance they may 
 occasionally make, are usually put to speedy flight by a determined indivi- 
 dual — all except the ewe, who, contrary to the assertion of Buffon, re- 
 mains with her lamb, and braves all danger in its defence ; but in propor- 
 tion as the sheep are withdrawn from the control and protection of man 
 they become courageous. In some of the northern parts of the kingdom 
 they range on extensive mountains, and are scarcely seen during many 
 successive weeks. A ram will then boldly attack a single dog, and generally 
 be victorious. Should several foxes or strange dogs come in sight, the 
 sheep adapt their defence to the degree of danger. They form themselves 
 into a cwnpact body, placing the females and the young behind, while the 
 males take the foremost ranks, keeping closely by each other, and pre- 
 senting an armed front to their enemy. In this order they advance upon 
 their assailants, and when they have come within a certain distance, the 
 rams rush forward, and generally destroy their foe*. 
 
 Mr. Hall, in his *' Travels in Scotland," relates a ludicrous yet 
 somewhat serious encounter which he had with a flock of sheep there. 
 " I was one day," says he, " climbing the mountain of Belrinnis. 
 On reaching the top I found mvself in a cloud, whence I could not see 
 any object distinctly at the distance of more than a few yards. As there 
 was a fine breeze I hoped that the cloud would disperse ; and although I 
 felt exceedingly cold and hungry, I resolved to remain there a little while. 
 VVhile I was walking about to keep myself warm, I perceived something 
 
 * Illustratioija of Natural History, p. 110. 
 
374 SHEEP. 
 
 of an unco.Timon appearance at a little distance from me, and I approached 
 it, not indeed without fear. I found it to be a phalanx of sheep drawn up 
 on the top of the hill, and ready to defend themselves against attack. They 
 were arranged in a kind of wedge, presenting its blunt end foremost ; in 
 the middle of the line was a large ram, with a black forehead and a tre- 
 mendous pair of horns ; a number v)f weaker ones were in the rear, not 
 one of them eating, but looking stern. y upon me. 1 was not at first afraid, 
 knowing them to be only sheep, and yet I was not perfectly easy, for if any 
 fox appeared, they might kill me in chasing him. 
 
 " These sheep had been sent into the mountain, in April or May, where 
 the owners seldom look after them until October. When they gather them- 
 selves together at night, one of them is always placed at a little distance 
 as a sentinel. They never descend into the valley at night, or rest in any 
 low and sheltered place, but, even in the most stormy weather, they are on 
 the top of the hill or on rising ground, and if they are attacked by foxes 
 or dogs, their assailants rarely fail to pay for their temerity with their lives*. 
 Seeing them, however, in this warlike array, I began gradually to feel a 
 little alarm, and deeming discretion to be the better part of valour, I slowly 
 retired. As the distance between us increased, their line was neither so 
 straight nor compact ; but if I stopped, and again advanced a few steps 
 towards them, they looked steadily at me, and formed their line with 
 greater precision and closeness, and had I attempted to attack them, I am 
 convinced that they would have resisted. I had once a great mind to try, 
 but I confess that my courage failed me when I observed them seemingly 
 bending their knees in order to make one simultaneous rush upon me." It 
 is education and habit only that have made the sheep a coward. 
 
 ATTACHMENT TO EACH OTHER. 
 
 There are few animals who form so steady and permanent an affection 
 for each other. There is scarcely a flock in which the same sheep are not 
 always seen side by side searching for food, or ruminating in the fold ; 
 hence the practice of including them all if possible in one fold at night, 
 that the friends may not be parted. Some careless shepherds are inatten- 
 tive to this. A writer in an agricultural periodical gives them some very 
 good advice on this point. " Here I shall observe, — and the observation 
 ought to have its due weight with the shepherd in the disposal of his flock 
 during the night, — that the sheep which have been together during the 
 day, and have been making eager and joint exertions for a scanty subsist- 
 ence, and have alternately sheltered each other from the biting blast and 
 the sufi^ocating drift, and by their perseverance and mutual endeavours have 
 stimulated and supported each other during the day, and have become en- 
 deared to each other, should not be separated at night. Their being 
 forcibly parted in the division of the flock has frequently been productive of 
 a degree of alarm and distress that could scarcely be conceived possible ; 
 
 • An inclination to congregate on the tops of the hills, through the darkness and si- 
 lence of the night, is nearly as powerful a sentiment as an}- that actuates the sheep in 
 his wild state ; and also when, in his domesticated one, he is much left to his own re- 
 sources and habits in a mountainous country. It may not be so evident during the 
 short nights of summer ; but, at the approach of winter, when it would be thought that 
 they would look about for some comfortable shelter from the storm, they eagerly seek 
 the highest and most exposed situation in their walk. Without the exception of a single 
 sheep, they collect themselves on the summit of their respective hills. No snow can 
 overwhelm them there, and no foe can steal upon them unobserved. — Edinburgh Far- 
 mer's Magazine, Feb. 1824. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP 375 
 
 the whole fold has been in one state of continued disturbance ; and they 
 who have had observation and feeling enough to appreciate what may oc- 
 casionally pass in the mind of a sheep, have traced to this, or to a similar 
 cause, the after-declension of strength, and the inability to endure the in- 
 clemency of the season *." 
 
 Whoever will closely observe these unjustly-despised animals cannot 
 fail of acknowledging the truth of the remark of one who was born and 
 bred among them : — " The marked character of the sheep is that of natural 
 affection, of which it possesses a great share." At the present moment, 
 there is, in the Regent's Park, a poor sheep with very bad foot-rot. Crawl- 
 ing along the pasture on its knees, it with difficulty contrives to procure for 
 itself subsistence ; and the pain which it suffers when compelled to get on 
 its feet is evidently very great. The author had heard that in such case, a 
 companion will be seen at a little distance from the sufferer, and that if 
 that companion is closely regarded, it will always be found to be the same 
 sheep. He found it to be literally the case here. As he pursued his 
 regular morning's walk through the Park, he regularly sought out the 
 friends, and after two or three days, they seemed to he aware that no harm 
 was intended to them, and they suffered him to approach sufficiently near 
 to observe and to comprehend their intercommunication of signals, and 
 fully to satisfy himself that it was always the same faithful adherent by 
 whom the cripple was solaced and watched. When a sheep becomes blind, 
 it is rarely abandoned to itself in this hapless and helpless slate : some 
 one of the flock attaches himself to it, and, by bleating, calls it back from 
 the precipice, and the lake, and the pool, and every kind of danger f." 
 
 When the scenes and the duties of the lambing season are described^ it 
 will appear that the sheep will not yield to any animal in intense affection 
 for her young. Two or three anecdotes only shall be* told in this place, 
 showing that, if the attachment to offspring, even in the sheep, ceases with the 
 necessity for it, it continues until that period ; and prompts to more exertion 
 of intelligence than some naturalists have thought this animal capable of. 
 " A gentleman of Inverness, while passing through a lonely and unfre- 
 quented district, observed a sheep bleating most piteously,and hurrying along 
 the road to meet him ; on his approaching nearer, the animal redoubled 
 its cries, and, looking earnestly in the face of the traveller, seemed to im- 
 plore some favour or assistance. Touched with a sight so unusual, he 
 alighted ; and, leaving his gig, he followed the sheep to a field in the direc- 
 tion whence it had come. There, in a solitary cairn, the ewe stopped: and 
 t he traveller found a lamb, completely wedged in between two large stones 
 of the cairn, .ilmost exhausted, but still continuing to struggle feebly. He 
 instantly extricated the little sufferer, and placed it safely on the neighbour- 
 ing greensward, while the mother poured out her thanks in a long-conti- 
 nued and grateful, if not a musical, strain X" 
 
 That the sheep can transfer its affection to other animals many an inte- 
 resting and amusing history of the pet-lamb would sufficiently prove. " I 
 have seen," says Mr. Jesse, " a sheep which was brought up by hand, and 
 which had only a solitary horse to bestow its affections upon, forsaking 
 those of its own species, and quietly grazing near its early friend §." 
 
 *• An interesting provision of nature, with regard to these animals, is, that 
 '^he more inhospitable the land is on which they feed, the greater will be their 
 
 * Edinburgh Farmer's Magazine, Aug. 1824 
 
 t The Shepherd's Calendar, vol. ii. p. 188. 
 
 X Brown's Biographical Sketches of Quadrupeds, p. 569. 
 
 § Jesse's Gleanings of Natural History, vol. iii. p. 66. 
 
376 SHEEP. 
 
 kindness and attenlion to their young. I once herded two years on a wild 
 and bare farm, called Willenslee, on the border of Mid Lothian ; and of all 
 the sheep I ever saw, these were the kindest and most affectionate to their 
 voiing. We had one very bad winter, so that our sheep grew lean in the 
 spring, and the tiiwarter-ill came among them, and carried off many. 
 Often have I seen these poor victims, when fallen down to rise no more, 
 and even when unable to lift their heads from the ground, holding up the 
 leg to invite the starving lamb to the miserable pittance that the udder 
 could still supply." 
 
 " It is well known that it is a custom with shepherds, when a lamb dies, 
 if the mother has a sufficiency of milk, to put another lamb to her. This 
 is done by placing the skin of the dead lamb upon a living one, and thus 
 acquiring something of the smell of her own progeny, and being put to her 
 in a dark confined place, she accepts and nourishes it as her own. If it 
 does not speak much in favour of her intelligence, it illustrates her maternal 
 affection, that after the supposititious one has sucked her two or three times, 
 such is her joy at the supposed recovery of her young one, that she bleats 
 over it, and caresses it, and shows even more fondness for it than she for- 
 merly did for the one that was really her own. When a lamb has died, I 
 never needed to drive home the ewe with dogs, or to use any other means 
 than the following : — I always found her standing with her head over her 
 dead lamb, and having a piece of twine with me for the purpose, I tied it 
 to the lamb's neck or foot, and trailing it along, the ewe followed me into 
 any house or fold that I chose to lead her. Any of them would have 
 followed me in that way for miles, with her nose close on the lamb, which 
 she never quitted for a moment, except to chase my dog, which she would 
 not suffer to walk near me. I often, out of curiosity, led them in to the 
 side of the kitchen fire by this means, and into the midst of servants and 
 dogs, but the more that dangers multiplied around the ewe, she clang the 
 closer to her dead offspring, and thought of nothing whatever but protect- 
 ing it *." 
 
 The following anecdote is perfectly authentic : — " A drover being on his 
 •way to Smithfield market with a flock of sheep, one of them became so 
 sore-footed and lame, that it could travel no farther. The man, wishing 
 to get rid of the impediment, took up the distressed animal, and dropped it 
 over the pales of a paddock belonging to Mr. O'Kelly, and where the cele- 
 brated race-horse Dungannon was then grazing, and pursued his journey, 
 intending to call for the sheep on his return, believing that, after a little 
 rest, it would quickly recover, and which was the case. A strong attach- 
 ment, however, soon grew up between the two inhabitants of the paddock ; 
 the horse would playfully nibble the neck of the sheep, and, without hurting 
 it, would lift it into the manger of a neighbouring shed belonging to the 
 field, as much as to say, although you are not able to reach it I will help 
 you to the banquet: besides this, the horse would, on all occasions, protect 
 his new friend, and would suffer no one to offer him the slightest moleita- 
 tion. Mr. O'Kelly, having been made acquainted with these circumstances, 
 bought the sheep, and left the two friends in peaceable possession of the 
 paddock and its adjoining shelter t." 
 
 Enough has been stated to vindicate the sheep from the charge of stu- 
 pidity and want of common feeling that has been so wrongly brought 
 against him. One peculiarity, and most strikincrly evident in the compara- 
 
 * The Shepherd's Calendar, vol. ii. p. 189. 
 t Illustrations of Natural History, p. 132. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 377 
 
 ti\ely wild and aboriginal breeds, should perhaps be noticed — their attach- 
 ment to the place in which they were bred. This was hinted at when the 
 Welsh sheep were described (p. 266) ; it is more evident in the wilder 
 sheep of the black-faced and Highland breeds ; it seems to be always a 
 powerful principle with them, but it prevails most at the time of yeaning. 
 There is something very interesting and consistent with natural feeling in 
 this. " A black ewe that had lately lambed was missed from the farm of 
 Harehope in Tweeddale. A shepherd was dispatched in pursuit of her, who 
 traced her many a mile, and then abandoned the chase. He was told that 
 she had been several times stopped, but that she absolutely persisted in 
 travelling on, regarding neither sheep nor shepherd by the way. Her 
 lamb was often far behind, and she had constantly to urge it on by impa- 
 tient bleating. She unfortunately came to Stirling on the morning of a 
 great annual fair, about the end of May, and, judging it imprudent to ven- 
 ture through the crowd with her lamb, she halted on the north side of the 
 town, lying close by the roadside during the whole of the day : but, next 
 morning, when all became quiet, a little after the break of day, she was 
 observed stealing quietly through the town, in apparent terror of the dogs 
 that were prowling about the streets. The last time she was seen on the 
 road was at a toll-bar near St. Ninian's. The man stopped her, thinking 
 that she was a strayed animal, and that some one would claim her : she 
 tried several times to break through by force when he opened the gate, but 
 he always prevented her, and at length she turned patiently back. She, 
 however, found some means of eluding him, for home she came at ^ast 
 having been no less than nine days on the road. Her former master paid 
 the price of her, and she remained on her native farm until she died of old 
 age in her seventeenth year*." 
 
 PRESSURE ON THE BRAIN. 
 
 While it is a singular but undoubted fact, that considerable portion? 
 of the cineritious part of the brain may be cut away, and the animal is 
 scarcely conscious of the act, the smallest pressure cannot be made on the 
 base of the brain without impairment of consciousness and the power of 
 voluntary motion. That pressure may proceed from some external cause, 
 or from one existing within the cranial cavity. The principal or only cause 
 of external pressure would be from 
 
 FRACTURE OF THE SKULL 
 
 This is frequently accompanied by depression of a portion of the skull, 
 and forcible pressure on the brain, oftenest occurring on the superior 
 part of the cranium, but occasionally in its base. It has, however, been 
 stated, that the form of the cranium in the sheep, and the situation of 
 the greater part of its roof, out of the reach of danger, will render frac- 
 ture of the skull a circumstance of unfrequent occurrence in this animal. 
 The cause of pressure lies within the skull, and rarely admits of cure. 
 The most frequent is the presence of hydatids between the membranes of 
 the brain, or more or less embedded in its substance. 
 
 TURN8ICK, OR HYDATID ON THE BRAIN. 
 
 Many strange, yet not altogether unmeaning, terms are given to this 
 disease, as the gig, goggles turn, turnsick, sturdy, giddy, dunt, &c. After a 
 
 " The Shepherd's Calendar, vol. ii. p. 186. 
 
373 SHEEP. 
 
 severe winter, and a cold and wet spring, many of the yearling lambs, and 
 particularly those that are weakly, exhibit very peculiar symptoms of dia 
 ease. This usually appears during the first year of the animal's life, and 
 when he is about or under six months old. It is said to be occasionally 
 congenital, and even the foetus in the womb has been affected by it. It 
 is far less frequent during the second year than the first, and after that 
 period the sheep seem to have acquired an immunity against the attack of 
 the hydatid. 
 
 The symptoms are as follows : — The sheep cease to gambol with their 
 companions — they are dull — they scarcely graze — they ruminate in the 
 most languid and listless manner — they separate themselves from the rest 
 of the flock — they walk in apeculiar staggering vacillating way — they seem 
 at times to be unconscious where they are, or they seek some ditch or 
 brook, and stand poring over the ruflBled or flowing water ; they stand there 
 until they appear to be completely giddy, and suddenly tumble in. In the 
 midst of their grazing they stop all at once, look wildly around as if they 
 were frightened by some imaginary object, and start away and gallop at full 
 speed over the field. They lose flesh ; the countenance becomes haggard ; 
 the eye wanders, and assumes a singular blue colour. This last circum- 
 stance, although not observed so carefully as it ought to be, is perfectly 
 characteristic of the disease ; and a clever shepherd would select every stur- 
 died sheep from the flock, guided simply by the colour of their eyes. 
 
 This evident cerebral affection increases ; the animal begins to carry his 
 head on one side, and almost always on the same side. It is with difficulty 
 that he can straighten his neck in order to graze, and there is a peculiar 
 undecided motion in the act of grazing. The fits of wandering become 
 more frequent; he is oftener frightened without apparent cause ; he takes 
 an increasing pleasure in poring over the rippling brook ; there is some- 
 thing in the playing of the light on the water, or in the murmuring sound, 
 which has a lulling influence over him, and he oftener forgets himself, and 
 perhaps fails in and is lost. 
 
 By and by the sturdied sheep commences a rotatory motion, even while 
 grazing, and always in one way, and with the head turned on the same side. 
 This occurring, he almost ceases to eat or to ruminate, partly because the 
 disease, from its debilitating character, destroys the appetite altogether ; and 
 also because he cannot restrain those circular motions, during which it is 
 almost impossible to graze : but principally because he is rapidly becoming 
 blind. He begins to be inattentive to surrounding objects, and he moves 
 among them as if he were unconscious of their existence. The habit of 
 turning round increases : he continues to form these concentric circles for 
 an hour at a time, or until he falls ; and then he scrambles up again, and 
 commences the same strange motion. At length he dies emaciated and 
 exhausted ; or his death is hastened by his falling down some dangerous 
 declivity, or his being unable to extricate himself from the brook or the 
 ditch. 
 
 Turnsick can scarcely be confounded with inflammation of the brain, 
 when the anxious yet half-vacant countenance, the absence of furious deli- 
 rium and of all desire to do mischief, are regarded. If the sheep is gallop- 
 ing wildly about, it is evidently to avoid some imaginary evil, and not to 
 encounter a supposed foe. 
 
 It may be distinguished from rabies by nearly the same symptoms, and 
 particularly by the absence of all desire to injure its companions. 
 
 It can scarcely be confounded with apoplexy or inflammatory fever, for 
 hey usually attack the flower of the flock, while the comparatively debili- 
 
THK ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 379 
 
 tated sheep is the prey of the hydatid. The victim of these diseases can 
 scarcely be induced to move ; the sturdied sheep is wandering about or 
 scampering everywhere, without apparent motive or object. The progress 
 of apoplexy and inflammatory fever is rapid, and a few hours decide the 
 fate of the patient ; the sturdied sheep will linger on during several suc- 
 cessive weeks. The one dies in full condition — the other wastes away to 
 a mere skeleton. 
 
 On examining the sheep after death, an hydatid, or many hydatids, 
 are found between the pia-mater and the brain, or imbedded in the cerebral 
 substance. The existence of these hydatids has been doubted in the human 
 brain*. There is, however, no doubt about the matter here ; they are true 
 hydatids, but of a very singular structure, and such as have not yet been 
 observed in the human being. 
 
 They belong to the C(enurus, or the hydatis polycephalus cerebralis, 
 the many-headed hydatid of the brain. Instead of a single head there are 
 a great number spread over the surface of the parasite, and opening into the 
 same general cavity. Wlien the sac is distended they appear only as opaque 
 spots upon itt; but a lens of no great power will give a distinct view of 
 their heads, or rather necks, with the tentacula or barbs projecting from 
 the apparent opening or mouth which forms the extremity of them. These 
 hydatids vary in size from that of a pigeon's to a hen's e^g. 
 
 The wall of the cyst appears to be composed of two or three layers, the 
 centre one of which seems to possess a muscular character. On examining 
 them with lenses of a high magnifying power, " their coats resemble paper 
 made upon a wire-frame, the muscular fibres so plainly and regularly inter- 
 lacing each other." 
 
 When the hydatid is first extracted and placed m warm water it has an 
 evident vibratory motion ; and if then punctured, the contained fluid will 
 be ejected to a considerable distance in consequence of the powerful con- 
 traction of the muscular coat. The inner membrane is clearly marked with 
 rugae, which have considerable resemblance to the villous membranes 
 of the stomachs of many animals. 
 
 This cyst or bladder contains a fluid, sometimes as pellucid as water. If 
 the internal membrane is then examined, and particularly with a lens, a 
 countless multitude of little bodies, resembling eggs, and disposed in regu- 
 lar lines, will be found to adhere to it by filmy particles ; but the fluid will 
 not contain any organized body. At other times the water within the cyst 
 will be turbid, and will contain innumerable portions of apparently fibrous 
 matter, but which, submitted to the power of a microscope, are resolved 
 into so many minute worms. If the fluid is very turbid, that is caused by 
 the immense quantity of the worms, and the eggs will all have disappeared ; 
 when the turbidity is not so great, many of the eggs will still be observed 
 adhering to the cyst. 
 
 These worms are about half a line in length. The head is in the form of 
 a tetragon, with a circle of rays or tentacula at its summit, and a mouth on 
 each of the four sides of the head. The neck is short, and the body is covered 
 with rings or wrinkles. They appear to swim with great velocity, and to 
 be possessed of much activity. They have also the peculiar property of 
 issuing at pleasure from and returning to the cyst which they inhabit. If 
 
 * After enumerating various names on the one side and the other of the question. 
 Dr. Copland, in the article on the Brain, in his excellent " Dictionary of Practical 
 Medicine," says, "Whether these bodies wereentozoaor mere hygromalous tumours or 
 cysts, must rest on the pathological reputation of the physicians." — ^ 124, p. 225. 
 
 f Roget's .\nimal and Vegetable Physiology, vol. ii. p. 84. 
 
380 SHEEP. 
 
 the cyst is removed whole from the brain, hundreds of them may be forced 
 through the numerous heads of the hydatid by the slightest pressure ; and 
 at other times, when the cyst is examined, numbers of them will be found 
 in or protruding from its various necks. 
 
 It is not uncommon for a very great number of small hydatids to be 
 found floating in a larger one, seemingly the parent of the colony. The 
 writer of this treatise was examining a monkey that had died of some 
 obscure disease. Between the peritoneum and the abdominal wall he 
 found an hydatid larger than the egg of a goose. He endeavoured to 
 extract it \yhole, but it broke, and its contents flowed over the table. Tliey 
 consisted of an immense number of hydatids. He mentally divided the 
 surface of the table into a certain number of compartments, and on count- 
 ing the number of globules which one of them contained, he found that the 
 whole would consist of considerably more than ten thousand. In addition 
 tg these he found an almost countless number of granules or vesicles on the 
 rugous lining surface of the hydatid, and which were probably the germs 
 of future hydatids. But there are few or no instances of this production of 
 worms and such a provision in the parent for their habitation and protection. 
 It somewhat resembles the pouch of the kangaroo and the opossum, or the 
 stomach of the viper. 
 
 Are these worms hydatids in one of the forms which they assume, or are 
 they parasites which take possession of the cyst appointed by nature for 
 tlieir residence ? What object are they accomplishing in this their strange 
 abode ? The ovum, or germ, may be floating in the atmosphere, or re- 
 ceived with the food, and, like some other ejitoioa^ and more particularly 
 the worm in the eye of the horse and the ox, may thread the various blood- 
 vessels, whether of a larger size, or the minutest capillaires, until it arrives 
 at its destined nidus or residence — the brain of a weakly sheep. Are there 
 certain conditions of the brain under which these parasites may be spon- 
 taneously produced ? If so, what are the laws and conditions of these pro- 
 ductions ? or why should their appearance be confined to the very youth 
 of the animal and a state of general debility, if not disease ? These are 
 mysteries which future observers, perhaps, may be enabled to unravel*. 
 
 If there is only one hydatid, and it is suffered to attain its full growth, 
 or, in other words, if the disease is permitted to take it course until it has 
 destroyed the sheep, it will probably be of very considerable size, and a 
 great portion of the brain will be absorbed. Mr. Stephens related ihe fol- 
 lowing history of a case at one of the meetings of the London Medical 
 Society. A sheep with sturdy or turnsick was brought to him. He took 
 out a portion of the skull with a trephine, and on cutting through the dura 
 mater a very large hydatid partially protruded. He attempted to extract 
 it whole, but it broke. He afterwards extracted the cyst, and on looking 
 into the opening made with the trephine, he found the interior to present a 
 large empty cavity. The brain appeared to be completely gone. He let 
 down a wax-light through the opening into the cavity of the skull, when it 
 appeared that nearly the whole of the brain was wanting. The hole was 
 closed, and the sheep got up and fed, but in the morning of the fourth day 
 it became convulsed and died. Upon opening the head a little only of the 
 brain at its base was found, and some remains at the sides, forming an 
 imperfect shell of brain, and there were several hydatids remaining f. 
 
 * The reader will find this worm figured in the second volume of Rudolphi's valuable 
 work on intestinal worms, jilate xii. < 
 
 + Lancet, 1830-1, vol. i. ji. 7C3. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 381 
 
 If there is only one parasite inliabiting the brain of a sturdictl sheep, its 
 situation is very uncertain. It is mostly found beneath the pia-mater, lying 
 upon the brain, and in or upon the scissure between the two hemispheres. 
 If it is within the brain, it is generally in one of the ventricles, but occa- 
 sionally in the substance of the brain ; and, in a few instances, in tliat of 
 the cerebellum. 
 
 These hydatids are probably exceedingly small when first deposited in the 
 brain, and they produce little disturbance there. No altered function will 
 tell of their presence, except that the sheep will sometimes be dull, and 
 will eat lazily, and without appetite, or will stop in the middle of his eating, 
 and seem confused and lost. When, however, they have attained a consi- 
 derable bulk, and press upon the neighbouring vessels, or the origins of the 
 cerebral nerves, their presence can scarcely be mistaken ; and an accurate 
 knowledge of the anatomy of the brain, and careful observation of the 
 patient, will enable the practitioner to guess at the situation of the parasit§. 
 If the head is held constantly on one side, and the concentric circles are 
 always formed in that direction, the cyst will be found on the depressed 
 side, and probably in the lateral ventricle. If the head is sometimes held 
 on one side, and sometimes on the other, and the circles are occasionally 
 in one direction, and then in a contrary one, there is an hydatid on each 
 side of the head, and probably in the ventricles. If the sheep marches 
 straight forward with his head depressed, running against everything in 
 his way, and continually falling, it is likely that the parasite occupies the 
 middle scissure of the brain, and is attached to the corpus callosum. In 
 a fevy cases the muzzle will be elevated and the head thrown back, the ani- 
 mal still pursuing its straightforward course, except that there will be a 
 reeling motion, sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the left, like a 
 boat at sea ; the intruder then inhabits the cerebellum or the fourth ven- 
 tricle *. 
 
 Possibly, however, there are more cysts than one, and. these occupy very 
 different situations in the brain. In that valuable periodical just referred to, 
 an account is given of two siurdied sheep, in the brain of each of which four 
 vesicles were found. In one of them the principal hydatid occupied the 
 right ventricle, and smaller ones were found between the hemispheres, and 
 in the fourth ventricle and the ethmoidal cell, or digital cavity. In the 
 other, the principal one was found in the digital cavity ; and the others in 
 the right side of the fossa sylvii, under the pia-mater, on the left lobe of 
 the brain and in the cerebellum t. In these cases the indications during 
 life would be obscure, and no operation would be of service. 
 
 This is a singular disease ; but it is a sadly prevalent and fatal one in wet 
 and moorish districts; yet it will be seen by and by that this is the mildest of 
 the scourges which the sheepmaster brings upon his flock by the neglect 
 of draining. It is scarcely known in airy and upland pasture, or even in 
 the lower grounds that have been thoroughly drained. 
 
 It is much more fatal in France than in Great Britain, on account of the 
 general neglect of the sheep, and the almost total omission of this indis- 
 pensable operation in well-conducted sheep husbandry. Perhaps also much 
 may be attributed to the neglect of the young sheep, and not a little to here- 
 
 * Journal de M^d. Vet. Theorique, 1833, p. 429. The French divide the sturdied 
 sheep into three classes, according to the manner in which they move, and then speak 
 uf the Turner, the Trotter, and the Sailor.— Gasparin, Manuel d'Art Veteiinaire, p. 438. 
 
 t Journal de Med. Vet. Theoriiiue, 1833, p. 168. 
 
382 SHEEP. 
 
 ditary predisposition ♦. It is supposed that nearly a million of sheep are de- 
 stroyed in France every year by tliis pest of the ovine race f. 
 
 Veterinary writers, and agriculturists too, differ as to the cause of this fatal 
 malady. Some have attributed it to the poisonous effects of certain plants ; 
 but these plants have never been clearly pointed out : others have seen a 
 great deal more evil than really exists in exposure to hoar frosts. Some 
 have considered it to be a species of serous apoplexy ; others as the result of 
 an accumulation of fluids in the ventricles of the brain ; and some have 
 traced it to violent blows on the head, either inflicted by a brutal shepherd, 
 or in the ))la\ ful or serious contests of the animals with each other. 
 
 Among modern writers, Mr. Price considers it to arise from local weak- 
 ness of the membranes of the brain ; and tliat in consequence of this local 
 debility the membranes become distended with fluid when the animal holds 
 his head so low as he is compelled to do in the act of grazing. The answer 
 to this is, that repeated examination has piijved that ii is an animal, 
 an hydatid, and not a mere distended membrane, which occupies certain 
 portions of the brain in this disease |. 
 
 Mr. Hogg, a very useful and valuable writer, believes that it is an excess 
 of fluid injected into tlie brain from tlie central canal of the spinal column : 
 and another writer, adopting a similar opinion, afiirms that it results from 
 the lambs not being docked at a sufficiently early period ; for " sometimes 
 the ewe, in the ardour of her maternal affection, chews away the tail from 
 her newly-fallen lamb, and none of these are afterwards affected by the 
 sturdy ; whereas when lambs have been docked late, a quantity of water has 
 been found lodged in the root of the tail, which may sometimes increase, 
 and proceed along the spinal marrow until it makes its final lodgment 
 in the brain " Unfortunately for these gentlemen there is no communication 
 between the centre of the spinal marrow and the brain §. 
 
 Turnsick, then, consists in the presence of one or more vesicles in or on 
 the brain, and the pressure which they occasion on the medullary substance 
 at the base of the brain, producing loss or perversion of the mental faculties, 
 a species of idiocy, if the term may be applied to a brute : and when the 
 substance of the brain begins to be inflamed and softened and lost, the 
 organic functions are altogether perverted or impaired. If the animal 
 escapes the accidents to which he is exposed in this state of mental aliena- 
 tion, he becomes debilitated and emaciated — he wastes away and dies. 
 
 * The author is bound to record the testimony of those who differ from him in opinion 
 on this point. Mr. Parkinson, who is a man of very considerable experience, says, " I 
 have cured a great number of sheep, some of whom have afterwards bred many lambs, 
 and I never knew an instance of the ofi'sprinfj beinjj so aftiicted. I do not beheve that 
 it is an hereditary disease. It depends on the season and state of the sheep at the time; 
 and the streiif^th^of the constitution being restort'd, there is no reason to fear that the 
 malady will be communicated to the offspring." — Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 41'2. 
 
 There is a great deal of truth in these observations, yet Mr. Parkinson does not 
 fairly meet the point in dispute. They are very, very few sheep whom he or any one 
 else recovers from the sturdy. The question is, whether the offspring of a delicate and 
 badly-managed flock are not constitutionally disposed to those diseases which depend 
 upon or are aggravated by a debilitated state of the frame .^ 
 
 t It is frequent likewise in Germany ; and some of their writers on at;ricultural and 
 veterinary matters have computed that, on an average of the different states, fifteen sheep 
 out of a floek of a thousand will die of turnsick in the first year of their age ; five in the 
 second year ; two in the third ; and only one in the fourth year. The must dangerous 
 tinne in the first year is between the eight ami twelfth month. — Gasparin, ManueJ, 
 p. 439. This confirms the statement which was made in page 378. 
 
 t Price on Sheep, p. 423. 
 
 § 'f^^nS 0" Sheep, p, 55 ; and Price on Sheep, p. 426. 
 
THE ANATOMY OF THE SHEEP. 383 
 
 The means of cure are exceedingly limited. They are confined to the 
 removal or destruction of the vesicle. Medicine is altogether out of the 
 question here. Neither the warm bath, nor " the mercurial friction,'' nor 
 " the repeated dose of physic," recommended by various writers, can have 
 the slightest efTect. Veterinary surgeons have hitherto been little employed 
 in the treatment of turnsick, because the diseases of sheep have until lately 
 formed no part of the education of the veterinary pupil, and even at the pre- 
 sent hour are scarcely heard of at the National Veterinary School. This is a 
 lamentable and disgraceful state of things ; and the agriculturist deserves 
 all the inconvenience and loss which he experiences, if he permits it longer 
 to continue. 
 
 The contrivances to remove or destroy the cyst that have hitherto been 
 resorted to, proceed chiefly from the ingenuity or the brutality of the sheep- 
 master or the shepherd. Mr. Parkinson says that his father's remedy was , 
 to cut off the ears of the sturdied sheep, and that rather by way of bleed-' 
 ing than with any other intention ; and that a sheep now and then, perhaps 
 one in twenty, was thus cured. " It happened one day," he proceeds, 
 " that when I was with my father's shepherd, I observed one of the 
 half-year- olds, although not entirely leaving the flock, yet having the ap- 
 pearance of being affected with the disease. The shepherd was an extra- 
 ordinary good runner ; but this sheep gave him a severe chase, and he was 
 some time in catching it, which put him in a passion, and happening to 
 take it by the ears, he twirled it round several times before I got to him ; 
 I then cut off its ears as near to the head as I could with safety, it being 
 our usual practice to cut them off pretty close ; but by swinging it round 
 the shepherd had probably pulled the ears out of the socket. Tlie result 
 was, that in about two days the sheep had rejoined the flock. Since that 
 recurrence, I have made it a rule constantly to pull the ears very hard for 
 some time before I cut them off, and this proceeding has seldom failed of 
 eftecting a cure *.*' 
 
 It is easy to imagine that in the dreadful struggle which must ensue in 
 wringing the ears so *' very hard," and then cutting them off, the hydatid 
 would probably be ruptured and destroyed. 
 
 Others effect the same object in as brutal a way. They set the dog on 
 the poor sheep, to hunt and worry it without mercy ; and the chase is so 
 contrived, that, if possible, the animal shall tumble down some stone-pit, or 
 considerable declivity. In the shock of the full the hydatid is burst, and, 
 now and then, the neck of the sheep is broken too. 
 
 Several cases are gravely related in confirmation of this practice. A 
 sturdied sheep was frightened by a pack of hounds, that came into the field 
 in which it was grazing. It leaped over a high hedge, fell violently on the 
 other side, and from that moment was well. Another was standing on the 
 edge of a precipice — he, too, was frightened, and fell to the bottom, and was 
 ever afterwards free from the disease. All these modes ot proceeding are 
 far too brutal and barbarous. 
 
 The Ettrick Shepherd adopted a very ingenious operation. He shall speak 
 for himself : — " When I was a youth, I was engaged for many years in herd- 
 ing a large parcel of lambs, whose bleating brought all the sturdies in the 
 neighbourhood to them, and with whom I was everlastingly plagued; but as 
 I was frequently knitting stockings, I fell upon the following plan : I caught 
 every sturdied sheep that I could lay my hands upon, and probed him up the 
 nostrils to the very brain with one of my wires. T beheld, with no small 
 
 * Parkinson on Sheep, vol. i., p. 412. 
 
S84 SHEEP. 
 
 degree of pleasure, that by this simple operation I cured many a sheep to 
 different owners ; but I kept all my projects to myself, for I had no autbo- 
 rity to try my skill on any of them *." 
 
 In another place he describes this operation more particularly. " The 
 operator must feel for the part of the skull that is soft — [this softening of 
 the skull will presently be explained] — and lay bis thumb flat and firm upon 
 it; then taking the wire in his right hand, he must push it up the nostril 
 that points most directly towards the place that is soft, where the disease is 
 seated ; and if he feel the point of the wire below his thumb, he may rest 
 assured that tlie bag is perforated, and that, if the brain does not inflame, 
 the sheep will be better. The bladder being thus pierced on the lower side, 
 the liquid continues to drip through the hole as long as any remains, and 
 even as fast as it gathers ; so that the perforation has no opportunity to 
 grow up or close again until the animal is quite better •}-.'' 
 
 If the reader will recollect what has been said of the manner of running 
 or walking of the sturdied sheep, he will perceive that the wire may be 
 resorted to before the softness begins to appear, or when, from the situation 
 of the hydatid, there cannot be any softness. 
 
 Mr. Hogg says that " several years passed before he failed in this opera- 
 tion in any one instance J." It has not, however, been so successful or 
 so easy to perform in other hands. 
 
 The writer of this essay has performed the operation many a time on the 
 dead subject, and more than once on t|je living one. It was not always that 
 he could bit at once the plate of the ethmoid bone, and enter the skull : for it 
 does not present itself precisely as in the horse or the ox. He did not find 
 it so easy a matter as it seems to have been to Mr. Hogg; and when he 
 had perforated it, he might reach an hydatid on the superior part of the 
 brain, but not deep in its surface, and assuredly not in the cerebellum. 
 
 Qi^/— 
 
 This cut will render the operation of wiring more intelligible, and explain 
 its advantages and defects. It is the representation of the bones of the 
 head of a horned sheep, the brain remaining in the cranial cavity. 
 
 1. The nasal bone, being tne roof of the cavity of the nose. 
 
 2. The ujiper-jaw bone, forming its side and a portion of its floor. 
 
 3. The intermaxillary bone at the fore-part of the mouth, and being the support of 
 the pad or cushion substituted for the incisor teeth of the upper-jaw. 
 
 4. The frontal sinusus. 
 
 5. A portion of the bony support of the horn sawn oiF, in order to show that the 
 sinuses of the horn are a continuation of the irontal ones, a"'' thus illustrating the pro- 
 bable situation of the larva of the oestrus. 
 
 Hogg on Sheep, p. .^9. f Ib-d, p. SS. J Ibid, p. CO. 
 
HYDATIDS IN THE BRAIN. 38r. 
 
 6. The patietiil bone taking a slanting direction backwards and downvvanls, and pro- 
 tecting the brain from ordinary danger. 
 
 7. The arched form and great thic-kncss of the frontal bone, where the chief danger 
 of injury or fracture exists. 
 
 8. A vertical section of the brain. 
 
 9. A vertical section of the cerebellum. 
 
 a. The cineritious ponion of the brain. 
 
 h. The medullary portion 
 
 e. The supposed sitiiation of an hydatid deep in the brain, or a portion of the 
 roof of the lateral ventricle. 
 
 d d. The supposed direction of the wire or trocar in its passage up the nostril 
 and through the brain. . 
 
 10. The ethmoid bone, with its cells. 
 
 11. The cribriform or perforated plate of the ethmoid bone. It separates the nasal 
 cavity from the brain ; it is thin almost as a water, and pierced by numerous holes, 
 through which the olfactory nerve penetrates, in order to spread itself over the inner part 
 of the nose. 
 
 12. The development of the lower cell of the ethmoid bone. 
 
 13. The superior turbinated bone. 
 
 14. The inferior ditto. 
 
 15. The trocar and canula used instead of the wire. 
 
 16. The termination of the blunt probe which is first introduced. 
 
 17. The sphenoid bone. 
 
 The trocar (fig. 1 5) — a move surgical and more convenient instrument — 
 was soon substituted for the wire and the knitting-needle. It must be of 
 sufficient length to reach from the muzzle to the back part of the head. It 
 will immediately be seen that the superior turbinated bone (fig. 13) and 
 the whole of the ethmoid bone (figs. 10, 11, 12) will be perforated by it. 
 In order to remedy this, a blunt probe, the termination of which is shown 
 at fig. 16, fitting the canula, and having a handle like the trocar, was intro- 
 duced, which was supposed to push aside these bones, and not to wound 
 them; and when it had reached the cribriform plate (fig. 11) it was with- 
 drawn from the canula, and the trocar introduced. It will, however, be 
 evident, that these bones cannot be pushed aside — they must be perforated 
 before the cribriform plate can be reached, and that will be done with less 
 pain and injury by a pointed than a blunt instrument : the probe, therefore, 
 must be discarded and the sharp-pointed trocar used. There are no large ves- 
 sels ramifying upon these bones, and a slight bleeding cannot be dangerous. 
 
 Suppose, then, the trocar to be introduced, as near as possible to the 
 nasal bone (fig. 1), and to follow the direction of tliat bone ; it probably 
 would not touch the cribriform or perforated plate of the ethmoid bone, but 
 be impeded by a dense projection of the frontal bone from above. If it 
 takes a lower direction, it will meet with a dense projection of the ethmoid 
 bone itself — the crista galli. The nuddle course is of no great extent, and 
 not so easy to pursue a» Mr. Hogg's account would induce the reader to 
 believe. 
 
 If, however, the trocar lias perforated the cribriform plate (fig, 11), there 
 is but a small portion of the braiti that can be reached, for the slanting direc- 
 tion of the frontal and parietal bones, and the corresponding depression of the 
 brain, protects the greater part of it from this internal injury as well as 
 from external violence. If the hydatid should lie superficially, it may not 
 be touched : if it lies deep in the brain, or towards the back part of it, it is 
 quite out of the reach of the trocar. By piercing the lower part of the 
 lateral ventricle (c) the cyst may be broken, or water evacuated ; but the 
 path to this is narrow and uncertain. There is very considerable doubt cf 
 much success attending this operation. 
 
 On the other hand, there is mucli danger in this perforation of the 
 medullary substance. It is true, that after tiie membranes and bones of the 
 
 2C 
 
386 SHEEP. 
 
 nose liave been pierced, the sheep feels not the entrance of the wire mto the 
 brain ; but that organ is too lavishly supplied with blood-vessels not to ren- 
 der the almost immediate accession of inflammation a matter of appre- 
 hension. Mr. Hogg candidly owns that the sheep which die in consequence 
 of wiring are *' in the greatest agonies, and often groan most piteously." 
 He also acknowledges that in a few instances he has seen the sheep drop 
 like a creature /eZ/erf, and expire in the course of two minutes* ; and it is 
 well known that, on dissection, the brain is found inflamed, and the course of 
 the wire is as evident as any thing can be, presenting an appearance as if a 
 probe as large as a quill had passed through the brain. 
 
 In addition to all this, there are sometimes two or three of these hydatids in 
 the same brain, and occupying very different situations in it, so that the 
 wire cannot possibly reaofi them all. It probably therefore will be the fate 
 of this once celebrated operation, and which the name of the Ettrick Shep- 
 herd for a while rendered popular, to fall into comparative disuse and dis- 
 trust. It will be least objectionable, or perhaps may be justified, and even 
 recommended, when the symptoms of sturdy first appear, and are of such 
 a nature as tolerably clearly to indicate the situation of the hydatid, and 
 that within the reach of the trocar. 
 
 Allusion has been made to the softening of the skull at some particular spot. 
 The effect of pressure has not always been sufficiently understood in veterinary 
 or human practice. The slight but constant pressure of this bladder is not 
 only suflScient to cause a portion of the brain to be absorbed, in order to 
 make room for the growth of the hydatid, but even the bony substance of 
 the roof of the cranium disappears ; and therefore in process of time a soft 
 yielding spot, somewhat variable in its situation, but generally a little an- 
 terior to the root of the horn, or where the horn would have been, or in a 
 slight degree more towards the centre of the skull, marks the residence of 
 this parasite. Another kind of operation can now be attempted in order to 
 get rid of this formidable being. 
 
 A square is drawn in the mind of the operator upon this softened part, 
 one side of it being equal to the diameter of the trephine which he is about 
 to use. Two incisions are made diagonally, from corner to corner of this 
 square ; and the four flaps thus formed are dissected from the parts below, 
 and turned back. If any portion of bone remains, it is then removed by 
 the trephine ; or if the bone is quite gone, two other incisions are cautiously 
 made with the knife, in the same direction as before, through the pericranium 
 and the membranes of the brain ; and when these flaps also are turned back 
 the hydatid will generally be visible underneath. It will be a matter of some 
 importance and interest to extract the hydatid whole ; but this will not often 
 be practicable. Every portion of it, however, and of the fluid which it con- 
 tained, must be carefully removed ; and then the membranes and the inte- 
 gument must be restored to their situation, and a soft pledget, or, what is 
 better, an adhesive plaister, must be put over the whole. 
 
 Some operators, afraid of the large opening into the cranium caused by 
 the trephine, have contented themselves with puncturing the cyst at tlie spot 
 at which the skull is softened. At first a trocar was used for this purpose, 
 and a small syringe was adapted to it, in order to pump out all the fluid 
 
 * Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, in his valuable Treatise on Sheep, is inclined to 
 recomitiend this operation ; and he says truly, with regard to this occasional consequence 
 of it, " Although the animal should at the time appear sick, and even dead, it should 
 not be abandoned ; for there have been instances of a sheep recovering after having lain 
 as if dead some hours. Bleeding after the operation may be of much service ; and care 
 should be tciken not to disturb the animal in any way while recovering. 
 
HYDATIDS IN THE BRAIN. 387 
 
 that the hydatid might contain ; and sometimes tl>e hydatid itself was 
 brought out in this way : but there was occasionally some trouble attending 
 tlie adaptation of tliis compound instrument, and the syringe was abandoned, 
 and a small trocar or even a common awl was substituted. 
 
 The sheep is laid on his back during the operation, in order that as much 
 as possible of the contained fluid may escape. The English veterinarians 
 have mostly preferred the trephine ; the Frencli have recourse to the punc- 
 ture. M. Yvart, Director of the Veterinary School at Alfort, recommends 
 that the hydatid should be punctured three or four times, and with intervals 
 of two days between each puncture. He has thought that more patients 
 were saved by this method 
 
 There are serious objections to the use of the trephine, arising from the 
 enormous vacuum in the cranium, suddenly formed by the removal of the 
 hydatid, and the cerebral disturbance which must be the necessary result of 
 it : also the rush of blood which would follow when the vessels, relieved from 
 the compression to which they had been long subjected, rapidly dilated, 
 the admission of the atmospheric air into such a cavity, and the irritation 
 which it must inevitably occasion. These are formidable difficulties, and 
 sufficiently account for the great number of unsuccessful cases. He may 
 consider himself foriunate who saves — permanently saves — two sheep out 
 of five who have been submitted to this operation *. 
 
 In favour of the operation by puncture, it may be pleaded that the fluid 
 is more slowly evacuated ; at first in a small stream, and, afterwards, drop 
 by drop: that the surrounding parts have a somewhat better chance of 
 adapting themselves to the change, while there is not so free an opening 
 for the admission of the external air, nor so much probability of fatal in- 
 flammation from this cause. On the other hand, there is no certainty 
 of the hydatid being destroyed, unless the repeated operation of Professor 
 Yvart is resorted to ; and there is not so fair an opportunity of detecting 
 other hydatids that may be situated near to the principal one. On the 
 whole, however, the operation by puncture, if delayed until there is some 
 indication of the situation of the hydatid, is to be preferred ; for although it 
 has not so surgical an appearance, more sheep are saved by it. 
 
 The efficacy of both operations is considerably diminished by their being 
 delayed too long. When the skull begins to soften, sad ravages must have 
 been committed in the cranial cavity. Before the solid roof will yield, a very 
 considerable portion of the brain will have disappeared ; and the chances of 
 saving the animal will have very materially diminished. It is not necessary 
 to wait so long in order to ascertain the existence of the cyst, for the sepa- 
 ration of the sheep from his fellows, his peculiar gait and manner, and the 
 evident impairment of intellect, will plainly mark him out as a sturdy. 
 Then, if he is carefully observed, it will soon be tolerably apparent on which 
 side the parasite is lodged ; and experience will tell the farmer or the prac- 
 titioner, that in the majority of cases, on whichever side it exists, it is 
 about an inch anterior to the root of the horn, or the place where the horn 
 would be, and in a direction towards the frontal suture. In this compara- 
 tively early stage of the disease tlie trephine or the trocar may be resorted 
 
 • Sir Astley Cooper, who, from his long connexion with the Veterinary College, 
 and an intimate friends-hip of more than half a century with the Professor, was much 
 attached to the veterinary art, and conducted many an interesting experiment at his 
 farm, near Hemel Hempstead, used to take much .pride in exhibiting a ewe which lie 
 had trephined on account of turnsick ; and from whose cranium he had extracted a large 
 hydatid. She afterwards brought him five or six good lambs. 
 
 2 C 2 
 
S88 SHEKP. 
 
 to with little danger ; no considerable cavity will probably exist, nor wil, 
 ilie brain be so disposed to take on inflammation. 
 
 There is still another question to be taken into consideration. Suppos- 
 ing that the hydatid has been destroyed, and a seeming cure has been effect- 
 ed by either operation, is there any certainty that the evil is permanently 
 removed ? No. The most successful cases must be regarded with much 
 suspicion. No sooner has one hydatid been removed than another will, too 
 often, begin to develop itself. Huzard has counted no less than thirty 
 distinct cysts in the brain of a lamb : therefore the operation may have 
 to be repeated almost without end, and, after all, the animal will perish. 
 Six or nine months may pass, and the animal may not be safe. As for 
 medicine, it is altogether out of the question : no drug has power to reach 
 the hydatids and destroy them in their place of concealment. Considering, 
 however, the cause of the disease, and the almost invariably impoverished 
 state of the animal, he should be removed, inniiedia.tely after the operation, 
 to a more wholesome pasture, and particularly a dry and upland one. 
 
 What then is the duty of the farmer ? Why, to fatten the lamb that has 
 been operated upon, and to sell him as speedily as he can ; for it appears 
 that, in too great a portion of cases, three montiis will scarcely pass, ere 
 the disease will return. What shall he do with the sturdied sheep that has 
 not been operated upon '/ Send him immediately to the butcher, in what- 
 ever condition he may be. The chances are that he will eventualiy die, 
 and die worthless — a mere skeleton ; at present he will probably fetch sonic 
 price, and the wholesomeness of the flesh has not been in the slightet^t 
 degree impaired by this disease in its earlier stages. What shall he do 
 with regard to his flock generally ? Take more care of Ihem — fatten them 
 as quickly as he can, and slaughter those that become affected the very 
 moment the disease is ascertained. Is there anything more that he can do .' 
 Yes ! He should take better care of the ewes and the lambs in the early 
 part of the spring. There is no necessity for him to ailopt a system of 
 nursing which would render his flock unable to endure the sudden changes 
 of the English climate ; but there is a recklessness about many sheej)- 
 masters with regard to the mother and the offspring, at yeaning time, 
 which cannot be too strongly reprobated, and for which they severely and 
 justly suffer. More attention might likewise be paid to the pasturage on which 
 the sheep are turned. It should be more suitable to their early age, some- 
 what better sheltered, and, where it is required, more carefully drained. 
 The disease is the consequence of debility — and that debility is caused by 
 the inexcusable neglect of the owner of the sheep. It is the oftspring of 
 cold and wet and hunger, and nature herself points out tlie cure ; for when 
 the winter and the early months of spring have passed, the disease almost 
 disappears. 
 
 M. Giron de Buzaseinques, in an essay on Turnsick, read before the 
 Royal and Central Societies of Agriculture, in 1824, thus expresses him- 
 self: — " I have put into practice my mode of prevention. 1 have fed my 
 flock better, and given them more exercise. I have driven them on the 
 mountains of Aveyron, where the salubrity of the air and the diversity of 
 the herbage invite them to stray about, and to cull the sweetest food. I 
 have placed salt within their reach ; and by such regimen I have strength- 
 ened my sheep ; and tiie consequence has been, that I have had less turnsick 
 among Uiem. The malady is on its gradual decline, and I reckon, by perse 
 verance, to get completely rid of it*." 
 
 • A sketch of the opinions of diflFerenl agricultural writers, respecting a disease so 
 prevalent and so fatal, may not be. uninteresting to the reader. Ei.t.is, 
 
HYDATIDS IN THE BRAIN. 389 
 
 The turnsick is occasionally complicated with a peculiar species of palsy, 
 not confined to one side or to one limb, but shifting from part to part, and 
 
 Eli.is, whose work contains a singular compound of )rood sense and quackery, recom- 
 mends the trephine. The softened part of the skull is to be cut three-parts round, and 
 then lifted up ; hut not separated or broken. The bladder is thtn to be taken out, the 
 lid or raised part of the tkuU to be put carefully down, and secured by a little linen rag 
 and a plaster of pitch. An infusion of bruised wild Ihyme, in ale, must after this be 
 ^iven to the sheep, and the juice of ivy leaves poured into the ear, and kept there by bind- 
 ing the ear careluUy down ! ! By adopting these means, he says, one sheep in two or 
 three may chance to live and do well. 
 
 J. Lawuf.nce recommends the trephine as the radical operation, and says that one 
 sheep out of five is usually saved by this ; but that rowels and setons under the chin may 
 be used, and the head may be blistered, and mercurials administered ! ! 
 
 Dickson, in his valuable work on agriculture, says that it is an encysted collection of 
 water in the head, and that there is an old fellow who opens the skull, and takes out the 
 bladder, and cures as many as he loses. In his later work on live-stock, he traces the 
 disease to exposure to tempestuous and severe weather, without due shelter. He speaks 
 of all these operations, the wire, and the trephine, and the puncture ; but in addition to 
 these he gives certain formulae for the administering of calomel, and squills, and cream 
 of tartar, and rhubarb, and grains of paradise, and bark, and various other drugs, useless, 
 or worse than useless, in such a case. 
 
 HoGQ attributes the disease to too much exposure to rough and boisterous weather, 
 without due shelter. He says that a clothed shiep will never take it, and of a well- 
 sheltered flock, few will. His remedy is the wire. 
 
 White, after mistaking the ahnost invariabio progress of the disease, and stating 
 that the sheep are often in good order when they die, recommends the farmer to kill the 
 animal early in the disorder, as the disease is merely local, and does not in the least 
 injure the mutton. 
 
 Clater, in his last eilition, acknowledges the presence of the hydatid, as the cause or 
 essence of the disease; and, despairing of geneial success, either from medical treat- 
 ment or mechanical contrivance, advises that the sturdied sheep should immediately be 
 slaughtered. 
 
 M ACKENziE recommends the wire in tho hands of the shepherd, and the trephine ia 
 those of the surgeon. 
 
 Pkofessor Low recommends the trephine, or in defaiut of it, the pen-knife or the 
 awl, when the skull is softened ; and he places much confidence in the use of the wire, 
 when the existence of the disease is first ascertained. 
 
 The author of the Compleie Guazier recommends the trephine, but properly adils, 
 that " even that can prove successful in the hands of skilful persons alone." 
 
 Among the French writers, Vatkl traces the appearance of the hydatid to any cir- 
 cumstance, but particularly connected with tho food, which produces or disposes lo 
 general debility. He recommends that the trephine should be abandoned altogether, 
 and the operation by puncture adopted ; although he aeknowleilges that, in general, few 
 animals are saved by this method of proceedin;r. All the French veterinarians adopt the 
 Siime opinion and practice. 
 
 The proceedings of two empirics were both singular and ludicrous. M. Nairac advo- 
 cated the actual cautery. A branding iron was made, to which, in the true spirit of 
 charlatanism, an N was affixed. The wool was cut off from the forehead, and the 
 iron being heated so that, resting on a card for two seconds, it would carbonize but not per- 
 forate it, it was placed somewhat lightly on the forehead of the lamb. After rest- 
 ing there two seconds, it was lifted up and immediatel^y replaced with greater pressure, 
 for three seconds ; it was once more removed, and again pressed yet more firmly on the 
 skull for five seconds. The operator was cautioned to be exceedingly careful us to the 
 gradually increasing pressure, and the continuance and the removal of the iron from the 
 forehead at the specified interval. All the lambs of four or five months old were to 
 undergo this severe cauterization, over the frontal sinuses, and between the eyes. This 
 was the preventive treatment, and according to him and his disciples it was infallible. 
 He o])erated upon many thousands of lambs, belonging to himself and others, and did 
 not lose one. He continued his experiments during fifteen years without a single failure. 
 
 This was more satisfactory than the knit'ing needle of the Ettrick Shepherd ; and this 
 cabalistic cautery began to be very generally adopted. 
 
 Some persons, however, were disposed to doubt whether this magical branding on the 
 forehead, severe as it was, could destroy the diminutive hydatid, which might then have 
 existence, but was incapable of doing misfchief ; and still more they doubted whether 
 the permaiHiit effect v.Vdch Nairac described ctuld possibly be produced ; and they de- 
 
390 SHEEP. 
 
 from side to side, and being accompanied by a more i,han usual degree of 
 impairment of intellect, and sometimes by partial or total blindness. This 
 
 termined to put its boasted preventive power to the test. Hurtrel D'Arboval, the 
 author of that excellent work, " Dictionnaire de Medecine et de Chirurgie Vet^rinaire," 
 entered the field amonj^ the rest ; aiid he experimented on a somewli.it large scale. He 
 had a flock of 174 Merino lambs, and none of them a twelvemonth old. He applied the 
 cautery, with all the enjoined ceremonies, to ninety -three of them ; and he left the re- 
 maining eighty-one to take their chance. Out of the ninety-three no fewer than eight 
 became sturdied and died ; while only four of the 81 were atfected. 
 
 Hurtrel D'Arboval, with his usual candour, acknowledges that he should not be justi- 
 fied in concluding fiom this single experiment that the cauterization predisposed the 
 animal to the production and growth of the hydatid ; but that he was fully warranted 
 in asserting that the cauterization had no preventive effect. With many other experi- 
 mentalists the result was precisely the same. And what became of the discovery of M. 
 Nairac ? It added another to the long list of delusions to which the human mind has 
 occasionally abandoned itself. — See Dict. mot Touunis. 
 
 M. Nairac was no sooner out of the field than it was occupied by another and a bolder 
 empiric. He professed to combat the disease when it was developed in its most fright- 
 ful form. The branding-iron was again had recourse to, with the same attention to the 
 number and the duration of its applications ; but the iron was hotter, and considerable 
 sloughing and discharge ensued. The iron was to be placed over the situation occupied 
 by the hydatid. 
 
 This was sooh put to the test, and the result was as satisfactory as could be desired. 
 Four sturdied sheep were procured — they were cauterized in due form, and they seemed 
 to he perfectly cured. This operation might therefore be justly placed on the same 
 level with the puncture and the trephine. But who will answer that the cranial cavity 
 enclosed one hydatid alone. Unfortunately for the pretender, each of these sheep pro- 
 tected within its skull at least a second hydatid ; and, at the expiration of four montlis, 
 the disease returned and they died. This mode of treatment, therefore, lost mnch of its 
 reputation, and is less practised in France than the mode by puncture. 
 
 M. LuM.iN, in his account of the sheep and its diseases in Svtitzerland, while 
 he acknowledges that the turnsick oftenest proceeds from the presence of an hydatid in or 
 upon the brain, yet, asserts that it is occasionally caused by violent blows on the head. 
 He singularly, and somewhat ridiculously, accounts for the head being turned on one 
 side rather than the other, according as the lamb has been accustomed to turn his 
 head in the act of sucking- He has considerable faith in trepanning, skilfully perform- 
 ed ; but the instances of failure are so numerous that he counsels the farmer to send the 
 sturdied sheep immediately to the butcher. — Observations sur les Betes a faine dans les 
 environs de Geneve. Par C. J. M. Lui.i.in. — p. 182. 
 
 In Saxony there are many breeders who keep their lambs in the house until autumn, 
 and even throughout the first year ; but care is taken to supply them with good ami 
 sufficient food. " The lambs are kept m the houses because it has been remarked that 
 those that do not go into the pastures during the first year of their lives, are very rarely 
 attacked by the dunt or giddhiess. — iMsteyrie on Merino sheep, translated by B. 
 TiiosrpsoN. — p. 160. 
 
 In Prussia, according to the same author, " the sheep masters believe that the un- 
 known parent of the hydatid pierces the skull in some part of the forehead, and there 
 ileposits its eggs; accordingly they endeavour to secure their flocks from the dunt or 
 giddiness, by fastening a cloth, covered with pitch, upon the heads of the lambs before 
 they are conducted to the fields." — Lasteijrie, p. 179. 
 
 Other farmere of the same country cover the whole of the skull with a glutinous 
 impervious substance, composed principally of the white of eggs. Not a sheep the 
 less, however, is attacked. In fact, these authors are confounding the larva that 
 inhabits the frontal sinuses with the hydatid that is found in the cranial cavities. 
 Some proprietors of sheep leave the head covered with wool until the lambs are 
 eighteen months old. Others bleed largely when the sturdy begins to appear, and ex- 
 tend this abstraction of blood to the whole of the flock ; while many sheepmasters 
 severely blister the whole of the roof of the skull. 
 
 There is scarcely another disease of sheep with regard to which such various and 
 opposite opinions are held, and the attempt to combat which is so otten fruitless ; 
 while, if rightly considered, there is no complaint the treatment of which is so plain 
 and simple; namely, either to prevent the formation of the hydatid by breeding from 
 healthy and hardy subjects, and taking jaoper care of the sheep during the time that 
 they are chiefly expose*! to the attack of the parasite ; or by mechanically removing fne 
 hydatid ; or 8lau:jhteriiig the sheep before he begins to pine away and become werthlebs. 
 
WATER IN THE HEAD. 39\ 
 
 is a frequent consequence of mechanical pressure on the deeper seated parts 
 of the brain, and seldom admits of relief. 
 
 The turnsick is not so frequent as it used to be thirty or forty years ago ; 
 and, as agriculture improves, and a better system of breeding and feeding 
 prevails, and a little more humanity governs the proceedings of the farmer, 
 yet fewer cases of it will occur, and it will at length be struck from the list 
 of diseases to which the animal is exposed. 
 
 WATER IN THE HEAD. 
 
 There is occasionally, and even mure frequently in the lamb than in the 
 calf, an effusion of serous fluid within the cranial cavity. It is not confined 
 within a cyst — it is not a portion or part of a living animal, as in the dis- 
 ease just treated of — but it accumulates between the two investing mem- 
 branes of the brain, — the jjia maf-er and the arachnoid coat ; or it is found 
 within the latter ; or, and more frequently, it occupies and distends the 
 ventricles of the brain. 
 
 It is sometimes congenital : it attacks the lamb while in its foetal state. 
 The bones being then comparatively soft, and the sutures not closed, the 
 head is distorted and enlarged, and delivery is rendered difficult, if not 
 impossible, with safety to both the mother and the lamb. In such case, 
 before the mother is too much exhausted or injured by rude attempts to 
 deliver her, it will be advisable to perforate the head of the foetus, and 
 evacuate the fluid, — an operation which is inevitably fatal to the young one, 
 but insures the life of the ewe. 
 
 The cause of this congenital hydrocephalus, or water in the head, is 
 unknown ; the existence of it can at no time be detected previous to partu- 
 rition, much less can the period of its commencement be ascertained. It 
 may, however, without much danger of error, be traced to weakness of 
 constitution in one or both of the parents, or to neglect and starvation 
 during the period of utero-gestation. If one or two cases of this disease in 
 the lamb occur, the farmer will do well seriously to review his whole system 
 of management ; at all events, he should never again breed from the same 
 ewe, for there are few diseases in which hereditary predisposition is so 
 evident as in this. If two or three cases occur in the flock, and the 
 general management is good, and the ewes apparently healthy, the ram 
 may be suspected, and should be dismissed 
 
 Young lambs oftener die of water in the head than the shepherd or the 
 sheepmaster suspects. How often, a very short time after birth, — the 
 appetite sometimes failing, but more frequently becoming almost voracious, 
 — the bowels sometimes relaxed, but oftener constipated, — does tlie lamb 
 become dull and disinclined to move, — staggering a little as he walks, — 
 presenting a greater or less degree of stupidity, either in the expression of 
 the countenance or his mode of action, or both, — pining away almost 
 to a skeleton, — and dying, occasionally before the expiration of the first 
 month, and rarely surviving the second. The disease is described by no 
 writer, but it is familiar enough to the sheep-owner. These are generally 
 cases of water in the head : the skull is a little enlarged — the bones of it 
 thin, or sometimes strangely thickened — the ventricles filled with water-r- 
 the walls of them diminished in thickness, or having become almost mem 
 branous. Under the pressure of this unnatural quantity of fluid, the powers 
 of the mind and of the body have gradually sunk. Such a disease must 
 generally be incurable ; but in a few cases a successful struggle might be 
 made against it. The principal dependance would be placed on purgatives 
 and tonics combined — llie Epsom salts with ginger and gentian, and small 
 
3S2 SHEEP. 
 
 (loses of mercurial medicine — the blue pill — in closes of four or five grains, 
 bein<r sufficiently manageable, and, at the same time, the safest and most 
 efficacious preparation. Plenty of good milk should lie allowed from a 
 foster-mother, as well as from the real one, with exercise and air, and good 
 food, according to the convenience of the owner. If no other advantage 
 were gained from a knowledge of the true nature of this disease, the farmer 
 would at least be taught that there was something vvrong in the breed or 
 the management, or the situation, and the proper remedy might possibly 
 suggest itself. 
 
 ABSCESS IN THE BRAIN. 
 
 This disease is mentioned, because one case, and one only, has come 
 under the notice of the author. In sawing through many heads, in order 
 to obtain the larvye of the oestrus ovis in different stages of maturity, he 
 found an abscess in the centre of the right hemisphere, containing- more 
 than an ounce of dirty-white purulent matter, resembling the pus found in 
 other parts, but of almost intolerable foetor. The substance around was 
 softened, and of nearly the same colour. It seemed as if the abscess was 
 in a state of active enlargement. He immediately carried the head to the 
 man at whose shop it was bought, with the hope that he might be able to 
 trace it to the butcher ; but so many passing through the hands of this 
 person, he did not recognize it. It may be safely taken for granted that 
 the sheep was in the ordinary condition of those that are slaughtered for 
 the market ; and the case is an illustration of the extent to which these 
 processes may be carried without interfering with general health, 
 
 APOPLEXY. 
 
 ■ This is a very frequent and fatal species of pressure on the brain. It 
 is even more prevalent in. the sheep than the ox. The forcing system of 
 feeding is carried to a greater extent, if possible, in the sheep than in cattle ; 
 and there is this peculiar danger — that, while the comparatively thin hair 
 of the ox allows of a considerable degree of cutaneous perspiration, liie 
 woolly coat of the sheep, and the greasy yolky matter with which he is 
 surrounded, materially diminish, or almost entirely prevent, the superabun- 
 dant fluid from escaping. The sheep is llierefore naturally a more plethoric 
 animal than the ox, and more liable to all the diseases connected with re- 
 dundance of blood, and to apoplexy among the rest. 
 
 Let it be supposed that a flock of sheep, apparently in perfect health, are 
 grazing on a pasture somewhat too luxuriant. They have been lately put 
 upon it ; they have perhaps been driven a little distance to it, and the wea- 
 ther is hot ; — or let it be supposed that the jiasture is good and the sheep 
 in high condition. Suddenly one of them stands still — he seems to be 
 fixed to the spot ; or, if he attempt to move, his hind legs fail him — the 
 pupils are dilated and motionless — the eyes are fixed and almost blind — 
 and he stumbles over everything in his way. Tessier says that he will march 
 into the middle of a pack of hounds, and that their barking does not affright 
 him ; in fact, he is unconscious of everything around him. The conjunctival 
 and nasal membranes are of a deep red or violet hue, the nostrils are dilated, 
 the pulse hard and full, and the breathing generally stertorous. Presently 
 h?! begins to stagger — he falls — he struggles— he dies: and all this takes 
 place in less than a quarter of an hour. If he had been carefully looked 
 after this might have been foreseen, and probably prevented. It would 
 have been observed that the sheep was dull — that he lagged behind as he 
 travelled to the pasture — that his flanks heaved a little, and, possibly, that 
 
APOPLEXY 303 
 
 rumination had ceased : precautionary measures might then have been 
 taken. 
 
 The author is in the habit of attending the annual meeting of the Smith- 
 field Club, and certainly, as he goes from pen to pen, he admires the beau- 
 tiful symmetry and the high condition of the rival Southdown and Leicester 
 sheep, which are there exhibited ; vet the pleasure is somewhat alloyed by 
 the recollection that they are in an unnatural and dangerous state, and that 
 there may be scarcely a step between them and death. He is struck with 
 the appearance of a particular sheep. " Ah, Sir !" says the owner, " I 
 thought to have had a pen of them, but two of them died of inflammation 
 just before I was about to start." " I lost one on the journey," says an- 
 other. " And I lost one," says a third, " for which I would not have taken 
 fifty guineas." 
 
 "Tiiey all died of inflammation." No such thing. It was apoplexy — 
 the l)lood-striking, the apoplexia fulminans of the old writers, the apoplexie 
 foudroijante of the French. They had been brought to the highest and 
 most dangerous state of condition. Every vessel was filled with blood. 
 They were disturbed by the preparation for their journey, or by the fatigue 
 of it. The heart beat quicker and more powerfully ; an additional quan- 
 titv of blood rushed through the frame. It was impelled to the brain as 
 well as to other parts. But the brain is enclosed in an unyielding case ; 
 and when the arteries and the capillary vessels are distended- with blood, 
 they press upon the veins, and the coats of the veins being of a far more 
 yielding nature than that of the arteries, large and small, they yield, and 
 the passage through them is materially diminished, or obliterated. The 
 heart still labours to force the vital current on — the arteries become more 
 and more distended — the veins become impervious — the pressure is dread- 
 ful, but the bony covering of the brain yields not. The base of tlie brain, 
 whence arise the nerves of sensation and motion,*is compressed, benumbed, 
 and its functions are suspended — the animal has lost all feeling, and all 
 power of voluntary motion. The portion of the ganglial system, which 
 supplies the brain, becomes powerless under the same deadly weight, and 
 life is suspended or lost. There is no inflammation ! Inflammation is a 
 very convenient term to conceal many a blunder and many a false theory. 
 It is sudden and fatal oppression of every vital organ ; not produced by a 
 more violent determination of blood to the head than to other parts, as the 
 language of some writers would suggest, but by the inability of the vessels 
 of the brain, by reason of the unyielding bone that surrounds them, to 
 circulate that increased quantity of blood which the vessels of other parts 
 can readily dispose of by means of the expansibility of their coats, and 
 their consequent enlarged calibre. It is in a state of general plethora, 
 which may become the parent of inflammation ; but is not the necessary 
 cause of it. It is a highly dangerous state, of which sheep-breeders dream 
 not when they view with delight the high condition of their flocks, 
 and hasten the production of that high condition by every means in their 
 power. 
 
 When a flock of sheep is approaching to that condition, which some 
 breeders are so anxious to produce, it should be very carefully, watched ; 
 and if one of them is found lagging behind — standing still, if he can — his 
 head hanging down — half stupid, half blind, and half deaf, he should im- 
 mediately be bled, and to the extent which the case may indicate, or the 
 animal will bear. A pound is perhaps about the average quantity that 
 should be drawn at the first bleeding ; and that not taken from the eye- 
 vein— the vessel usually opened by the shejiherd, and the Airrier too — for 
 
394 SHKKP. 
 
 the most adroit of ihem cannot always obtain any great quantity of blood 
 from this vein, and seldomer can they obtain it so rapidly as it should be 
 drawn — but from the jugular, a vessel quite as easily opened, and from 
 wiiich the blood will flow in a much fuller stream. No harm could ever 
 ensue from this bleeding, and many a valuable animal would be saved. 
 
 Four ounces of Epsom salts should be administered as soon as possible 
 after the bleeding, and an additional ounce every six hours, until the bowels 
 are opened. The sheep should be removed to poorer pasture, or 
 taken into the farm -yard, and very sparingly fed during a few days 
 afterwards. 
 
 It should be deeply impressed on the mind of the sheep-master, that 
 although, from strength of constitution, sheep may struggle against an 
 attack of apoplexy, and the most alarming symptoms may gradually disap- 
 pear, yet, except the depletive measures just recommended have been 
 adopted, the recovery will be delusive. The disease will pass into a chronic 
 state ; and at length will terminate in the death of the patient, attended by 
 all the symptoms of inflammation of the brain. 
 
 That farmer would act judiciously, who, having lost one or two sheep 
 by apoplexy, were, in addition to a change of pasture, to abstract about 
 half a pound of blood from, and give 4 oz. of Epsom salts to, every one 
 that is in tolerable condition. He might avert impending mischief — he 
 would improve, rather than diminish, the condition of his flock, and he would 
 render that condition safe. This is particularly expedient at the beginning 
 of the summer. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 
 
 Inflammation — sometimes of the substance of the brain, and, at other 
 times, of its membranes, and occasionally involving both of them, is not of 
 unfrequent occurrence. Inflammation of the substance of the brain often 
 follows an attack of apoplexy. In an early stage of the disease the eyes 
 are red and protruded — the animal is at first dull and heavy, and disinclined 
 to move ; but the scene soon changes — the eyes brighten — the flanks begin 
 to heave — the sheep is in constant motion — he cocks his tail, and gallops 
 about the field, and attacks his companions or the shepherd, or even a post 
 or a tree that may chance to attract his attention. This ferocity — the 
 effect of temporary delirium — has been confounded with madness : the 
 manifest diff"erence of character and symptoms will be best described when 
 the latter disease is treated of. 
 
 The causes are nearly the same as those of apoplexy — too stimulating 
 food and too great redundancy of blood, over-driving, and, occasionally, 
 atmospheric influence. As for the treatment, the case too frequently will 
 not admit of any. If the animal can be approached and managed during 
 a remission of tine more violent symptoms, he should be bled unto fainting. 
 Physic will be more easily given. The sheep, like the ox, seems to have 
 an insatiable thirst when he is labouring under this disease ; and therefore 
 ho may be cheated with a solution of Epsom salts, and possibly half a 
 drachm of the farina of the croton nut. Use should also be made of some 
 tem|)orary remission of the symptoms in order to confine the animal, ami 
 take from him the power of doing mischief. Should the frenzy appear to 
 be subdued, dependance cannot always be placed upon him, for, if sub- 
 jected to the least restraint or annoyance, the fit will sometimes return ; 
 and, at all events, although the inflammation may appear to be subdued, so 
 much mischief may have been previously done, that the animal will pine 
 away and die a mere skeleton. A continued course of purging and fever 
 
DISEASES OF THE SPINAL CORD. 395 
 
 medicine must be entered upon and pursued, and liie animal disposed of as 
 soon as possible*. 
 
 Frenzy, or brain fever, occurs more frequently among lambs than idult 
 sheep. Mr. Tait, of Portsoy, gives an interesting account of this malady 
 in lambs — an abridgment of which is here subjoined, 
 
 " Some time ago I was requested to look at a flocV of sheep. Upon 
 inquiry I found that the sheep, owing to the dry season (1826), had been 
 considerably stinted in their food in the summer time, and that tliey had 
 been, about a month before I saw them, turned into a field of very fine 
 turnips. The appearance of the sheep was rather strange. For about a 
 minute they would stand motionless, and then, all at once, become quite 
 frantic, dashing themselves on the ground, and running at every one within 
 their reacb. Others would all at once spring from the ground and fall 
 down and die. 
 
 " I caught one and bled her copiously, which seemed to relieve her much. 
 I then gave her a dose of Epsom salts, which, in a few days, produced a 
 cure ; and by such sinij)le treatment many of the sheep recovered. In 
 those that died, the lungs were very much congested, and the vessels of the 
 brain turgid ; and, in some cases, rupture had actually taken place, for 
 there was an efFiision of blood on the surface of the brain. 
 
 " The flock was immediately removed from the turnip- field, and turnips 
 were given to them more sparingly, and the disease soon disappeared f." 
 
 DISEASES OF THE SPINAL CORD. 
 
 The diseases of the spinal cord will naturally come next under consider- 
 ation. The spinal cord or marrow of the sheep, like that of the horse 
 and ox, is divided by a central line, on the upper and under surfiice, through 
 its whole extent. Each side is, at the commencement of tlie cord, plainly 
 divisible into two columns, and each column has been supposed, or rather 
 has been proved, to have a distinct and separate function. The inferior 
 surfaces of the central columns are connected with voluntary motion : all 
 the nerves of voluntary motion, extending over every part of the frame, 
 proceed from these columns. The central ones, on the upper surface, are 
 connected with sensation ; and all the nerves — scattered over the body — 
 which convey general sensation or feeling, terminate in these columns. The 
 lateral ones, on either side, are connected with the movements and peculiar 
 sensibility belonging- to the existence and the functions of life. 
 
 There are certain classes of disease referrible to each of these columns, 
 and they shall now pai;s in review. The central columns of the inferior 
 surface first present themselves — the nerves of voluntary motion — and by 
 means of which the mandates of the will are conveyed to the different parts 
 of the frame. This is not the place, nor is this the kind of work, in which 
 the nature of this nervous influence should be discussed ; but in a popular, 
 and perhaps not very unscientific way, the stream of nervous influence may 
 
 * The symptoms of Phrenitis are sometimes very curious in lambs. They leap and 
 jump about, and exhibit the most ridiculous antics. Mr. John Lawrence says that '"on 
 the borders of Suffolk several scores of lambs were seized with an uncommon malady, 
 leaping and jumiiiu-^ about the fold-yard, in a strange manner. A dung hill happening 
 to have beea raised almost to a level with the eaves of a low-ti'.ed barn, a number of the 
 hirabs ran skipping up to the top of the roof as if they were possessed by a thousand 
 demons. The whole parish wisely concluded th. it they were bewitched, and a wretched 
 and aged pauper became the object of their suspicion and deadly hatred. The senseless 
 and horrible supposed-prevention of witchcraft was rdsoried to, namely, burning one of 
 the poor animals alive.'' — Laurence on Cattle, p. ()32. 
 
 \ Veterinarian, vol. viii, p. 611. 
 
396 SHEEl'. 
 
 be supposed naturally to flow in a gentle equable stream, but it may be 
 violently hurried on without pause, or quite suspended. These different 
 states of nervous agency will explain the nature and character of certain 
 nervous diseases. Those diseases in which the nervous influence may be 
 supposed to be hurried violently along without relaxation or pause, first pre- 
 sent themselves. 
 
 This disease, more commonly known by the name of locked jaw — be- 
 cause the forcible closing of the mouth is one of the earliest and most pro- 
 minent, although not the invariable symptom — consists in a constant spasm 
 of the voluntary muscles, and particularly those of the jaw, the neck, and 
 the spine. The symptoms of tetanus in sheep differ materially from those 
 of the horse and of cattle. It generally commences with a singular invo- 
 luntary spasmodic motion of the head, or of one or all of the extremities, 
 attended by a grinding of the teeth, and a fixedness of the jaws. To this 
 succeeds a peculiar stiffness of the greater part of the frame ; the neck is 
 protruded and the head bent back, and forcibly retained in that bended 
 form ; and one leg is drawn up, and fixed in an unnatural position. This 
 rigidness occasionally relaxes, and gives way to violent convulsions of the 
 head, neck, and extreiiiities, followed again by fixidity of them and of the 
 whole frame. The disease runs its course most speedily : the animal is 
 often dead within twelve hours from the first attack ; or, if he lingers on 
 beyond thirty-six hours, it may be regarded as a pledge of his ultimate 
 recovery. 
 
 M. Gasparin relates an interesting case of it, which he had from his 
 friend Professor Gohier, of Lyons. " About one o'clock in the afternoon 
 I perceived one of my lambs standing in a very singular position : all his 
 four quarters seemed to be stiffened — his head was elevated, and thrown 
 considerably backward, and he was ready to fall if he changed his posture 
 in the slightest degree. On examining him more attentively I found that 
 his breathing was laborious, his pulse accelerated and hard, his mouth 
 open in order to enable him to breathe more freely, the conjunctiva in- 
 flamed, and the extensor muscles of the head, the neck, and shoulder spas- 
 modically contracted. 
 
 " At three o'clock the muscles of the jaw were nearly fixed, and the 
 force of the spasm increased every minute, until the death of the animal. 
 The poor creature frequently uttered a peculiarly plaintive sigh. 
 
 " At ten o'clock, if he was touched, however gently, the muscles of the 
 extremities would be violently convulsed for one or two minutes, and he 
 would fall. At two o'clock on the following morning the breathing was 
 sadly laborious, and could be heard at a considerable distance ; and this 
 continued until six o'clock, when he died. The rapidity of this disease is 
 very remarkable. As to the cause of it, the only thing that was known 
 was, that he had been exposed during a considerable time to a violent rain ; 
 but two other lambs were also thus exposed, and escaped*." 
 
 The rain was the cause of the disease in this case. Thousands of ewes 
 after lambing, and tens of thousands of lambs lately dro})ped, are lost every 
 winter by careless and unfeeling agriculturists. It is not a great deal of 
 attention that these animals require. A linney or shed, a few clumps of 
 trees, or even a thick hedge to break the force of the wind, would render 
 them in a manner comfortable ; and certainly would remove very much of 
 
 * Gasiiariii, Manuel d'Ait \ cliiiuaire p. V3. 
 
EPILEPSY 897 
 
 the danger ; but wl)en they are left altogether unprotecteil, nothing is more 
 common than, after a cold night, to find some of the ewes and more of the 
 lambs dying or dead. In travelling over some of the more open parts of 
 the country on a winter's morning, the autlior has seen, in the space of 
 twenty or thirty miles, more than as many sheep or lambs stiffened by the 
 cold. 
 
 About weaning time tetanus is also very prevalent, and the old shepherds 
 pretend to foretell what lambs will fall victims to it after castration. If, 
 when the operator is sawing through the spermatic cord with his blunt 
 knife, or gnawing it asunder with his teeth, the jaws of the little animal are 
 strongly and spasmodically clenched, he says that that lamb is in danger of 
 locked-jaw ; and, in order to prevent ils occurrence, he thrusts his thumb 
 into the mouth of the sutlerer, and forcibly separates the jaws. Hurtrel 
 d'Arboval laughs at this ; but there is some good sense in it. The spasm 
 is interrupted — the charm is broken, and the disposition to this excess of 
 muscular action is got rid of before it has had time to establish itself gene- 
 rally. Rams are far more subject than horses to tetanus after castration, 
 and especially on the Continent, where the operation by torsion (^bistour- 
 ?iag(') is often performed with unnecessary severity. 
 
 Tiie indications of cure are the same in the sheep as in the horse and 
 cattle. A bleeding from the jugular or from the eye-vein, and from the 
 first rather than the second, should be immediately effected; and, before 
 the jaw becomes thoroughly fixed, one or more doses of the castor- oil mix- 
 ture (see Medicines) should be given ; it combines the purgative and the 
 anodyne, which such a case requires. Some persons administer aloes or 
 Epsom salts, and, after that, repeated doses of the well-known compound 
 the calves' cordial (see Medicines). The object sought to be accomphshed 
 is the same, but the opiate should at least speedily follow the purgative. 
 The castor-oil mixture is far preferable. 
 
 Tetanus is a far more manageable disease in the sheep than in the horse 
 or the ox. Thousands die because nothing is done; but the animal having 
 been bled — the bowels having been opened — an opiate having been admi- 
 nistered — the lamb having been put into a warm bath, and then tolerably 
 dried and wrapped in blankets if the case is unusually bad, and at all 
 times being placed within the influence of, but not too near, the fire — and 
 a little gruel, mingled with ginger and ale, or even the housewife's gin, 
 having been given — a cure will often be effected. 
 
 This is an undue and excessive supply of nervous energy, extending over 
 a considerable part of the frame, independent of the will, but with some 
 pauses and suspensions, some alternate contractions and relaxations. Te- 
 tanus and epilepsy may be regarded as kindred diseases in all animals ; but 
 in none do they so assimilate to each other as in the sheep. Tetanus 
 appears in him to be little more than an aggravated state of epilepsy. 
 Sheep are much more subject to epilepsy than either horses or cattle are. 
 This has been observed from a very early period of time. Hippocrates 
 speaks of the frequency of its attacks*. On a sudden, and without any 
 apparent cause, a sheep will cease to graze — he will stare stupidly in every 
 direction, stagger, run round three or four times, aud then fall, and struggle 
 violently for several minutes. By degrees the convulsions subside — then 
 
 * Lib. de Morbo sacro. See also Recherches sur les Maladies Epizootiques, par Mt 
 Paulct.to-.n. i. p. 80. 
 
398 SHEEP. 
 
 cease — and the animal gets up with the same half-unconsciousness that has 
 been described in the horse and the ox : this wears away, and he begins to 
 graze again. 
 
 These attacks oftenest occur in young sheep in good condition, and after 
 sudden and improvident change of pasture. They are frequent in the be- 
 ginning of spring, and more so towards the latter part of autumn, when the 
 hoar-frost lies thick upon the ground. The sheep, either not having been 
 folded, or being dismissed from the fold too early, gather a considerable 
 quantity of this congealed water with their food, and it palsies the action 
 of the rumen, impedes the circulation of the blood through it, and determines 
 the blood to other and more important parts, and, among them, the head. 
 
 The author of this treatise had occasion to travel over the Downs of 
 Wiltshire in the beginning of November, about a dozen years ago ; and he 
 had an instructive, but not pleasing, illustration of this cause of epilepsy. 
 Within two hours after daybreak he saw at least a dozen sheep and lambs 
 with the convulsions of epilepsy strong upon them. The coachman told 
 him that on every fine cold morning he saw nearly or quite as many. He 
 had also an illustration of the favourite method of cure among some of the 
 shepherds. It was to destroy one morbid derangement of the nervous 
 system by setting up another. The dog was turned upon these poor ani- 
 mals, who were speedily frightened, not out of their senses, but into them 
 again. He saw this succeed in various instances, but he thought that it 
 was a dangerous and a brutal mode of cure. The chain of diseased action 
 might sometimes be broken, but it was possible that the determination of 
 blood to the brain, which was the cause of these convulsions, might be 
 abundantly and fatally increased. He imagined that it would have been 
 better to have soothed the poor animals — to have taken some of them home 
 and nursed them — and, most of all, not to have exposed them to the 
 influence of this cause of derangement of the vital and nervous powers. 
 
 In some parts of the continent this disease is very prevalent and fatal 
 among sheep, and is traced to the nature of the pasturage. Tessier, in his 
 valuable work on sheep, speaks of it as having been lately introduced, and 
 now of frequent occurrence and exceedingly fatal in the district of Beauce 
 in France. When it once attacks a flock, it finds so great a predisposition 
 in them all to be affected by it, that the farmer either gets rid of the whole 
 flock, or he destroys every sheep that exhibits the slightest symptom of 
 disease. Many of the farmers of the district have actually given up sheep- 
 husbandry, on account of the frequent and extensive ravages of this malady. 
 He attributes the complaint to the cultivation of a kind of pasture in Beauce, 
 different from that on which the sheep used to feed, but he does not enter 
 into the particulars that could have been wished on such a point*. 
 
 Gasparin, speaking of its prevalence in Germany, says, that it is most 
 destructive in the spring and summer, and occasionally so in winter ; and 
 he adds, that the shepherds there attribute it to the feeding on some species 
 of dock and garlick in the winter, and on the sproutings of the pine in the 
 spring. Pasturage and condition are probably the main agents in the [tro- 
 duction of this disease f. 
 
 This disease, which consists of a partial or total suspension of nervous 
 influence on the muscles of voluntary motion, is not of so frequent ocucr 
 
 • Instructions sur les Betes a Laine, jiar M. Tessier.. p. 291. 
 t Manuel de I'Art V6teriaaire, par A. D. Gasparin, 
 
PALSY. 399 
 
 rence in sheep as in oxen, for in their general management they are more 
 exposed to the vicissitudes of the seasons, and hardened against the influ- 
 ence of sudden atmospheric changes. Nature has also given to tliem, for 
 their own benefit and for ours, a thick coat of wool, which, under ordinary 
 circumstances, may bid defiance both to cold and wet ; yet there are times 
 when they seriously and fatally experience the benumbing effect of the 
 former. 
 
 The ewe, at yeaning time, enfeebled by the process of parturition, and, 
 consequently, more than usually susceptible of impression from external 
 agents, and less able to struggle against those that are injurious, is care- 
 lessly left in a bleak and exposed situation. At night comes " a frost — a 
 killing frost," and, as the Shepherd most accurately expresses himself, 
 " she is chilled — chilled to the very marrow." 
 
 The lamb just dropped is perhaps naturally weakly ; or, if strong, sud- 
 denly changes the temperature of the mother's womb for one below the 
 freezing point, and lies for hours on a bed of snow. True, nature has 
 kindly given to these little ones, and to young animals of every class, a 
 capability of resistance against much cold — a degree of insusceptibility to its 
 benumbing influence ; but the vital power must necessarily sink under an 
 attack like this. The shepherd carelessly examines his flock at night ; but 
 he thinks not of the bitter, biting blast to which they will be exposed, and 
 in the morning he finds some of them dead, and more deprived of all power 
 of motion. 
 
 The heat is by degrees abstracted from these neglected and abused ani' 
 mals by the cold bed on which tliey lie and the cold air around them. It 
 is abstracted far more rapidly than it can be supplied — the nervous influ- 
 ence of the organic system ia withdrawn — the vital current is arrested — 
 and life is fled. One universal palsy leads on to, or is another word for, 
 death. If the vital influence ever returns, it returns slowly, and with con- 
 siderably diminished energy. For many an hour, and often during many 
 a day, the blood loiters, and the muscles are rigid, or their action is in a 
 manner powerless ; and then follows a compound of rheumatism and of 
 palsy — the last predominant and most obstinate. After all, the lamb rarely 
 regains his former condition and value ; but continues a mortifying and 
 disgraceful exhibition of the carelessness or inhumanity of the owner. How 
 much has the farmer yet to learn with regard to the treatment of the lamb 
 and its mother ! In some seasons the mortality among these animals forms 
 no inconsiderable item in the catalogue of his losses, and the circumstances 
 which contribute to general agricultural distress. 
 
 There is a little art in treating these poor palsied beings, and particularly 
 the young ones; for although they resist the cold longer than the aduft 
 animal, they have not strength to bear the re-action which often follows 
 when the vital heat begins once more to be produced. The means of 
 relief are simple, but they sliould be cautiously applied. The little patient 
 should be put into a hamper and carried home, wrapped up in straw, and 
 thus the scanty portion of warmth which continues about him will not be 
 dispersed. After a while, he may be brought into a warm room, or placed 
 at some distance from the fire : a little warm gruel may be adminstered, 
 witli some ginger ; or if he does not soon begin to rally, a little ale may be 
 added to the gruel. Nothing stronger should by any means be allowed. 
 Moderate warmth is the principal restorative. As soon as the Iamb 
 begins to recover, and is able to toddle a little about, he should be returned 
 to his mother, who, in the meantime, should have been removed to a more 
 
400 • SHEEP. 
 
 comfortable place ; and her care of him, and her milk will in most cases 
 gradually accomplish a cure. 
 
 It often happens, however, that after the palsy of the limbs has disap- 
 peared, the digestive organs imperfectly discharge their functions. Diarrhoea 
 — and of a kind difficult to arrest, and soon assuming a serious character — 
 is a frequent consequence of this exhaustion. The best, and, indeed, the 
 only safe and efficacious remedy, is the " sheep and calves' cordial," the 
 composition of which will be found in the list of medicines at the end of 
 this work. 
 
 Two or three months afterwards comes another dangerous season as it 
 regards the lambs — the time of weaning ; and especially if the weather 
 should be cold. They are often turned into some distant, and, perhaps, 
 upland pasture, in order that the mother and the young ones may be out 
 of the hearing of each others' bleating ; and that the food may not be too 
 plentiful or stimulating until the lamb is somewhat accustomed to his new 
 kind of nourishment. Notwithstanding every precaution, purging will 
 often come on, and cold will be taken, and there will be weakness of the 
 limbs generally, and especially of the hind limbs, and an approach at least 
 to palsy, if not the actual disease. Possibly this may be somewhat con- 
 nected with, or consequent upon, the state of almost abandonment in which 
 they were left when newly dropped. The treatment in this case is very 
 simple. If the weather or the locality demand it, they should be placed 
 in a more comfortable situation — a purgative consisting of Epsom salts, 
 with ginger, should be administered — and, after that, a dose or two of the 
 " cordial" will usually set all right. 
 
 Proceeding from the lateral column of the spinal marrow, seen plainly 
 enough at the commencement of the cord, and supposed from its apparent 
 agency to be continued through the whole extent of the spine, are certain 
 nerves which discharge a very different function from any that have yet 
 been considered. They are independent of the will, and only so far con- 
 nected with the nerves of motion and sensation as to derive assistance from 
 them when the welfare of the system requires it. They preside over 
 those motions which are essential to life. They are properly termed the 
 motor organic nerves. «J3y them the heart beats, and the lungs heave, and 
 the stomach brings in turn every portion of the food into contact with the 
 gastric juice, and the bowels propel their contents through all their various 
 windings. It is easy to see how many a disease of every system is referrible 
 to their morbid action, whether hastened or retarded, or rendered irregular, 
 or suspended. There is no disease of the contents of the chest or the belly, 
 which is not referrible to, or connected with, one or another of them. 
 Diseases of this kind, however, will be best considered when the organs to 
 which the organic motor nerves are distributed pass in review. 
 
 Once more, there is a fourth distinct class of nerves, the origin of which 
 cannot be determined, for they pervade the whole frame — the sympathetic 
 or ganglionic nerves. The principal branches proceed from a ganglion, 
 or nervous enlargement, at the upper part of the neck, and at the base of the 
 skull. They connect themselves more especially with the blood-vessels. 
 They can be plainly traced over them, until they elude the eye from their 
 minuteness ; and they are supposed to accompany them through all their 
 ramifications. They preside over the different secretions ; they govern tho 
 vessels in which the processes of deposition and absorption are Carried on, 
 they direct the nutrition, the growth, and the decay of every part of 
 the system. It is easy to see that these must be identified with, and have 
 
RABIES, OR MADNESS. - 40i 
 
 the greatest sliare in the production, and progress, and result of every 
 disease : but it will also be evident that they, like the organic motor nerves, 
 will be best considered, when the organs to which they are distributed are 
 treated of*. 
 
 I'iiere is one disease, however, plainly of nervous origin, and connected 
 with all the various nervous systems, which it will be convenient to consider 
 in this place, namely, — 
 
 RABIES, OR MADNESS. 
 
 The extent of the mischief which a rabid dog frequently produces among 
 sheep is almost incredible, especially if it is a sheep-dog, or has, at a former 
 period, shown a disposition to worry sheep. Mr. Harris, to whom the 
 farmer and the veterinary surgeon are indebted for the best account of this 
 disease in sheep, says, that out of twenty-nine lambs in one flock, attacked 
 by a lurcher, three only escaped ; and more were bitten by him in different 
 flocks, the greater part of whom were seriously injured. In three weeks 
 thirty of them were dead, and nearly all of them before the expiration of 
 the seventh week f . 
 
 The disease generally appears between the close of the second and the 
 fourth week, but it has remained dormant until the eleventh week after the 
 bite, Tlie earliest symptoms peculiar to the sheep, are the following, and 
 riding each other about — rams and wethers, and ewes and ewe-lambs. 
 This continues a day or two, during which they occasionally feed, but are 
 evidently losing condition. To this succeeds dulness or stupor, from which 
 the ewes are rarely roused, but become paralytic, and die almost without a 
 Struggle. The lambs have a succession of convulsive fits, which carry 
 them off in a day or two ; but the wethers and the rams exhibit more or 
 less ferocity, and in which the ewes occasionally participate. Some push 
 their noses and faces against the ground, or thrust their heads against a 
 hedge-bank : others have more method, as well as fierceness, in their mad- 
 ness. ■ There is no disposition to bite, but they will nibble a stick when pre- 
 sented to them ; and they will make good use of their horns or their heads, 
 by attacking their fellows, or running violently against everything within 
 their reach, until the skin is stripped almost entirely from their foreheads. 
 To this follows a mucous discharge from the nostrils, and one of ropy 
 saliva from the mouth, and, sometimes, a collection of froth and spume at 
 the corners of the mouth. There is no dread of water, and there certainly 
 is not the insatiable thirst that is often observed in the later stages of the 
 disease in the dog. If they drink at all, it will be from the filthiest puddle 
 that they can find. They will sometimes eat a vast quantity of dirt, and 
 nibble the wood-work within their reach, and swallow the pieces. They are 
 not like the dog, eagerly watching everything that takes place around them 
 in the intervals of their peculiar delirium, but they are in a manner insensible 
 to all that is going forward. The howl of the dog is characteristic of the 
 disease ; and the bleating of the sheep, and more especially of the lambs, 
 is much altered : the key is higher, and the tone is more plaintive. Some 
 sheep die on the second or third day, and few of them survive the fifth, 
 the disease occasionally assuming in them many of the characters of 
 inflammation of the bi'ain. 
 
 The post-mortem appearances are often unsatisfactory. In some cases 
 
 * For a description of the origin, course, and functions of these nerves, see the Au- 
 thor's Lectures in the Veterinarian, for 183/'. 
 
 f The Veterinarian, vol. viii. p. 498. Mr. Harris says, that some years ago, about 
 twenty sheep were bitten by a dog, all of whom died mad. 
 
 2 D 
 
402 SHEEP. 
 
 there has been evident inflammation of the membranes of the brain, and 
 slight congestion of its substance. There is notliing, however, about the 
 brain that can be characteristic of the disease, and the lesions of it after 
 death depend entirely on the accidental symptoms with which the disease 
 has been accompanied. There is not always the inflammation and injection 
 about the upper part of the windpipe, which is characteristic of rabies in 
 the dog ; this depends upon the quietness, or violent bleating of the animal, 
 or the inflammation that has been propagated from the lungs to the wind- 
 pipe and larynx. It is in the stomach that we must look for the decisive 
 appearances, and they are often wanting even there. If the rumen is partially 
 filled with dirt and filth, and sticks and stones ; if an unusual and abomin- 
 ably foetid smell is perceived, and the inner coat of the paunch is consider- 
 ably inflamed, and that inflammation is in patches, and not continuous ; and 
 especially if there are small spots of extravasated blood, there can be little 
 or no doubt that the disease was pure rabies. Some sheep, however, in 
 which the disease was evident enough during life, exhibit no morbid lesion 
 after death. No prevention of this disease is yet known except, at an early 
 period after the bite, the removal of the wounded part by the caustic or the 
 knife ; but there can be no assurance that every wound has been discovered, 
 except the animal is shorn all over. The wound will usually be situated 
 in the ears, or the legs, or on the face. If it is found on the ears they must 
 be cut off below the bite — if it is on the legs or the face, the pointed end of 
 a stick of the nitrate of silver must be introduced into it, and brought 
 thoroughly to act upon every part of it. If there is any doubt as to this 
 being thoroughly eff"ected, the wound must be enlarged with the knife, so 
 as to afford free access to the caustic ; and then, were it certain that every 
 portion of the wound had been acted upon, and that there were no other 
 wound, all danger would be removed : but can any one venture to say, even 
 after the sheep has been closely shorn, that there is no other minute scratch ? 
 and if there should happen to be the smallest possible one, it is as dangerous 
 as a lacerated wound. 
 
 . There is another consideration that should have its due weight. If only 
 a day or two have elapsed since the bite, the sheep may be fairly and 
 honestly sold to the butcher. They may not be in the usual market con- 
 dition, but they are worth something, and the pasture will be ready for 
 other animals ; but, the virus having once entered into the circulation, or 
 symptoms of rabies having appeared, fairness and honesty forbid that the 
 flesh should be used for human food. 
 
 There is yet another question. In what proportion of the flock is the 
 malady Hkely to appear ? It will probably attack almost every sheep that 
 has been bitten ; and in a small flock scarcely one will escape. " All 
 that were bitten," says Mr. Harris, " whether much or little, were sooner 
 or later affected ; and in about five weeks all were dead*," Common sense, 
 and common prudence, therefore, indicate the slaughter of the sheep the 
 moment there is strong suspicion of their having been bitten. 
 
 As for cure, that is altogether out of the question. There are many drugs 
 that have some influence over the disease — they will modify or alleviate the 
 symptoms — they will somewhat retard the approach of death — but not one 
 of them will effect a cure ; and that farmer is incurring fruitless expense, 
 and considerable danger, who administers any of the pretended nostrums 
 for the cure of madness. 
 
 Is there any danger of the disease being communicated to those who 
 
 ♦ The Veterinarian, vol. viii., 499. 
 
THE SENSE OF SMELLING. 403 
 
 handle the sheep, from some of tlie virus remaining on the wool, and 
 coming into contact with a sore or wound ? There is not an authentic case 
 upon record in which rabies has been thus propagated ; but it has been 
 communicated by the virujs of the ox, the horse, the ass, the human being, 
 and, some authors say, the hen and the duck. It is probable that the 
 virus of every rabid animal will propagate the disease ; but it may pos- 
 sess different degiees of virulence, and it seems not to be so dangerous in 
 the herbivorous and the ruminant animal, as in the carnivorous one. The 
 danger may be comparatively little, but it does exist ; and it behoves those 
 who have the handling of sheep, in such circumstances, to be very much 
 on their guard. 
 
 Having thus disposed of the diseases of the nerves of voluntary motion 
 and common sensation, and likewise taken a brief glance at those of organic 
 motion, and of secretion and nutrition, it remains only to consider those 
 of peculiar sensation, or confined to one kind of sensation alone, as the 
 nerves of smelling, seeing, hearing, and tasting. 
 
 THE SENSE OF SMELLING. 
 
 The olfactory nerve, by which the impressions made by odoriferous 
 bodies on the membrane of the nose are conveyed to the brain, arises, as 
 in the horse and the ox, from two roots, — the one from the outer part of 
 the corpus striatum, the other from the under and anterior part of the 
 corpus callosum. These pass forward, united yet distinct, until they reach 
 the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone — (fig. 11, p. 384.) The pulpy 
 mass of which each is composed passes through the perforated bone, yet 
 still distinct. They are clothed with dura mater, in order to defend them 
 through the short course they have to pursue. The portion proceeding 
 from the corpus striatum spreads itself on the membrane covering the 
 turbinated bones, (figs. 13 and 14, p. 384,) while the other ramifies on the 
 membrane of the septum of the nose — the cartilaginous division between 
 the two nostrils. 
 
 The cause of this double root, and the different termination of the two 
 branches, is unknown. The membrane of the septum, and that of the 
 turbinated* bones, may be endowed with sensibility to different kinds of 
 odours. The upper part of the nostril seems to be the true seat of the 
 sense of smell, and the bones which are found there are developed in size, 
 and, consequently, receive more nervous influence in different animals in 
 proportion as acuteness of smell is necessary to their preservation and com- 
 fort. The ethmoid bone is considerably developed in the horse, because in 
 a state of nature he is wild, and the faculty of distinguishing between nutri- 
 tive and poisonous plants is indispensable to him. Tiie ox is not so domes- 
 ticated as the horse. He has more occasion for acuteness of smell, and 
 particularly in the early part of the spring, when the plants are young 
 (see Cattle, p. 273, fig. r) : this bone is larger in him. The sheep is 
 still less domesticated, and in many parts even of the British islands wanders 
 almost wild and abandoned : it is still larger in him than in the ox, and 
 .seems to fill the superior portion of the nasal cavity. 
 
 The turbinated bones (fig. 13, 14, p. 384.) bear evident relation, in 
 their development, to the necessity of an acute sense of smell in different 
 animals. The construction is nearly the same in all. They present a 
 kbyrinth of intricate cavities, pierced on all sides with numerous perfora- 
 tions, through which the membranes, and the ramifications of the nerves, 
 freely pass. They are more developed in the ox than in the horse ; and in 
 the sheep, and particularly the lower turbinated bone, they are so large as 
 
 2D2 
 
404 SHEEP. 
 
 to fill up, as it were, the wliule of the cavity, tlius accounting for the readi- 
 ness with which this animal is blown, if he is hurried only in a slight 
 degree. Gasparin, describing the French sheep occasionally exposed to 
 the attack of the wolf, assigns another reason for the development of these 
 organs of smell. " Their sense of smelling is acuter than that of most of 
 the domesticated animals, as will appear from the immense distance at 
 whicli they can scent the approach of a wolf, and the terror which they 
 ex])ress by a thousand movements. It is on that account that the nasal 
 fossae are so large in the sheep *." 
 
 The acutest observer of these animals has not, and could not probably 
 detect in any of them the loss or the suspension of the sense of smell ; but 
 the farmer has often to deplore that want of discrimination between whole- 
 some and poisonous food, which has caused considerable destruction in his 
 flock. Nature gave to every animal the power of distinguishing one plant 
 from another by its scent ; but it was left to the tuition of the mother, to a 
 very great extent at least, to teach the young one what peculiar smell, or 
 want of smell, designates a wholesome plant ; and what as plainly marks 
 an injurious one. For a while the lamb subsists entirely, or almost so, on 
 its mother's milk, and nature designed that it should be accustomed to its 
 after-food by her side and under her tuition. If, from ignorance, caprice, 
 or because the farmer thinks he can bring his lambs, or their mothers, 
 earlier to the market, he separates the one from the other, and turns out 
 his young stock, inexperienced and untaught, they will eat indiscrimi- 
 nately of every herb that presents itself, and many of them will be lost ; 
 and he must take the consequence of his folly or his avarice. This is a 
 point of agricultural economy not sufficiently attended to. 
 
 THE ORGAN OF SIGHT. 
 
 For a description of the mechanism of the eye the reader is referred to 
 the treatise on the Horse, published by this Society (p. 84). It is nearly 
 the same in all our domesticated animals. There are^ however, some 
 minute points of difference ; and breeders and graziers are accustomed, and 
 rightly, to pay so much attention to the appearance of the eye of the sheep, 
 that the subject must not be quite passed over. The first peculiarity in the 
 eye of the sheep is its projection, both forward and laterally. This is oc- 
 casioned by the development of the frontal bones of these animals, in both 
 directions, in order to afford sufficient space for the attachment or origin of 
 the horn. The forehead of the sheep has, on this account, a greater breadth 
 than that of most other animals, and the eyes have a prominent appearance. 
 The consequence of this prominence is, that the orbit of the eye is occa- 
 sionally fractured. If the fracture is serious the sheep should be imme- 
 diately destroyed — if there is not much displacement of the bones, nature 
 will usually set all right. The orbitar process abuts upon the superior 
 bifurcation of the malar bone, as it does in the ox, and has no connexion 
 with the temporal bone ; and, deep in the liollow behind and beneath the 
 eye — the temporal fossa — the lateral development of the parietal bones in 
 these animals causes a singular displacement of structure. 
 
 The eyes are protected by lids of a similar construction with those of 
 other animals. An CEdematous state, or swelling of the lids,, is one of the 
 indications and accompaniments of the rot. If, however, there should not 
 be the few enlarged, pale, venous blood-vessels in the inner corner of the 
 eye which uniformly attend the early stages of the rot, this may be a mere 
 
 * Gaspariu Ues Malad. Contag. des B6tes a laiiie, p. 35. 
 
THE DISEASES OF THE EYE. 405 
 
 local affection, and a few applications of weak camphorated spirit will gene- 
 rally remove it. 
 
 Inflammation and soreness, and enlargement, and sometimes eversion of 
 the tarsi, or the edges of the lids, will be the accompaniment or the pre- 
 cursor of scab. It is rare to see confirmed scab without sore eyes, and sore 
 eyes are almost invariably followed by scab. The proper constitutional 
 means and local applications must be resorted to in order to cure this disease ; 
 but a weak solution of the sulphate of zinc may be applied to the lids, 
 
 From the same cause, and at the same time, the eye-lashes are apt to fall 
 off. Any weak mercurial ointment, or lard with a twentieth part of calo- 
 mel, may be applied in this as well as in the former case, in order to cure the 
 scorbutic affection, and to prevent the lids from adhering together. Should 
 a scabby eruption, beginning on or about the lids, spread over the face, it 
 is akin to, or is a species of scab, and resort must be had to the mercurial 
 ointment considerably lowered. When the bulbs or roots of the eye-lashes 
 have participated in the superficial disease, and have been destroyed, as is 
 too often the case in scab, the surface may be healed, but the hair will never 
 grow. again : but when, although the lashes have fallen, the bulbs remain 
 uninjured, a little oil or emollient ointment may be applied to prevent adhe- 
 sion between the lids, and nature will restore the hair without the interpo- 
 sition of art. 
 
 Warty tumours occasionally form on the eyelids, and particularly on the 
 upper lid. When they are small they should be touched a few times with 
 the lunar caustic. If they are larger, they may be snipped off with a pair 
 of scissors, and the caustic applied to the root. When neglected, they are 
 apt to degenerate into tumours of different kinds, and that will attain avery 
 considerable size. The author lately removed one from the upper eyelid of 
 a Wallachian ram that weighed more than two ounces. The portrait of this 
 ram is given in page 138. 
 
 The caroncle, the puncta lacrymalia, the lacrymal sac, the lacrymal gland, 
 and the haw or membrana nictitans, and their diseases too, are so similar 
 to those of the o.x, that, in order to avoid repetition, reference is made to 
 the volume on " Cattle." 
 
 The eye of the sheep should be of a middle size, quick in its motion, and 
 clear. The conjunctiva or white of the eye should be of a light pearl colour, 
 with a few minute red blood-vessels towards the inner angle, and the caroncie, 
 or little protuberance in the corner of the eye, of a healthy red appearance. 
 A paleness of the caroncle, and the appearance of a few distended vessels, 
 and perhaps of a yellow colour in the neighbourhood of it, are sure indica- 
 tions of the approach or the establishment of rot. 
 
 The form of the pwpil is nearly the same as in the horse ; it is horizon- 
 tally elliplical. The iris is of a lighter colour, and there are no corpora 
 nigra, or small black bodies, depending from the upper edge of the iris. The 
 internal part of the eye is also of a lighter colour. VVhile the lighter 
 coloured part of the interior lining membrane of the eye is of a bluish or 
 pea-green in the horse, and green in the ox, it is of a yellow-green in the 
 sheep. It is adapted to the wants of the animal, who is more abandoned to 
 the darkness, and, in many countries, the dangers of the night, than the 
 horse and the ox, and requires a brighter reflecting surface, in order that 
 surrounding objects may be rendered visible. The conjunctiva, or anterior 
 transparent membrane covering the eye and lining the lids, is subject to as 
 frequent and destructive inflammation as that of any other domesticateu 
 animal, and an inflammation that rapidly spreads to and disorganizes the 
 eye and destroys ihe sight. 
 
406 SHEEP. 
 
 A more frequent consequence of inflammation of the conjunctiva in the 
 sheep, tlian in any other animal, is adhesion between one or both hils and 
 the ball of the eye. The surfaces of both becoming excoriated, numerous 
 granulations are quickly produced which unite them together. This is 
 particularly the case wlien the eyes have much partaken of the general 
 inflammation of the external integument in scab ; and it has also occurred 
 when the conjunctiva has been too deeply scarified in order to abate inflam- 
 mation, or when the scarification has been performed with an unclean in- 
 strument. Inflammation of the eye, occurring eitl.or when there is scab, or 
 a tendency to scab in the sheep, is the common cause of it. The motion of 
 the lids is more or less impeded, and there is partial or total blindness 
 according to the extent of the adhesion. There is but one remedy for this 
 complaint, namely, to separate the united membranes. In countries where 
 the scab prevails, and this kind of blindness is of frequent occurrence, the 
 shepherd has always in his pocket a bit of hard wood, well polished, and in 
 the shape of a very small paperknife, which he introduces when there is any 
 opening between the membranes, or at the outer angle of the eye if the ad- 
 hesion is extensive, and so forcibly breaks down the union. He often finds 
 considerable difficulty in this, from the motion of tlie eye and the impa- 
 tience of the sheep; but this minute spatula is a safer instrument in his 
 hands, and perhaps in those of the veterinary surgeon, than the bistoury or 
 the scissors. Having liberated the eye, he washes it well with a decoction 
 of mallows or poppyheads, or introduces a little^il in order to prevent re- 
 newed adhesion. 
 
 It has been said that periodical ophthalmia — inflammation of the eye 
 wliich disappears and returns at uncertain intervals until cataract is pro- 
 duced — is a disease ])eculiar to the horse. They understood not the dis- 
 eases of sheep who believed this. There seems to be no animal more 
 exposed to the attack of inflammation — the slighest catarrh is frequently 
 accompanied by it — it appears in the interval between washing and shearing 
 — it very commonly follows the shearing — it is produced by every change 
 of weather, or impro])er exposure to cold after shearing, or indeed at any 
 time — it is the consequence of over-fatigue, or of long journeys through 
 dusty roads — it is the attendant on scab, on redwater, and on blood. It 
 suddenly occurs without any apparent cause — the animal is lark-spurred. 
 The old shepherds used to say that the sheep having trodden upon a lark's 
 nest, the old one, like a game chicken, had spurred the intruder in the eye, 
 and struck it blind*. It icas a sudden altaclc of ophthalmia. The shepherd 
 does not often trouble himself to observe it, or if he does perceive it, he 
 meddles not with it. If there is considerable discharge from the eye, and 
 he is a humane and intelligent man, he bathes it with warm water, or with 
 some favourite decoction ; or he takes a little blood from the vein at the 
 angle of the eye; or, if he is an ignorant and brutal fellow, he blows some 
 soot, or sugar, or powdered glass into the eye. After a while the eye clears 
 up, and the disease lias seemingly disappeared. This is only a treacherous 
 respite. The inflammation is still lurking, or a tendency to it ; and ere many 
 weeks have passed it returns, and more violently than at the first attack. 
 The internal parts of the eye now become affected, and Cataract is soon 
 cstabli>hed. There are few flocks in an exjjosed and cold situation in which 
 a tenth part of the sheep at least have not cataract in one eye, and there are 
 many more blind sheep than a stranger would imaginef. " It is woiider- 
 
 * Lawrence on Cattle, p. 6'28. 
 
 t It is a curious circumstance that when inflammatiou in the eye arises from some 
 constitutional cause, and runs on to cataract, the right eye is much more frequently lost 
 
THE ORGAN OF HEARING. 407 
 
 ful," says Mr. Hogg, " tliat although a great number of individuals of a 
 flock go quite blind, very few of them will stray from their own walk ; nay, 
 unless they lose themselves during the first three days, they are as sure to 
 be found at home as any of the parcel. Their necessity teaches them a 
 wonderful sagacity in following the rest of the flock by the scent," and, as 
 has been already quoted, " a friend generally attaches itself to the sufferer, 
 waiting on it with the most tender assiduity, and by its bleating calling it 
 back from danger, and from going astray *." 
 
 Another species of blindness is common among sheep, Gutta Serena, 
 or palsy of the optic nerve. It is a frequent accompaniment of turnsick, 
 and also of apoplexy. It is not easily recognised, for the transparency of 
 the eye remains, or is increased ; but the optic nerve is pressed upon by 
 some mechanical cause within the brain, and the retina is palsied. There is 
 no remedy here. In their encounters with, each other, and exposed as 
 the eye is from the peculiar form of the frontal bone and of the orbit, it 
 is much in danger, and frequently suffers. An instance lately occurred in 
 the practice of the author, in which the blow taking place on the orbit, the 
 transparent cornea was split from one angle of the eye to the other, in a 
 polled ram, and the crystalline lens escaped. The eye was frequently fo- 
 mented with warm water, and in the course of a fortnight seemed not to 
 give any pain to the animal, but it gradually wasted away, and the lids are 
 nearly closed. 
 
 In two or three cases the eye has been removed, when it became enlarged 
 and cancerous ; it has been punctured when dropsical ; and many an opera- 
 tion might be performed for its relief or cure, if veterinary surgery were 
 carried to the extent which the interests of the farmer evidently require. At 
 l)resent the sheep-owner very naturally sends the sheep at once to the 
 butcher rather than permit it to suffer and waste away under those diseases 
 which baffle the simple means and knowledge of the shepherd 
 
 THE ORGAN OF HEARING. 
 
 The form and size and position of the ear in sheep differ materially in 
 different breeds. This has little reference to the time, whether late or 
 remote, at which the different breeds were first domesticatedf, but is inti- 
 mately connected with the general form and the locality and habits of the 
 animal. The Argali (see cut, p. 132) and the Mouflon (p. 133), which 
 are considered by some writers as the prototypes of the present race of 
 sheep, have small and erect ears. They inhabited the mountainous regions 
 — they were exposed to numerous dangers — they had never enjoyed the 
 protection of man — and to their agile and active make they added a quick- 
 
 than the left one. This does not seem to be confimed to the sheep, nor to the ruminant, 
 but is the case with animals of ahuost every kind. The Zoolof^ical Society of London 
 has many animals in its menagerie afflicted with cataract, and in rather more than thrte 
 cases out of four it is the right eye which is affected. This is an interesting fai:t for 
 the consideration of the physiologist. 
 
 * Hogg on Sheep, p. 1 18. 
 
 t Livingstone, on Sheep, p. 142, and Kirby, in the Bridgewater Treatises, vol. i. 
 p. 6 1 , take up the same idea. Kirby says that " in the wild state the ears of the horse lie 
 back, and in the domesticated they are erect." They are erect in both, in the natural 
 and unexcited state, but the superior and untamed sj)irit of the wild horse gives to his 
 ears — ^the organs by means of which he mo^t frequently and eloquently discourses — a 
 greater range of motion than is often observed in the domesticated horse; and in some 
 moment of unusual playfulness or devilry they may be, and are, laid flat on the neck« 
 It is strange that this gentleman had not drawn the conclusion that they are naturally 
 upright, for he acknowledges that in all the ancient sculptures, and even those ul f^gyf 
 tian origin, he finds them so. 
 
408 SHEliP 
 
 ness of hearing necessary to warn them them of the approach of foes, and 
 for which the ear — light, and quickly moved in every direction — was admir- 
 ably adapted. 
 
 the Abyssinian or Persian sheep (p. 23), the fat-tailed (p. 114), and 
 the fat-rumped sheep (p. 20), have large and pendulous ears. They are 
 inhabitants principally of the plains, they have fewer foes to dread, and 
 they have been from the earliest period under the dominion and the protec- 
 tion of man. At the present period the Wallachian ram (p. 138) has 
 small and erect ears ; he is an inhabitant of the mountains, and has enemies 
 to dread and to provide against; and so has the Iceland sheep (p. 1G8), 
 and for similar reasons ; but the inhabitant of the sandy plains of Southern 
 and Central Africa (p. 121) lias the ears so lengthened as to constitute no 
 little deformity. He can see his enemies long before they approach him, 
 and secure his safety by flight. 
 
 In the British empire the horned AVclsh (p. 274), the black-faced sheep 
 (p. 280), and the Southdown (p. 233), preserve the true small and erect 
 ear. They have no foes to dread, but they are inhabitants of the hills; 
 they are apt to wander away from each other, and often listen for the bleat- 
 ings of their companions : while the Teeswater (p. 329) in his long and 
 j)endent ears bears the impress of a lowland sheep. The Kentish (p. 336) 
 has got rid of much of the bulky form of the ears, but retains their depen- 
 dent position. The Leicester has been systematically endeavouring to rid 
 itself of this badge of inferior breed. The lop-eared breeds of the middle 
 and western counties have ceased to exist. 
 
 A large ear is connected, in tlie mind of the modern breeder, with a cer- 
 tain degree of unkindly disposition to fatten, or at least with slow fattening ; 
 and experience tells him that he is right in this association, and therefore, 
 so far as he can, he selects a small and narrow head, and with that is neces- 
 sarily connected a small or moderate-sized ear. 
 
 There is nothing peculiar in the internal structure of the ear of the sheep, 
 nor any reason to suppose that the sense of hearing is more than usually 
 acute in him. There are proofs, liowever, that he hears quickly and accu- 
 rately. The mother will distinguish the bleating of her own lamb from that 
 of any other in the flock, and immediately respond to it. Neither the shep- 
 herd nor his dog can steal upon the flock, and take it by surprise ; and the 
 accounts — undoubtedly true — of their being conscious of the approach of the 
 wolf at a considerable distance, are better explained on the principle of 
 acuteness of hearing than of sight. 
 
 Of the diseases of the ear in the slieep there is little to be said ; he has 
 been too lately admitted a patient of the veterinary surgeon. The number 
 and severity of wounds in the ear depend on the inhumanity of the shepherd, 
 and the ferocity of the dog. If they are frequent and serious, the former ought 
 to be dismissed, and the latter hung. When the dog executes his office with 
 no needless cruelty, the shepherd may sometimes be permitted to rest while 
 his quadruped servant is at work ; but the system of dogging the sheep into 
 obedience, in order that the lazy menial may be idle, deserves reprobation, 
 and should be suppressed. 
 
 Inflammation of the lining membrane of the cartilage is of more fre- 
 quent occurrence than is generally supposed, and may be recognised by the 
 animal carrying its head low, aad a little on one side, with, now and then, a 
 half attempt to shake the head. Redness, heat, or ulceration, will be found. 
 The ear should be well washed out with warm soap and water; and a weak 
 solution of goulard, with a small quantity of laudanum, should always be 
 at hand for daily use. The ear occasionally gets into a dreadful state dur-* 
 
THE ORGAN OF TASTE. 409 
 
 ing liie summer, and when the fly is troublesome, if ulceration of the internal 
 part of it is neglected. The aulhor was once looking over the flock of a 
 friend who did not always pay sufficient personal attention to his sheep. 
 One old ewe carried her head plainly on one side. He desired that she 
 might be caught. There was a table- spoonful of matrgots in the ear. In- 
 sects sometimes find their way into the ear; but nature has given to those 
 animals who bite so close to the ground an additional quantity of wax as a 
 defence against the intrusion of these tormentors. 
 
 THE ORGAN OV TASTE. 
 
 The sense of taste may be said to be placed on the surface of the tongue, 
 and it is presided over by the gustatory branch of the fifth pair of nerves. 
 It is probably not very acute in the ruminant, the selection of the food 
 depending mostly on the smell. This sense is most called into exercise 
 or contributes most to the pleasure of the animal in the rumination or re- 
 mastication of the food, and his countenance and manner are then strongly 
 expressive of quiet but real enjoyment*. 
 
 The nervous system has been described as that to which all sensation is 
 referred, and from which all voluntary motion is derived ; and also as 
 governing the involuntary motions of the frame, and under the influence of 
 which every function connected with the nutrition and welfare of the body 
 is discharged. In order, however, that this mysterious power should be 
 duly, or at all exerted, the presence of arterial blood is necessary. Proiipnt 
 its circulation through the brain and through the organic nerves, and tlie 
 machine stops in a moment. 
 
 The reason of this \rill be matter of future inquiry, but it will be neces- 
 sary previously to examine into the nature, source, and action of this all- 
 important — this indispensable fluid. It is principally derived from the 
 chyle, that mass into which the different alimentary substances are reduced 
 by the digestive power of the stomach. The chyle is poured into one of the 
 large blood-vessels near the heart, and as it reaches the heart it mingles 
 with another fluid composed of all the worn-out parts of the body. The^e 
 fluids unite with the general mass of blood ; they doubtless undergo certain 
 changes by mere admixture with the blood, and in union with it they enter 
 the heart, and are driven by that organ through the vessels of the lungs : 
 there they undergo their last purifying and vivifying change, and are 
 returned from the heart — true arterial blood, by the influence of which the 
 whole machine is set at work. Then there are various things to be inquired 
 into — the nature of digestion, by which the food is converted into chyle — 
 the structure and function of the absorbents by which the second fluid is 
 furnished — the circulatory power of the heart — the change which the blood 
 undergoes in its passage through the lungs, and the composition and func- 
 tion of the arterial blood. 
 
 * If, however, the following anecdote can be depended upon, and there seem to be those 
 localities connected with it which give considerable confirmation to it, the sheep may 
 acqx'.iie a perverted taste to as great extent as any biped, "There is at present in Mr. 
 Archibald Kemp's spirit establishment in Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, a sheep that goes 
 by the cognomen of ' Willy,' and if any of the customers in the house cry, ' Willy ! 
 here's a glass for you,' he will come forth obedient to the summons, and swill his bum- 
 per with the most inveterate toper present. Nor is this all ; for Willy sometimes turns 
 his owner's spirit cans, when he thinks he is not observed, and helps himself. Whisky, 
 ale. and porter, come alike to him. He will open a suuft'-bpx without assistance, and 
 speedily empty the contents, and chew a quid of tobacco, and drink a glass of grog, with 
 as much satisfaction as any jolly tar in his Majesty's Navy." The construction of 
 Willy's stomach certainly gives him a decided advantage over all hisconipetitorg and he 
 would find no difficulty in fairly beating any biped in these feats— gormandizing and 
 drinking. — Scolsman. 
 
410 SHEEP. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 THE DIGESTIVE FUNCTION. 
 
 The instruments by which the sheep when at pasture gathers his food are 
 the lips, tlie teeth, and the tongue. These are enumerated in the order in 
 which tliey are placed in the head of the animal : — 
 
 THE LIPS. 
 
 The tongue, except the herbage is exceedingly short, collects the grass 
 together, and forms it into a kind of roll, in order that it may be better 
 seized between the pad in the upper jaw and the incisor or cutting-teeth 
 of the lower jaw. The lips of the sheep do not lend so much assistance in 
 effecting this as is derived from those of the ox, for the upper lip is 
 almost cleft through at the centre, a dense membrane alone holding toge- 
 ther the divided portions of it. 
 
 The intention and the advantage of this cleft form of the upper lip must 
 be immediately evident. The sheep is often the last animal upon the pas- 
 ture. That which the horse in his haste neglects to gather, and which the 
 ox lazily passes over, is collected by the more active and diligent sheep. 
 Many breeds of them were designed by nature to browse on the downs and 
 the hills and the mountains, where the grass scarcely rises above the sur- 
 face of the ground ; and, more than this, the sheep was destined not only to 
 consume that which would otherwise have been lost, but actually to improve 
 that pasture which other animals would impoverish. He crops close to the 
 ground ; he cuts off those shoots, the loss of which disposes the plant to 
 throw out others more numerous and more nutritious. For one that he 
 nips off a dozen succeed ; and the most ready way to improve some pastures, 
 and especially the usual pasture of the downs and the uplands, is to turn a 
 flock of sheep upon them, to stock them close, and to let them be eaten 
 bare. The sheep being then removed, a new herbage will spring up, thicker 
 and closer, and containing more nourishment. Therefore is the upper 
 cleft lip given to the sheep that he may be enabled to discharge his destined 
 duty. 
 
 The lips being brought so closely in contact with the ground, need some 
 defence from the annoyances and injuries to which they would be subject. 
 Hence arises the difference in the upper lip between the sheep and the ox. 
 Feeding farther from the ground, the dewy surface of the upper lip and the 
 length of the tongue afford sufficient protection to the ox. To the sheep is 
 given a dense coat of hair, covering the whole of the lip except the bottom 
 of the cleft, and from which spring several longer and shorter hairs, resem- 
 bling and answering the purpose of whiskers. Scarcely any wet, no insect, 
 and no dirt can penetrate this thick and compound coat. 
 
 This being the construction of the upper lip, and the lower one having 
 its usual coat of hair, there must be even less sensibility in the lips of the 
 sheep than in those of the ox ; yet from the smallness of the muzzle, and 
 its degree of pointedness, it is used much oftener, and more effectually, as 
 an organ of touch by the former than by the latter. 
 
 The portion denuded of hair is very much smaller in the sheep than in 
 the ox. It is somewhat of a triangular shape, containing the nostrils above, 
 and terminating in a narrow channel that communicates with the cleft in 
 the upper lip. Considerable moisture sometimes stands upon it, or exudes 
 from it, and the superabundant fluid trickles down the cleft of the lip. 
 
THE TEETH. 411 
 
 The shepherd does not handle his sheep so frequently as the herdsman 
 does his cattle, and he regards the general expression of the countenance 
 in the sheep as the best indication of health or disease ; yet if he is not 
 guided by the coldness of the muzzle, he does not overlook the greater or 
 smaller quality of dew which may be collected on it, and he forms the same 
 conclusion as the herdsman, that while the muzzle is moist, i. e., while the 
 natural secretions are going forward, there is no great constitutional dis- 
 turbance, and consequently no great danger : but in proportion as that 
 secretion is lessened there is general sympathy with some local affection ; 
 and when it becomes altogether suspended it is an indication of so much 
 universal derangement that it behoves him to be upon his guard *. 
 
 THE TEETH. 
 
 The reader is referred to the account of the teeth already given at page 3, 
 principally as indicating the age of the animal, but also with reference to the 
 function now under consideration. The sharp edge of the incisor teeth, and 
 also their gouge or scoop form, admirably adapt them for cutting through 
 the harder and fibrous portions of the grass, which generally fall to the lot of 
 the sheep. The fibres of the grass are partly torn and partly cut in the 
 curious nodding action of this animal when grazing, while the pad of the 
 upper jaw, firmer and denser than in cattle, receives no injury. 
 
 Another provision of nature begins to appear in this ruminant, and which 
 is more fully developed in those that are in a less domesticated state, and 
 doomed to feed continually on the coarse and dry herbage which the uncul- 
 tivated land produces. The author's friend, Mr. Percivall, in his excellent 
 work on the " Anatomy of the Horse," describes the Gums as consisting of 
 " dense, compact, prominent polished masses of the nature of periosteum, 
 rendering the teeth and their sockets inseparable by any but extraordinary 
 mechanical force." In the sheep '' tlie teeth and their sockets are insepa- 
 parable by any but mechanical force," yet the substance of the gum is not 
 so compact ; the incisor teeth are to a very slight degree moveable, and 
 their line of inclination can be somewhat changed ; i. e. their cutting edges 
 admit of some degree of adaptation to the different or changing position of 
 the food which is to be cropped. This is still more evident in the deer, and 
 in one of the largest of the ruminants, the giraffe, they have a feeling of 
 absolute looseness. In dissecting a Virginian deer, the author imagined 
 that he discovered a kind of muscular structure in the gum supporting the 
 incisor teeth, by means of which the animal might have the power, of 
 adapting them to the form or position of the food. This had not hitherto 
 been observed, because these animals had not been sufficiently examined in 
 their living state, even by professed naturalists and anatomists. The advan- 
 tage "of this provision in quadrupeds that have but one row of incisor teetlj 
 is sufficiently evident. In the horse it would be an evil, for the cutting edges 
 of the upper and lower teeth could not be retained in exact opposition to 
 each other; but when there is an elastic pad in the upper jaw, the power of 
 thus adjusting the teeth to the object that is to be cut must be highly advan- 
 tageous, and especially if controlled by the joint influence of a dense peri- 
 osteum-like matter, and a powerful muscular structure. It is probably on 
 account of this construction of the gums that in many diseases of rumi- 
 nants, and especially in the epidemics of sheep and cattle, and all affections 
 of the mucous membranes of the respiratory and the digestive passages, 
 the teeth often become loose, and occasionally fall out. 
 
 • Cattle," p. 316. 
 
412 SHEEP, 
 
 THE TONGUE. 
 
 This organ occupies, as in the horse and cattle, the base of the moulli, 
 and is also held in its position by muscles principally derived from the os 
 hyoides. Its construction and its uses are the same as in cattle, but it 
 does not possess the same comparative length as in the ox. The muzzle 
 of the sheep, although brought nearer to the ground in the .act of grazing, 
 is securely protected from annoyance and injury by the hairs which 
 naturally cover it, and therefore the tongue is not so much required in order 
 to clean and to defend it. 
 
 The appearance of the tongue is not so closely connected with or indi- 
 cative of certain species and changes of disease in tlie herbivorous ani- 
 mal as in the carnivorous one, and in the human being. The partia. 
 cuticular coat of the stomach of the horse, and the complete one of the 
 three first reservoirs of the ox and the sheep, will sufficiently account for. 
 this ; yet more information is to be gathered from the tongue than the 
 sheep-master or the veterinary surgeon imagines. 
 
 The tongue of the sheep, unnaturally red throughout its whole extent, is the 
 frequent accomjKiniment of inflammation of the serous membranes, whether 
 pulmonary or peritoneal ; and raises apprehension of the existence or ap- 
 proach of that most fatal of all diseases, redwater, or bloody effusion in the 
 abdomen. If there is considerable redness round the edges of the tongue, 
 but the colour is paler in the centre, there is more fear of inflammatory 
 affection of the mucous membrane of the intestines, and its possible tenni- 
 nation in dysentery. A pale tongue, liglitly tinged with yellow, raises suspi- 
 cion of the rot. If the yellow is darker, and approaching to a brown 
 colour, there is probably acute inflammation of the liver. If it is approach- 
 ing to purple or to black, there is that affection of the bowels which accom- 
 panies typhoid disease ; and the darkening or the clearing away of which 
 will be the sure harbinger of death or recovery. A little observation would 
 lead to many a useful hint with regard to the diseases of the digestive system 
 at least. 
 
 GLOSS-ANTHRAX, OR BLAIN. 
 
 Sheep are liable, although not so much as cattle, to that inflammation of 
 the tongue, or rather of the cellular tissue on the side of and under the 
 tongue, to which the above singular names are giyen. A few sheep in the 
 flock are occasionally attacked by it, or it appears under the form of an 
 epidemic. A discharge of saliva runs from the mouth ; at first colourless 
 and devoid of smell, but soon becoming bloody, purulent, and stinking. 
 
 The head and neck begin to swell, and the animal breathes with difficulty, 
 and is sometimes suffocated. A succession of vesicles have risen along the 
 side of the tongue — they have rapidly grown — they have broken — they have 
 become gangrenous — they have formed deep ulcers, or deeper abscesses 
 that occasionally break outwardly. "When this is the case it is probably the 
 "Greathead" of Mr. Hogg, described in page 371. 
 
 The cause is some unknown atmospheric influence ; but tlie sheep have 
 been predisposed to be affected by it, either by previous unhealthy 
 weather, by feeding on unwholesome herbage, or by unnecessary exposure 
 to cold and wet. 
 
 Whatever may be the case with regard to cattle, there is no doubt tliat 
 the blain is often infectious among sheep. The diseased sheep should im- 
 mediately be removed from the rest, and placed in a separate and somewhat 
 distant pasture. 
 
 The maladv must first be attacked locally. If there are anv vesicles in 
 
APHTHA, OR THRUSH. 413 
 
 the moutli they must be freely lanced. If any tumours appear on the neck or 
 face, and tliat evidently contain a fluid, they must be opened. The ulcers 
 must be bathed with warm water at first, and until the matter is almost 
 evacuated — then lotions of cold water, in each pint of which one drachm 
 of the chloride of lime has been dissolved, must be diligently used. Ape- 
 rients must be administered very cautiously, and not at all, unless there is 
 considerable constipation. The strength of the animal must be supported 
 by any farinaceous food that it can be induced to take — linseed mashes — 
 bran mashes with oatmeal — and the best succulent vegetables, as car- 
 rots and mangel-wurzel ; plenty of good thick gruel, if necessary, being 
 horned down, and two drachms of powdered gentian root and one of 
 ginger, with four grains of powdered cantharides, being given -morning, 
 noon, and night. Bleeding will be very proper in this disease before the 
 vesicles have broken, or the external tumours begun to soften, and there is 
 an evident and considerable degree of fever ; but after the purulent, fetid 
 matter has begun to appear, it v/ill only hasten the death of the animal. 
 
 APHTHA, OR THRUSH. 
 
 No English writer on the diseases of sheep has noticed this complaint; 
 yet the shepherd has often observed it, and it has probably existed when he 
 was unconscious of it or of its nature. A sheep is dull, and off his feed — 
 he ceases to ruminate — he wanders about unhappily — he sometimes thinks 
 of browsing, and attempts it, but after a feeble effort he gives the matter 
 up. If he had been watched a little more closely, several small vesicles 
 would have been found in his mouth, and a slight discharge of viscid saliva 
 would have been seen. There is very little or no danger about this ; but it 
 teases the sheep for a while, and takes him off his food, and gets him a little 
 out of condition. The mouth being washed two or three times with a weak 
 solution of alum, or diluted tincture of myrrh, and a couple of ounces of 
 Epsom salts being administered, the eruption disappears. 
 
 There is often a curious coincidence between thrush in the mouth and 
 foot-rot, when the latter has run to ulceration and fetid discharge. Possibly 
 the sheep may have rubbed the diseased foot with his muzzle, or he may 
 have licked it, and the mouth has become filled with vesicles ; or it would 
 almost seem that there is a connexion between thrush and foot-rot. The 
 sheep with foot-rot should be carefully watched, and if they refuse to feed 
 — if a ropy slaver runs from the mouth — they should be examined, and the 
 simple and effectual remedy already stated applied. Many a sheep-master 
 will recollect the coincidence of occasional refusal to feed, and the existence 
 of foot-rot. He will now better know how to understand and prevent it. 
 
 Paulet, in his valuable work on epizootic disease, describes it as having 
 frequently occurred as an epidemic among sheep, and to have been exceed- 
 ingly fatal. In 1745 it broke out in France. Little vesicles appeared 
 about the nostrils and lips and other parts of the head, and the inflammation 
 was rapidly communicated to the lungs by means of the mucous membrane 
 of the windpipe. It was at length arrested in its career by the diligent mi- 
 nistration of the following medicine two ounces of crude antimony, the 
 same quantity of nitre, four ounces of sulphur, and a like weight of 
 bay-berries — and all these mixed with ten pounds of salt ; a portion of this 
 was put into the troughs, and the animals licked it when they pleased. The 
 reader will rather conclude that the epidemic had worn itself out, and had 
 ceased of its own accord*. 
 
 * Paulet, Recherches sur les MalaJies Epizooti^ues, vol. i. pp. 150, 251. 
 
414 SHEEP. 
 
 In 1764 it decimated the Moravian flocks. A learned physician who 
 carefully watched the progress of the epidemic gave a description of it 
 resembling thrush in its character, only much aggravated. The patient 
 lost his usual spirits — there was heat of skin, more or less redness of the 
 eyes, the mouth was redder than usual, the breath was hot, and the animal 
 refused his food. These symptoms were insensibly aggravated. On the 
 second, or third, or fourth day, pustules appeared in the mouth, the nose, 
 or the gullet, which rendered the act of swallowing so difficult, that liquids 
 could scarcely be got down, and the patient lost condition with fearful 
 rapidity. The bladders often seemed to occupy the whole of the mouth 
 and the gullet. On or about the seventh day the scab peeled off in 
 favourable cases, and when the thrush began to subside, tumonrs of a 
 larger or smaller size appeared at the posterior part of one or both fore- 
 feet. If the tumours on the foot commenced before the disappearance of 
 the thrush, every unpleasant symptom of the original disease ceased, and 
 the thrush vanished with much rapidity ; but the lameness returned, it 
 fearfully increased, and the greater part of the sheep lost their hoofs*. 
 
 There is a disease known to the shepherds in some parts of this country, 
 and more especially on the Continent, by the name of *' black-muzzle." 
 It is a pimpled or scabbed eruption about the nose of the sheep, sometimes 
 extending up to the eyes and ears, encircling the former and covering the 
 latter. It oftener attacks the lamb than the full-grown sheep ; and sucking 
 lambs more frequently than those that are weaned. It is attributed to 
 various causes, as feeding among the stubbles, or on stony ground, or the 
 teats of the mother being chapped or filthy. It can scarcely be considered 
 as a kind of scab, for either it is not infectious, or in so slight a degree only, 
 that it is rarely necessary to separate the diseased sheep from the rest of 
 the flock. The application of a little mercurial ointment very much lowered 
 with lard, or of the common sulphur ointment with a twelfth part of 
 mercurial, will speedily effect a cure. 
 
 THE SALIVARY GLANDS. 
 
 As in the ox, the food when first gathered by the sheep is hastily swal- 
 lowed before it has time to be much impregnated with the moisture of the 
 mouth ; but when it is returned for rumination a considerable supply of 
 saliva is required in order to assist in reducing the food to that comminuted 
 and pultaceous state in which it must be submitted ta the action of the 
 gastric juice in the true stomach. This saliva is procured, as in the horse 
 and cattle, from three distinct sources or glands, denominated, according to 
 their situation, the parotid, the submaxillary, and the sublingual glands. 
 
 The parotid gland is situated at the base of the ear, in the space between 
 the head and the neck, and reaching from the ear to the larynx. It consists 
 of a great number of minute glands, united together by cellular tissue, each 
 having its own little duct to convey away the saliva as it is secreted. These 
 
 * Sagard, Libellus de Aphthis Pecorinis. Viennae, 1765. Columella, about the 3'ear 
 40 of the Christian era, a valuable writer on agriculture, and particularly on sheep hus- 
 bandry, speaks of a similar disease prevailing in his time, and often assuming an epi- 
 demic character. It consisted of malignant ulcerations about the lips and in the mouths 
 of lambs. He considered that it was produced by eating of grass covered with hoar- 
 frost, the tender mouths of these animals not being able to bear the intense cold of the 
 herbage. It was fatal to the greater part of the lambs that were not weaned — tabes 
 mortifera lactentibus. The remedy was, to take equal portions of the juice of hyssop 
 and of salt, and to rub the mixture well into the parts aflfected, and afterwards to apply 
 an ointment composed of tar and lard. See also Paulet sur les Malad. Epizoot., vol. i. 
 p. 56. 
 
THE SALIVARY GLANDS. 415 
 
 join to fonii one main branch tliroagli which the stream is conveyed into 
 the mouth. It is the gland whence the principal part of tlie saliva is ob- 
 tained. It is in full action while the animal is browsing, or the process of 
 rumination is carried on, but it ceases when the jaw no longer continues to 
 move. Tlie secretion from this gland is conveyed to the mouth of tlie 
 horse by a winding course behind the angle of the lower jaw ; but as a 
 more constant flow of it is requisite wliile the ox is ruminating, it takes a 
 more direct course in him across the cheek. The sheep, biting so much 
 closer than the ox, and its food being of a harder and tougher nature, a 
 constant and a full supply is still more necessary to liim ; and there are 
 generally two canals from the gland to the mouth, which unite a little 
 before they reach the cheek, so that the su])ply is continued to him when, 
 by inflammation or accident, one of the ducts may be inflamed or other- 
 wise injured and closed — a circumstance to wliich he is peculiarly exposed 
 from his browsing so near to the ground. This is another illustration of 
 design which should not be quite overlooked. 
 
 Inflammation of the parotid gland is of frequent occurrence in the ox. 
 There are few cases of severe catarrhal aff'ection, and none of influenza, in 
 which a swelling of the head and neck is not an early and a prominent 
 symptom ; and it is always dreaded because, although sometimes manage- 
 able, it is a sure indication in these animals that the disease is, or may soon 
 become, of a typhoid character. It does not so often attack the sheep ; and 
 when it does appear, if the wool is carefully parted in two or three places, 
 in the space between the angle of the jaw and the neck, and a strong 
 hartshorn liniment (composed of two parts of hartshorn and one of sweet- 
 oil) is well rubbed in, and two ounces of salts administered, the inflamma- 
 tion will disappear*. 
 
 The submaxillary gland — smaller than the parotid — is situated deep in 
 the cavity between the branches of the lower jaw ; and the duct which con- 
 veys the saliva secreted by it to the mouth opens on either side of the 
 frsenum of the tongue. The subliyigual gland lies along the under part of 
 the tongue, and is covered with the membrane of the mouth. The irregular 
 surface of the under part of the mouth is caused by the corresponding 
 form of the sublingual gland beneath. All these glands are, in proportion 
 to the size of the animal, larger in the sheep than in the ox, for the rea- 
 sons above stated ; they are even larger than in many carnivorous animals of 
 double the size of the sheep. The glands of the cheek are particularly de- 
 veloped, and also those which run along the floor of the mouth close to the 
 molar teeth. In addition to these is a gland almost peculiar to the slieep, 
 behind the lower jaw, and deep in the hollow which exists there, extending 
 upwards as far as the fatty matter that encircles the eye, and opening on 
 the palate opposite to and behind the last molar tooth. 
 
 * A few days before this was written the most beautiful of the giraffes in the mena- 
 gerie of the Zoological Society of London was suddenly seized with this stranguUion or 
 inflammation of the salivary gland. He was perfectly well on the preceding evening, 
 but when he "was seen in the morning, there was an enlargement within the angle of 
 the left lower jaw, and occupying almost the whole of the space bttween the jaws. It 
 was hard, hot, and tender ; and lower down, towards the point of the jaws, was a second 
 tumour, smaller, but evidently containing a fluid. The medical attendant was alarmed, 
 for he recognised at once tbe stranguUion of the ruminant, and he well knew all its fre- 
 quent and fatal consequences. Twelve hundred guineas had been refused for that 
 animal a very little while before. He caused the part to be well and frequently embro- 
 cated with this liniment — he cheated the patient with a good dose of calomel in a small 
 onion ; he took away all his corn, and put him upon a carrot diet, and in a few days all 
 was well. 
 
416 SHEEP. 
 
 M. Flourens, in some interesting but cruel experiments on the digestive 
 organs of the sheep, has discovered a hitherto unsuspected use for this 
 wonderful accumulation of salivary glands. He made an incision into the 
 gullet of a sheep at the upper third of its neck, and he found that a pro- 
 digious quantity of saliva escaped through the upper part of the incision ; 
 and wlien the animal was dead, the contents of the paunch were perfectly 
 dry. This was the case in a second experiment of the same nature ; and 
 therefore he concluded that the saliva was not only employed by the 
 sheep in softening the food in the mouth and assisting in mastication, but 
 also in softening or macerating it in the paunch, an operation which the 
 dry and hard character of the food would often render necessary. 
 
 It is a pleasing proof of design that " the quantity of saliva secreted has 
 always a relation to the nature of the food, the degree of mastication which 
 it requires, and the mode in which it is swallowed*." 
 
 There are no diseases of the submaxillary and sublingual glands that are 
 prevalent in the sheep, nor any vitiation of the saliva, that is not to be attri- 
 buted to disease of other parts. 
 
 THE PALATE 
 
 In the upper part of the mouth, and in the situation of the front incisor 
 teeth in those animals that are not ruminant, is found, as has already been 
 described, a dense yet elastic pad or cushion. Its place is marked by fig. 3, 
 p. 384. The wise and kind design of this substitution has already been 
 explained at p. 3. The palate is a continuation of the same substance, but 
 thinner, and extending over the whole of the roof of the mouth. It does 
 not, however, present a smooth surface, but there is a double row of pro- 
 minences or bars running across the mouth, and separated from each other 
 by a depression or furrow continued longitudinally in the centre of the roof. 
 Each of these bars, on the side nearest to the back part of the mouth, has 
 a border or projection of some considerable firmness, having a denticulated 
 edge, and giving a hard and rough feeling to the palate when the finger is 
 passed over it in a direction from the back to the fore part of the mouth. 
 The intention of this is evident — namely, to afford no obstacle to the food 
 when it is passing on towards the gullet, but a very considerable one 
 to its return to the fore part of the mouth. This mechanism is rendered 
 perfect by these bars being most projecting, and the borders ffrmest, atthe 
 middle of the palate, where the food would most readily escape. 
 
 Immediately behind the pad are two small apertures in the roof of the 
 mouth, open also in that of the ox, but closed in the horse. They are seen 
 between figs. 13 and 14 in the cut of the skull in p. 370. They lead to, 
 and are connected with, two glandular substances, with a hollow in their 
 centre, communicating with the cavity of the nose above. They receive a 
 great many nerves and blood-vessels, and would seem to have to discharge 
 some important office. They are larger in ruminants than in any other 
 class of animals except the rodentia — the beaver, rat, hare, &c. and they 
 are altogether wanting in the human being. Their use has never been de- 
 monstrated, but they have an evident relation to the senses both of taste 
 and smell. It is probable that they serve the purpose of guiding the 
 ruminant to that kind of food which is wholesome, and vvarning him against 
 that which would be destructive. 
 
 * Roget's Physiology (Bridgewater Treatises, vol, ii. p. 175' 
 
THE MOUTH AND PHARYNX. 417 
 
 THE VELUM PALATI AND PHARYN.C. 
 
 TI>.e food is now brought to the posterior division of the mouth, and it 
 passes readily over the tongue, from the back part of which a mucous fluid 
 is secreted to envelope the pellet of food, and prevent it from abrading or 
 otherwise injuring the organs over which it is to be carried. The velum palati 
 or soft palate yields to the pressure upon it, and admits the pellet. In the 
 horse the velum forms a perfect division, in one direction, between the back 
 part of the mouth and the pharynx behind ; so that, although it yields and 
 permits the food to pass under it in order to enter the pharynx, it prevents the 
 return of that food ; and the horse, except in the convulsive spasms of death, 
 breathes and vomits only through the nose. The soft palate in the sheep 
 as well as the ox, not reaching to the tongue, enables these animals to 
 breathe through the mouth, and that which is returned from the stomachs, 
 by vomit or for rumination, passes the same way. 
 
 Being carried under the soft palate the food enters the pharynx formed 
 on both sides by powerful muscles, which, stimulated by the contact of the 
 food, close upon it, and urge it on to the entrance into tlie gullet. There 
 is no peculiarity of structure in these parts in the sheep ; nor are these 
 animals subject to diseases belonging exclusively to these organs, and which 
 have been detected and treated, with the exception of inflammation of the 
 pharynx or tonsils, which will be better described when the respiratory 
 system is considered. 
 
 Of all domesticated animals the head of the sheep is most easily pro- 
 cured and examined. The agricultural reader would not pass an uninte- 
 resting or uninstructive hour in tracing in the head of this animal — sawn 
 asunder vertically — the structure, the relative situation, and admirable uses 
 of the parts which have been described. Let him take up a book, that 
 should be a favourite with him — that ig a favourite with"" every one who 
 reads it carefully — and he will find the following passage : — " There are 
 brought together within the cavity of the mouth, more distinct uses, and 
 parts executing more distinct offices, than can be found lying near to one 
 another or within the same compass in any other portion of the body : 
 teeth of different shape — first for cutting, and secondly for grinding ; a 
 pad instead of some of the teeth to perform a most important otfice as it 
 regards the stomach ; fountains of saliva springing up in diff'erent parts of 
 the cavity for the moistening of the food, while the mastication is going on ; 
 glands to feed these fountains ; muscles to guide the prepared aliment into 
 its passage towards the stomach, and, in this animal, to thrust it forward, 
 contrary to the force of gravity. In the meanwhile another and totally 
 different business is going on within the same cavity — that of respiration 
 and voice. A passage is opened for the admission of air, exclusive of 
 every other substance : there are muscles in the tongue, and muscles in the 
 larynx, to modulate the air in its passage ; and, in the mouth of the human 
 being at least, with a variety, compass, and precision of which no other 
 musical instrument is capable : and all this is in a single cavity. It is one 
 machine — its parts neither crowded nor confused, and each unembarrassed 
 by the rest *." 
 
 The head of the sheep is now quitted, and the passage of the food is 
 traced down 
 
 THE NECK. 
 
 The form of the neck ought to be closely studied by the sheep- breeder, 
 * Brougham and Bell's Paley, vol. I. p. 1G9. 
 
418 SHEEP. 
 
 for it is one of " the points*' of the sheep. It is true that, in order to sup- 
 port the weight of the head, the muscles are large and strong compared 
 with those in the human being ; and, if the legs are long, the neck also 
 must be lengthened, in order that the head may reach the ground. The 
 necessity of extraordinary bulk of muscle about the neck is, however, ob- 
 viated by the employment of an elastic ligament, commencing at the back 
 of the head, attached to every bone of the neck, and continued down to the 
 spinous processes of the back, and inserted there ; and by means of which 
 60 much of the weight of the head is taken from the muscles o& the neck, 
 that they have little more to do than to turn the head from side to side, and 
 move it, within a very limited range, upward and downward. (See fig. 1 
 in the trunk, p. 109.) 
 
 This then being the case with regard to the weight of the head, and tlie 
 legs having been considerably shortened by careful attention to this ob- 
 ject in breeding, the large, thick, long neck of the old sheep is no more to 
 be seen ; but one, most certainly full and broad at its base, as being then 
 necessarily accompanied by a round, capacious chest, in which the heart 
 has full room to beat, and the lungs to heave, and gradually tapering to- 
 wards the head, and being particularly fine at the junction of the head and 
 neck. It also, in well-formed animals, seems to project straight from the 
 chest, so that there is, with the slightest possible deviation, one continued 
 horizontal line from the rump to the poll. The advocates for a thick and a 
 thin neck, are both right to a certain degree. It should be thick towards 
 the shoulder and chest, in order to obtain thickness of chine and capacity 
 of chest — it should be light towards the head in order to avoid that coarse- 
 ness of form which is altogether inconsistent with kindly disposition to 
 fatten. The drooping neck — the ewe-neck — is rarely or never connected 
 with the quick accumulation of outward fat ; it is usually an indication of 
 weakness of condition, and, although not the first, is one of the most 
 unerring proofs of deterioration. 
 
 THE (ESOPHAGUS, OH GULLET. 
 
 The food, prepared by the second mastication, passes through the pharynx. 
 It is prevented from entering the wind-pipe, partly by the epiglottis, which, 
 placed at the anterior part of the glottis or opening into the wind-pipe, 
 bends under the pressure of the pellet of food upon it, and covers the 
 glottis, but more from the mechanical closure of the opening, by the influ- 
 ence of its muscles. 
 
 The oesophagus is a membranous tube, extending from the pharynx to 
 the rumen or first stomach, and conveying food to it : and also, by means 
 of a canal, which must be considered as a continuation of it, carrying the 
 food on to the third stomach, and through it, to the fourth, or true stomach, 
 according to the state of the food, or perhaps the will of the animal, or both 
 conjointly. It consists of three coats, the external one composed of a loose cel- 
 lular substance, and acting merely as a tunic and a defence. The second coat 
 being red and muscular, and like that of the ox, composed of two layers, 
 very thick and strong considering the size of the tube. The muscles of each 
 layer wind round the gullet in a spiral direction, but in contrary ways ; 
 enabling them more readily to expand, when, in the greedy way in which 
 the food is first swallowed, a large pellet or some hard substance is ad- 
 mitted into it, and afterwards to contract upon it with considerable force 
 and urge it forward to its place of destination. The internal coat is com- 
 posed of a strong cuticular, polished, but not very elastic substance. In the 
 emjity state of the gullet this coat lies ia numerous longitudinal folds, which 
 
OBSTRUCTION IN THE GULLET. <l.'i 
 
 enable it to dilate tvhen the food passes, or w hen any large substance, as a 
 piece of turnip, a potato, &c., enters the gullet. Between these two coats, 
 and embedded among the cellular tissue which connects them together. 
 are numerous minute glands, that pour a mucous secretion on the inner 
 coat in order to facilitate the passage of the food. 
 
 The gullet takes its course down the neck on the left side of the wind- 
 pipe. It enters the chest in company with tlie wind-pipe ; but soon after- 
 wards leaves that vessel, and takes a higher direction through the chest, 
 below and a little to the right of the posterior aorta. At length it reaches 
 the diaphragm, which it penetrates under its appendices, or crura ; and then, 
 bending downwards, and the muscular coat considerably thickening, and 
 the whole tube assuming a funnel-like form, it terminates in, and forms 
 the roof of the canal common to the three first stomachs. 
 
 OBSTRUCTION IN THE GULLET. 
 
 Occasionally, but not so often as in cattle, portions of food too large 
 readily to descend the gullet, are attempted to be swallowed, and the animal 
 is in danger of suffocation from the pressure of the substance on the wind- 
 pipe. The sheep is much more readily manageable than the cow. Every 
 sheep-master who uses turnips as an article of food for his flock, should 
 have a small leathern probang with a cane stilett. The sheep in whose 
 gullet there is any obstruction should be placed on its haunches, with its 
 -shoulders firmly held between the knees of the shepherd. Then, almost 
 without assistance, or very readily by the aid of an assistant, he can pass 
 the probang with its stilett into the gullet, and, with equable, and sometimes 
 firm pressure, force the obstructing body along. If he cannot readily effect 
 this, he should not have recourse to much violence, but pour a little oil 
 into the throat, and then, pressing on the gullet immediately below the 
 obstruction, by gentle or firm manipulation, endeavour to cause its re- 
 turn. If he is foiled in this attempt, he must never have recourse to brutal 
 violence. He may, by main strength, force the potato or the turnip into 
 the rumen, but he will probably lacerate the gullet, or induce a degree of 
 inflammation that must be fatal. Let him clip the wool from the part, 
 and all round the neck ; and then, with a scalpel cut down upon the seat of 
 obstruction, and take out the impacted body. Two or thre stitches should 
 then be passed through the oesophagus, the edges of the wot.nd in it being 
 brought neatly together. The same must be done with the external skin, the 
 ends of the threads which closed the oesophagus being brought through the 
 outer wound. The neck should then be bandaged, but not too tightly ; and 
 the wool above and below will keep the bandage firm. The sheep must be 
 kept on gruel or mashes for a few days, or until the wound is closed ; the 
 stitches being removed as soon as the edges of the wound plainly adhere. 
 This is the most simple of all operations, and will rarely be productive of 
 any unpleasant consequences : the probang, however, should always be 
 first and fairly tried. 
 
 A case has occurred in the practice of the author, and a similar one is 
 recorded in a French periodical *, of tumour in the gullet obstructing the 
 passage of the food. A sheep was observed frequently to vomit a small 
 portion of food that evidently had not undergone the process of rumina- 
 tion ; and, being more attentively watched when it was quiet in the fold, 
 the return of the pellet for rumination was seen to be attended by repeated 
 convulsive action, and evident pain. After the pellet had undergone the 
 
 • Recueil de Med. Vet. 1828, p. 229. 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 SHEEP. 
 
 second mastication it was swallowed more easily, yet with considerable effort. 
 It may be readily supposed that the suspicions of the practitioners were 
 directed to the oesophagus. At the lower part of it, and where it enters 
 the thorax, there was a hard tumour, as large as a bantam's egg. No time 
 was wasted in attempting to disperse it, but it was at once removed by the 
 knife. It proved to be of a schirrous nature, and was enclosed between 
 the muscular and mucous coats. In less than a fortniglit in each case the 
 wound had healed, and the animal ate as readily and throve as well as any 
 of its companions. 
 
 THK PROPER FORM OF THE CHEST AND BELLY. 
 
 This will be a convenient place to consider the most profitable form of 
 the chest and the belly, through the former of which, containing the heart 
 and the lungs, the gullet passes in order to reach the latter, in which the 
 stomachs and other organs of digestion are found. The bony walls of the 
 chest consist of the dorsal portion of the spine above; composed of 13 
 veriebrue, or bones of the back — (See a cut of the skeleton at p. 109) — the 
 horse has 18. The latter requires length of carcase for the insertion of 
 more powerful muscles, on the action of which his speed depends. 
 
 From each of these vertebrae arises an uprij^ht bone, likewise for the 
 insertion of muscles connected with progression, and also for the liga- 
 ment extending from the poll along the back, and by means of which the 
 head is supported. (See fig. 1. Trunk.') The head of the sheep is pro- 
 portionally less bulky than that of the horse, and it is not often that great 
 nnd continued speed is required of him. Therefore, if this part of the 
 skeleton of the sheep is compared with that of the horse — (See the Treatise 
 on the Horse, p. 63) — it will be seen that, while there is a considerable 
 elevation of the withers in the horse, and which is accounted a valuable 
 point in him, there is scarcely any in the sheep ; and it would be reckoned a 
 bad point in him, because it would indicate largeness and weight of head, and 
 accumulation of flesh in the least valuable part of the carcase, and would be 
 invariably accompanied by a narrow chest, incompatible with disposition 
 to fatten readily. Therefore it is a principle, slow in being ackopwledged 
 when the Leicesters were beginning to struggle with the old breeds, that 
 llie back should be, as nearly as possible, straight from the rump to the 
 neck, or, rather, from the rump to the poll. The upright bony processes 
 at this part are short, thick, and irregular on their surface, in order to give 
 firm attachment to such muscles as are requisite, and thus compensate for 
 their deficiency in length. 
 
 The ribs are also thirteen in number on each side ; and the slightest 
 inspection of a well-formed sheep will show how much more horizontally 
 they spring from the spine than do those of the horse, or even of the ox : 
 and, consequently, the greater roundness and capacity of the chest. On 
 the roundness and capacity of the chest depend the size and the power of 
 the important organs which it contains — the heart and the lungs : and in 
 proportion to their size is the power of converting food into nourishment. 
 " An animal with large lungs is capable of converting a given quantity of 
 food into more nourishment, and, therefore, has a greater aptitude to fatten*." 
 On this account the horizontal projection of the ribs from the spine, the 
 consequent roundness, and greater capacity of the chest, are reckoned among 
 the most important points of the sheep. In order to complete the rotun- 
 dity of the cliest, and, with that, its greatest possible capacity, the breast- 
 
 * Cline on the Breeiling and Form of Animals, p. 4 
 
THE FORM OF THE CHEST AND BELLY. 421 
 
 bone (fig. 14, p. 109) is not narrow and deep, as in the horse, but of con- 
 siderable breadth. In the young animal it is composed of seven distinct 
 portions, united by cartilage ; but as the sheep advances to maturity the car- 
 tilage disappears, and the sternum is made up of one continued bone. This 
 width of the floor of the chest accounts for the fore-legs of the well-formed 
 sheep standing so far apart from each other. 
 
 From the front of the sternum is a projection not seen in the horse, or 
 rather occupying the situation of the prominent convexity, the cariniform 
 cartilage in the horse. It is partly cartilaginous, but more muscular and 
 cellular and fatty ; extending between the fore-legs of the animal in a 
 horizontal direction, and termed the brisket It is justly reckoned a very 
 important point in the sheep, although it is never proportionally so much 
 developed as in the ox ; for the animal that will accumulate much flesh and 
 fat about the brisket, will not be deficient in other parts. There is a joint 
 between the brisket and the proper breast-bone, which permits a lateral 
 motion to the right or the left, and allows the free progression of the animal 
 notwithstanding the protrusion of the sternum. 
 
 The horizontal projection of the ribs from the spine secures a certain 
 capacity of chest ; but there is another point to be taken into consideration, 
 namely, depth as well as width of barrel. It is true that a deep chest is 
 not capacious unless it is proportionally broad ; but when we have the 
 superior projection of the ribs, and the inferior width of the breast-bone, 
 nothing more is necessary to form a chest most favourable to the sj^eedy 
 acquirement of condition, than tolerable depth of carcase. What was the 
 cause of the disinclination to fatten — the almost impossibility of fattening 
 until they were of a considerable age, in the old breeds, but partly the 
 diminished projection of the ribs above, and, more than this, the apparent 
 length of the legs, or in other words, the want of depth in the carcase — the 
 want of room for the organs to propel and to animalize sufficient blood to 
 secure the rapid growth of the animal. 
 
 The stomachs and intestines are found more posteriorly. The stomachs 
 are exceedingly bulky in the sheep, and they too must have room to dis- 
 charge their function. Nature has made provision for this, for the loins of 
 the sheep — the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae — are proportion- 
 ally much wider than in the horse, and somewhat wider than in the ox. 
 This secures plenty of space in the roof of the abdominal cavity at the 
 anterior and central part. The^evident projection of the hip-bones, while 
 it gives room for the development of the foetus, and secures the fulness 
 of the hind quarters — the most valuable part of the sheep — likewise con- 
 tributes to the capacity of the belly in that direction. The springing of 
 the posterior ribs gives roundness to the sides, and the appendix to the 
 breast-bone, prolonged behind, and the thickness and power of the ab- 
 dominal muscles give strength to, and preserve the natural form of, the 
 floor of the belly. 
 
 Next in importance to the continued straight line of the back and chest, 
 and the roundness of the sides, and the filling out at the flanks is the level 
 line of the belly below. A pot or tub-belly may seem to give somewhat 
 more room, but indicates weakness of the .muscles of the abdomen, and 
 an inability to aff'ord its contents that support and pressure which are 
 necessary for the proper discharge of the degestive functions ; and, worse 
 than all, a tendency to increase of offal at the expense of the more valuable 
 parts. 
 
 The gullet having passed through the chest, and pierced the diaphragm, 
 forms the roof of a canal common to the three first stomachs. The con- 
 struction of the stomachs of our domestic ruminants is so alike in them all 
 
SHEEl , 
 
 that "tt might be sufficient to refer the reader to the account of those of the 
 ox, jriven in the voUime on cattle, p, 422 ; but, in order to make the 
 treatise on sheep perfect in itself, it will be necessary to give a very con 
 «i*e description of these organs in him. 
 
 THE STOMACHS OF THE SHEEP. 
 
 The above cut shows the external ap})earance of the stomachs, the farm 
 of each, and their connexion with each other. 
 
 n The QBsophaf^s, after it has passed the diaphragm, and is approaching the stomadist, 
 and the funnel shape of the termination of it, the external coat being stripped ofl". 
 When thus viewed it appears to terminate in the rumen or paunch. 
 
 b A portion of the external layer of the spiial muscles. They are crossed below by 
 ano*her layer, running in a contrary direction. By the united action of the two Ibe 
 food is forced down the gu'let after either of the mastications ; or returned for the second. 
 The fibres are thickest and strongest at the termination of the tube. 
 
 c c Represent the two divisions of the paunch, or first and largest stomach ; and, the 
 external or peritoneal coat being dissected off, the two layers of muscles that surround it 
 are broxight into view They cross each other at nearly right angles — they are very 
 jiowerful, and by tlu.'ir united action the food is carried through the different compart- 
 ments of the stomach, ami every portion of it exposed in its turn to the influence of the 
 moisture contained in, or secreted by, the stomach. 
 
 d Represents the situation and form of the reticulum, or honeycomb, with its two 
 layers of muscles. 
 
 e Is the maniplus, or manyfolds, with its double muscular apparatus, for the purpose 
 of triturating the hard portions of the food which may have escaped the second mastica- 
 tion 
 
 f Is the fourth stomach, or ahomasum, also with its layers of muscles. The food, 
 liavin;;^ been SMfliciently comminuted is here converted into chyme. 
 
 o Is the conimeiieement of theduodenvun, or first intestine. 
 
THE STOMACHS. 423 
 
 The following cut is necessary for the right understanding of the man- 
 ner in which the food is received into, and expelled from, the paunch:— 
 
 a Is the termination of the gullet slit open. ^ 
 
 b The oesophagean canal into which it opens, also slit open at the roof and turned 
 back. The floor of it is composed of two muscular pillars lying alongside of each other. 
 When they are distended they are in so close approximation that pultaceous food or 
 fluids will pass along it; when they are relaxed they will yield to the pressure of the 
 food, whether solid or fluid, and it will fall through into the rumen, or paunch, which 
 lies underneath. The second stomach, or reticulum, is also underneath, and a little on 
 one side of this curiously-constructed floor ; and pellets of food can, in a relaxed state of 
 the pillars, be forced up into the canal, in order to be reconveyed to the mouth, through 
 the oesophagus to undergo a second mastication. 
 
 c Represents the floor of the maniplus, the roof of that stomach being opened, and 
 turned on either side •, and at 
 
 d Is the opening into the fourth, or true stomach. 
 
 It will easily, therefore, be seen that, according to circumstances, or at 
 the will of the animal, the food, or at least certain portions of it, may be 
 received into the rumen, or carried on through the oesophagean canal into 
 the fourth stomach. The manner in which it descends the gullet is the cir- 
 cumstance which most influences the one or the other. Solid food, grasped 
 and urged on by the spiral muscles of the gullet, will descend with consi- 
 derable force on the curiously-constructed floor of the canal, and break 
 through it, separating the pillars (6), and fall at once into the paunch. 
 This is the case with the food when it is first gathered. After it has been 
 returned for re-mastication, and thoroughly impregnated with the saliva of 
 the mouth, and reduced to a pultaceous mass, it, to a considerable degree, 
 eludes the grasp of the oesophagean muscles, and slips gently down the 
 gullet, and over the base of the canal (c), and finds its way into the fourth 
 stomach (rf). Fluids, in whatever way they are taken or given, can be 
 little acted upon by the muscles of the gullet, — this tube cannot grasp them 
 or contract upon them ; yet the manner in which they are administered 
 may have great influence. If the animal forcibly gulps them down, or if 
 they are given hastily and bodily by the medical attendant, they will fall 
 on the canal at the base of the gullet (b) with considerable momentum, and 
 force asunder the pillars, and enter the rumen ; if they are drunk more 
 slowly, or administered gently, they will trickle down the throat and glide 
 over these pillars, and pass on through the maniplus to the true stomach. 
 
 This explains some puzzling and perplexing circumstances in the medical 
 treatment of ruminants of all kinds. Let it be supposed that these animals are 
 labouring under some disease that evidently requires the administration 
 of aperient medicine. It is usually poured into the mouth, as quickly as 
 possible, from a somewhat broad-mouthed vessel, but it has no effect. 
 
434 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 Dose after dose is administered, but the bowels are not moved. The 
 medical attendant wonders at this strange state of things, and at length gives 
 some kill-or-cure drastic purgative, under the power of which the animal 
 dies. The murdered patient is probably examined after death — for few of 
 the blunders of the veterinary surgeon remain unexposed — and almost the 
 whole of the medicine is found in the paunch. There was no possibility of 
 its acting on the bowels, for it had not entered them. 
 
 Ruminants often labour under actual constipation of the bowels ; there 
 are cases in which the maniplus is choked with indurated food, and the 
 intestines have lost their power of propelling their contents : but the far 
 greater number of instances of supposed constipation are attributable to 
 the thoughtless and unscientific mode of administering the medicines, 
 and not to any inertness in the bowels, or want of power in the drugs. If 
 the assistant stands astride over the sheep, and holds the head firmly 
 between his knees, the medicine may, in the majority of cases, be ad- 
 ministered slowly and gently, and with the certainty of its reaching its in- 
 tended destination, instead of entering into, and remaining useless, or worse 
 than useless, in the paunch. There are very few things in the treatment of 
 our ruminating patients that deserve more attention than the method of 
 administering the required medicines. The opinions of practitioners would 
 undergo material change with regard to the efficacy of many drugs, and 
 the doses in which they should be employed, were sufficient care bestowed 
 on the mode in whicli they are given. 
 
 THE RUMEN. 
 
RUMINATION. 425 
 
 The pellet of food has passed down the gullet (a), and from its weight, 
 and the impulse it acquires from the action of the muscles of that tube, it 
 comes with a certain momentum on the floor of the oesophagean canal, forces 
 asunder the pillars, and enters the rumen. 
 
 This first stomach (c c, p. 422 and 424) is of immense size compared with 
 the animal to which it belongs, and occupies nearly three-fourths of the 
 abdominal cavity. It is attached by its superior surface to the membrane 
 covering the muscles and the vertebrae of the loins : its vessels and nerves 
 form part of this attachment and support, but a portion of the mesentery is 
 chiefly employed in securing it in its situation. On its right side it is 
 covered by some of the small intestines — on its left it is in contact with 
 the flank, and, therefore, is readily punctured in cases of hoove. Inferiorly 
 it rests on the floor of the belly, its left side reaching from the diaphragm 
 to the pelvis — its right not extending so far backward. It is attached to 
 the diaphragm by the oesophagus, and by a peculiar ligament — the posterior 
 part of the right division floats free in the belly, and, in the unimpregnated 
 animal, occupies a portion of the pelvis. 
 
 The rumen is divided into two unequal compartments, placed somewhat 
 obliquely, and one anterior and superior to the other : the last, when the 
 function of the rumen is considered, will be found to be the most important 
 distinction between the two sacs. This relative position is plainly seen in 
 the last cut. The bands or duplicatures of the coats, by which these divisions 
 are effected, are very thick and strong. Each of these sacs is subdivided 
 into smaller partitions, by the same interposition and duplicature of the 
 coats of the stomach. The intention of these compartments is to retard 
 the journey of the food through this great viscus. 
 
 The walls of the paunch are composed of four distinct membranes. Ex- 
 teriorly is the peritoneal coat, or common envelopment of all the viscera. 
 
 Next is the muscular, as represented in the cut (p. 422). The strength of 
 these muscles is very great, as may easily be imagined when it is con- 
 sidered how large a quantity and weight of food is made to perform its 
 journey through the diff'erent compartments of this enormous reservoir. 
 The shepherd, or the veterinary surgeon, often has a practical proof of the 
 power of these muscles, and of the direction in which they are acting. 
 \Vhen he plunges his trocar into the flank of a sheep whose paunch is 
 distended with gas, it seems to be immediately seized by the muscles of 
 that part of the stomach and carried forcibly forward. Presently this 
 ceases for a few seconds. Then the action is resumed, and it is with 
 difficulty that he can keep his hold of the trocar. 
 
 The third is the glandular coat. It is composed of innumerable small 
 prominences, or papillae, scattered over every part of the rumen, more 
 thinly set and smaller about the longitudinal bands or duplicatures ; in- 
 creasing in size towards the centre of the different compartments ; and, 
 thickest of all, at the bottom of each division. When they are closely 
 examined they appear to be inclined in the direction taken by the food, 
 bending backwards along the base of the paunch, and inclining forward in 
 the upper divisions of that stomach. They, at the same time, are ca- 
 pable of becoming erectile when occasion requires, and thus retard- 
 ing the progress of the food, and assisting in triturating and rubbing it 
 down, preparatory to its second mastication. This is one of its functions, 
 but a more important one is to secrete an alkaline and penetrating fluid, 
 which may assist in macerating the hard contents of the rumen. 
 
 The inner coat of all is the cuticular one. It is very thin, and easily 
 peeled off after death, especially if infl.immation had previously existed in 
 the stomach, or decomposition had commenced. It defends the glandular 
 
426 SHEEP. 
 
 apparatus beneath from any occasional injury that might result from the 
 hard food which the rumen often contains, and so well is this duty dis- 
 charged, that the interior of the nimen is perfectly insensible. The most 
 caustic and corroding substance may be applied to it ; nay, this coat may be 
 pricked, or scratched, or cut, and the animal will not betray the least indi- 
 cation of pain. 
 
 THE RETICULUM, OR HONEY-COMB. 
 
 This stomach lies under and a little on one side of the division between 
 the pillars in the floor of the oesophagean canal (6, p. 422) ; the interior 
 of it is seen at d, p. 424, When viewed externally (d, p. 422) it is 
 found on the abdominal prolongation of the sternum, and lying against 
 the diaphragm, in front of the left sac of the rumen. It is a little curved 
 upon itself from below upwards, and is the smallest of all the stomachs. 
 It is composed of the same four coats as the rumen ; but the muscular coat 
 is, compared with the size of the stomach, much stronger than in the 
 rumen ; the glandular coat assumes a diiFerent species of irregularity, its 
 elevations being in the form of the cells of a honey-comb, but much shal- 
 lower ; and on the floor of each cell are smaller walls, surrounding numer- 
 ous minute papillae, which are evidently secreting glands. The inner coat 
 of this stomach also is cuticular and insensible, 
 
 THE PROCESS OF RUMINATION. 
 
 The food, hastily gathered, as has been already described, descends the 
 gullet, and breaks through the floor of the canal at its base. The greater 
 portion of it enters the rumen, but a small quantity is received by the 
 reticulum. It finds in the paunch a certain quantity of fluid — the usual 
 drink of the animal, mixed with an abundant secretion from the glandular 
 coat. It is in consequence of this secretion that ruminating animals can 
 subsist so much longer than others without water. Sheep on tolerably 
 succulent pasture will not require any water ; and they have been kept on 
 dry food for a considerable period without apparent injury or inconvenience. 
 On the other hand, if the herbage is too moist, or the food of a watery 
 nature, the sheep are subject to rot and dropsy, and various other diseases 
 connected with weakness of the digestive organs. In this fluid the food 
 undergoes a process of maceration, or softening, to the efficacy and speedy 
 accomplishment of which the alkaline secretion of the stomach very much 
 contributes. Almost all alkalies are powerful solvents of vegetable sub- 
 stances. 
 
 While the food is thus macerating, it is constantly agitated by the action 
 of the muscles of the stomach. That which lies in the anterior, and lower 
 part of the paunch, immediately under the opening into the rumen, is 
 carried or propelled backwards : having arrived at the posterior end of the 
 sac, it is forced upwards ; and then becoming the superior surface, is carried 
 forward, by the action of the muscles of the roof ; and so it makes a cir- 
 cuit of the rumen, delayed for awhile in each of the compartments, or cells, 
 in order that it niuy be saturated with the fluid, and fully acted upon by it. 
 It will likewise be felt by him who may have occasion to paunch or insert 
 a trocar into the rumen of a sheep labouring under hoove, that this action 
 of the muscles of the stomach is not uniform and constant, but that it pro- 
 ceeds by starts, and strong pulsations, by which means the food is agitated 
 and separated, as it is carried on, and the fluid is brought into contact with, 
 and acts upon, every part of it. 
 
 This journey occupies, or, perhaps, repeated journeys occupy a consider- 
 able time. It appears from some interesting experiments by Spallanzani 
 and Tiedemann, that no portion of the food is returned for rumination in 
 
RUIVJINAIIUN. 427 
 
 less than fourteen hours ; that the average period is sixteen or eighteen 
 hours, and that peculiarly hard and fibrous food has been detained thirty 
 hours. li is true that the sheep often begins to ruminate as soon as it 
 ceases to feed ; but it is not the food which has just been swallowed that 
 is returned, but that which has been its full time macerating in the reservoir. 
 If the reader will examine the inside of the rumen, as delineated in page 424, 
 figure c, he will observe that the food which in successive pellets is urged 
 on to the oesophagean canal, must be supported by other portions beneath. 
 None of it could be thrown over the valve, which is there plainly seen, 
 unless the lower division of the stomach was filled to that height. It will 
 follow from this that the stomach of the sheep is always half full at least. 
 Sheep have been buried in the snow many days, and at length perished by 
 hunger ; yet, when opened, the paunch contained a considerable quantity of 
 food. The stomach of the horse or the dog is soon emptied if food is with- 
 held ; the paunch of the sheep is always half filled. 
 
 DISTENSION OF THE RUMEN WITH POOD. 
 
 It occasionally happens, when an animal is brought without preparation 
 from poor to rich pasture, that he will over-fill the paunch. This is parti- 
 cularly the case when sheep are put and left on turnips. It is easily dis- 
 tinguishable from distension of the rumen by gas. The oppression of the 
 animal is greater — the belly is not so much distended, and the flanks have not 
 an elastic rebound, in fact, they do not yield to pressure. This is a serious 
 case, and requires mechanical, and not medical assistance. If the probang, 
 passed down the gullet, and into the paunch, indicates that that viscus is 
 completely filled, the animal should be bled, in order somewhat to relax the 
 spasmodic pressure of the stomach on its contents ; for, until its vital power 
 is exhausted, just in proportion to its distension will be the reaction of its 
 muscular coat. A dose of physic should then be administered, — four or 
 six ounces of Epsom salts — in order, if possible, to excite the paunch to 
 sympathetic action, and dispose it to eject a portion of its contents into the 
 oesophagean canal, a circumstance that does occasionally take place. 
 More dependence, however, will be placed on the use of Read's stomach, 
 pump, by means of which warm water may be injected into the rumen, the 
 hardened contents of that viscus softened, and a portion of the accumulated 
 food expelled by vomiting, or forced through the third and fourth stomachs 
 into the intestines, without previous rumination. 
 
 There is yet a last resource which the insensibility of the stomach admits 
 of, and which should not be delayed too long, namely, an incision into the 
 paunch at the left flank, and the mechanical removal of its contents. There 
 is comparatively little danger attending the operation, except that which 
 arises from the escape of some of the contents of the rumen into the ab- 
 dominal cavity ; and which would cause considerable and perhaps fatal 
 irritation and disease, although possibly at a distant period, and the cause 
 of it unsuspected. This, however, may be easily prevented, by bringing 
 together the edges of the incision into the rumen and the flank, and passing 
 a few stitches through them. A portion or the whole of the contents of 
 the paimch may now be removed. If decomposition has commenced, the 
 whole should be taken away ; but if there is no offensive smell, or extri- 
 cation of gas, it will ])erliap8 be better, remembering the quantity which 
 naturally remains after each rumination, to extract not more than two- 
 thirJs of the mass. 
 
 The edges of the wounds snould now be brought together, and retained 
 by sutures, each one including both the rumen and the skin — a pledget of 
 tow should be placed upon the part, and this covered by dressings of emol- 
 
428 SHEKP. 
 
 lient healing ointment — the whole being confined by a proper bandage 
 The wound will usually be completely healed in two or three weeks. 
 
 It should, however, be remembered that the stomach having been dis- 
 tended to this extraordinary degree, will not soon, or, in some cases, will 
 never perfectly recover its former tone. The animal will be subject to oc- 
 casional hoove ; and at all events, for many a week, will not thrive so well 
 as his companions. To this may be added, that the simple distension of 
 the paunch by too much food, is not, at first, necessarily accompanied by 
 sufficient inflammation to affect and deteriorate the character of the meat ; 
 and that it is a matter of consideration for the owner, whether it might not 
 ba most advisable to destroy the animal at once, if not for the butcher, at 
 least for home consumption. 
 
 HOOVE, OR DISTENSION OF THE STOMACH BY GAS, 
 
 If succulent vegetable matters are long exposed to the united influence 
 of warmth and moisture, fermentation and decomposition ensue, attended 
 by the extrication of a considerable quantity of gas, in which carburetted 
 hydrogen is the prevailing principle. There are some admirable provisions 
 made by nature against the frequent or dangerous occurrence of this in the 
 paunch of the sheep. Allusion has been made to one in the early part of 
 this treatise. It has been stated that an elastic pad occupies the place of 
 teeth in the upper jaw, and that it is by a half biting and half tearing action 
 that the sheep gathers his food. The necessary consequence of this is, 
 that some of the grass is torn up by the roots, and a portion of the mould 
 adhering to them is swallowed ; and, all our soils containing more or less 
 absorbent or calcareous earth, the acid which is the early product of this 
 decomposition, and necessary to its progress, is neutralized, or removed 
 almost as rapidly as it is formed. 
 
 A very considerable quantity of fluid is necessary for the maceration of 
 the contents of the stomach. This is partly supplied by the liquid which 
 the animal drinks, but fully as much by a secretion from the numerous 
 glands concealed under the papillae, with which the coat of the stomach is 
 covered. This secretion is of an alkaline nature, as is very pleasingly 
 shown by a test which every farmer has at his command. Let boiling 
 water be poured on the fresh leaves of red-cabbage, and the clear fluid will 
 be of a bright blue colour. Let other water, also hot, be poured on some 
 pieces of the paunch stripped of its cuticular coat ; let it be suffered to re- 
 main until it is cold, and then filtered : if it is now mixed with the former, 
 the blue colour will receive a faint but very evident hue of green. It is the 
 property of alkalis to turn vegetable blues to a green colour. 
 
 This alkali serves a double purpose : it assists in the maceration of the 
 food, for it is a very powerful solvent of vegetable matter ; and it com- 
 bines with and neutralizes the acetic principle which is developed in all 
 these decompositions : therefore in a state of health, although the food is 
 always macerating, the putrefactive fermentation is never suffered to go on. 
 The health of the animal may, nevertheless, be occasionally deranged ; the 
 peristaltic motion of the stomach may be retarded, or almost suspended — 
 the natural secretion of the paunch may be vitiated — it may be changed 
 from an alkali to an acid, and the fermentation and decomposition of the 
 food may be carried to an annoying or fatal extent : therefore it is that dis- 
 tension of the paunch with gas is, to a greater or less extent, the com- 
 panion or the result of almost every disease to which the sheep is subject. 
 It is the effect and not the cause of many a malady, and so it must be 
 considered and treated. When the paunch regains its power of propelling 
 
HOOVE. 429 
 
 the food, or tlie secretion of the glandular coat is established in its due 
 quantity and healthy character — when other diseases, with which the sto- 
 mach sympathizes, and by which it is deranged are removed, the flanks 
 will subside, and the undue extrication of gas will cease. 
 
 There are, however, certain kinds of food more disposed than others to 
 this fermentation, and of which the sheep are j)articularly fond. Turnips, 
 clover, and fresh-eddish, are fruitful sources of hoove, when the sheep are 
 incautiously turned on them, or suffered to remain on them too long. The 
 superior quantity of nutritive matter which they contain, as well as the 
 superabundant juices with which they abound, require that they should at 
 Hrst be taken in small quantities, and rapidly hurried through the stomach : 
 but after a little while the paunch and the constitution of the animal will 
 become accustomed to them — their dangerous properties cease to have 
 effect, and the flock thrives rapidly upon them. When the sheep have 
 been taken from poorer and drier pasture, and turned suddenly upon this 
 more nutritious and succulent one, and gorge themselves with it as much 
 as they please, the muscular power of the paunch is insufficient to propl 
 the additional mass of food through its cornpartments with the ordinary 
 rapidity. The food disposed to the earliest fermentation is now the longest 
 delayed, and the stomach is distended with the extricated gas. This is 
 sufficiently indicated by the enlargement of the whole belly, and particu- 
 larly of the flanks, and the left flank most of all, and which rebounds against 
 the pressure of the hand, and hollowly reverberates when slightly tapped 
 upon. The distended paunch presses against the diaphragm, and the 
 breathing becomes laborious — the blood is no longer able to circulate 
 through the vessels of the paunch, and it is determined to the head ; and 
 unwillingness to move, and a kind of stupor or half-unconsciousness rapidly 
 supervene. The swelling and hollow sound of the flank, the difficulty of 
 breathing, and the disinclination to move, will sufficiently indicate the 
 nature of the complaint, and relief must be quickly aff'orded or the animal 
 will perish. In a very early stage of hoove, exercise, the driving of the 
 flock gently about for a quarter or half an hour, may, by the occasional 
 displacement of the pillars of the cesophagean canal, as the animal trots 
 along, permit the escape of a considerable portion of the gas, and thus 
 afford temporary or even permanent relief; but he would act brutally as 
 well as injudiciously who would send his dog among the sheep and put 
 them to the top of their speed. With regard to some he might succeed in 
 expelling the gas ; but there would be hazard of occasionally rupturing the 
 paunch, and destroying the animal. 
 
 The shepherd has recourse to the use of his knife in these cases : he 
 plunges it into the left flank, a little below the chine, and half way between 
 the haunch and the ril>3. The gas will rush violently out ; the patient will 
 be evidently relieved, and often the immediate inconvenience and danger 
 from the distension of the stomach will entirely cease. The shepherd, how- 
 ever, is not aware of the constant vermiform motion of the stomach which 
 has been described, and the impossibility of the wound through the skin, 
 and that into the stomach, continuing to coincide, and especially when a 
 portion of the air has escaped, and the inflated paunch begins to subside. 
 During a considerable time some gas will continue to escape from the 
 paunch, and, with it, portions of the more solid contents; but they will not 
 all pass through the external opening — they will fall into the cavity of the 
 belly, and there they will remain an unsuspected source of irritation, and, 
 sooner or later, of serious and fatal disease. The sheep is apparently cured 
 for a time, and the shepherd prides himself on the dexterity and success 
 
430 SHEEP 
 
 with which he has operated, but tlie animal does not always tlirive well after- 
 wards, and sometimes he wastes away and dies. It is' in consequence of 
 this method of paunching, that the opinion, too well founded in fact, has 
 obtained, that the sheep that has once been hoven does not afterwards im- 
 prove so rapidly as the otliers. It is said that his over-distended stomach 
 has been weakened, and cannot afterwards perfectly contract upon and dis- 
 pose of its contents. This is certainly true ; but the grand source of the 
 after-unthriftiness and disease of the sheep is the presence of portions of 
 food in the cavity of the abdomen, — a slow-working, but a powerful source 
 of evil. 
 
 The shepherd should 'always be supplied with a small trocar, and, if with 
 one or two spare canulas, so much tlie better. They may be plunged into 
 the flank just as readily as the knife, and the canula may be retained in its 
 situation by means of a string passed round the animal, or, at least, may 
 be held there by the operator until the gas has all escaped. No portion 
 either of gas or food can then find its way into the belly, and the sheep 
 thus relieved, if the operation has not been too long protracted, will rarely 
 be subject to after indigestion, or disease. The rumen suffers very little 
 from the wounds thus inflicted. The author once had occasion to puncture 
 a sheep seven times in the space of four days. It was sent to the butcher 
 two months afterwards. There was not a vestige of disease in the whole of 
 the abdomen, and it was with considerable difficulty that any trace of 
 the wounds in the rumen could be discovered. 
 
 Dr. Munro invented a hollow tube with a stilett, and a perforated 
 rounded termination. This was thrust down the gullet, and through the 
 floor of the oesophagean canal into the rumen, and the gas with which it 
 was distended immediately rushed out. It is a very useful instrument, and 
 far preferable to the knife. It is sometimes a little difficult to manage, but 
 there is no danger attendant or consequent on its use. The struggling of 
 the patient, in some cases, prevents ito being retained in the rumen so long 
 as is necessary for the full extrication of the gas, or the shepherd is tired 
 of forcibly holding it there, — and, on the whole, it must yield to the trocar 
 in easiness of use, and permanent relief. 
 
 It not unfrequently happens that, whether the probang or the trocar has 
 been used, the rumen too quickly fills again. It becomes then a considera- 
 tion of importance whether there are not means of preventing the future 
 extrication of gas, as well as getting rid of that already developed. The 
 chloride of lime was recommended for this purpose in the work on " Cattle ;" 
 and the general use of the medicine has fully established its reputation. The 
 gas which is developed in the rumen of sheep, as well as that of cattle, is 
 composed chiefly of hydrogen in union with carbon. There is a very strong 
 affinity between chlorine and hydrogen, and they rapidly combine when 
 brought into contact with each other ; therefore if a small quantity of the 
 chloride of lime — a drachm — dissolved in a quarter of a pint of water, is 
 introduced into the paunch of a hoven sheep, either by means of a horn, or 
 what is better, for the course which it will pursue is then more assured, 
 through the canula of the trocar, terminating in a kind of eup for this pur- 
 pose, the chlorine will leave the lime and unite itself with the hydrogen and 
 muriatic acid — a compound of chlorine and hydrogen will be formed. After 
 this, as if purposely designed that the stomach should suffer no harm, the 
 muriatic acid thus formed will speedily unite itself with the lime liberated 
 from the chlorine, and a harmless compound— muriate of lime — will be the 
 result. 
 
 In case of the continued and obstinate extrication of gas after the 
 
POISONS. 131 
 
 repeated insertion of the trocar, the practitioner would probably be justified 
 in making an opening into the paunch through the flank, as recommended 
 in distension of the stomach with food. The same caution, however, must 
 be observed in attaching the wall of the rumen to the substance of the flank. 
 When, by any of these methods, the sheep has been relieved, the prac- 
 titioner should endeavour to guard against a return of this gaseous extrica- 
 tion. He should always administer a purgative. From two to four ounces 
 of Epsom salts, with a drachm or two of powdered ginger, will be the 
 best medicine that can be given. He will also not forget how much the 
 destination of the physic, or the stomach into it actually passes, depends on 
 the manner in which the drink is given, and the great probability that, after 
 such distension, and consequent debility, the physic will break through the 
 pillars of the cesophagean canal, and enter into and be lost in the rumen, 
 if it is not very cautiously administered. Attention should also be paid to 
 the pasture on which the animal is afterwards turned, which should be short 
 and bare, rather than luxuriant. 
 
 Comparatively few grown-up sheep are lost from the eating of poisonous 
 herbs. Lambs, too early separated from the ewes, either that they or the 
 mothers may become a little sooner ready for the market, are occasionally 
 ost from feeding on deleterious plants. Allusion has already been made 
 to this, and the folly as well as inhumanity of this forcing system pointed 
 out. The lamb deprived of the guidance of its dam will browse on almost 
 every plant that comes in its way, and perish from poison as well as from 
 indigestion ; but, otherwise, from the peculiar acuteness of its scent, far 
 superior to that of the horse or the ox, it is seldom that the sheep comes to 
 harm from this cause. The yew, and some of the species of the ranunculus 
 or crow-foot, are the plants by which they most suffer. In general, how- 
 ever, the sheep will feed on many more plants than either the horse or the 
 ox *, and, when most abandoned by man, will suffer less than either of the 
 others from unwholesome and injurious plants. 
 
 It is to be feared that little can be done for the relief of these animals 
 when unfortunately they have been eating poisonous vegetables. Warm 
 water may be injected into the paunch by means of Read's apparatus, and 
 pumped out again, and this repeated until either vomiting is excited, or the 
 
 * The great Linnaeus, assisted by several of his pupils, instituted a course of experiments 
 as to the number of the indigenous plants of Sweden, which different species of cattle 
 would eat or refuse. The plants were all fresh and carefully gathered, and offered to 
 the animals, not when they were kept fasting on purpose that their appetite might 
 be keen, but in the ordinary mode of feeding. Horses ate 262 species, and refused 
 212: cattle ate 276 species, and refused 218 ; while sheep took readily 387 species, 
 and refused only 141. — The Veterinarian, 1833, p. 532. A list of these plants may 
 be seen in the second volume of the Amaenitates Academicse. Of what incalculable 
 advantage, in this point of view alone, would be the institution of experimental farms 
 in Great Britain ! There were a great many of these plants that were refused by all 
 the domesticated animals. How readily might the farmer be enabled to rid his pastures 
 of them, and to make room for those that were not only safe, but wholesome ! With 
 what advantage might he be enabled to suit his different sorts of cattle to the different 
 pastures, and to make his pastures suitable to the different kinds of cattle that he 
 wished to turn upon them 1 How rapidly would every kind of green or of dry food be 
 improved, by being rendered more acceptable and nutritive to the cattle, and more pro- 
 fitable to the farmer ! Surely the time will arrive when experimental farms will be in- 
 stituted by some of the leading provincial societies, — if not, as they ought to be, by the 
 Government itself. The education of the farmer and the veterinary-surgeon is capable 
 of much improvement here. 
 
432 SHEEP. 
 
 poison has been rendered harmless by dilution. Active purgatives should 
 also be given, and in the cautious way that has been already recommended. 
 After the animal has been well purged, a few doses of gentian and ginger 
 will probably be useful in restoring the tone of the stomach *. 
 
 CONCRETIONS IN THE RUMEN. 
 
 The sheep is not so domesticated, nor so greedy an animal as the cow 
 therefore few of the strange substances have been found in its rumen which 
 that of the cow has produced, nor do concretions, whether principally formed 
 of hair, or of layers of vegetable matter, so often exist in it ; and, when 
 they have been found, there are few cases in which their presence has been 
 indicated by any previous symptoms, or in which they have been the cause 
 of want of condition or disease. 
 
 * An abridgment of a case of poisoning among sheep by the ranunculus arvensis or 
 corn-crowfoot, may not be unacceptable or useless to the reader. It is related by M. 
 Brugnone, a French veterinary-surgeon. The corn-crowfoot is one of the first of the 
 flowers that appear in the fields, or among the wheat, and particularly on the fallow- 
 ground in the spring. Its stalk has appeared, and its radical leaves have developed 
 themselves, before scarcely any other plant has germinated. It throws out various 
 branches, and rises to the height of eight or twelve inches. It flowers in May ; the 
 seeds are ripe in the beginning of June — they are shed in the course of that month, 
 and the plant then speedily withers away, and can scarcely be detected after the harvest. 
 It has an acrid taste. It was acknowledged to be poisonous j but there was no instance of 
 its having been voluntarily eaten by sheep. 
 
 On the 18th of April, 1786, M. Brugnone was sent by the municipal officer to a 
 farm situated on the banks of the Doire, to ascertain the cause of the sudden death of 
 seven sheep, and to prescribe for several others that were then seriously ill. 
 
 As soon as he arrived he opened three of the dead sheep, and found in them all dark 
 red patches on the lining membrane of each of the stomachs, and largest and almost 
 black in the fourth stomach, presenting there an appearance of gangrene. The patches 
 also extended a considerable way along the small intestines. With this exception, the 
 viscera of the chest and abdomen were perfectly healthy. The blood in the cavities of 
 the heart was rather more liquid than in its natural state, but it was not in the decom- 
 posed and brdken-down condition in which it is sometimes seen. 
 
 Among the food contained in the stomachs, he found in the first and in the third 
 stomach the broken-down and half- masticated roots of some unknown plant. He went 
 to the field in which the sheep had pastured, and he found it in a manner full of the 
 corn-crowfoot, and a great many of the plants had evidently been browsed upon and eaten 
 down. He compared the roots with those found in the stomachs of the sheep — they 
 were precisely alike ; and he had little doubt that the destruction of the animals was 
 attributable to the poisonous agency of this plant. In order to render the matter more 
 sure, he ofFered a little of the crowfoot to sheep belonging to another flock. They ate 
 it with avidity, and so did some horses and cattle. He gave it cautiously, in order to 
 guard against its possible destructive property. Some other cattle which were acci- 
 dentally turned into this field, and remained there more than an hour, were scarcely 
 stabled before they were attacked with colic, more or less violent, followed by hoove, 
 and which did not cease until a brisk purging ensued. 
 
 More certainly to decide the matter, M. Brugnone made a decoction of some of the 
 roots, and gave three ounces of it to a dog. The animal died in less than four minutes. 
 He put a drop of the expressed juice of the root on his own tongue, and he felt extreme 
 smarting for a long time ; he chewed a small portion of the root, and his tongue, and 
 palate, and the back part of his mouth, were so exceedingly painful for an hour that 
 general convulsions of the frame followed. Other botanists had, before this, proved 
 that the leaves and seeds of this ranunculus were poisonous, — it was now ascertained 
 that the whole of the plant was so. 
 
 To the sheep that were ill he administered diluted white-wine vinegar, and the effects 
 of the poison gradually subsided : on the following morning they were all com- 
 paratively well. The destructive effects of the poison were most rapidly developed, for 
 the sheep had not been more than two hours on that pasture, when three sheep out of 
 the seven died, — Instruct, et Observ. sur les Maladies des Anim. Domest. Tome iii. 
 p. 30y. 
 
INFLAMMATION OF THE RUMEN 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THF. RUMEN. 
 
 This is a circumstance of very rare occurrence. Nature has given to this 
 macerating reservoir an indisposition to be acted upon by circumstances 
 and agents that would do irreparable mischief in almost every other part of 
 the frame. Very slight inflammation is induced even by the" large incision 
 that is occasionally made for the purpose of evacuating the contents of 
 the stomach ; and although it may be necessary to puncture the rumen of 
 the sheep many successive times, in order to evacuate the gas with which 
 it is distended, no dangerous inflammation, or even apparent inconvenience 
 follows. 
 
 The sheep having ceased from eating, and the paunch being so far filled 
 that a portion of the food is level with, or higher than the projection or 
 shelf delineated at c, p. 424, it is pushed forward to the upper and anterior 
 ))art of the ruraen by the vermiform motion of that viscus. Having arrived 
 under the oesophagean canal, or cud-duct, h, p. 422, or e, p. 422, a very sin- 
 gular action or motion of the paunch is there taking place. M. Flourens, who 
 examined the rumen in the living sheep, describes it as forcibly rising and 
 contracting, and forming a succession of knots and hollows. In some of 
 these motions, a portion of the food is seized, and separated from that below, 
 and grasped between the lips or pillars of the cud-duct. Stimulated by the 
 j«resence of this detached portion, and assisted by the pressure of the dia- 
 phragm, and the action of the abdominal muscles, the base of the gullet 
 (a, p. 422) presses upon this anteriorly, and the closed entrance into the 
 nianiplus (c, p. 422) posteriorly, and the roof of the cud-duct superiorly, 
 and the pillars of the floor (6, p. 423) inferiorly, and it is formed into a 
 kind of pellet ; at the same time, the reticulum (a, p. 422) is compressed, 
 and the fluid which it secretes is forced out, and surrounds and lubricates 
 the pellet. 
 
 Another kind of action then succeeds — the base of the gullet expands ; 
 the posterior part of the cud-duct contracts ; the pellet is pushed forward 
 along the cud-duct ; it is grasped by the funnel-shaped base of the gullet ; 
 and by the power of the spiral muscles reconveyed to the mouth in order to 
 undergo a second mastication. This act is performed very leisurely — the 
 animal is usually couched on the ground, supporting himself on the left 
 side ; his countenance expresses a sleepy kind of pleasure, and, if undisturbed, 
 he usually falls asleep as soon as the rumination has ceased — or, ratl;er, the 
 rumination is suspended by the gradual approach of sleep. 
 
 It has already been seen that the mouth of the sheep is abundantly sup- 
 plied with salivary glands, and as the returned food is remasticated, the 
 secretion from them mixes plentifully with it, and the mass is reduced to a 
 pultaceous or semifluid state. It then once more passes down the gullet, 
 and enters the cud-duct. 
 
 It has no sooner arrived there, than it is again seized by the powerful 
 muscles of which this canal is composed ; the base of the gullet closes, and the 
 roof of the duet contracts, but the entrance into the maniplus remains open. 
 The fluid part of the pellet is squeezed out, and passes on into the maniplus; 
 while the portion of food which remains hard and unbroken, falls into the 
 rumen once more to traverse its various compartments, and undergo a far- 
 ther process of maceration. That this is the fact is evident from an exami- 
 nation of the contents of the paunch. They will be found to consist prin- 
 "ipally of food more or less macerated, but scarcely bruised by the teeth ; 
 with this, however, will be mingled no inconsiderable quantity of that which 
 has evidently been subjected to the action, and in a great measurt ground 
 "iown. " 9. V 
 
434 SHEEP. 
 
 LOSS OF CUD. 
 
 Lambs, while they are supported entirely by the milk of the ewe, or by 
 that of a foster-mother, do not ruminate ; but this process commences as 
 soon as the animal begins to take any solid food. The milk passes at once 
 into the fourth or true stomach, in the sucking lamb, and the rumen is not 
 at all used, and is small in size compared with the fourth stomach. A 
 month afterwards, if the lamb has been permitted to follow its dam to the 
 pasture, the habit of rumination will have been for a considerable time 
 established, and the rumen will be more than twice as large as the fourth 
 stomach. 
 
 The act of rumination is partly a voluntary, and partly an involuntary 
 one. It can be suspended, for awhile at least, during the pleasure of the 
 animal ; and, when he chooses, it may be resumed. In a state of health, 
 however, and the paunch having been filled, and its contents sufficiently 
 macerated, he probably cannot easily, or, perhaps, at all resist the dispo- 
 sition to ruminate. There is not a more unerring symptom of disease, either 
 confined to the digestive organs, or pervading the whole frame, than the 
 cessation of rumination, or " the loss of cud,*' as it is generally called. It 
 is not so often observed in the sheep as in the ox, for the latter is more under 
 the inspection of the owner ; but it exists quite as frequently. As soon as it is 
 observed, the sheep should be separated from the flock, and carefully 
 watched and examined. The loss of cud cannot, perhaps, be termed a 
 disease, but it is a symptom of dlisease, and that either of an inflammatory 
 or debilitating nature. The mode of treatment will depend entirely on the 
 disease that is discovered or suspected. The cause being removed, the 
 effect will cease. It may, however, occasionally happen that the malady 
 is very obscure. Its nature and its seat may be doubtful. Two ounces of 
 Epsom salts, with a drachm of ginger, may, in either case, be administered 
 with great propriety. It cannot do harm, whatever may be the real com- 
 plaint, and it will often restore the tone of the stomach and of the system. 
 
 THE MANIPLUS 
 
 The fluid part of the food, and that which has been sufficiently ground 
 for its nutriment to be extracted, passes through the inlet into this stomach: 
 but the sheep having a double office to perform — namely, to supply us with 
 meat and with raiment — it is necessary that no particle of nutriment which 
 the food contains shall be lost. This is the office of the maniplus, and it 
 is admirably adapted for the performance of it. The pillars composing the 
 cesophagean canal terminate a little before that canal reaches the maniplus, 
 and the pultaceous food passes along it, and enters the maniplus, the floor 
 of which is a continuation of the cud-duct. Hanging from the roof of this 
 stomach, and reaching very nearly to the floor, are many duplicatures of 
 the cuticular coat, very dense and strong, and thickly studded with little 
 prominences of a file-like hardness. Each duplicature or leaf contains 
 within it a layer of powerful muscles. These leaves, running precisely 
 parallel to each other, originate from various parts of the roof of this sto- 
 mach. They are unequal in length. One leaf hangs down from the top 
 almost to the floor : on either side is a shorter one, and beyond that a 
 shorter still, and outside of these another not half an inch in width. That 
 is the. termination of one group, and the commencement of another. The 
 number of these groups varies in different animals ; the sheep generally 
 has seven — occasionally eight — each group consisting of six leaves of 
 different lengths. 
 
DISEASES OF THE MANIPLUS. 435 
 
 The central leaf in each of these groups hangs over the continuation of 
 the oesophagean canal — and the food in its way to the fourth stomach 
 must necessarily pass between them. The muscles which they contain are 
 in constant and powerful action, and the leaves are continually moving 
 upwards and downwards. Some portion, and probably the greater part, of 
 the food is grasped, as it were, between the leaves, and raised, and delivered 
 over to the smaller ones immediately above, and by them to others still 
 higher; and the work which they accomplish is sufficientiv plain. In the 
 first place, they squeeze out all the fluid which the mass, reduced to a pulpy 
 state, contains ; and this, which constitutes the greater part of the mass, 
 runs along the floor, and is conveyed onwards into the fourth stomach. The 
 other, and harder portion, is detained between the leaves ; and it is easy to 
 see, on examination of one of these stomachs, the diff'erent layers of which 
 the residuum is composed, showing the successive graspings of the leaves. 
 This probably is the office of the stomach during the process of rumination, 
 and that process is probably terminated by the paunch being drained of 
 food to the level of the val/e (c, p. 424), or the leaves of the maniplus, 
 containing between them as much drained and imperfectly masticated food 
 as the stomach will hold : or, rumination may cease from the united action 
 of both these causes. After this, while the sheep is taking his rest, or reple- 
 nishing the first stomach, the action of the leaves of the maniplus continues ; 
 and, covered as they are with hard papillae, almost like the teeth of a file, it 
 is easy to conceive that they have sufficient power to rub down that portion 
 of the food which, although not previously reduced to a state of pulp, had 
 been considerably macerated and softened. The quantity of food contained 
 in the maniplus of the slaughtered sheep is well known to be exceedingly 
 variable, and probably depending in a great measure on the time that had 
 elapsed since the last rumination, as well as on causes which may impede 
 or retard the grinding action of this stomach. Possibly, in their examina- 
 tion of the sheep after death, veterinary-surgeons have not always paid 
 sufficient attention to this, and have formed somewhat erroneous opinions 
 of the disease of the animal and the cause of death. For some time after 
 rumination has ceased, the maniplus will be found perfectly filled, and 
 its contents somewhat hard ; and this must not hastily be attributed, as it 
 often has been, to constipation. The stomach is in that state in which it 
 was naturally left when the animal ceased to eat, and before it had time 
 to dispose of its contents. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE MANIPLUS. 
 
 The maniplus acts a most important part in the preparation of the food 
 for digestion in the true stomach ; and it is easy to imagine that it may be 
 frequently interrupted in the discharge of its double duty. Let it be sup- 
 posed that a sheep has eaten of a certain quantity of unusually stimulating 
 and acrid, or poisonous food. It has been macerated in the rumen — it has 
 undergone the second grinding of the teeth — and it descends the gullet, and 
 passes along the cud-duct, and enters the floor of the maniplus ; and there 
 it is seized by the leaves of that stomach, eagerly searching, as it were, for 
 their prey, and grasping it closely. The stimulating or acrid property of 
 the food soon begins to produce its natural effect on the stomach by which 
 it is compressed ; and that compression is increased tenfold ; it becomes 
 spasmodic, and every drop of fluid is squeezed from it. But the powers of 
 this stomach, as well as of every other part of the frame, must be speedily 
 exhausted by over-action ; and when its second function, the trituration?., ox 
 rubbing down of the dry residuum should commence, it is unable to cOiV 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 SHKKP. 
 
 tinue its work — it is palsied. The hardened mass now remains between the 
 leaves, a source of inflammation by its very hardness — a greater one by 
 the siinmlating or acrid principle that still pervades it, and irreparable mis- 
 chief is speedily effected. The animal dies of inflammation of the mani- 
 plus ; and, after death, this stomach is found as hard and as round as a 
 ball. The food contained between the leaves is dry and brittle ; it may be 
 rubbed to powder between the fingers; the impression of the papillae of the 
 leaves is upon it ; nay, so spasmodic has been the condensation, that the 
 papillae have been forced into the substance of the interposed mass, and 
 cannot be separated, without leaving the cuticular coat behind. 
 
 What are the previous symptoms ? The author is unable to relate them 
 clearly, and in their proper order. The diseases of the sheep have not been 
 taught in our schools by those who are capable of teaching them. The 
 veterinary-surgeon knows little about them, except what he has learned 
 from his own diligent and anxious observation ; and he has not had the 
 opportunity, nor perhaps the inclination, to communicate them to his 
 brethren. We ask once more — when will agriculturists be wise, and 
 demand the institution of a school in which their best interests are not 
 forgotten ? 
 
 Most of the symptoms of obstruction of the maniplus are those of 
 general inflammation or fever, such as, difficult breathing, dilated nostrils, 
 quickened and fidl pulse, injection of the conjunctival and nasal membranes, 
 dryness of the muzzle, depressed and cold ears, heat at the base of the horn 
 in the horned breeds, frequent and painful cough, a singular swaying motion 
 of the body backwards and forwards, loss of appetite, cessation of rumina- 
 tion, diminution or cessation of milk, and occasional trembling of the mus- 
 cles. There will likewise be costiveness — not straining with a fruitless 
 endeavour to void faeces, but the cessation of the evacuation of them. These 
 will be the usual earlier symptoms ; to them will succeed a stretching out 
 of the neck, a protrusion of the eye, a discharge of frothy or slimy fluid 
 from the mouth, and of mucus tinged or streaked with blood from the nose, 
 and the proportion of blood gradually increasing ; the pulse becoming still 
 quicker but small, the ears colder, and even the roots of the horns cold, the 
 breathing more laborious, and the general strength of the animal wasting. 
 Occasionally there will be temporary delirium, accompanied by attempts to 
 do mischief. If, finally, to these are added the want of certain symptoms that 
 characterize other diseases — if there is no great degree of stupor — if the 
 character of the disease from the commencement has not been half, or total 
 unconsciousness — if the flanks are not rounded, either hard and incom- 
 pressible, showing that the rumen is gorged with food, or giving way to pres- 
 sure and resonant, betraying the extrication of gas — if there is no yielding 
 fullness below telling of dropsy — if none of these things are found, obstruc- 
 tion of the maniplus will be pretty clearly indicated, and, especially, if the 
 disease has been preceded by certain circumstances and errors of manage- 
 ment that will be presently pointed out. 
 
 As to the treatment of this disease, little that is satisfactory can be said. 
 In the early stage of it the animal should undoubtedly be bled, as well to re- 
 duce the fever as the spasmodic contraction of the muscles of the mani- 
 plus ; but, after twenty-four hours have passed, bleeding would only hasten 
 the fatal termination of the case. Purgatives are indicated in every stage, 
 consisting of Epsom or Glauber's salts ; from two to four ounces being given 
 at first, according to the size and age of the animal, and an ounce every 
 fourth hour, until plentiful evacuations are produced : the medicine being 
 uissolved in a considerable quantity of warm water, and poured down in the 
 
DISEASES OF THE MANIPLUS 437 
 
 cautious manner ihat shall ensure its passage into the maniplus. No 
 solid, or even pultaceous food, should be allowed; but gruel may be placed 
 within the reach of the animal. Warm water should be frequently adminis- 
 tered, either by the horn, or tlie stomach-pump ; for by this means a por- 
 tion of the food retained towards the lower edge of the leaves, and most 
 obstinately detained tfiere on account of the hook-like form of the papillae at 
 that part, will be gradually softened and washed out ; other portions above 
 will gradually descend, and be softened by the stream, and also carried 
 off; and by this mechanical contrivance more goodwill be effected than 
 the administration of any medicine could produce. It is only when the 
 stomach is partly unloaded, and its energies somewhat restored, that it can 
 sympathize with the action going forward in other parts of the digestive 
 apparatus, and rid itself of the weight by which it is oppressed. 
 
 Under what circumstances is this disease of the fardel bag chiefly 
 observed ? When the flock has changed its jjasture — .when it has been 
 driven from soft and succulent food to that which is dryer or harder — when 
 the maniplus, that has been for a considerable time employed in pressing 
 out the juice which is easily extracted, and pulverizing or comminutine that 
 which aff"ords little resistance, is all at once called upon to do double or 
 treble duty, no wonder, then, if its energies are soon exhausted, and it 
 becomes paralyzed. On the other hand, a sudden change from a dry and 
 bare pasture to one that is covered with soft and succulent grass, will, in 
 another way, produce the same eff"ect. The remastication of this food costs 
 but little time and labour, and it is sent to the maniplus much more rapidly 
 than room can be found for it ; and thus the action of this stomach is im- 
 peded, and at length altogether arrested. Therefore it is that sheep inva- 
 riably thrive best on farms on which there is little difference of soil in 
 different parts of them. If the soil is poor, the farmer need not despair of 
 getting his sheep in good condition, tor all that he has to do is to stock 
 lightly. If he occu[)ies a rich land, he must place more sheep on each acre 
 of ground. With this precaution, and common prudence being exerted in 
 other points, they will thrive in both situations, it is in the change of soil 
 and the change of pasture that the danger consists — chiefly as it concerns 
 the digestive organs, and most of all as it regards the maniplus. 
 
 There is another state of the maniplus or faik which not unfrequently 
 occurs : it is filled — distended, with soft and putrid vegetable matter. This 
 is when the animal, vvilliout precaution, has been removed from dry and 
 bare, to plentiful and succulent pasture; and, as just described, after rumi- 
 nation the maniplus is supplied with grist for the mill faster than it can be 
 disposed of. This accumulates; it <listends, and palsies the maniplus, and 
 it becomes quickly decomposed. The portion of it that escapes from the 
 leaves and passes into the intestines, is a source of irritation there ; and 
 dysentery — fatal dysentery — is the result. 
 
 This is the history of that uncontrollable purging which so frequently 
 follows an injudicious change from poor to succulent pasture. The prac- 
 titioner who guesses at the cause of this dysentery, must not be afraid of 
 having recourse to purgative medicine. It is the only chance which he has 
 of getting rid of the cause of this unnatural and debilitating discharge. 
 Ounce doses of Epsom salts should be given twice in the first dav, and two 
 drachm doses administered afterwards every six hours, until the foetid smell 
 of the discharge has ceased, and the excrement has obtained a little more 
 consistence. It must not, however, be expected that the dung will for some 
 time assume its usual pelletted form. 
 
 One other function of the maniplus should be mentioned. The rumen 
 
438 SHEEP, 
 
 secretes an alkaline fluid to assist in the maceration and softening of its 
 contents. The reticulum supplies a mucous fluid to envelope the pellet, 
 and facilita'e its return to the moulh for the purpose of rumination. It 
 seems, however, that an acid principle is always concerned in the digestion 
 of the food, or, at least, its conversion into chyme in the true stomach. 
 The food is now approaching that stomach ; and in order to prepare it 
 for the change which it is there to undergo, an acid fluid — free acetic acid 
 — is secreted by the glands of the maniplus, and mingles with its contents. 
 This is proved by the fluid, in which portions of the maniplus have been 
 macerated, giving a faint red tinge to paper that has been stained blue 
 by an infusion of red cabbage, 
 
 THE ABOMASUM, OR FOURTH STOMACH. 
 
 The continuation of the gall-duct leads, by means of the floor of the 
 maniplus, into the aboniasum ; and, in the healthy state of the digestive 
 organs, the food is received into this stomach in a pultaceous or semi-fluid 
 state. The abomasum is of a conical or funnel-like shape, extending from 
 the third stomach to the beginning of the intestines. The cuticular lining, 
 which has been traced through the whole of the three first stomachs, ceases 
 at the termination of the last of them, and the abomasum displays a soft, 
 villous, mucous surface, like the digesting stomach, or the digesting portion 
 of the stomach, of every quadruped. That surface (f, p. 424) is composed 
 of folds, or rugts, running, mostly longitudinally, from the upper to the 
 lower part of the stomach. These rugae are most numerous and broadest 
 towards the maniplus, and one of them, placed at the entrance into the 
 abomasum, discharges the function of a valve ; it gives way before the 
 pressure of the fluid or other matter passing from the third stomach into 
 the fourth, but opposes an almost insuperable obstruction to their return. 
 This explains the reason why vomiting so rarely occurs in the sheep, or, 
 in fact, — meaning by the term vomiting, the return of the food from the 
 fourth or true stomach — is almost never seen, except in the struggles that 
 immediately precede death. Towards the lower part of the stomach these 
 folds are fewer, narrower, and more irregular in their course. 
 
 This stomach contains the same number of coats as the preceding ones, 
 but the muscular one is not so strong. The internal one is covered by a 
 mucous substance, in order to shield those beneath from mechanical or other 
 injury by means of the various kinds of substances that occasionally enter 
 the stomach. The sub-mucous, or proper glandular coat, secretes that 
 important fluid, the gastric juice. The lower part of the stomach is guarded 
 by a round projecting substance, by which the entrance into the intestine is 
 contracted, or occasionally closed, and the contents of the stomach pre- 
 vented, at least for awhile, from escaping until they have fully undergone 
 the digestive process. 
 
 The food has not long remained in the abomasum of the sheep at grass, 
 before it is converted into a liquid matter of a brownish yellow colour, in 
 which are floating some very small flocculent fibres. This stomach, in the 
 sheep that has been fed on hay, contains a thicker fluid of a brownish milk 
 colour, with somewhat more substantial fibres suspended in it. The aboma- 
 sum of the animal that has been fattened with corn exhibits a yet thicker 
 fluid, and usually of an acrid and disagreeable smell : this bouillie is com- 
 posed of a pulverulent farinaceous precipitate, and a yellow-white liquor of 
 the consistence of milk, in which a few oats may possibly be flo.'iting. 
 
 All these substances have a somewhat acid taste, and turn the red-cab- 
 bage paper to a bright red. They are never alkaline except when the 
 
BEZOARS, OR CALCULI. 439 
 
 sheep dies from disease, showing that that disease had disturbed the influence 
 of the nervous system, and prevented the secretion of the gastric juice. It 
 IS this secretion which gives the acid taste to the contents of the stomach ; 
 and, by some vital influence — it cannot be accounted for on any mechanical 
 or chemical principle — converts the greater portion of those contents into 
 one homogeneous fluid termed chyme *. This is properly the first act of 
 digestion ; and the muscles of this stomach are actively employed in bring- 
 ing every portion of the food, by turns, into contact with, and under the in- 
 fluence of, the gastric juice. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE ABOMASUM. 
 
 Suflicient is not yet known of the pathology of the sheep to justify any 
 description of the diseases which purely or principally belong to this stomach. 
 It is the principal seat of inflammation wlien a sheep is destroyed by acrid 
 poisons, whether gathered in the field, or wilfully administered, as arsenic, 
 or corrosive sublimate ; or accidentally swallowed with the food, as has been 
 the case with arsenic. The same general distinction likewise occurs between 
 animal and vegetable poiSons ; the destructive agency of the former ap- 
 pears in patches on the parts with which it has come into contact, and 
 which it has corroded, or inflamed : the inflammation produced by the 
 latter is more diffused. The mischief that has ensued from the incautious 
 use of arsenic, mercury, hellebore, and tobacco, will be best taken into con- 
 sideration, when the diseases, for the cure of which they are incautiously 
 used, pass in review. The fatal consequences of the coagulation of milk 
 in the stomach of the lamb, belongs to the article on parturition and the 
 general treatment of lambs. 
 
 A singular account exists of the rupture of the abomasum in a young 
 lamb. It had the turnsick, and was wandering and falling about, as is 
 usually the case in this disease, when, a fevy hours before its death, it sud- 
 denly fell with unusual force, and was unable to rise again. It abandoned 
 itself to the most violent struggles, the right limbs having evidently more 
 power than the left ; and, at length, making its neck the centre of motion, 
 it contrived to turn round almost as rapidly as when it was on its legs. 
 On examining the abdomen, after death, the abomasum was found to be 
 ruptured at its greater curvature, and the rupture extending from the mani- 
 plus, almost to the duodenum. There was the same diff"erence in the tunics 
 of the stomach which is usually found in the horse. The peritoneal, or 
 outer tunic, was most torn ; the muscular not quite so much, and the glan- 
 dular and mucous least of all. There was no appearance of inflamma- 
 tion or disease in the inner coat of the stomach, but the whole sub- 
 stance of the abomasum was unnaturally soft. This case stands alone in 
 the records of veterinary -medicine ; but, did the sheep oftener come under 
 tlie cognizance of the veterinary surgeon, the same diseases, and characters 
 of disease, would probably be seen as in the other ruminants t- 
 
 BEZOARS, OR CALCULI IN THE ABOMASUM. 
 
 The lamb, before weaning, and especially if the teats of the mother have 
 not been cleared of wool, is apt to swallow many fibres of it in the act of 
 sucking. The weaned lamb, and the adult sheep, when licking or nibbling 
 themselves, also collect many fibres in their mouths, which, at length, are 
 swallowed. They pass through the cud-duel; they escape from the leaves of 
 
 * Rethtiches sur la Dit;estion, par Zedemann & Gmelin, vol. L p. 357, 
 I Journal des Sciences Zooiatriquts, vii. 242. 
 
440 SHEEP. 
 
 the maniplus ; and at length are arrested by the valvular projection at the 
 pyloric extremity of the abomasum. A grain of corti, or a small portion ol 
 hard and unraasticated food, may have pursued the same course and arrived 
 at the same spot. It forms a nucleus, round which the wool entwines 
 idself; and surrounded by the adhesive mucus of the stomach, other particles 
 of wool, or of undig'ested food, or of calcareous, or other earthy matters, 
 gradually accumulate on the little mass that is forming. It lies loose in the 
 stomach, and revolves with the motion of the stomach, and assumes some- 
 what of its form, that of an almond in the shell, or a ball compressed on 
 either side. It varies in size from that of a small nut, to a large almond. 
 Sometimes one only is found in the stomach ; at other times twelve or 
 sixteen. They are oftenest found in September and October. That is the 
 time of moulting in the sheep, and the change of coat being usually accom- 
 panied by some irritation of the skin, tlie sheep oftener lick and gnaw 
 themselves, and more of the wool is swallowed. It would seem that, in 
 process of time, these bodies yield to the solvent power of the stomach 
 and disappear, for although they are occasionally to be found at all times, 
 they are neither so large nor so numerous as in the autumnal months. 
 
 Their appearance sufficiently indicates their composition. They are 
 usually of a brown colour, approaching to red or to yellow ; and they are 
 surrounded by a nap of wool, raised by the attrition of the stomach, as the 
 nap is raised artificially on cloth. This nap has a soft velvety feeling, 
 except more than the usual quantity of mucus and earthy matter has en- 
 tered into its composition. The ball can be cut by a strong and sharp knife, 
 and this discovers the concentric layers of which it is composed — it will 
 burn when exposed to considerable heat, giving out an empyreumatic smell, 
 and it will dissolve in boiling water. Its taste is acrid, and nauseous. It is 
 most common in lambs, but sometimes found in the oldest slieep. 
 
 There is a difference of opinion as to its effect on the health of the animal 
 in whose stomach it is contained. It does not seem probable that one or 
 two would prove injurious either by their friction or their weight ^.and 
 their specific gravity is not great. Sheep have been killed, in the highest 
 condition, with one or two bezoars in the stomach — on the other hand, 
 sheep very much out of condition, and dying of other diseases, have had 
 several of these concretions in the abomasum, 
 
 M. Chariot, an intelligent French veterinary-surgeon, says that he was 
 consulted with respect to a flock of sheep and lambs, of which 25 had died 
 in the course of six weeks. The symptoms were diarrhoea, extreme wast- 
 i^^•, and cough ; and from the nostrils of many a bloody purulent matter 
 was discharged. He found bezoars — so these concretions are sometimes 
 called — in the stomachs of almost all of them, and one lamb had no fewer 
 than three*. He suspected that the disease, and the mortality which ac- 
 companied it, were much connected with the presence of bezoars in the 
 stomach. The c jugh, the discharge from the nostrils, and the diarrhoea, 
 would rather lead to the suspicion that the lungs were the principal seat of 
 disease, and the phthisical affection of these the inevitable cause of death : 
 but there is nothing improbable in the supposition that a diseased state of 
 the digestive organs, a ready parting with the mucous covering of the 
 stomach, might have much to do with the formation of these bodies. They 
 are far more likely to be the effect than the cause of disease. At all events 
 there are no symptoms which indicate, with any degree of certainty, their 
 existence, and. although the concentric layers of which they are composed 
 
 * Rec.ieil de MM. V6t. 1826. 506. 
 
THE SPLEEN. 441 
 
 show that they have their periods of growth, and their periods either of rest 
 or decay ; and the numerous instances in which they are found in certain 
 months, and the comparative unfrequency of their appearance a few 
 months afterwards, prove that that decay goes on to their utter decomposi- 
 tion and dissolution, still there are no means and applicancies, with which 
 we are acquainted, that will enable us either to prevent their formation, or 
 to accelerate their departure. They have never been discharged through 
 the medium of the intestines, and, consequently, they must be either decom- 
 posed in the stomach, or remain there harmless, or producing a degree of 
 irritation proportionate to their size and the firmness of their projecting 
 fibres *• 
 
 There is an important organ attached to the rumen, which could not 
 have been earlier described, without breaking the thread of our histoiy, 
 namely, — 
 
 THE SPLEEN. 
 
 The spleen, or melU as in the ox, is proportionately longer and narrower 
 in the sheep than in the horse. It is of nearly one uniform breadth and 
 thickness through its whole extent, but is rounded at each end. It lies on 
 the left side of the belly, closely tied to the rumen through its whole ex- 
 tent. In its healthy state it is of a dark colour, and scarcely yields to pres- 
 sure ; but, on closer examination, it presents a singular spongy struc- 
 
 * It does not appear that the English shepherd, whether ancient or modern, stands 
 in much fear of these gastric calculi. It was a different thing, however, on almost 
 every part of the continent. It was long believed that these bezoars — the source of rapid 
 wasting, and ultimate death — were produced by some magical and diabolical art. Not a 
 few unfortunate wretches were sent to the galleys for being concerned in these necro- 
 mantic outrages. When such absurd fancies had disappeared before the growing intel- 
 ligence of modern times, it was still supposed that the calculi were frequently swallowed 
 by the sheep; that these animals were exceedingly fond of them, and that a miscreant, 
 who wished to wreak his vengeance on a sheep-master, would sufficiently accomplish his 
 purpose by bujing a few of them from a butcher, and strewing them in the way of 
 the flock. A detailed account is given of the trial of two poor labourers, in 1790, who 
 were accused of having attempted this strange species of revenge in France, and who 
 were condemned to pay 1500 Jivres in satisfaction of the damage they had effected, and 
 to be sent to the galleys for six years. t)n the interference, however, of the professors 
 of the veterinary school of Alfort — who affirmed that the sheep would not voluntarily 
 eat these concretions ; that they found it necessary to force them upon some sheep on 
 whom they had been experimenting ; and that, if 'they were forced upon the sheep, they 
 would fall into the rumen, and could not possihh find their way into the abomasum, 
 which they must reach in order to effect the mischief complained of — the sentence was 
 revoked and the pris.aiers discharged. The veterinary surgeon who is acquainted with 
 the French language will be much amused by the long account given of this in the 
 fourth volume of " Instructions et Observations sur les Maladies des Animaux Domes- 
 tiques." 
 
 If these bezoars were once thought to be so destructive to sheep, many wondrous 
 virtues were also attributed to them as it regards the human subject. They are not 
 peculiar to the sheep ; they are found occasionally in every species of deer and antelope, 
 and also in the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the porcupine, and some other animals. 
 Those from some species of Indian antelopes were highly prized. Some from the ele- 
 phant and the porcupine were sold at 300A each. They were said to be a charm against 
 the poison of the viper and the scorpion ; against vertigo, epilepsy, dysentery, pneumonia, 
 malignant fever, the plagne, the leprosy, and almost every ill that flesh is heir to. 
 Edward IV. was preserved from the effects of an empoisoned wound, and the Emperor 
 Charles V. was enabled to dissipate those fe.arful recollections and anticipations, by 
 which he was haunted, by the astonishing power of the bezoar. ."Vll these delusions have 
 passed away, and we wonder that they could have had existence. The concretion in the 
 abomasinn is now regarded as an almost harmless tiling when in its natural habitation ; 
 and when taken from it, as deriving its only worth from its occasionally finding a place 
 in the museum of the surgeon or the naturalist. 
 
442 SHEEP. 
 
 ture. It is composed of innumerable cells, of different form and size, 
 in difllerent parts of it ; and its blood-vessels, both arterial and venous, 
 freely communicate. Its situation would indicate that it has to do with 
 the function of digestion ; but it has been removed from some animals, 
 without apparent injury to that or any other function ; and in the sheep, 
 and in all ruminants, it is attached to that stomach in which the inferior 
 office of maceration is alone discharged. In a treatise like the present it 
 would be out of place to enter into the disputed and difficult question of the 
 use of the spleen. The most probable account is, that it is mainly con- 
 cerned with the colouring of the blood, or the gradual change of the chyle 
 into blood as it passes through the glands of the mesentery, where it be- 
 comes mixed with a red coaguiable fluid which is supplied by the spleen. 
 
 The spleen, however, is a more important organ than has been com- 
 monly imagined, and its diseases in the sheep, although not mentioned by 
 any English veterinarian, are of a serious character. They have not been 
 described, because there is much obscurity about their symptoms ; but in- 
 flammation in the spleen is of far more frequent occurrence in the sheep 
 than is generally believed. M. Tochenlin, a veterinary-surgeon in the Grand 
 Duchy of Baden, was the first to point out this disease. It prevails mostly 
 in July, August and September, before the heat of the summer has passed 
 over, and when the animals are beginning to moult. Almost the first 
 symptoms are those of influenza ; the gait becomes uncertain and staggering 
 — the eyes are half-closed, red, and weeping — the appetite fails and rumina- 
 tion ceases — the bowels are constipated — the flanks are swelled — the breath- 
 ing is laborious, the emaciation rapid and extreme, and the animal often dies 
 in the course of a few days. Sometimes the sheep perishes suddenly, 
 without any, or scarcely any, symptom of previous disease. 
 
 After death the paunch is found distended with gas and with food — the 
 latter in a state of putrid fermentation, and necessarily producing the former ; 
 the small intestines are in a gangrenous state — the liver is partially decom- 
 posed and filled with vitiated bile ; but, most of all, the spleen is gorged 
 with blood, softened, enlarged, not unfrequently ruptured, filled with tuber 
 cies and ulcers — with, in short, various appearances of disease, but all of 
 them the consequence of inflammation, principally belonging to this gland, 
 and of the most serious character. 
 
 The probable causes of a disease so little known must be hinted at with 
 diffidence — blows, falls, long journeys, sudden changes of weather, change 
 of pasturage, coarse pasture, damp or ill-ventilated sheep-houses, pre-exist- 
 ent disease in some other of the contents of the abdomen with which the 
 spleen in process of time participates, and in which, from its vascular struc- 
 ture, it is most violent. There are lew parts of the sheep that are more 
 disposed to be affected by the diseases of other visceral organs. The treat- 
 ment must depend on the character which the disease assumes. If there is 
 much laboured breathing and heat of the muzzle and the horn, bleeding 
 will be indicated ; but 't must not be attempted if there is the slightest 
 symptom of debility. If it is a single case, there will probably be much 
 inflammatory action which bleeding will relieve ; hut if it seems to be a 
 prevailing complaint at the time, it will, like every epidemic, assume a 
 typhoid character; and mild aperients, and perhaps gentle stimulants, will 
 be most serviceable. The preventives would be, shelter from the rays of the 
 summer's sun, no long journeys, and no dogging ; and the turning on sound 
 pasture, where the appetite might be satisfied with a fair share of exercise, 
 but where the paunch cannot well be overloaded. 
 
 The process of digestion benig completed so far as the stomachs are 
 
THE LIVER. 443 
 
 concerned — all the food which has been sufficiently comminuted being- con- 
 verted into the homogeneous fluid, chyme, it escapes throiigli the pyloric 
 orifice into the duodenum, or first intestine, there to undergo another and 
 still more important change, namely, to have the nutritive and useful por- 
 tion separated from that which will yield no nourishment to the frame, and 
 must eventually be expelled as mere faecal matter. Two other fluids, hovv^- 
 ever, are poured into this intestine — one from the pancreas, and the other 
 from the liver, and both assisting in effecting this separation ; it will there- 
 fore be more satisfactory to consider first the nature and efl'ects of these 
 fluids, and the structure and diseases of the organs whence they flow. 
 
 THE PANCREAS. 
 
 The pancreas or sweetbread, as in the ox, comparatively smaller than in 
 the horse, although much larger than in any of the carnivorous animals, is 
 found on the left side of the belly, and connected mostly with the duodenum, 
 or partly with the colon, by means of the mesentery, and the ducts of this 
 gland. It is evidently a glandular substance, and composed of an 
 accumulation of minute glands connected together by a cellular tex- 
 ture, each having its own minute duct, and the common one of the whole, 
 running into the biliary duct, two inches before that vessel enters the duo- 
 denum. The letter h, in the cut (page 424), indicates the spot at which 
 it perforates the coats of the duodenum. 
 
 The pancreas of the sheep secretes a transparent, adhesive fluid, of a 
 slightly sahne taste, containing a great deal of albumen, and sufficient acid 
 to turn the blue cabbage-paper red. Different opinions prevail as to its 
 use. It is probably designed to mingle with and assist in the perfect assi- 
 milation of the chyme, and thus prepare it for the change which it is to 
 undergo in this intestine. Inflammation, and gangrene, and ulceration, 
 and cancer of the pancreas, have been observed in the human being; and 
 the author has found induration and tubercles in the pancreas of the sheep : 
 but he is altogether ignorant of the cause, the progress, the symptoms, or 
 the proper treatment of these diseases. 
 
 THE LIVER. 
 
 It seems to be a law of comparative anatomy that the bulk of the liver 
 shall be in an inverse proportion to that of the lungs. In the horse the 
 lungs are necessarily capacious. He needs a large supply of arterial blood 
 in order to answer to its rapid expenditure when the utmost exertion of 
 strength and speed are required from him. In the ox the lungs are less 
 developed ; yet this animal is used in some countries as a beast of burden, and 
 employed in Great Britain in agricultural labour ; the lungs, therefore, are 
 of considerable size, and the liver, although much larger than in the horse, 
 is restricted in its growth. In sheep little exertion of strength or speed is re- 
 quired ; and the lungs are smaller compared with the size of the animal. 
 The liver is proportionally larger : it is about one twenty-fifth part of the 
 whole weight of the animal, or nearly double the proportionate size which 
 it is in the human being*. 
 
 The liver of the sheep differs little in form and situation from that of the ox. 
 It is placed in the anterior part of the abdomen, between the maniplus and 
 the diaphragm. It has but two principal lobes, separated by a triangular 
 scissure, through which, in the ])regnant ewe, the umbilical vein of the 
 foetus passes. Its office is to receive the blood that is returned from the 
 
 * Gasparin dus Maladits ties Betes a Loire, p. 42. 
 
444 SHEEP. 
 
 intestines; to separate from the bloori, or to secrete by means of it, a fluid 
 termed bile, and to transmit tlie remaining part to the luno;s, there to 
 undergo the usual process of purification, and be changed to arterial blood. 
 The vessel to which the bile is first conveyed is the gall-hladdtr; where it 
 is stored up for future use, and perhaps undergoes sume change. A portion 
 of the watery parts of the bile is certainly evaporated in the gall-bladder, 
 and the remainder is thicker and more powerful. From the yall-bladder it 
 is conveyed to the first intestine, the duodenum, either in a constant but 
 slow stream, or probably in a larger stream while the work of digestion is 
 going on ; the supply from the gall-bladder, and probably the secretion from 
 the liver, being stopped at other times. A little before this duct — the ducius 
 choledochvs — reaches the intestine, it is joined and perforated by the duct 
 from the pancreas. The fluid from the pancreas is mixed with that from the 
 liver, and the compound flows on to the duodenum. 
 
 The fluid which is secreted by the liver, or separated from the blood 
 passing through that gland, is called the bile. There have been great 
 disputes as to its nature and use. Some have considered it as an excremen- 
 titious substance. They are probably not very wrong in this ; but the 
 excrementitious substance so separated is, when in due quantity and healthy 
 condition, a very useful one. Its separation keeps the blood in that state 
 in which it can best contribute to the nutrition of the frame, and the healthy 
 function of its different organs. The fluid separated and discarded, sti- 
 mulates the mucous membrane of tlie intestines, and excites it to the secre- 
 tion of that mucus which is necessary for its protection and healthy state. 
 By mixing with the chyme it hastens the necessary separation which must 
 take place between the nutritive and innutritive parts, or, in other words, 
 the conversion of the chyme into chyle — chyle being the nutritive part with 
 that which is excrementitious precipitated or otherwise separated. The 
 bile, while it stimulates the mucous membrane, increases the peristaltic 
 motion of the intestines, and hastens the passage and escape of the fiecal 
 matter. By virtue of its chemical qualities, it prevents the putrid decom- 
 positions to which many substances, and especially vegetable ones, are 
 subject when inclosed within the intestines and subjected to a warm tem- 
 perature. This fluid being of an alkaline nature, neutralizes a part of 
 the acid which is often developed in the intestines. It also assists in the 
 assimilation, or conversion into nutritious matter, of many of the contents 
 of the intestines, and parts witli some of its own constituents. The picro- 
 niel and osmazome, having never been detected in the excrement, are 
 supposed to be taken into the circulation. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE LlVEil. 
 
 Oxen and sheep are more exposed to diseases of this organ than is the 
 liorse, from the proportionate greater development of it and the excess of 
 secretion from it. Inflammation of the liver, ciironic or acute, is not only 
 the foundation or the forerunner of rot ; but, in its simple state, is not of 
 unfrequent occurrence, and is very fatal. The sheep hangs his head, is 
 dispirited, partly or entirely refuses Ins food, heaves at the flank, is unwil- 
 ling to move, and the bowels are usually costive. These are symptoms c$ 
 common fever ; but if to them are added yellowness of the skin, and of the 
 membrane of the eye, tenderness when pressed on the right side, and lame- 
 7iess of the right fore-leg, it is plainly enough inflammation of the liver. 
 The i)rcvailing cause is excess of nourishing food, arising from too great 
 
THE ROT. 445 
 
 haste to prepare tlie animal for the market. In many of the fatted and 
 prize sheep that are destroyed by that murderous disease so conveniently 
 termed injlammation, the seat of the mischief was the liver, as is plainly 
 enough mdicated by the engorgement, and friable, broken-down texture of 
 that organ. Marshy grounds that may not absolutely produce the rot are 
 too frequently the cause of inflammation of the liver. Bleeding, Epsom 
 salts, and spare diet will be the most effectual means of cure. Sometimes 
 inflammation of the liver appears as an epidemic among sheep. In several 
 parts of France, and particularly in Holland, this has been observed. In 
 both places they give salt to the sheep, both as a preventive and a cure. It 
 is mentioned by no English author ; but if the farmer will observe the 
 early symptoms of that illness in his sheep, which so far takes on the cha- 
 racter of rot, that the patient pines away to a skeleton, and after death is 
 found to have an enlarged liver, with numerous flukes in it, he will sus- 
 pect that in the early stage the disease was pure inflammation of the liver, 
 and that he might have saved his sheep had he adopted the proper means. 
 A visit to the slaughterhouses will show that small calculi often exist in 
 the gall-bladder of the sheep ; but the author is not aware of any symp- 
 toms which indicate their existence, or of any disease that has certainly 
 accompanied them. 
 
 THE ROT, 
 
 This disease is classed among those of the liver, because, except when 
 the animal dies perfectly worn out by the malady, the most striking and 
 the supposed characteristic mischief is found in this organ. 
 
 So far as the author has been enabled to ascertain, more than one million 
 of sheep and lambs die in every year from this disease. In the winter of 
 1830-31 this number was far more than doubled ; and had the pestilence 
 committed the same ravages throughout the kingdom which it did in a few 
 of the midland, eastern, and southern counties, the breed of sheep would 
 have been in a manner extirpated* 
 
 This disease is not peculiar to England, Many sheep are destroyed by 
 it in Germany. In the north of France they are frequently swept away by 
 
 * Mr. W. R. Brown stated before a Committee of the House of Lords, in 1833,thathe 
 lost 500 sheep in fo\ir months, and thiithe sold 400 more at 3s. 8d. each, so that he might 
 be said to have lost 900 in all, out of a tlock of 1400. Mr. W. Simpson stated that one 
 of his neighbours lost all his sheep except three, Mr. John Buckley asserted that many 
 lost all their flocks ; to which Mr. John Western Peters added, that he knew some in- 
 stances in which the tarmer lost the whole of his stock, and boujiht a second stock, and 
 lost that too. Mr. Smallpiece stated that, in some parts of the wealds of Surrey and Sussex, 
 there was not a single sheep now left; "the loss extends," added he, " beyond the 
 mere value of the sheep : it embarrasses the whole operation of the farm, and throws it 
 out of cultivation ; for the farmer depends on his sheep for much of his manure, and 
 probably tiiere are no other means of procuring it." The consequence of all these losses 
 was, that in 1833, two years after this dreadful destruction, there were 5000 sheep on 
 every market-day in Smithfield less than what used to be the average number ; and 
 20,000 less than the usual number at VVeyhill fair. If another testimony is added, it is 
 to awaken the farmer from the apathy with which he seems to regard his own losses and 
 those of his neighbours, and to induce him to seek in the better draining of his soil, o*" 
 the better management of his sheep, and the foundation of experimental farms, and agri 
 cultural and veterinary schools, a remedy for this national t\i\. If it is fair to draw anr 
 conclusion with regard to the future from what these institutions have already produced 
 the plague would prohably be in a great measure staid. '■ In the year 1824," says Mr. 
 John Cramp, of the Isle of Thanet, " I had improved my farm at Ashford, in the weald 
 ol Kent, and I had a great stock upon it ; but in the ensuing winter 1 was visited by 
 that dreadful disease the rot, which carried away 3000/. worth of my sheep in less than 
 three months, and I gave up my farm." — Evidence before the House of Lords in 1833. 
 
446 SHEEP. 
 
 It ; anil in the winlor of 1809 scarcely a Merino in the whole of lliat King- 
 dom escaped. It is destructive as far in the north t)f Europe as Norwav ; 
 and even the most southern provinces of Spain have had occasion to mourn 
 its ravages. It has thinned many a flock in North America, and in Van 
 Diemen's Land and Australia it has occasionally been as destructive as in 
 the worst undrained land in England. 
 
 It has existed from tlie earliest period of medical and agricultural history. 
 Hippocrates gives a very faithful account of it, erring only in considerhig 
 the flukes as hydatids ; or rather his attention was confined to the hydatids 
 which are now frequently found in the liver of these sheep. In various 
 periods of English history accounts are given of its ravages ; and the descrip- 
 tion of it by our earliest agricultural writers corresponds with what we see 
 of it at the present day. 
 
 The early symptoms of rot are exceedingly obscure : this is much to be 
 deplored, because in the first stage of it alone does it often admit of cure. 
 The animal is dull, lagging behind his companions — he does not feed so 
 well as usual. If suspicion has been a little excited by this, the truth of the 
 matter may easily be put to the test, for if the wool is parted, and es- 
 pecially about the brisket, the skin will have a pale yellow hue*. 
 
 The eye of the sheep beginning to sicken with the rot can never be mis- 
 taken : it is injected but pale ; the small veins at the corner of the eye are 
 turgid, but they are filled with yellow serous fluid, and not with blood f. 
 The caruncle, or small glandular body at the corner of the eye is also yel- 
 low. Farmers very properly pay great attention to this in their examination 
 or purchase of sheep. If the caruncle is red, they have a proof which never 
 fails them that the animal is healthy. If that body is white they have no 
 great objection or fear — it is generally so at grass : but if it is of a yellow 
 colour they immeiliately reject the sheep, although he may otherwise appear 
 to be in the best possible condition ; for it is a proof that the liver is dis- 
 eased, and the bile beginning to mingle with the blood. There is no jess 
 of condition, but quite the contrary, for the sheep in the early stage of rot 
 has a great projjensity to fatten. Mr. Bakewell was aware of this, for he 
 used to overflow certain of his pastures, and when the water was run off" 
 turn those of his sheep upon them which he wanted to prepare for the mar- 
 ket. They speedily became rotted, and in the early stage of the rot they 
 accumulated flesh and fat with wonderful rapidity. By this manoeuvre he 
 used to gain five or six weeks on his neighbours. 
 
 If that which has been just stated of the bile (page 443) is true, it may 
 easily be conceived that a small increase in the quantity and stimulating pro- 
 perty of it, which would be the result of nascent inflammation of the liver, 
 would increase the propensity to fatten. This would last but a little while, 
 for the digestive organs would not long bear an excess of stimulus. They 
 would be exhausted by their temporary increase of action ; and wasting, 
 more rapid than the previous augmentation of condition, would be inevitable. 
 Bakewell was on the watch for this, and the moment when the digestive 
 powers were beginning to be impaired, his sheep were sent to the butcher. 
 It was, after all, an unnatural state of condition into which the animal was 
 brought. The muscular fibre was paler, and approaching to yellow; and 
 
 * " And also take the shepe upon the wol on the side, and if the skin be of a ruddye 
 colour and dry, then is he sound, and if it be pale-coloured and watery, then he is 
 rotten."— The Booke of Husbandrye, by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, 1332. 
 
 f " Take both your handes, and turn up the lid of his eye, and if it be ruddye and 
 have red stringes iu the wh.Je of the eye, then he is sound, and if the eye be white like 
 talowe and thestringes daik-coloureil, then he is rotten." — Booke of Husbandrye. 
 
THE ROT. 447 
 
 the fat was flabby. Tbe meat was tender, and perhaps woukl please certain 
 epicures; but it had not the firmness nor the flavour of mutton honestly fat- 
 tened, and prol)ably was not quite wholesome. 
 
 As the disease becomes confirmed the yellow tinge begins to spread — 
 the muzzle and the tongue are stained — the animal is more dull and dis- 
 pirited — his false condition rapidly disappears — the membrane of the nose 
 becomes livid — the tongue gradually assumes the same character — the eyes 
 are dull, and their vessels charged with a yellow-brown fluid. The breath 
 now becomes fetid — the bowels variable — sometimes costive, and at 
 other times loose to a degree that defies the power of medicine. The skin 
 often becomes spotted with yellow or black — the emaciation is more and 
 more rapid — the general fever increases — the vessels of the eye are 
 more distended and red — the caruncle is considerably enlarged — the skin be- 
 comes loose and flabby, and if it is pressed upon, a peculiar crackling sound 
 is heard — the wool comes off when pulled with the slightest force — the appe- 
 tite entirely fails — the belly begins to enlarge — on pressure fluid is easily re- 
 cognized within it, and hence one of its names, " the hydropic" or dropsical 
 rot. The animal is weak in every limb — a violent purging is now very fre- 
 quently present — the sheep wastes away to a mere skeleton, and at length 
 he dies — the duration of the disease being from two to four or six months. 
 At some uncertain period of the disease there is an cedematous swelling on 
 the upper part of the throat from an infiltration of fluid into the cellular 
 substance of that part. The sheep is then said to be chockered ; and from 
 this swelling the disease is sometimes called the watery poke. 
 
 When a rotted sheep is examined after death, the whole cellular tissue 
 is found to be infiltrated, and a yellow serous fluid everywhere follows the 
 knife. The muscles are soft and flabby : they have the appearance of 
 being macerated. The kidneys are pale, flaccid, and infiltrated. The 
 mesenteric glands enlarged, and engorged with yellow serous fluid. The 
 belly is frequently filled with water, or purulent matter ; the peritoneum is 
 everywhere thickened, and the bowels adhere together by means of an 
 unnatural growth. The heart is enlarged and softened, and the lungs are 
 filled with tubercles. The principal alterations of structure are in the liver. 
 It is pale, livid, and broken down with the slightest pressure ; and on being 
 boiled it will almost dissolve away*. When the liver is not pale, it is 
 often curiously spotted. In some cases it is speckled like the back of a 
 toad. Nevertheless, some parts of it are hard and schirrous; others are 
 ulcerated, and the biliary ducts are filled with flukes. Here is the decided 
 seat of disease, and it is here that the nature of the malady is to be learned. 
 It is inflammation of the liver. In consequence of this the secretion from 
 the liver is increased — at first scarcely vitiated, and the digestive powers are 
 rendered more energetic ; but soon the bile flows so abundantly that it is 
 taken into the system, and the eye, the brisket, the mouth, become yellow. 
 As the disease proceeds, the liver becomes disorganized, and its secretion 
 more vitiated, and even poisonous; and then follows a total derangement 
 of the digestive powers. The whole system sympathizes — every viscus of 
 the chest and the abdomen is gradually involved, and the animal exhibits 
 at its death a state of general disorganization which accompanies scarcely 
 any other malady. 
 
 The liver attracts the principal attention of the examiner : it displays the 
 
 * " And also if thou cut the lyver, there will be lyttle quickenes lyke flokes, and also 
 the lyver will be full of knots, and white blisters if it be rotten , and also seeth the 
 lyver, if it be rotten it will breake in peces, and if it be sound it will hold together." — 
 The Booke of Hubbaudrye. 
 
44S 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 evident effects of acute and destructive inflammation ; and still more plainly 
 the ravages of the parasite with which its ducts are crowded. Here is plainly 
 the original seat of disease ; the centre whence a destructive influence spread 
 on every side. Whatever else is found, it is the consequence of previous 
 mischief existing here. Then the first inquiry is a very limited one-— the 
 nature of this hepatic affection, and the agency of the parasites that iniiabit 
 the liver. Are they the cause or the consequence of disease? 
 
 The Fluke — the Fasciola of Linnaeus — the Distoma hepaticum of 
 Rodolphi — the Planaria of Goese — is found in the biliary ducts of the 
 sheep, the goat, the deer, the ox, the horse, the ass, the hog, the dog, the 
 rabbit, the guinea-pig, and various other animals, and even in the human 
 being *. It is from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter in 
 length, and from one-third to half an inch in greatest breadth. 
 
 Figs. I and 2 represent this parasite, of its usual size and appearance, 
 and its resemblance to a minute sole, divested of its fins, is very striking. 
 The head is of a pointed form, round above, and flat beneath ; and the 
 mouth opens laterally instead of vertically. There are no barbs or 
 tenacula,' as described by some' authors. The eyes are placed on the most 
 prominent part of the head, and are very singularly constructed (fig. 3). 
 They have the bony ring of the bird, by means of which tbe aqueous humour 
 is made occasionally to assume a more conical form, and the lens is removed 
 to a greater distance from the retina ; the eye thus adapting itself to the 
 exceedingly great difference of distance at which it is sometimes necessary 
 for the bird to discover his prey. The same mechanism probably enables 
 the fluke-worm to adapt his eyes to the difl'erent density of the media 
 through which he moves. The anastamoses of the blood-vessels which 
 ramify over the head are plainly seen through a tolerable microscope. The 
 circulatory and digestive organs are also evident, and are seated almost 
 immediately below the head. The situation of the heart is seen in fig. 1, 
 and the two main vessels evidently springing from it, and extending 
 through almost the whole length of the fluke. Smaller blood-vessels, if so 
 
 * The French call this parasite the Douve, from a species of ranunculus, the eating 
 nf which is supposed by them to produce the worm in the livei. The Germans call it 
 Lehcrwurm, or Leberegel ; the Dutch. Lcverworm ; the Danes, Faareflynder ; the Swedes, 
 Levettniiik ; the Italians, Btsciuola ; and the Spaniards, Caraco/if/os, or SfviZ/as.— Fauna 
 dcs M6decins, vol. v. p. 131. 
 
THE ROT. 44y 
 
 ihey may be called, ramify from them on either side. The convolutions of 
 the bowels appear in fig. 3, and the vent, both for the faeces and the ova, 
 and probably for the connexion between the sexes, is on the under part, 
 and almost close to the neck. There is a small protuberance seen at the 
 anterior part of the intestines, and extending through them, which seems to 
 be the liver. The lower part of the animalcule is composed entirely of 
 muscular substance ; but it is exceedingly friable, and readily breaks. The 
 microscope has not brough view the stomach of the animal, nor its 
 respiratory apparatus. 
 
 In the belly, if so it may be called, are almost invariably a very great 
 number of oval particles, hundreds of which, taken together, are not equal 
 in bulk to a grain of sand. They are of a pale red colour, and are 
 supposed to be the spawn or eggs of the parasite. Great numbers of the same 
 particles are also found in the biliary ducts. They retain the same form, but 
 they are often of various colours — corresponding, perhaps, with the degree 
 of vitality which they possess, or the time that they have remained floating 
 in the ducts of the liver. They are also found in every part of the intestinal 
 canal ; and, from November until April, they may occasionally be seen in 
 the dung of the healthy sheep, and swarming in that of the diseased one, 
 and particularly the rotted sheep. 
 
 No difference of sex has yet been discovered in the fluke-worm, and it is 
 believed to be an hermaphrodite. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the eggs are frequently received in the food. 
 Having been discharged with the dung, they remain on the grass, or damp 
 spot on which they may fall, retaining their vital principle for an indefinite 
 period of time. The ova of various animals, larger and smaller, and of 
 every description, like the seeds o'*" plants, retain their vitality during an 
 almost incredible period. They find not always, or they find not at all, 
 a proper nidus in the places in which they are deposited ; but taken 
 up with the food, escaping the perils of rumination, and threading every 
 vessel and duct until they arrive at the biliary canal, they burst from their 
 shells, and grow, and probably multiply. " On killing a sheep," says a 
 writer in the Bath Society Papers *, " I examined the viscera carefully, 
 and in some of the passages leading from the liver, and which appeared 
 turgid, I found a whitish, thick liquor, which appeared to be all in motion. 
 On applying a pocket glass, I found it to contain hundreds of these flukes, 
 which were apparently just hatched, and about the size of mites. These, 
 if the sheep had not been killed, would probably have soon obtained their 
 usual size, and destroyed the animal." Of the existence of the fluke out 
 of the intestines there is no proof, any more than of many other of the 
 entozoa, and nothing can with propriety be positively affirmed of it ; but 
 from their being almost invariably found in the livers of diseased sheep 
 and many other animals, it is highly probable that they have existence out 
 of the body, and either on wet and marshy grounds, or in ponds or rivers. 
 If they have existence there, it is probably in the same form as that in 
 which they appear in the sheep, for it is in their last and most perfect 
 form that the insects of various characters perpetuate their species f. 
 
 Leeuwenhoeck says that he has taken 870 flukes out of one liver, exclu- 
 sive of those that were cut to pieces or destroyed in opening the various 
 ducts. In other cases, and where the sheep had died of the rot, there were 
 not found more than ten or twelve. 
 
 ■-' Bath Society Pajjers, vol. li () IIS. 
 
 f Lfouaeiihoeck's .'\Iicri>gmplii:i, Art. i'l.t'KE. 
 
 2 Q 
 
450 SHEEP. 
 
 Then, is the fluke-worm the cause or the effect of the rot ? To a certain 
 degree both. They aggravate the disease ; they perpetuate a state of irrita- 
 biUty and disorganization, which must necessarily undermine the strength of 
 any animal ; they unnaturally distend, and consequently weaken the passages 
 in which they are found ; they force themselves into the smaller passages, 
 and, always swimming against the stream, they obstruct the flow of the 
 bile, and produce inflammation by its accumulation ; they consume the nutri- 
 tive juices by which the neighbouring parts should be fed ; and they impede 
 the flow of the bile into the intestines, by clogging up the ducts with their 
 excrement and their spawn. Notwithstanding all this, however, if the 
 fluke follows the analogy of other entozoa and parasites, it is the efl'ect and 
 not the cause of the rot. The ova are continually swallowed by the sound 
 animals and the diseased ; but it is only when the fluids are altered, and some- 
 times essentially changed, and the condition of the digestive organs is 
 materially impaired, that their appearance is favoured, or their multiplica- 
 tion encouraged. They resemble the birds of prey, that hasten the death 
 and the demolition of the fallen deer, but who were not concerned in 
 bringing the animal down. 
 
 It is far from certain that the existence of a few of these entozoa may 
 not form a part of a healthy constitution, the liver being excited to a more 
 uniform secretion of good bile. An intelligent pupil informed the author 
 that when in autumn a sheep used to be slaughtered every day for the use 
 of the harvest-men on his father's farm, and he was accustomed to glean a 
 little instruction by a post-mortem examination of every sheep, it was rarely 
 that he found one without a fluke or two. A sheep of better condition than 
 the rest was sure to have them ; and it was only in those that were selected 
 because they were thought to have given indications of approaching ailment 
 that they appeared to be numerous. 
 
 The circumstance of the ease with which flukes may be produced in the 
 liver of various animals affords a strong presumption that they are the 
 effect and not the cause of disease. If a rabbit is fed for a few days only 
 entirely on cabbage, or other watery food, his belly enlarges, and his 
 muscle and fat waste speedily away, ff his food is not changed he speedily 
 dies, with the enlarged liver, of rot, and the flukes which accompany rot. 
 They here plainly accompanied, or were produced by, that derangement of 
 the digestive organs caused by the administration of improper food. The 
 author does not, however, dare to add, what would be a decisive argument, 
 if true, that some sheep die rotten, and no flukes or traces of their ravages 
 are found in the liver. He has never seen the liver of a rotted sheep in 
 which the fluke-worm, or traces of his previous existence in the liver, were 
 not sufliciently plain. 
 
 What, then, is the cause of the rot in sheep ? The knowledge of the 
 cause can alone guide us to the cure, or at best to the prevention of it. It 
 is not, as some have maintained, the consequence of " sudden fall in con- 
 dition ;'' for the early stages of it are characterised by the very reverse, by 
 an improvement in condition — an accumulation of flesh and fat so rapid 
 that nothing but incipient rot could produce. It does not arise from 
 deficiency of food ; a sheep may be reduced to the lowest state of condition 
 — he may be starved outright, but the liver would not be necessarily or often 
 in a diseased state. Thousands of sheep are irreparably ruined by bad and 
 scanty nourishment ; but the symptoms of their decline bear no affinity to 
 those of rot. It is not to be traced to the effects of a sudden flush of grass. 
 The determination of blood to the head, diarrhoea, dysentery, might be thus 
 produced, but i»ot one symptom resembling the rot. Some persons, led away 
 
THE ROT 451 
 
 by a favourite theory, have traced it to defective ventilation ; but in the 
 closest keeping to which the British sheep is usually committed there is no 
 foul air to be got rid of, and defective ventilation would be words without 
 meaning. The sheep are exposed to the winds of heaven protected only by 
 the hurdles of the fold, or by the shelter of a neighbouring hedge. They 
 may get catarrh, they may lay the foundation for pneumonia, but diseases 
 of the liver are quite out of the question as a consequence of folding. 
 
 The rot in sheep is evidently connected with the soil or state of the pas- 
 ture. It is confined to wet seasons, or to the feeding on ground moist and 
 marshy at all seasons. It has reference to the evaporation of water, and to 
 the presence and decomposition of moist vegetable matter. It is rarely or 
 almost never seen on dry or sandy soils and in dry seasons ; it is rarely 
 wanting on boggy or poachy ground, except when that ground is dried by 
 the heat of the summer's sun, or completely covered by the winter's rain. 
 In the same farm there are certain fields on vvMch no sheep can be turned 
 with impunity. There are others that seldom or never give the rot*. The soil 
 of the first is found to be of a pervious nature, on which the wet cannot long 
 remain — the second takes a long while to dry, or is rarely or never so. The 
 first, perhaps, is a sloping ground, from which the wet soon runs — in the level 
 and tenacious soil of the other it remains during many a week or month. 
 " In the parish of Little Gaddesden," says old Ellis, " there is a common 
 just before our houses, that feeds my flock in the summer-time, and the 
 flocks of several other persons. This common has two sorts of situations 
 on it — some of it lies sloping, and the rest lies flat. The part of it next my 
 farm, and where my sheep generally graze, lies mostly on a hanging, and 
 they never take the rot there, because the waters run off" before they can 
 wet the ground enough to make it dangerous to sheep ; whilst in another 
 part of this common, where it lies flat, a farmer lost thirty of his folding- 
 sheep in one year, out of fifty or sixty in allt.'' 
 
 Tiie uninclosed commons with which almost every part of the country 
 once abounded might, in some respects, be convenient and advantageous 
 to the cottager ; in others they were injurious even to the cottager himself, 
 and to the little farmer, while they robbed the country of many hundred 
 thousands of acres of useful and available land — for on account of their low 
 situation, or the poachy spots and stagnant ponds which they contained, 
 they rotted almost every sheep that ran upon them. 
 
 Some seasons are far more favourable to the development of the rot tlian 
 others, and there is no manner of doubt as to the character of those seasons. 
 After a rainy summer, or a moist autumn, or during a wet winter, the rot 
 destroys like a pestilence. A return and a continuance of dry weather 
 materially arrests its murderous progress. Most of the sheep that had 
 
 * A correspondent of the author's, residing in Lincoln, thus writes with regard to 
 this circumstance. Improbable and inconsistent as such a course of proceeding would 
 seem to be, the author could produce more than a score examples confirmatory of the 
 perfect truth of the remark — ''The obstinacy of farmers in turning their sheep on rot- 
 ting lands is most singular and destructive. If there is a common that has from time 
 immemorial been noted for rotting, they are sure to be sent there.'' 
 
 t Ellis's Shepherd's Sure Guide, 1749. This work is recommended to every sheep 
 proprietor, as containin^j a vast deal of useful information with regard to the manag© 
 ment of sheep. The disease under consideration is treated of at considerable length. 
 There is much that will not stand the test of the increased knowledge of the presen* 
 time, and there are many stories that will raise a smile on the gravest countenance ; bu; 
 there is a great deal of sterling common sense in it, audit embodies the most valuable 
 part of the sheep-knowledge of the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 
 2-G2 
 
■152 SHEKP. 
 
 been already infected die ; but the number of those that are lost soon 
 begins to be materially diminished. 
 
 It is, therefore, sufficiently plain that the rot depends upon, or is caused 
 by tlie existence of moisture. A rainy season, and a tenacious soil, are 
 fruitful or inevitable sources of it. 
 
 But it is not every kind of moisture that will produce the rot. A meadow 
 by a river side may afford as safe a pasture as can possibly be wished. 
 There is continued evaporation from the stream, but it produces no rot ; 
 and the sheep often bathe their feet in it as they drink, but no harm ensues. 
 The river overflows — the meadow is, during many a successive day, covered 
 with water, and the sheep, almost up to their knees, search for their food 
 amidst it. The foundation may be laid for foot-rot ; probably for catarrh, 
 or more serious chest affection ; but the liver-rot is out of the question. 
 
 The water gradually subsides, and the river returns to its natural banks. 
 The superficial soil of the meadow, or its substratum, is formed of tenacious 
 clay, and it remains wet during a considerable time. This damp surface is 
 exposed to the united influence of the sun and air. The farmer knows to 
 his cost how soon the danger then commences , for if he removes not his 
 flock to a drier pasture he inevitably loses a fearful proportion of them by 
 the rot. 
 
 There is a pond of water in the field ; it is too plentifully supplied with 
 springs to be ever dried, and its banks are gravelly, or naturally or artifi- 
 cially too well clayed, to become wet and poachy. No harm ensues although 
 the sheep daily flock around it to quench their thirst. The owner attempts 
 to drain it, and is probably unable perfectly to accomplish his object. He 
 now has, or at least in wet weather he has, a moist and soft surface, and, as 
 experience will too soon teach him, a most dangerous spot. " A grazier of 
 my acquaintance," says Dr. HarrisorL in his valuable ' Inquiry into the Rot 
 in Sheep,' " has for many years occupied a large portion of an uninclosed 
 fen, in which was a shallow piece of water that covered about an acre 
 and a half of land. To recover it for pasturage, he cut in it several 
 open ditches to let off the water, and obtained an imperfect drainage. His 
 sheep, immediately afterwards, became liable to the rot, and in most years 
 he lost some of them. In 1792, the drains failed so entirely, from the 
 wetness of the season, that he got another pond of living water, and sus- 
 tained in that season no loss in his flock. For a few succeeding years he 
 was generally visited by the rot ; but having satisfied himself by experience 
 that whenever the pit was, from the weather, either completely dry, or com- 
 pletely under water, his flock was free from the disorder, he attempted a 
 more perfect drainage, and succeeded in making the land dry at all times. 
 Since that period he has lost no sheep from the rot, though, until within the 
 last few years, he continued to occupy the fen." 
 
 A farmer has upon his estate a plot of ground which he boasts never rots 
 his sheep ; and he has another on which he scarcely dares to turn them for 
 a day. There comes a deluge of rain, and he hurries his finest sheep into 
 the upper and safer closes, and is compelled to leave a few in the lower and 
 more dangerous parts. To his astonishment many of his best sheep perish, 
 and lie does not lose one of his worst. The profusion of rain had con 
 verted the upper pasture into a moisfc rotting ground, and had covered the 
 lower one with water, and so interrupted the development of its destructive 
 property, 
 
 A Sussex brec'^.e-, in 1630, sent 800 of his breeding ewes at the end of 
 January into pasture under the hills, in order to feed off some of the long 
 grass immediately after a hea/y fall of snow was carried off by a thaw. 
 
THE ROT. 453 
 
 Before March all the sheep took the rot and died. Not one lived to drop a 
 lamb, although that pasture had never before been known to produce the 
 rot. In this year of general rot the disease was beyond comparison more 
 violent than at any other time. A farmer could not get 5/. for more than 
 300 skins, the disease had infected and putrefied every part so thoroughly*. 
 
 Then there is something more than moisture necessary for the produc- 
 tion of the rot. The ground must be wet, and its surface exposed to the 
 air ; and then the plants, previously weakened or destroyed by the moisture, 
 will be decomposed ; and, in that decompositionj certain gases or miasmata 
 will be developed, that cannot be long breathed, or scarcely breathed at all, 
 by the sheep, without producing the rot. The miasmata developed from 
 fenny and marshy situations produce certain disorders in the human being, 
 which principally aifect some of the internal viscera. In ague the spleen 
 is the victim ; in bilious diseases the liver. In the rot in sheep the liver is 
 the organ mostly affected ; it becomes inflamed, enlarged, indurated — then 
 softened — ulcerated, and prepared to be the residence of the fluke. 
 
 Chemistry, even in its present advanced state, will afford no means of 
 analyzing these deleterious gases ; and it is a matter of little practical con- 
 sequence to be acquainted with their constituent principles. Of the source 
 whence they are derived there can be no doubt — the decomposition of vege- 
 table substances from the united influence of air and moisture : the means, 
 however, of removing the source of the evil is, in the great majority of 
 cases, practicable and easy. 
 
 The mischief is effected with almost incredible rapidity. " A farmer in 
 the neighbourhood of Wragby, in Lincolnshire, took twenty sheep to the 
 fair, leaving six behind in the pasture on which they had been summered. 
 The score sent to the fair, not be'ng sold, were driven back, and put into 
 the same field in which the six had been left. In the course of the winter 
 every one of them died of the rot ; but the six that had been left behind all 
 lived and did well. There could be no mistake with respect to this fact, 
 as the slieep sent to the fair had a different mark from that of the six that 
 were left at home. The loss of these twenty sheep can onlj 6e accounted 
 for on the supposition that they had travelled over some common, or other 
 rotting ground, and there became infected f ." 
 
 The same writer relates another instance which corroborates this opi- 
 nion : " A sheep, belonging to a lot of twenty, being lamed in consequence 
 of a broken leg in getting out of Burgh fair, in Lincolnshire, the nineteen 
 were suffered to range on a common at the end of the town until a cart 
 could be procured to carry the maimed sheep home. The nineteen all died 
 rotten, while the sheep with the lame leg continued perfectly free from the 
 disease J." 
 
 " A sheep-breeder on the downs of Dorset, during my excursion in that 
 county, showed me a small hollow place, about half an acre in extent, where 
 was a sort of basin to hold water, to which the shepherd took the flock, 
 about 800, and let them drink ; the whole of the time they were there being 
 about fifteen minutes. Upwards of 200 of them became rotten §." 
 
 To this shall be added one fact more, whicli recently occurred. A firmer 
 in Norfolk bought a lot of sheep warranted sound ; for the system of war- 
 ranty sometimes extends to cattle and sheep, and ought so to extend 
 mujch.more frequently than it does. The greater part of them died of rot 
 
 * Letter to the Author from Mr Sewell, V.S. of Brighton, 
 f Parkinson on Live Stock, i. 4:il. 
 t Do. i. 422. 
 ^ Do. 422. 
 
454 SHEEP. 
 
 in the course ot the winter. The purchaser brought his action for the 
 recovery of the price paid for them. The defendant satisfactorily proved 
 that he never had had a rotted sheep on that part of the farm on which these 
 were bred and grazed, A considerable sum of money was spent in litiga- 
 tion ; when at length it was discovered that the night before the sale — the 
 whole town and its neighbouring pastures being occupied — tlie sheep were 
 turned into a field in a neighbouring village, and which field bore a suspi- 
 cious character with regard to this disease. There was then little doubt on 
 the mind of either party that the mischief had been done on that night. 
 
 Dr. Harrison confirms these facts. He refers to a farm in Lincolnshire, 
 which consists of high and low lands, of a loamy and tenacious nature. 
 While a brook which runs through the farm remains overflowed, and the 
 water continues upon the adjoining flat grounds, the sheep never suffer any 
 inconvenience, though they are frequently obliged to wade for their provi- 
 sion ; but as soon as the flood is subsided they can be tainted in a quarter 
 of an hour, while the land retains its moisture, and the weather is hot and 
 sultry. The butchers were well acquainted with this fact, and the importance 
 of it ; for, when they purchased any fat sheep from him, they stipulated that 
 they should be turned on Mr. Harrison's meadow before they were sent 
 away, in order that they might be tainted with the rot, and thus improve 
 more rapidly*. 
 
 The miasmata arising from similar causes, and producing disease in the 
 human species, are capable of being conveyed to a considerable distance 
 without losing their infectious property. It is not only dangerous to live 
 on marshy grounds, but in the neighbourhood of them ; and there is a great 
 difference in the health of the inhabitants of the adjacent country accord- 
 ingly as the wind blows to or from the marsh. The minute deviations from 
 health in the domesticated quadruped are not yet sufficiently understood, 
 and indeed have scarcely been studied at all, and therefore it cannot be 
 confidently stated that sheep in the neighbourhood of rotten grounds enjoy 
 that perfect state of health which they would in other situations ; but so far 
 it has been, fortunately for the sheep-master, ascertained, that it is neces- 
 sary for them to pass over or probably to graze on rotting ground in order 
 to become infected to any dangerous extent. A farmer, in addition to 
 other land, had a dry hilly sheep-pasture, which he stocked rather hard. 
 In a hollow place of that pasture was a swampy pond, which was preserved 
 for the sake of supplying the wheel of the thrashing machine. The farmer, 
 notwithstanding the dry and favourable nature of his sheep- pasture, had 
 occasional losses from rot in his flock : he fenced in the pond, and pre- 
 vented the sheep from having access to the swampy border that surrounded 
 it, and the rot entirely ceased t 
 
 Many of the circumstances connected with this disease now become per- 
 fectly intelligible. The rot rarely appears before the close of the spring, 
 except there is a great deal of wet towards the commencement of the sum- 
 mer ; and by the end of November few new cases of it are observable. The 
 grass is too young and vigorous in the early part of the spring to be subject 
 
 * Harrison's Inquiry into the Rot in Sheep. Even lanes and ditches can thus ino- 
 culate and destroy a flock. The sht'pherd of Mr. Harrison left his flock in a lane for 
 not more than an hour, while h« attended a broken-legged sheep. They strayed into 
 no common or other pasture, but they grazed on the sides of the ditches in the lane. 
 The injured animal was then sent home in a cart, and the rest were driven on. The 
 shepherd soon discovered that all had contracted the rot excejit the lame sheep, and, as 
 they never separated but at that time, it was reasonable to conclude that the disorder 
 was acquired by (ceding in the road and ditch bottoms. 
 
 t S*-'^ ^" excellent article on the rot in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, June, 1835. 
 
T!l?: ROT. 455 
 
 to much putrefaction, and it is only a long continuance of wet weather which 
 can so far injure and weaken it as to cause it to decay and become putrid. 
 For the same reason, in the spring of the year, a flock of sheep may be 
 turned into low ground, nay, into the very water-meadows, without being 
 subject to rot ; but if they are turned into the same meadows in the autumn, 
 and especially if they are at all overstocked, they are almost sure to perish. 
 The sheep may be turned into luxuriant pasture at any season of the year, 
 and almost in any weather, and very few of them will become diseased. The 
 surface of the ground is protected by the quantity of the herbage, and 
 although there may be moisture beneath, the air has not free access to the 
 roots of the grass, and the process of decomposition either is not yet 
 up, or proceeds languidly. Let, however, this luxuriant pasture be 
 eaten bare, and the weather and the state of the soil be favourable — the 
 one damp and the other tenacious — and the fatal malady will not be slow 
 in making its appearance. So in a rotting year, if the land is under- 
 stocked, and thus the ground remains protected by the herbage, the loss of 
 the farmer will not be immense ; but if the field is overstocked and, con- 
 sequently, trodden down and poached, the rot will probably assume a most 
 fatal character. If, in addition to the sheep, horses and cattle are taken in 
 to graze, the land will be still more poached, and the disease still more 
 prevalent. The grass is trodden down, broken, and destroyed by the weight 
 of the animals ; the water collects in the footmarks ; and rot, dependent 
 on the causes already stated, is a necessary consequence*. 
 
 It is an old observation that on all pasture that is suspected to be un- 
 sound the sheep should be folded early in the evening, before the first dews 
 begin to fall, and should not be released from the fold until the dew is partly 
 evaporated. Where the ground is well covered, the early or late folding 
 can be a matter of little consequence so far as the production of the rot is 
 concerned ; but if it is bare, or wet, or spongy, it may easily be conceived 
 that, while this additional moisture is on the ground, the process of vegetable 
 decomposition may be accelerated, and more than the usual quantity of de- 
 leterious gas escape in combination with the aqueous vapour. 
 
 Floods in the latter part of the summer are generally precursors of con- 
 siderable destruction from the rot. The meadows, when the waters clear 
 away, must be in the highest degree dangerous. The grass at this time 
 had begun to die, the outer leaves and some of the stalks were perishing, — 
 they wanted only the agency of heat and moistiure to run into perfect de- 
 composition. The rain comes, and with it the summer's heat ; and the de- 
 composition is rapid, and the extrication of poisonous gases profuse. If 
 the waters are not too deep, the sheep may remain in the meadows until the 
 surface is denuded of water, and probably the heavy rains may for a very 
 little while have rendered the upland pastures somewhat dangerous ; but the 
 moment the water returns to its natural bed, the sheep must be hurried from 
 the destruction which would otherwise be their inevitable lot. " A rotting 
 year of sheep,'' says the old proverb, " a dear year of corn." That is suf- 
 ficiently plain: the midsummer flood, for the reasons just stated, must be 
 destructive to sheep, while at the same time it injures and beats down the 
 corn when the wheat is just in flower. 
 
 Once more, during a frost the sheep may be turned on the worst ground 
 
 * '•■ There are many instances of farmers who, having for a number of years kept a 
 limited quantity of sheep on their lauds without rot in their flocks, have afterwards, on 
 increasinu; their stock beyond a due propmtion, sustained serious losses by that disease ; 
 and again, on their reducing their flocks to their original standard, the rot has ceased." 
 — Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, June, 1835. 
 
456 SHEEP. 
 
 witn impunity. Why ? The surface of the ground is locked up, and no 
 evaporation of any kind is or can be going forward ; but a tliavv presently 
 succeeds, and then another frost, followed by another thaw — " Many a frost 
 and many a thaw betokens many a rotten ewe;" so says another old pro- 
 verb, and it will be sure to be verified. The frost has killed outright every 
 plant that was beginning to decay, and the sun breaks out, and decomposi- 
 tion at once commences, and with it the work of death. 
 
 Then the mode of prevention — that with which the farmer will have most 
 to do, for the sheep having once become decidedly rotten, neither medicine 
 nor management will have much power in arresting the evil — consists 
 in altering the character of as much of the dangerous ground as he can, and 
 keeping his sheep from those pastures which defy all his attempts to im- 
 prove them. The nature of the herbage and the character of the plants 
 which the soil produces, have nothing to do with the development of the 
 rot : it is caused simply by the extrication of certain gases or miasmata 
 during the decomposition of vegetable matter, under the united influence of 
 moisture and air. They are both indispensable. If all unnecessary moisture 
 is removed from the soil, or if the access of air is cut off by the flooding of 
 the i)asture, no poisonous gas has existence, and the sheep continue sound. 
 The farmer cannot always have his land under water ; and the flooding, 
 although it may remove the present evil, yet prepares for its return with 
 accumulated destructive power ; but he has the means of taking away the 
 superfluous and dangerous moisture. In the majority of cases he may 
 drain, and with comparatively good effect, almost every acre of suspicious 
 ground upon his farm, and which he is desirous to devote exclusively or 
 occasionally to his sheep. It may be an expensive mode of prevention, but 
 it is the only one, and it is a sure one. If the expense is serious and more 
 than he can well afford, he may leave a portion of his marsh land undrained, 
 and on it he may turn his cattle. Yet he would not be altogether wise in 
 doing this ; for, although cattle are not subject to the rot, yet the worm in 
 the air passages would destroy many of his young stock, and the older ones 
 would suffer from moor-ill, and wood-evil, and rheumatism, and various 
 other diseases, of far too frequent occurrence on marshy ground. 
 
 The kind of drainage that should be adopted is not a proper subject of 
 consideration in this v/ork. The farmer must adapt it to his means, his 
 land, and the facilities which his situation may afford him. He must, how- 
 ever, take care that it is effectual. It would, perhaps, be going too far to 
 say with Mr. Parkinson, and yet he is high authority on practical points, 
 that " there would be no rotten sheej) found even upon the most spongy 
 land in the country, if it were properly drained ;" and that " there being 
 rotten sheep on inclosed lands is inexcusable*." There are seasons when 
 what is called by the farmers a jack rot occurs — that is, a general pr> va- 
 lence of this disease. The rain does not fall sufficiently heavy to overflow 
 the lower and most dangerous ground, but it continues long enough to ren- 
 der the upper and usually safe ground almost as wet and spongy as the 
 other. It may, however, be safely aflirmed that in a sheep country, and 
 with dangerous ground in various parts of it, no money would be so pro= 
 fitahly expended as that which was devoted to the drainage of the farm. 
 " The farm on which I was born," says Mr. Parkinson, " at Aby Grange, 
 was deemed so rotten, that the oldest inhabitants advised my father, when 
 he took it, not to breed sheep, but to keep horses and cattle. The greatest 
 portion was a jioor, sour, hungry clay ; so tenacious as to hold water in 
 
 * I'rirkiusoii on Ijive Stock, vol. i. ]'. 119. 
 
THE ROT. 457 
 
 most parts like lead, but when drained properly, I question if there was a 
 sounder farm in the kingdom. Even during the year wlien nearly all the 
 sheep in the neighbourhood were rotten, my father lost but seven out of 
 four hundred on the farm *." 
 
 Much land, however, on the drainage of which considerable money has 
 been expended, continues, occasionally at least, to rot the sheep that are 
 turirtd on it. In the first place it may be doubted whether the drainage has 
 been ])erfecl — sufficiently deep, with sufficient fall, and the branches suf- 
 ficiently close — whether in some of the most important parts obstruction has 
 not occurred, and the ^ater has accumulated under the superficies of 
 the soil ; and last, but not least, whether there have not been some corners, 
 that have been overlooked, or some, and perhaps very small, spots which 
 the drains could not affect. It is not every drained sheep-farm that could 
 bear a scrutiny like this. In some of the best fields, perhaps, there would 
 be found one or two little puddles, or swampy spots — not a few readers of 
 this work may, perhaps, recollect that there is an absolute pond here or 
 there: the soil is dry and sound enough, and on account of that they have 
 overlooked the pond, although the borders of it bear coarse grass, and 
 are not a little swampy. The existence of places like these may cause the 
 destruction of scores of sheep ; and where the business of drainage is going 
 forwanl, they may render all tlie labour and expense bestowed on the other 
 parts altogether fruitless. There is nothing that more requires minute care 
 and attention on the part of the farmer, or where that minute care would 
 be better repaid, than in the drainage of the suspicious portions of the 
 sheep-farm. A drain here and there, and without proper calibre, or form, 
 or outlet, will never accomplish the intended object. That which is here 
 attempted should be "done, when 'tis done," or it may as well be let alone. 
 
 The account of the treatment of rot must, to a considerable extent, be 
 very unsatisfactory. Let it be supposed that, late in the summer or autumn, 
 the farmer begins to suspect that the rot is got among his sheep. If he is 
 a careful observer — if he or the shepherd looks the flock diligently over 
 every morning, the malady may be detected at its very commencement. 
 The serous injection of the eye, the paleness of the vessels of the eye, and 
 of the skin, and the dulness of the sheep, will give sufficient indication. 
 Let it be supposed that the attack is just commenced. What is the con- 
 dition of the sheep ; the distance from the market, and the market price ? 
 If the sheep are in good marketable condition, is it not best to dispose of 
 them at once ? or, if this is actually the beginning of the disease, shall he 
 try, for a little while, to improve that condition ? It is one of the characters 
 of the rot to hasten, and that, to a strange degree, the accumulation of 
 llesh and fat. Let not the farmer, however, push this experiment too far. 
 Let him carefully overlook every sheep daily, and dispose of those who 
 cease to make progress, or who seem to be beginning to retrograde. It 
 has already been stated that the meat of the rotted sheep, in the early 
 stage of the disease, is not like that of the sound one ; it is pale and not so 
 firm : but it is not unwholesome, and it is coveted by certain epicures, who 
 perhaps are not altogether aware of the real state of the animal. All this 
 is matter of calculation, and must be left to the owner of the sheep ; 
 except that, if the breed is not of very considerable value, and the disease 
 has not proceeded to emaciation or other fearful symptoms, the first loss 
 will probably be the least ; and if the owner can get anything like a tolera- 
 
 * Parkiiisou on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 425 
 
458 SHEEP. 
 
 ble price for them, the sooner they are sent to the butcher or consumed at 
 home the better. 
 
 Supposing, however, that their appearance is beginning to tell tales about 
 them, and that they are too far gone to be disposed of in tlie market or con- 
 sumed at home, are they to be abandoned to their fate ? No ; far from it. 
 No very sanguine expectations must be formed of a cure ; but many more 
 cures would be effected than are reckoned upon, if the farmer would throw 
 off some of his fatalism, and bestir himself in good earnest in the affair. 
 There are many veterinary surgeons now finding their way into various 
 parts of the kingdom who would render good service here ; and those agri- 
 culturists would deserve well of their country who demanded the establish- 
 ment of a school the instructions given in which embraced the maladies of 
 every domestic animitl. 
 
 If the farmer slaughters many sheep for the consumption of his family, 
 or if he will listen to the testimony of the butcher, he will be assured that 
 several of those that had been tainted by the rot have recovered their full 
 health and condition without medical assistance — with no assistance from 
 the farmer, except change of pasture — and often with no assistance at all 
 but the renovating power of nature. The scars in every part of the liver 
 in the neighbourhood of the gall-ducts, the shrunken appearance of the liver 
 at these spots, its generally diminished size — these circumstances will be 
 sufficient to assure him that although the flock attacked by the rot, and 
 neglected from supineness or abandoned in despair, will usually become 
 sadly diminished in its numbers, the case is not so desperate with him who 
 is resolved to discharge the duty which he owes to himself and his flock. 
 
 If it suited the convenience of the farmer, and such ground were at all 
 within reach, the sheep should be sent to a salt-marsh in preference to the 
 best pasture on the best farm. There it will feed on the salt encrusted on 
 the herbage, and pervading the pores of every blade of grass. A healthy 
 salt-marsh permits not the sheep to become rotten which graze upon it ; 
 and if the disease is not considerably advanced, it cures those who are 
 sent upon it with the rot. " The rot," says Mr. Price, in his treatise on 
 sheep, " is a disorder which has not fallen under my own observation, for 
 the sheep in Romney Marsh have never been affected by it during the 
 seventeen years that I have resided in this district, though they are regularly 
 allowed to feed on the wettest spots. But in the memorable rotting year, 
 after an unprecedented continuance of wet weather, the sheep in the marsh 
 were equally subjected to it as in other places." 
 
 What kind of pasture are the sheep at present occupying ? Is there the 
 slightest suspicion of taint about it ? Will the farm afford a dryer, a sounder, 
 and a better ? Let them have it without delay — let the most valuable of 
 them be still better taken care of — let them be driven to the straw-yard, or 
 some more sheltered place. By these means let the supply of any more of the 
 poison be effectually cut off; then carefully examine every individual in the 
 flock. Are there any indications of fever — heated mouth, heaving flanks, 
 or failing appetite? Is the general inflammation beginning to have a deter- 
 mination to that part on which the disease usually expends its chiefest viru- 
 lence ? Is there yellowness of the lips and of the mouth, of the eyes and of 
 the skin ? At the same time are there no indications of weakness and decay ? 
 Nothing to show that the constitution is fatally undermined ? Bleed. 
 Abstract, according to the circumstances of the case, eight, ten, or twelve 
 ounces of blood. There is no disease of an inflammatory character at its 
 commencement which is not benefited by an early bleeding. To this let a 
 
THE ROT. 459 
 
 dose of physic succeed — two or three ounces of Epsom salts, administered 
 in tlie cautious manner so frequently recommended ; and to these means let 
 a change of diet be immediately added — good hay in the field, and hay, 
 straw, or chaff in the straw-yard. 
 
 The physic having operated, or an additional dose, perchance, having 
 been administered in order to quicken the action of the first, the farmer 
 will look out for further means and appliances. Friction with mercurial 
 ointment on tlie region of the liver has been recommended, but not by those 
 who have had opportunity to observe its secondary effects on the ruminant. 
 It is used, but then cautiously, and very much lowered, in order to cure the 
 scab, or other violent cutaneous eruptions, and it must be used cautiously — 
 it must be carefully watched, or, to speedy salivation will be added the break- 
 ing up of the whole strength of the constitution. Still the disease under 
 consideration, with evident determination to the liver, requires the agency 
 of this powerful but dangerous medicine. Two or three grains of calomel 
 may be given daily, but mixed with half the quantity of opium, in order to 
 secure its beneficial, and ward off its injurious, effects on the ruminant. 
 
 To this should be added — a simple and a cheap medicine, but that which 
 is the sheet-anchor of the practitioner here — common salt. Many quack 
 medicines have been obtruded on the public for the cure of rot, and won- 
 derful stories have been told of their good effect. It cannot be denied that 
 some of them have been useful ; but they have been indebted for most of 
 their salutary power to the salt which they contained, and which the farmer 
 can procure at far less cost, and separated from those deleterious stimulants 
 which, whatever may be their effect in protracting the disease when the 
 powers of life begin to fail, are altogether out of place at the commencement 
 of the complaint. 
 
 The farmer is beginning to be aware of the valuable properties of salt 
 in promoting the condition, and relieving and preventing many of the 
 diseases of ail the domesticated animals. In the first place, it is a purga- 
 tive, inferior to few, when given in a full dose ; and it is a tonic as well as 
 a purgative. Its first power is exerted on the digestive organs — on the 
 stomach and the intestines — augmenting the secretions, and quickening the 
 energies of each. It is the stimulus which Nature herself points out, for, 
 in moderate quantities and mingled with the food, men and beasts are 
 fond of it*. A mild tonic, as well as an aperient, it is plainly indicated 
 
 • In the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. II., p. 579, is a valuable essay by the 
 Rev. B. Ddcre, on " The uses of Salt as a Condiment for Domestic animals." A few 
 passages are extracted from it with reference to sheep. Lord Somerville was among 
 the earli'fst who introduced into England the practice of giving salt to sheep. He 
 purchased a flock of Merino sheep, which he brought to England ; and as they had been 
 accustomed to have salt in Spain, he continued to give it to them when he brought 
 them to this country, and he also placed it before his other sheep. He was now re- 
 siding in the ricli vale of Taunton, but afterwards removing to a light dry sandy soil 
 in Surrey, and salt being then very heavily taxed, he discontinued its use. For several 
 successive years he lost many of his young sheep, which he was afterwards inclined to 
 think might have been saved, had he continued to give them salt : he therefore reverted 
 to his former practice, and v/ith the desired success. He gave more in autumn and 
 spring, when the dews are heavy, than in summer and winter ; and his annual con- 
 sumption was about one ton to a thousand sheep. It was placed on flat stones at a 
 certain distance from each other in their pasture. 
 
 Mr. Curwen recommends the jiractice of giving salt to sheep very strongly. He gave 
 4 ot. every week, except that while the sheep were feeding on turnips or other succulent 
 food, they had as much as they chose to eat. 
 
 Arthur Young advocated the practice of giving salt to sheep, and says that " it is 
 remarkable that this custom should be adopted in almost every coimtry in the world, 
 England excepted. It certainly tends to keep any flock healthy ; and if the laud is 
 
460 SHEKP. 
 
 soon after the commencement of the rot. The doses should be from two 
 to three drachms, repeated morning and night. When the inflammatory 
 stage is clearly passed, stronger tonics may be added to the salt, and there 
 are none superior to the gentian and ginger roots ; from one to two drachms 
 of each, finely powdered, may be added to each dose of the salt. 
 
 The hay, if any is allowed, should be plentifully sprinkled with salt. 
 The sheep will be induced more readily to take it; when, otherwise, the 
 remembrance of their green food might cause them either to eat sparingly 
 of it, or to refuse it altogether *. 
 
 The use of salt, for general purposes, is no new recommenaation. Some 
 of the most ancient Greek writers on agriculture have spoken of it in the 
 strongest terms, but it has never been valued so much as it ought, and in 
 the rot hs triumph is most signal and certain. 
 
 The sheep, having a little recovered from the disease, should still con- 
 tinue on the best and dryest pasture on the farm, and should always have 
 salt within their reach. The rock salt will be the most convenient, and the 
 cheapest, considering the wasting and melting of the common salt; and 
 if it should be necessary, on account of the arrangements of the farmer, 
 again to place them on suspicious ground, the allowance of salt should be 
 ample, or, in fact, unlimitedt. 
 
 wet or moist, or otherwise unfavourable, the evil may be considerably remedied by the 
 practice of giving salt. The sheep should have as much salt as they will eat." 
 
 All three uf these gentlemen recommend it as a preservative against the injurious 
 effects of moist or wet pas<^^ures on which it may be required for sheep to graze. 
 Without the free use of salt, they cannot be long kept on strong wet retentive soils, 
 but when salt is placed in the way of the sheep a great portion of the hazard is removed. 
 Sir John Sinclair, in his '• Agricultural State of the Netherlands," says that at Mr. 
 Mosselman's farm, at Chenoi, beyond Wavre, he found that salt was used for sheep, 
 and that by allowing them to lick it the rot was completely cured. 
 
 Mr' Bracebridge of Walton-on-Thames was induced to drench with strong brine, 
 morning and night, some sheep that were affected with the rot : after which he did not 
 lose one. They became fat, and the meat was as fine and good as if they had never 
 been affected. 
 
 Mr Charles Adams, a writer in the Farmer's Journal, has given salt to sheep and 
 lambs in all cases of diarrhoea, and with the greatest success. " This is a subject," 
 adds the author, " which any one may put to the tes.t. It may be done by the farmer 
 with his thousands of sheep, his herds of cattle, his teams of horses, and his well stocked 
 piggery ; and it may be as profitably practised by the carter who has only one horse, the 
 villager with his single cow, and the cottager with his pet ewe, or solitary hog."' 
 * " That dire distemper sometimes may the swain, 
 
 Though late discern ; when on the lifted lid, 
 
 Or visual orb, the turgid veins are pale. 
 
 The swelling liver, then her putrid stcire 
 
 Begins to feel. Ev'n yet thy skill exert, 
 
 Nor suffer weak despair to fold thy arms : 
 
 Again detersive salt apj ly, or shed 
 
 The hoary medicine o'er their acid food." 
 
 Dyer's Fleece, Book I. 
 f A short sketch of the history of the rot, as connected with the overflow and subsid- 
 ence of the waters of the Nile, will be strongly illustrative ol the theory of the disease here 
 adopted, and will, in other respects, be interesting to the sheep-breeder. It is condensed 
 from the account given by M. Hamout, the founder of the veterinary school in Egypt. 
 •' It appears every year in Egypt after the fall of the Nile, and it follows and keeps 
 pace with the subsidence of the watei.s. Desolation and death accompany it wherever 
 it passes, and it annually destroys at least 160,000 sheep. As soon as the waters of 
 the Nile begin to subside, the pastures which were submerged are speedily covered by a 
 tender rushy grass. The sheep are exceedingly fond of it, and they are permitted to 
 feed on it all day long. In the course of a very little lime they begin to get fat, when, 
 if possible they are sold. Their flesh istiien exceedingly delicate ; but soon after this tlie 
 disease begins to ajipeai , and the mortality commences. The disease isi more frecjuent 
 
THE ROT. 461 
 
 It does not appear that one sort of sheep is more liable to the rot than 
 another, but the heavy breeds of sheep, requiring more abundant and 
 grosser food, are oftener placed in situations liable to engender the rot*. 
 
 After the account which has been given of the nature and treatment of 
 the rot, the questions as to the infectiousness, or hereditary character of the 
 disease are readily answered. No one who is in the slightest degree ac- 
 quainted with the subject could for one moment suspect it to be infectious. 
 It results from the breathing of these injurious gases, and from nothing 
 else. Even the previous condition of the animal seems to have little in- 
 fluence in causing or preventing it. As to hereditary predisposition, that 
 too is altogether out of the question. The rot is produced by a cause of 
 merely temporary influence and power. How far, however, it may be 
 prudent to breed from animals that have been affected by the rot is another 
 question. The rot cannot be produced in the off'spring by any taint that 
 may be derived from the parents, — but the general debility which this 
 malady leaves behind it, and the predisposition to disease of certain viscera, 
 and particularly of the liver, from causes that would scarcely affect other 
 sheep, — there is much in this which deserves the serious consideration of 
 the farmer. He will probably conclude that a sheep that has recovered 
 after an attack of this fatal malady should be consigned to the butcher as 
 soon as he is in marketable condition, and that it would be imprudent to 
 breed from any animals that had been attacked by the rot. 
 
 One circumstance should not remain unmentioned — it is so with many 
 other diseases, both in the human being and the brute, and it is a wise and 
 kind provision of nature — the ewe with a lamb by her side possesses, with 
 a very few exceptions, an immunity from infection, even on the worst 
 groundf. 
 
 The following cut represents the intestines of the sheep in their natural 
 as they are seen on opening the belly. 
 
 1, Is the duodenum, or first small intestine, tied at its commencement from the fourth 
 stomach- 
 
 2, The jejunum. 
 
 3, The ileum 
 
 4, The caecum. 
 
 5, The larger portion of the colon. 
 
 and fatal when the sheep are first turned on the newly recovered pasture, than when 
 the ground becomes dried, and the rushy grass harder. The sheep pasture in the midst 
 of the mud, or on the borders of the marshes and canals, the rot attends every step. 
 The rot does not occur in elevated countries, and where the sheep feed on dry aromatic 
 herbage. The Bedouins do not fear it while their cattle feed upon succulent healthy 
 plants, among the sands, and upon which a portion of salt is usually found ; but if 
 they are forced to encamp on the borders of lakes and canals, they are immediately 
 attacked by the disease, but which again disappears when they return into the desert. 
 
 *' The Bedouins sell all the sheep which they can before they quit the Nile, for they 
 are in high and prime condition ; after which they lose not a moment in re-assembling 
 their flocks, and driving them back to the desert. In the midst of the sands their princi- 
 pal food is the salt-wort or kali. After some days the symptoms of the rot gradually 
 disappear, and the sheep regain their former health. If the disease is much advanced 
 this simple mode of treatment probably is not sufficient. The Bedouins themselves 
 acknowledge it, and immediately destroy the animal." — Veterinarian, vol. vii. pp. 537 
 and 587. 
 
 If this history had been expressly written-for the purpose, it could not have been more 
 confirmatory of the theory of the rot as proceeding from the decomposition of vegetable 
 substances. 
 
 * Letter from Mr. Kirkpatrick- 
 
 t The author has received a letter from Mr. Weeks, V.S. at Salisbury, confirmatory 
 of this fw:t> ou a farm belonging to that gentleman, in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, 
 and very subject to the rot. 
 
46 i 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 6, The convolutions of the colon as they tend towards the centre. 
 
 7, The returning convolutions of the colon. 
 
 8, The rectum or last intestine. 
 
 9, The mesentery, or portion of the peritoneum which retains the different intestines 
 in their respective situations. 
 
 10, 11, The portions of the mesentery supporting the colon and rectum. 
 
 THK DUODENUM. 
 
 All the intestines are composed of four coats or layers, as in the horse 
 and cattle. The outer or peritoneal one is formed of that membrane by 
 which every portion of the belly and its contents is invested, and confined 
 in its natural and proper situation. It is highly smooth and polished ; 
 and it secretes a watery fluid which contributes to preserve that smooth- 
 ness, and to prevent all friction and concussion during the different 
 motions of the animal. The second is the muscular coat, by means of 
 which the contents of the intestines are gradually propelled from the 
 stomach to the rectum, thence to be expelled when all the useful nutriment 
 is extracted. The muscles, as in all the other intestines, are disposed in 
 two layers, the fibres of the outer coat taking a longitudinal direction, and 
 the inner layer being circular ; an arrangement different from that of the 
 muscles of the oesophagus, and in both beautifully adapted to the respec- 
 tive functions of the tube. The submucous coat comes next: it is com- 
 posed of numerous elands, surrounded by cellular tissue, and by which the 
 inner coat is lubricated, so that there may be no obstruction to the jiassage 
 of the food. The mucous coat is the soft villous one lining the intestinal 
 caviiy. In its healthy state it is always covered with mucus, and when 
 
THE ROT 463 
 
 the glands beneath are stimulated, as under the action of physic, the quan- 
 tity of mucus is increased ; it becomes of a more watery character ; the 
 contents of the intestines are softened and dissolved by it, and, by meatvs 
 of the increased action of the muscular coat, which, as well as the mucous 
 one, feels the stimulus of the physic, the faeces are hurried on more rapidly, 
 and discharged. 
 
 The food being dissolved by the action of the gastric juice in the fourth 
 stomach, and converted into chyme, is propelled by little and little into 
 the duodenum. There, as already described, by means of, or assisted by 
 the bile and the pancreatic juice, it is changed into chyle, or the separation 
 between the nutritive and faecal parts commences. A new process is then 
 observable, beginning to appear on the inner coat of the duodenum, most 
 numerous along the jejunum and the ileum, and not entirely ceasing in 
 the caecum and colon, are certain minute small vessels, called ladeals, 
 from the colour of the fluid which they carry. They open on the mucous 
 coat of the intestines : in a healthy state they take up the nutritive portion 
 of the food as fast as it is separated, and by a mode, to be hereafter 
 described, convey it to the thoracic duct in order to be mingled with, and 
 supply the waste of, and be converted into, blood. 
 
 The duodenum in the sucking lamb contains a somewhat thick homo- 
 geneous mass of a milky yellow colour, and that is beginning, ere it passes 
 out of this intestine, to assume a darker hue. In the grazing sheep the 
 mass is thicker and more opaque, and of a yellow-brown colour, with a few 
 mucous transparent particles floating in it: these are the portions of the 
 nutritive matter beginning to separate. The fluid is still of a decidedly 
 acid character, and changes a vegetable blue colour to red. In a sheep, 
 liovvever, fed on hay and corn, it has an alkaline character ; the alkali of 
 the bile has more than neutralized the acidity of the chyme. Albumen 
 also begins to appear in this intestine in a considerable quantity, and a 
 caseous matter is here seen — the product partly of a secretion from the 
 coat of the intestine, and also furnished by the pancreatic fluid. 
 
 The great length of the intestines of the sheep — twenty-seven times 
 that of the animal — renders it unnecessary that tliere should be any trans- 
 verse folds, as in those of most other animals, in order that the passage of 
 the food may be delayed for the full extraction of its nutritive qualities. 
 It can scarcely traverse the lengthened canal that exists in the sheep without 
 this purpose being fully accomplished. There are a few transverse bands 
 in the duodenum, for it is necessary that the food should be delayed there, 
 in order that the chyme may be thoroughly mingled with the bilious and 
 pancreatic fluids, and converted into perfect chyle. 
 
 This intestine participates in the inflammation or other diseases of the 
 rest, but it seems to have few or no morbid aff"ections peculiar to itself. 
 
 THE JEJUNUM AND ILEUM. 
 
 There is no marked division between the duodenum and the two longer 
 portions of the small intestines. The place where the first ends and the 
 others commence is not definable, except that it may be said to be where 
 the transverse folds are no longer seen. The jejunum and the ileum are 
 situated chiefly on the right side of the flank, and rest upon the right 
 portion of the paunch. It is on this account that in cases of hoove the 
 knife or trocar is plunged into the left flank, for there are no intestines 
 that can possibly be wounded. They are formed into numerous spiral con- 
 volutions, for the purpose of delaying the passage of the food through them, 
 and are curiously attached to the edge of the peritoneum, for the sake ol 
 support. 
 
4f)4 SHEEP. 
 
 Considerable change takes ))lace in the food as it i)asses through tlicse 
 intestines. The milk in sucking iainbs becomes of a deeper colour, 
 and of less consistence, and at the termination of the ileum has almost the 
 character of orange-coloured mucus. The contents of these intestines in 
 sheep that are fed on hay and grass are also ciianged ; they are darker 
 coloured and more consistent, — they have the appearance of a thick mucus 
 of a dark brown-green colour, with vegetable fibres swimming in it, and a 
 quantity of liquid faeces. The contents of these intestines have lost their 
 acid character, and are become completely alkaline : they will effervesce 
 with acids. This is probably owing to one or the other, or the whole o/ 
 the following causes. The fluid secreted by the mucous membrane of the 
 small intestine may be alkaline ; or the food being all of a vegetable matter, 
 some decomposition may necessarily take place in its passage through so 
 long a canal, and the ammoniacal gas, disengaged, may neutralise t!ie acid 
 previously present ; or the acid may be absorbed by the lymphatics, with 
 the nutritive portion of the chyle. The albumen which the duodenum con- 
 tained has nearly disappeared before it has reached the termination of the 
 ileum. The caseous matter is also scarcely detectible here, and the nutri- 
 ment is nearly extracted. 
 
 THE CECUM, COLON, AND RECTUM. 
 
 At the termination of the ileum is the opening into tlie caecum and the 
 colon. (Fig. 3, p. 462.) Some writers on comparative anatomy have said 
 that the ruminant has no caecum. It has not the complex and cellated 
 structure of the same intestine in the horse, but it has the same general 
 character : it is a blind pouch tliat the contents of the intestines have to 
 traverse, — in which they are for a while detained, — and through wliich they 
 are propelled contrary to their gravity. It is a kind of reservoir into which 
 is poured a portion of the contents of the ileum, in order to undergo one ol 
 the latter stages of digestion, and perhaps the last of material importance, 
 and in which the separation of the faecal and nutritive matter is very con- 
 siderably advanced. It seems to perform a somewhat different and more 
 important function in the carnivorous animal, and even in tlie solipede than 
 in the ruminant. In the former its contents again become acid ; in the 
 latter they retain their alkaline character, somewhat, indeed, diminished. 
 An acid principle seems to be developed, but not sufficient to neutralise 
 and overcome tlie alkali : there is also no development of albumen in the 
 ciBcu-m of the ruminant ; of which more will presently be said. It is sup- 
 plied with more numerous glands, and these of a larger size than are found 
 in any of the other intestines ; secreting, prob^ly, a fluid intended to 
 soften that portion of its contents which had hitherto escaped the powers of 
 digestion. In it the last effort is made to extract from the different sub- 
 stances all the nutriment they can afford ; and here the true faecal appear- 
 ance and smell are first perceived in that portion which is finally to be 
 ejected. 
 
 Having reached the base of the caecum (fig. 4, p. 462), the food is 
 returned again, by the agency of the muscular coat of the intestine, and 
 contrary to the power of gravitation, to the termination of the ileum, and 
 the commencement of the colon. A valvular contrivance prevents it 
 from again entering the ileum, and it finds its way to the colon. (Fig. 
 5, 6, and 7, p. 462.) This is proportionally a far longer intestine than in 
 the horse, but it is comparatively as bulky. The singular manner in which 
 it is convoluted in order to give room for its enormous length, and the 
 manner in which it is imbedtled into, and supported by the mesentery, are 
 worthy of observation. 
 
SHEEP'S DUNG. 455 
 
 It, like the colon of the ox, is free from the bands without, and the cel- 
 lated structure within, which distinguish ihe colon of the horse. The por- 
 tion of the colon in the sheep which succeeds to the caecum contains a thick 
 and brown mass, of greater consistence than in the csecum. As itproceeds 
 it becomes still harder, and at length begins to form itself into little globular 
 masses composed of vegetable fibres, a flocculent mucus, and many of the 
 principles which constitute the bile. This faecal substance has now at- 
 tained a neutral character, the ammonia being combined with carbonic 
 acid in excess. 
 
 The small portion of nutriment which the contents of the colon may 
 still possess is extracted in that division of it which is nearest to the ileum : 
 after that the chief or almost only use of these intestines in the sheep 
 is to take up the liquid matter that yet remains, and to form and harden 
 and retain for a while, and finally to expel the residuum. 
 
 sheep's dung FOLDING. 
 
 Sheep's dung is valuable for manure, and for some other purposes. It 
 has been supposed, and probably with truth, that it contributes more to the 
 improvement of the land than does the dung of cattle. It contains a greater 
 proportion of animal matter, and that condensed into a smaller compass ; 
 and it falls upon the ground in a form and manner more likely to be trodden 
 into and incorporated with it, than the dung of cattle. Hence arose the 
 system of folding sheep on the arable part of a farm in many districts in 
 the midland and southern parts of England. The sheep were penned on a 
 small space of ground, and the pens being daily shifted, a considerable 
 quantity of land was ultimately manured. In Norfolk, where the system 
 was more than usually prevalent, it was considered to be a valuable point 
 with regard to the sheep, that they might be driven to a considerable dis- 
 tance in order to be folded. Marshall, in his " Survey of Norfolk," enters 
 into a calculation of the advantage derived from the sheep-fold. Other 
 manure would cost, including the value of the dung and the cartage, at least 
 50s. per acre. A hundred sheep would fold nine acres in the course of a 
 year, amounting to 221. lOs., or 4s. 6d. a-head. The dung and the urine, 
 and, according to some persons, the oil and perspiration from the wool, 
 would render this dressing equal to any other that could be bestowed 
 upon it. 
 
 On the other hand, it is certain that tlie sheep Joiust suffer in some 
 degree from being driven a mile or two to the fold morning and night, and 
 having their hours of feeding and of rest controlled. The sheep that are 
 so folded do not fatten so well as others, on account of this additional 
 labour, and on account likewise of the unnecessary exertion during the day, 
 when, collected in large bodies, they are struggling for the lead. The 
 system of folding, therefore, is not so much practised as it used to be on 
 arable land, although often highly beneficial in an uninclosed or down 
 country, and more particularly advantageous, when the sheep are turned on 
 turnips, clover, tares, or other rich food, for they feed at their ease, and 
 manure the land at the same time. 
 
 Sheep's dung is much used by the Scottish and Irish peasantry in the 
 cleaning of the wool previous to its being dyed. The woollen goods are 
 supposed to acquire a peculiar intensity and brilliancy of colour when thus 
 prepared. It is much used in France and Germany, and to a considerable 
 degree in England, in preparing cotton and linen for receiving certain 
 colours. The albumen and gelatine of the dung are animal substances ; 
 the surface of the cloth is in some measure covered by thejn and it is well 
 
 2 H 
 
466 SHEEP. 
 
 known that an animal substance will receive a brighter colour and retain it 
 longer than a vegetable one. The Indian red, madder, and crop-wort, 
 aftbrd a dye in which it is particularly necessary to prepare the cloth by 
 means of sheep's dung. Other albuminous preparations will doubtless ere 
 long be substituted. 
 
 ACUTE DROPSY, REDWATER. 
 
 In treating of the diseases of the belly of the sheep it will be natural 
 first to consider those of the enveloping membrane of the intestines. It is 
 strangely subject to acute inflammation. In the autumn, or commence- 
 ment of winter, when sheep are beginning to feed on turnips, or other 
 succulent food, the shepherd will perhaps look over his flock in the even- 
 ing, and perceive nothing amiss witli any of them ; but on the following 
 morning one or more of them will be found dead. They will be lying nearly 
 in the usual posture, the legs bent under them, and the head protruded : there 
 has not been any severe struggle, — but they are dead — and on examination 
 the belly contains a greater or less quantity of bloody fluid, and the peri- 
 toneum, and especially the mesenteric and omental portions of it, is highly 
 inflamed. Often a change of pasture, and especially from a dry to a cold 
 and wet one, and especially if there is much hoar frost, will be as destruc- 
 tive as an inconsiderate change of food. The animal becomes chilled by 
 this sudden change of situation. The belly coming most in contact with 
 the damp and cold ground is first affected ; tlie peritoneal coat of the in- 
 testines becomes chilled — re-action, inflammation, soon follows — its natural 
 function, the secretion of a fluid to lubricate the cavity of the belly is mor- 
 bidly and strangely increased — the fluid accumulates, and it is red and bloody 
 from the rupture of the small vessels of the peritoneum distended by inflam- 
 mation. The inflammation pursues its course with almost incredible rapidity, 
 and the animal is destroyed. The losses of the farmer in the autumn and 
 winter are often exceedingly severe from this disease. It is generally 
 termed redwater, naturally enough from the colour of the fluid with which 
 the belly is filled; yet there being an objection to the term from the possi- 
 bility of its being confounded with the discharge of red-coloured urine, to 
 which the sheep is likewise subject. 
 
 It is this disease which is so fatal among Iambs soon after they are 
 yeaned, when the farmer suffers them to lie about upon a moist and chil- 
 ling soil. The difference between the temperature of the mother's womb 
 and the cold air that is generally felt at yeaning-time is a sufficient cause 
 of hazardous disease, without the sheepmaster aggravating the danger by 
 incautiousness and inhumanity. 
 
 It is probable that no blame may attach to the shepherd on account of 
 his not observing any previous illness, for the progress of the disease is 
 often almost incredibly rapid. It is an instance rarely occurring in the 
 practice of the human surgeon, but very interesting to him, of the rapidity 
 with which this product of inflammation may accumulate in the belly. 
 
 In some cases, however, there will be warning of the commencement of 
 the disease. The sheep will lag behind, or separate himself from the flock, 
 or stand with his head protruding, or begin to breathe with difficulty, and 
 the enlargement of the belly inducing suspicion of the real nature of the 
 case. Before the effusion has much proceeded the animal will evince a 
 great deal of uneasiness, lying down and getting up ; sometimes rolling 
 about ; occasionally the mucous coat of the intestines sympathising with 
 the peritoneal, and there being frequent watery stools, mixed with mucus 
 and bile. Oftener, however, there will be obstinate constipation. 
 
STRANGULATION 407 
 
 In the present imperfect slate of our knowledge of tlie diseases of sheep, 
 and when the symptoms, and the circumstances relating to food and situa- 
 tion, lead to the suspicion of the existence of this malady, the best advice 
 that can be given to the farmer is immediately to slaughter the animal. If 
 any medical treatment is adopted, it must consist of bleeding to a very con- 
 siderable extent — the administration of purgatives — the change of pasture, 
 or the substitution of more wholesome food. 
 
 As for that species of dropsy which is the consequence of debility, or the 
 result of various diseases, it is usually past all cure. It is the almost inva- 
 riable accompaniment of the rot in its last stages : it follows acute inflam • 
 mation of the liver, and chronic peritoneal inflammation ; it is a symptom, 
 scarcely to be mistaken, of the breaking up of the constitution. 
 
 It is a disease very common among old sheep, and at the end of the 
 autumn or the beginning of the winter. Its earliest symptom is swelling 
 of the legs towards night, swelling under the jaw, loss of flesh and strength 
 and spirits ; then enlargement or hanging down of the belly, and at length, 
 the detection of the water, by striking the belly with one hand while the 
 other is held firmly on the opposite side. 
 
 Gentle purgatives, mingled with tonics — the Epsom salts, with gentian 
 and ginger — little watery food, and a liberal allowance of hay and corn, will 
 be the only restoratives. The evacuation of the fluid by the use of the 
 trocar should be entrusted to no one but a veterinary surgeon, and will very 
 rarely afford permanent relief. If the system cannot be sufficiently restored 
 to cause the re-absorption of the effused fluid, the relief by tapping will be 
 temporary and delusive. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE SMALL INTESTINES. 
 
 There is sometimes reason to suspect the existence oi colic in the lamb, 
 especially in the one that is unnaturally forced on for the winter house-lamb 
 market by being crammed with the milk of a foster-mother besides that of 
 his own, and occasionally cow's milk added to the other two. The uneasi- 
 ness of the animal, the moaning, the getting up and lying down, the striking 
 of the belly with the hind foot ; these are indications that his over-irri- 
 tated bowels are labouring under spasmodic action, and which common 
 sense would say must be the necessary result of such a system of feeding. 
 
 The grass lamb, taken from the guidance and tuition of its dam, and 
 feeding on acrid and half-poisonous as well as wholesome herbage, is 
 subject to the same affection of the bowels. In the majority of cases, an 
 aromatic purgative will be all that will be required, such as an ounce of 
 Epsom salts, with a couple of drachms of ginger and a scruple of the essence 
 of peppermint. If the pain is not soon relieved, a second drink with double the 
 quantity of the Epsom salts should be administered, and warm gruel forced 
 on the animal, otherwise the colic may lead on to strangulation or in- 
 flammation. 
 
 This, however, is not a frequent complaint in the adult sheep, for the 
 food has been, by the apparatus of the four stomachs, and the process of 
 rumination, efl'ectually prepared for rapid and perfect digestion. 
 
 STRANGULATION 
 
 is for the same reason a state of the bowels not often to be expected, and 
 not often occurring. The manner in which the small intestines are con- 
 voluted at the termination of the mesentery would show that it is a disease 
 that might be easily set up, but the exciting cause — the presence of acri- 
 monious and indigestible substances in the intestines — is wanting. That 
 
 2 H 2 
 
459 SHEEP. 
 
 species of entanglement of the intestines known under the name of Cords 
 or Gut-tie in oxen has not yet been observed in sheep. No author has 
 hinted at it in this animal, nor has it come under the cognisance of the 
 author. It is fair to suppose that the symptoms would be the same as 
 those of a Hke disease in cattle, and which are described at page 490 of the 
 work on Cattle. 
 
 Introsusception of the intestine is a disease doubtless occasionally existing 
 in the sheep, but never yet described or observed. The close attachment 
 of the intestines to tlie mesenteiy would prevent its existing to any consider- 
 able extent, even in the small intestines ; and in the colon it is altogether 
 impossible. The farmer and the veterinary surgeon are In a state of 
 lamentable deficiency with regard to the intestinal complaints of this 
 animal. 
 
 By this term is understood inflammation of most, if not all, of the coats 
 of the intestines. To this disease the sheep is undeniably subject, but the 
 number of its victims is not so greai as some persons imagine. Its early 
 symptoms are not to be distinguished from those of colic : possibly it is 
 simple colic which then exists ; but the disease does not yield to common 
 remedies. The symptoms continue — they become more aggravated — the 
 animal stamps the ground with his feet — he scratches it — he attempts to 
 strike his belly with his hind legs — he bends his knees as if he would lie 
 down, but he dreads the pain resulting from the consentaneous action of the 
 muscles of the belly, and their pressure on the contents of the belly ; he 
 looks round at his sides : at length he comes suddenly down — he rolls on 
 his back : — he maintains this position for some seconds, and then he suddenly 
 starts and scrambles up again. The muzzle, the horns, and the feet are 
 cold. The pulse is quick but small — the bowels are usually confined — 
 obstinately so — the strength of the animal rapidly wastes away. Some- 
 times there is a determination of blood to the head ; the animal is heedless 
 of all around it, the pupil is widely dilated — and to this delirium occa- 
 sionally supervenes. 
 
 The unnatural and spasmodic action of the bowels leads on to strangu- 
 lation, introsusception, hernia, rupture — effusion in the abdomen. The 
 appearances after death are intense inflammation, not so much of the 
 mesentery or the omentum — perhaps little or none at all ; but of the peri- 
 toneal coat of the intestines themselves — sometimes of the small intestines, 
 at other times of the larger ones, and often involving the whole extent of 
 both. This is accompanied by effusion, not so bloody as that in peritonitis, 
 nor in so great quantity, but varying from an almost clear fluid to a dark 
 purulent matter — agglutination together of certain portions of the intes- 
 tines — the formation of false membranes, and gangrene of the bowels, both 
 within and without. The inflammation sometimes extends from the caecum 
 to the abomasum, and occasionally involving the other three stomachs — 
 the liver being also inflamed and much enlarged. 
 
 The causes belong almost exclusively to the food or the locality. Enteritis 
 is produced by stimulating and acrimonious nutriment' — by an excess of 
 that which is healthful — by the injudicious administration of purgatives, by 
 exposure to cold, and, more particularly, by the mingled influence of cold 
 and wet. 
 
 The treatment is sufficiently plain — bleeding according to the age and con- 
 dition of the animal, and the urgency of the symptoms — purgatives perse- 
 veringly administered until the bowels are opened, and the purging being 
 
DIARRHCEA. 469 
 
 afterwards kept up ; the Epsom salts being employed to produce the first 
 effect, and sulphur the second. The food to consist of mashes or gruel. No 
 tonic to be allowed until the febrile stage is passed, or until violent 
 diarrhoea, difficult to check, has succeeded to the constipation. 
 
 DIARRH(EA. 
 
 If these affections of the external coats of the intestines do not frequentl}- 
 occur, inflammation of the inner or mucous membrane is the very pest of 
 the sheep. When it is confined principally to the mucous membrane of the 
 small intestines, and is not attended by much tenesmus or fever, it is termed 
 diarrhoea ; when there is inflammation of the large intestines, attended by 
 fever, and considerable discharge of mucus, and occasionally of blood, it 
 is dysentery. These diseases are seldom perfectly separate, and diarrhoea is 
 too apt to degenerate into dysentery. The diarrhoea of lambs is a dreadfully 
 fatal disease. If they are incautiously exposed to the cold, or the mother's 
 milk is not good, or they are suckled by a foster-mother that had yeaned too 
 long before, a violent purging will suddenly come on, and destroy them in 
 less than twenty-four hours. 
 
 When the lamb begins to crop the grass at his mother's side he is liable 
 to occasional disturbance of the bowels ; but as he gains strength, the danger 
 attendant on the disease diminishes. At weaning-time care must some- 
 times be taken of him. Let not, however, the farmer be in haste to stop 
 every little looseness of the bowels. It is in these young animals the 
 almost necessary accompaniment or consequence of every change of diet, 
 and almost of situation; and it is frequently a sanative process : but if it 
 continues longer than four-and-twenty hours — if it is attended by pain — if 
 much mucus is discharged — if the appetite of the animal is failing him in 
 the slightest degree, it will be necessary to attend to the case. The medi- 
 cine is that which is sold under an expensive and not always genuine form 
 by the name of the " Sheep and Calves' Cordial." The best way of com- 
 pounding it is the following ; take of prepared chalk an ounce, powdered 
 catechu half an ounce, powdered ginger two drachms, and powdered opium 
 half a drachm ; mix them with half a pint of peppermint water. The dose 
 is from one to two table-spoonfuls morning and night. 
 
 Should the purging prove obstinate, it will be advisable to remove the 
 lamb from the mother, for her milk is probably not good. The milk of 
 another ewe may not be procurable without difficulty, it will therefore be 
 generally expedient to have recourse to the milk of the cow, which should 
 be boiled ; the Calves' Cordial being continued as before, and good care 
 and nursing being never forgotten while the animal labours under this 
 disease. 
 
 The diarrhoea of lambs is, in a great majority of cases, attributable to the 
 carelessness or mismanagement of the farmer, either referribla to deficient 
 or improper food or the want of shelter at an early age : as the Animal 
 grows up he is better able to struggle with the disease. 
 
 Diarrhoea occasionally attacks the full-grown sheep, and is too often 
 fatal, especially when il has degenerated into dysentery. It is very common 
 in the spring, and jtarticularly in the early part of the season, when the new 
 grass begins rapidly to sprout. Here, still more decidedly than with the lamb, 
 the sheep proprietor is urged not too suddenly to interfere with a natural or 
 perhaps beneficial discharge ; and after which the animal often rapidly gains 
 condition. Four-and-twenty hours should pass before any decisive step is 
 taken ; but if the looseness then continues the sheep should be removed to 
 shorter and dryer pasture, and hay should be offered to them, if, after hav- 
 
470 SHEEP. 
 
 ing tasted of the fresh grass of spring, they can be induced to toiicn ii : a 
 dose or two of the Sheep's Cordial may also be administered with advantage. 
 The looseness not abating, and especially the symptoms of dysentery which 
 have been just described, appearing, another course must be pursued. 
 
 DYSENTERY. 
 
 The careless observer would not always mark the difference between 
 diarrhoea and dysentery ; they are, however, perfectly distinct in their seat, 
 their nature, and their consequences. Diarrhoea is often an effort of 
 nature to expel from the intestinal canal something that offends. It 
 may be only increased peristaltic action of the bowels, increased secretion 
 from the mucous glands, and accompanied by little inflammation and less 
 danger. If is, at first, an affection of the small intestines alone ; but it may 
 extend through the whole alimentary canal, and inflammation, which is not 
 a necessary part of it, appearing, and increasing, general fever may be ex- 
 cited, attended by considerable danger. Dysentery is essentially inflamma- 
 tion of the large intestines — the result of neglected or obstinate diarrhoea, 
 or altogether distinct from it — the consequence of unwholesome food — of 
 being pastured on wet or ill-drained meadows — and of being half- starved 
 even there. Fever is a constant attendant on it in its early stages, and 
 wasting and debility rapidly follow. 
 
 The discharge of dysentery is different from that of diarrhoea. It is 
 thinner, and yet more adhesive. A great deal of mucus mingles with it, 
 which causes it to cling to the wool of the tail and the thighs ; and there it 
 accumulates, layer after layer — a nuisance to the animal, a warning to the 
 owner of much danger, and that near at hand. When this kind of evacua- 
 tion has been established but a little while, the next warning will be loss of 
 flesh, and that to an extent that would scarcely be deemed credible. The 
 muscles of the loins will all waste away ; it is a living skeleton on which the 
 owner puts his hand when he examines the state of the patient. Sometimes 
 the animal eats as heartily as ever ; at other times the appetite utterly fails. 
 The continuance of the disease, or the time which is requisite in order to 
 wear the animal quite down is uncertain. Dysentery occasionally carries off 
 its victim in a few days ; but frequently the miserable-looking patient 
 struggles with its enemy for five or six weeks, and dies at last. 
 
 It is only lately that the proper treatment of this malady has been recog- 
 nised. In every case of acute dysentery, and whenever fever is present, 
 bleeding is indispensably requisite ; for this is essentially a disease of inflam- 
 mation. Physic should likewise be administered, however profuse the dis- 
 charge may be ; for it may carry away some of that perilous stuff which has 
 accumulated in the large intestines, and is a source of fearful irritation 
 there, and it will tend to lessen the general fever which accompanies this 
 stage of the malady. The sheep must be removed from that situation and 
 food, which perhaps excited, and certainly prolong and aggravate the com- 
 plaint. Mashes, gruel, and a small quantity of hay, must be given. 
 
 Two doses of physic having been administered, the practitioner will pro- 
 bably have recourse to astringents. The Sheep's Cordial will supply liim with 
 the best; and to this tonics may soon begin to be added— an additional 
 quantity of ginger may enter into the composition of the cordial, and gentian 
 powder will be a useful auxiliary. With this — as an excellent stimulus to 
 cause the sphincter of the anus to contract, and also the mouths of the 
 innumerable secretory and exhalent vessels which open on the inner surface 
 of the intestine — a half grain of strychnine may be combined. 
 
 If, as will haj)pen in many cases when the malady is properly treated at 
 
CONSTIPATION. 471 
 
 he commencement, and occasionally when it is not attacked until late in 
 the day, the purging diminishes, tlie medicines must not be too soon discon- 
 tinued. Many a sheep is lost on account of the impatience of the owner 
 or the practitioner. Smaller doses should be given for three or four days ; 
 and, even then, the patient must not be consigned to his former pasture, 
 but turned out for a few hours during the day, and then driven home, or 
 placed on a much shorter bite, and supplied with good hay at night. 
 
 One caution should be added, which would seem to be superfluous, were 
 there not so many cases of strange inattention and carelessness on the part 
 both of the master and the shepherd. The tenacious, sticky character of 
 the dung, and its tendency to accumulate about the tail, have been described 
 as some of the distinctive characteristics of dysentery. It does sometimes 
 accumulate to such an extent, and especially in lambs from which the wool 
 has never been cut, that the tail is glued down on the buttocks, and there 
 is a total impediment to the passage of the faeces. This, called pi7iding by 
 many of the shepherds, is sometimes mistaken for constipation, and purga- 
 tive medicine is, with certain bad effect, administered. In other cases the 
 animal has been destroyed by the continued obstruction, although he gave 
 sufficient notice of the danger, by the uneasiness which he exhibited. This 
 evil is mostly confined to sucking lambs, when the ewes are in high condi- 
 tion and the pasture luxuriant ; but the older lambs, and even the wethers, 
 have suffered from this cause. 
 
 In other cases the clotted wool is separated by the efforts of the animal, 
 when it strains severely in attempting to evacuate the dung, and very con- 
 siderable soreness, and, now and then, large wounds, are produced. Warm 
 water and soap must be plentifully used, in order to cleanse the wool, or a 
 portion of it, perhaps, must be cut away. Some powdered chalk should 
 then be sprinkled over the sores, or they may be dressed with lard, tc 
 which a few drops of spirit of tar have been added, and which will effectually 
 keep away the flies. 
 
 CONSTIPATION. 
 
 The sheep occasionally suffers not only from this apparent costiveness, but 
 from real constipation of the bowels. It is so with the lamb when the milk 
 of the mother, either too great in quantity, or altered in quality, coagu- 
 lates in the fourth stomach of the young one. When a lamb, in good con- 
 dition, all at once becomes dull, unwilling to move, is panting, and 
 evidently costive, there will be little doubt that the stomach is overloaded 
 with milk. Many a lamb is thus lost to the farmer, and the fault is to be 
 traced to the too luxuriant pasture into which the animal has been turned in 
 order that he may be sooner ready for market. The author has seen three 
 or four pounds of curd taken from the abomasum of a lamb thus destroyed. 
 
 Little good can be done in this case. The gently pouring down of plenty 
 of warm water, with three or four ounces of Epsom salts dissolved in it, 
 and this effected either with a long-necked bottle, or Read's Patent Pump, 
 and thus dissolving and washing out the milk, will afford the best, and yet 
 but little, prospect of cure. The lamb and the mother should be afterwards 
 placed on shorter and drier pasture. 
 
 The full-grown sheep is occasionally costive, from the dryness of the 
 pasture, or from some acrimonious herbs — also from the too plentiful use of 
 hay and corn. The state of the fourth stomach in this case, and themeans 
 of cure thai should be adopted, have already been stated. 
 
472 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 THE ABSORBENT SYSTEM— THE LACTEALS. 
 
 From the inner surface of every part of the intestinal canal, and most 
 numerous in the smaller intestines, vessels arise which have the property of 
 taking up the chyle, or nutritious part of the food, as soon as it is separated 
 from the faecal matter. They are called lacteals, from the colour of the fluid 
 which they convey. They are exceedingly minute, and each is furnished 
 with valves, opening in a direction from the intestine, so that the course of 
 the fluid which they contain shall either, by the pressure of the neighbour- 
 ing parts, or some inherent power in the vessels themselves, flow in one 
 direction only. A great number of the neighbouring iacteals unite, and 
 form one tube, still of minute size ; several of these unite, and form larger 
 vessels ; and countless numbers of them may be seen pursuing their course 
 across the mesentery (fig. 9, p. 462). As they travel on they enter cer- 
 tain glandular bodies termed the mesenteric glands (fig. 9, p. 462), where 
 the chyle undergoes some change, connected at least with its colour, for, 
 after passing through them, it is considerably reddened. 
 
 Probably, however, more important changes than this have taken place. 
 Having traversed these glands, the vessels, still more rapidly uniting toge- 
 ther and becoming larger and fewer, at length terminate in a reservoir — 
 a portion of the thoracic duct — called, from its office, the receptacle of the 
 chyl6. After this, as will presently be seen, the chyle, combined with the 
 fluid returned by the absorbents, are mingled together, and flow on to the 
 heart. 
 
 It is easy to see how intimately this process is connected with the healthy 
 or unhealthy, the good or bad condition of the animal. The food may be 
 such as cannot be converted into good and wholesome chyle. There is, in 
 all probability, many a plant that would be diligently rooted from the pas- 
 ture were the farmer acquainted with its deleterious properties, and were he 
 botanist enough to detect its existence. Other vegetable productions, 
 healthy stimulants of the digestive organs, might then be multiplied where 
 either they have no existence or are not duly appreciated. 
 
 These vessels not only absorb the perfectly formed and wholesome chyle, 
 but every thing that is not absolutely faecal. How important is the warn- 
 ing derived from hence ! It is chiefly the insoluble part of the food which 
 is ultimately discharged in the form of dung ; but that which in the process 
 of maceration in the rumen, and more perfect mastication afterwards, and 
 finally being subjected to the solvent power of the gastric juice, is capable 
 of being converted in this smooth and uniform fluid, will be taken up by the 
 lacteals and carried into the secretion. The farmer appears to think that 
 there is some power in the digestive organs to separate the good from the 
 bad, in the fodder which he gives his sheep — the separation is between that 
 which is soluble, and that which bids defiance to the power of the gastric 
 juice. The good and the bad, if dissolved, equally enter into the circulation, 
 and produce their natural and inevitable eff"ects. The good and wholesome 
 portion of the food may also be detained in the alimentary canal so long 
 that it may become vitiated and poisonous, and in that state received into 
 the circulation. All these things may sometimes be the cause of disease, 
 and most certainly would aggravate disease of every kind already existing. 
 
THE LYMPHATICS. 473 
 
 THE MESENTEUIC GLANDS 
 
 It has just been stated tViat the change which they effect in the chyle is 
 not perfectly known ; but it is well known that altered structure and parti- 
 cularly enlargement of them is connected with disease, and especially in 
 young animals. No lamb dies either of chronic or acute disease in which 
 the mesenteric glands are not found of double or treble their natural size ; 
 and, more especially, is enlargement of them invariably connected with 
 consumption and tubercular disease. An increased size of these glands may 
 be suspected when the belly is unnaturally large, and somewhat tender — 
 when the lamb is losing flesh, and the bowels are irregular, and the appe- 
 tite, far from being diminished, becomes voracious. It is difficult, however, 
 to say what can be done, although the existence of the disease may be 
 plainly demonstrated. Wholesome and nutritious food should certainly be 
 given, and that more of a dry character than being succulent or watery. 
 Gentian and ginger should be given in gruel with small doses of the " mer- 
 cury with chalk," and Epsom salts with the same stomachics, if the bowels 
 are confined. 
 
 THE L\MPHAT1CS. 
 
 These constitute another class of absorbents, deriving their name from the 
 colourless fluid or lymph which they contain. They are similar in struc- 
 ture to the lacteals, and furnished with valves like them. They pervade or 
 open upon every part of the body. From the closed cavities of the frame 
 they absorb the superfluous fluid, or prevent it from accumulating be- 
 yond its healthy proportion or quantity — from every tissue, and every 
 part, they carry away that which is worn out and useless. They are, like the 
 lacteals, minute at their commencement — then uniting together from every 
 neighbouring part, they form larger and still larger trunks ; after this 
 they pass through certain ganglions, or glands, in which the fluid which 
 they carry undergoes alteration, and at length they terminate in the thoracic 
 duct, or in some large veins in the neighbourhood of the heart. 
 
 Their connexion with disease needs little illustration. The lymphatics of 
 the skin absorb from the surrounding atmosphere many injurious and some 
 salutary agents. By means of them the scab runs like wild-fire through 
 the whole flock, and the foot-rot sj)reads from sheep to sheep ; and also, by 
 their aid, we are enabled to counteract the destructive agency of other 
 maladies. If contact with the unsound sheep, or with the part against 
 which he has rubbed himself, will produce the scab, by the same channel is 
 the remedy conveyed into the circulation. It is through the medium of the 
 absorbents, and principally those of the lungs, or the respiratory passages 
 generally, that the sheep contracts many a pneumonic disease, and that the 
 rot itself is engendered ; and it is by means of these absorbents that the 
 pure air of the dry and upland pasture exerts such beneficial influence on 
 the frame. 
 
 In the tumours which are occasionally found on sheep, we have an illus- 
 tration of disease of the absorbents. From the irritation caused by coagu- 
 lated, and perhaps unhealthy milk, inflammation is set up in the udder ; the 
 absorbents share in its inflammation ; they become impervious, and the 
 tumour of garget is produced. The practitioner endeavours to excite them 
 again to action — he foments — be well rubs in a stimulating embrocation, 
 and the tumour gradually decreases and disappears — it has been absorbed — 
 the matter of vvhich ic was composed is taken up, carried into the circula- 
 tion, and expelled, or the tumour undergoes a change of consistence — it 
 
474 6HEEP. 
 
 softens — it. is changed to a purulent fluid — an abscess is formed, and the 
 matter vvhicli it contains, if not evacuated, yet presently disappears. That 
 too is absorbed — it is carried into the constitution : but it was unhealthy, 
 it was putrid, and it contaminates every part over which it flows, and the 
 animal, shortly afterwards, dies. There are plenty of illustrations of this 
 in farcy in the horse. There is a fluctuating tumour or an abscess in some 
 part ; it is not sufficiently near the surface to be lanced, as the practitioner 
 or the proprietor wishes to bring it more to a head, and he continues his 
 poultices or other emollients. AH at once the tumour disappears, and to 
 that rapidly succeeds farcy. The purulent matter has been re-absorbed, 
 and it has empoisoned the constitution. In garget in the sheep, if the ab- 
 scess is deep in the indurated teat or quarter, the practitioner, instead of 
 boldly plunging his lancet to the bottom of it, too often waits until the suppu- 
 rative process is fully established ; but ere this happens, the heat all at once 
 diminishes, and the redness disappears — the shepherd thinl<s that all is 
 right, and that a cure is effected; but symptoms not unlike those of the 
 rot presently appear, and the belly swells, and the animal wastes away 
 and dies. 
 
 The scirrhus tumours which occasionally appear on various parts are 
 consequences of inflammation of some part of the absorbent apparatus ; but 
 the sheep is far less liable to them than the ox. 
 
 The vessels which contain the chyle all empty themselves into the tho- 
 racic duct, and so do the lymphatics which come from the hind extremities, 
 the cavity of the abdomen and its viscera, the left side of the lungs, the 
 heart, the diaphragm, the chest, and the left fore-extremity. The others 
 pour their lesser streams into the subclavian and internal jugular veins, but 
 which ultimately terminate also in the thoracic duct ; and this mingled 
 fluid, the crude chyle of the lacteals, and the more strangely compound 
 mass conveyed by the lymphatics, and a portion of the blood from the sub- 
 clavian and internal jugular veins, are here churned together, and then pass 
 into the large veins, which open immediately into the heart. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM— THE HEART. 
 
 The centre, the grand moving power of the circulatory system, is the 
 heart. It is enclosed in a membranous bag, and suspended in the middle 
 of the chest by the attachments of its larger vessels to the roof of that 
 cavity. It is of a conical shape, and its apex or point is loose in the lower 
 part of the chest, inclined to the leftside, and nearly touching the sternum. 
 It has two sides, one devoted to the circulation of the blood through the 
 lungs, and the other to its circulation over the frame generally. Each side 
 is divided into two compartments, one above the other, termed the auricle and 
 the ventricle. The chyle from the lacteals, and the lymph from the lym- 
 phatics, and the blood returned by the veins, collect in certain large vessels, 
 and are poured into the upper compartment, or atiricle, on the right side. 
 The auricle is no sooner filled, than by an inherent power, to which more 
 allusion will presently be made, it contracts forcibly on its contents. Part 
 of the blood is thrown back into the vessels by which it was conveyed to the 
 Iieart, and so there is a constant churning, and more perfect mixture of the 
 different fluids of whith it is comj)osed ; the other part is forced into the 
 
THE HEART. 475 
 
 ventricie oelovv. That now contracts : the return of the blood into the au- 
 ricle is prevented by a valvular apparatus ; and it is forced through the duI- 
 monary artery, a vessel which passes from the ventricle into the lungs. 
 
 Having undergone a most important change in its passage through the 
 lungs, it is returned by other vessels to the left auricle ; thence it is forced 
 into the left ventricle, and, by the closure of that, into the aorta, or com- 
 mencement of vessels by means of which it is conveyed to every part of the 
 frame. The right ventricle is considerably larger than the left, and the 
 walls of it are thinner than those of the left. It contains more blood, and 
 there is less power to act upon it. The difference between these cavities is 
 greater in the ox than in the horse, and in the sheep than in the ox. On 
 account of this greater quantity of blood, and deficient power, the whole of 
 that fluid is not forced from the ventricle by each contraction, but a portion 
 remains, to undergo additional churning and admixture, in order better to 
 prepare it for the nutrition of the animal. It may, however, so happen, in 
 certain states of the constitution, that the blood may too much accumulate 
 in this larger ventricle, and that the muscles of the walls of the heart may 
 not have sufficient power to expel it, or to preserve the ventricle from being 
 ruptured. In order to prevent this a strong muscular cord or column ex- 
 tends across the ventricle in the ox, to strengthen it, and to assist it in con- 
 tracting. In the sheep this column is comparatively longer, and thicker. 
 It takes a diff"erent direction, that it may act with greater power; it extends 
 from the lower part of the outer wall of the ventricle to the upper part of 
 the inner wall, or division between the two ventricles, and is inserted im- 
 mediately beneath the valves ; thus, by its contraction, supporting the ven- 
 tricle where the wall is thinnest, and causing a greater and more powerful 
 expulsion of the blood. The sheep has two duties to perform ; namely, to 
 supply us with food, and with raiment, and thus admirably does nature 
 adapt the different structure of different animals to their own preservation 
 and enjoyment, and the use of man. 
 
 There is a second tendinous band, lower down in the ventricle, with va- 
 rious roots or additions, and which still farther contributes to the strength 
 of the part. 
 
 In the septum, or wall between the two ventricles, and at the base of the two 
 large vessels which convey the blood on either side to the lungs, or to the ge- 
 neral frame, is placed in the ox, and the sheep, and in most ruminants, a bone 
 of an irregular triangular shape, in order to give strength and support to 
 both of these vessels ; for they are larger than in the horse, and in their 
 usual action carry more blood for the important purpose of nutrition. This 
 bone, the os cordis, is proportionally larger in the sheep than in the ox, be- 
 cause the double purpose which this animal has to perform requires a 
 proportionately larger quantity of blood, and larger vessels to convey it, and 
 therefore more support at their base. In order to show, that while this 
 bone is useful to a certain degree as strengthening the base of the pul- 
 monary artery, it was chiefly designed for the aorta — it forms a curve in the 
 sheep, which adapts itself to the shape of the aorta. The bases of these 
 arteries being thus supported, the septum or division between the ventricles 
 remains firm, and each ventricle retains its proper form, and size, and capa 
 city, whatever may be the disturbance on the other side. 
 
 The heart, being the fountain of life, acts in consequence of an indepen- 
 dent power of its own. When its communication with the brain is 
 cut off, it still beats on, although its action will have become somewhat 
 irregular : vvlien its communication with the organic system has ceased, 
 its cavities continue to contract and to expand, and even when it is 
 
476 SHEEP. 
 
 removed from the body ils pulsations will for awhile, and, in some cold- 
 blooded animals for a long while, be observed. This independence of its 
 action is a wise and kind provision of nature. It is connected, however, 
 with the nervous system of the brain, and with those of organic life. 
 Frighten the sheep, and see how quickly, and in what an agitated way, the 
 heart beats ! Take him at his ease, and with nothing to disturb him, and 
 feel how quietly the current proceeds. It sympathises with, and tells of 
 the healthy or diseased state of every organ, and of every part ; and hence, 
 tiie attention to the state and character of the circulation in examinations 
 respecting health, and the nature and degree of disease. 
 
 So important an organ, while it sympathises with the diseases of every 
 other, is liable to maladi'-s peculiarly its own. The sheep, although not so 
 greedy as the ox, yet occasionally swallows sharp and injurious substances. 
 A needle found its way through the coats of the rumen, the diaphragm, 
 and the pericardium, and produced an inflammation of the heart, which 
 destroyed the animal*. Some of the varieties of the stipa, or feather-grass, 
 have been supposed to be injurious to sheep. In Hungary, it is said to be 
 occasionally fatal to whole flocks of them. Its sharp and barbed beards, 
 not only irritate and inflame the rumen, but perforate it, and have worked 
 their way to the heart and destroyed the animalf. There are very few cases 
 of inflammation of the lungs, in which the disease does not extend to the 
 pericardium ; and there is no case of rot, in which the ventricles are not di- 
 lated, and the parietes of the heart softened. The symptoms, however, of 
 these diseases are so obscure, that it would be superfluous to dwell longer 
 on the subject. 
 
 The circulation of the blood through the lungs belongs to the respiratory 
 system ; the present inquiry will, therefore, be confined to the general circu- 
 lation. 
 
 fHE ARTERIES. 
 
 The sudden contraction, or percussive action of the ventricles, propels 
 the blood forcibly into the arteries. These are a succession of tubes, pro- 
 ceeding from the vessel into which the blood is first poured ; branching off" 
 in every direction, and, as they increase in number, diminishing in size. They 
 are composed of three coats : the external one is formed of dense cellular 
 tissue, capable of considerable extension, and a highly elastic power, by 
 which, the cause of distension being removed, it suddenly recovers its former 
 dimensions. It is this successive dilatation and contraction of the vessel 
 which constitutes the pulse, and which is so anxiously examined by the 
 practitioner in order to ascertain the rapidity or slowness, the force or 
 weakness, of the heart's action. In the sheep the pulse is most easily de- 
 tected at the left side ; there the beating of the heart itself may be felt. 
 Little more, however, can be gathered from this than the number of pulsations. 
 In a state of health the pulsations are about 70 in a minute in the adidt 
 sheep J. The person, however, who is accustomed to sheep will have little 
 difficulty in discovering the pulse at the femoral artery, which runs ob- 
 liquely across the inside of the thigh, and which will be best examined at 
 about the middle of the thigh. The character of the pulse, as well as the 
 number of beats, will there be discovered, and this will often be a valu- 
 able guide to the practitioner in the treatment of disease. 
 
 Mem. de I'Acad. de Dijon, vol. i. p. 107. 
 -f- Annates des Sciences Natnrelles, Sep. 1826. 
 
 I Hurtrel d'.\rboval says 75 ; and Gaopariu, 65. The author takes the iiiterimdiate 
 number, as most coiacid ng with h.s iwn observation. 
 
THK CAPILLARIES. \77 
 
 The middle arterial coat is muscular. It possesses little substance or 
 strength in the neighbourhood of the heart, for the percussive contraction 
 of that organ is fully equal to the propulsion of the blood ; but the arteries • 
 pursue a devious course, and their calibre diminishes as they recede from 
 the heart, and so by the friction of the blood against the sides of the ves- 
 sels, the rapidity of the stream would be rapidly diminished, and at length 
 arrested. To prevent this, and to aid the action of the heart, and that aid 
 becoming more po*verful as the action of the heart is less felt, the muscular 
 coat increases in thickness and strength in proportion to the distance from 
 the heart — and at length these muscles become the sole propelling power. 
 
 The same affections of the arteries which are observed in larger animals 
 are occasionally found in sheep. After death — a morbid redness of their 
 coats, proceeding either from inflammation, or from diseased condition of 
 the blood — aneurism, or dilatation of a portion of the artery, producing 
 often great disturbance in the circulation, as well as being an occasional 
 cause of sudden death ; and ossification of some portions of the artery, 
 and most frequently in the neighliourhood of the heart, and being a cause 
 of many complicated diseases, and of sudden death, are occasionally ob- 
 served ; but there are no symptoms that have been yet described by which 
 their existence may be recognised during life. 
 
 THE CAPILLARIES. 
 
 The arteries continue to diminish as they recede from the heart, until 
 they terminate in vessels as small as a hair, or scarcely the thousandth part 
 of the bulk of a hair. Here the pro})ulsive power of the heart has ceased, 
 and the work has been taken up by the muscular coat under the influence 
 of the organic nerves. These vessels open by a thousand minute orifices 
 on every portion of the frame, and deposit the substance, or the secretion 
 which is necessary for the supply and healthy action of this part — others 
 run into minute glands, where various substances, altogether different in 
 their composition, are eliminated, and others pursue their course to the ex- 
 terior of the frame, and constitute the exhalent vessels, by means of which 
 the superfluous aqueous portion of the blood is discharged, and also those 
 injurious principles in the blood which have not been or could not be got 
 rid of through the medium of the lungs. 
 
 This last office is imperfectly discharged by the skin of the sheep. There 
 is a peculiar secretion from the pores of the skin, of which mention has 
 been made in page 60 — a soapy adhesive matter designed for the nourish- 
 m.ent of the wool, and the protection of the animal from the deleterious 
 influence of cold and wet. Not only jn its healthy state is it impervious 
 to water, but it would seem to be with difficulty penetrated, if penetrable 
 at all, by the perspirable matter. Hence the difficult breathing which is 
 excited in the sheep if he is in the slightest degree hurried. In the human 
 being, and in most quadrupeds, when the arterial blood is hurried through 
 the frame in order to afford a sufficient supply for the support of unusual 
 muscular exertion, and is undergoing a rapid expenditure and change, a por- 
 tion of the useless or excrementitious part of it is thrown off in the form of 
 perspiration, and the lungs are to this extent relieved ; but in the sheep 
 double duty is in such a case required from these organs, and the animal is 
 soon distressed 
 
 It is probably on account of this want of action in the capillaries of tlie 
 skin of the sheep, and this uniform defence which is assigned to it, that the 
 sheep is evidently less liable than most other animals to rheumatism, to 
 inflammation of the iungs, and to various other diseases consequent on 
 
478 SHEEP. 
 
 direct exposure to a changeable state of the atmosphere. On the other 
 hand it is probably owing to the struggle between the closed and com- 
 paratively unused pores of the skin, and the various matters that are fre- 
 quently determined to it and labouring to escape through it, that the skin 
 of the sheep is so much more liable to disease than that of most other quad- 
 rupeds. The scab, when it gets into a flock, is a greater nuisance than any 
 disease of the skin to which the horse or the ox is exposed. There are 
 occasional aggravations of the scab among the British flocks, and on the 
 continent there are cutaneous diseases which destroy hundreds of thousands 
 of sheep every year. 
 
 INFLAMMATION AND FEVER. 
 
 The capillary vessels generally are the primary seat of inflammation. 
 From some unknown cause the nervous fibrils which supply the capillaries 
 of a greater or smaller portion of the frame act with morbid power on the 
 muscular coat of the vessel, and it contracts itself more forcibly on its con- 
 tents, and drives the blood forward with increased velocity. Other blood 
 follows to supply the vacuum when the vessel again expands, ami that, in its 
 turn, is driven on, and thus an increased circulation of bloinl through the 
 part or inflammation of the part — for they are synonymous terms — is esta- 
 blished. It may continue local, or it may spread to neighbouring parts, 
 and gradually over the frame, and constituie fever. It is an aff'ection of 
 the ganglial system, and governed by the action of the ganglial nerves. 
 
 Simple fever may be sometimes observed in the flock. When a sheep 
 is careless about its food — when it seeks out some shaded or cold place to 
 lie down upon while its companions are grazing — when it lags behind the 
 rest of the flock, and heaves and pants if driven forward — when no local 
 aff'ection can be recognised, but there is beating of the heart, heat and 
 dryness or clamminess of the mouth, and redness of the eye, the animal 
 assuredly labours under fever. It is at first simple fever, and manageable. 
 If a tolerable quantity of blood is abstracted, and a couple of ounces of 
 Epsom salts administered, the evil may probably be nipped in the bud :. 
 whereas, if neglected, the sheep will probably be found seriously ill on the 
 following day, and with some violent determination of inflammation to a 
 particular organ or part. 
 
 Many lambs appear to be lost by simple fever. They are observed to 
 be doubled up, shivering; and presently afterwards the muzzle and the feet 
 becoming quite hot — the countenance is dull, or with an expression of dis - 
 tress — the appetite is gone — the eyes are weeping, and weakness is stealing 
 fast on. There is in this case no particular organ or part to which to trace 
 the disease. It is a general affection — it is fever. To-morrow it may be 
 inflamination of the lungs, or inflammatory fever, or it may assume various 
 characters. The loss of a little blood, and the administration of a dose of 
 Epsom salts, will now restore the animal to his wonted health. To-morrow 
 the case may be remediless. In these cases of simple fever, a mild treat- 
 ment like this, with quietness and a removal to other pasture, if circum- 
 stances admit of it, will be all that will be required. No calomel should 
 be given; and certainly nothing in the form of the farrier's comfortable- 
 murderous drink. 
 
 Cases of iiiflammatory fever may sometimes occur. Febrile action may 
 be set up, and speedily run its course. The hot and the cold, fit may 
 rapidly succeed to each other — attended by languor, dislike to food, stu- 
 pidity, or perchance restlessness, or delirium. Where this is found it is 
 attributable to bad management — too nutritive food — too great haste to 
 
INFLAMMATION AND FEVER. 479 
 
 fatten — or the contest to induce unnatural and dangerous over-condition, 
 and it must be treated in the most decided way by bleeding, purging, and 
 starvation : but in the great majority of cases there is no inflammation at 
 all — there is too great fulness of blood — determination of blood to tlie head 
 — apoplexy, and death. 
 
 By a stroke of apoplexy a sheep is frequently destroyed in less than an 
 liour — sometimes he falls and dies without warning, inflammatory fever 
 is sudden enough in its attack and its progress, but it takes more time to 
 produce its fatal effect, and is not always preceded by that change of pasture, 
 or change of food, which are fruitful causes of " blood or apoplexy." On 
 good grass land, at any season of the year, and without any change of 
 pasture, or previous appearance of disease, or violence of any kind, some 
 sheep will lie down with the rest of the flock apparently well at night, and 
 on the next morning be dead, and in as easy a posture as if they were 
 asleep. Some meadows, and not always of the richest kind, are notorious 
 for possessing this fatal quality, and to such a degree, that the sheep-master 
 does not dare to turn his flock upon them. " Such sheep," says an anony- 
 mous writer, " are first discovered by not readily driving. If left, they will 
 presently lie down, and appear dull and heavy. Shortly after, if a person 
 goes to them, they get up unwillingly, and walk slowly away, straining often 
 to stale, but without being able. In another short interval they must be 
 forced or helped to rise, and then they will generally stale blood in small 
 quantities, but quickly lie down again, and gather their feet under them. 
 The stupor increases — they hang their ears, their eyes are shut, and the nose 
 rests on the ground — and soon afterwards they die without a struggle. This 
 generally occurs within the first four days or thereabouts. Upon the fourth 
 morning, if the shepherd finds one dead, yet all the rest may appear lively 
 and continue eating. If he immediately turns them into a grass field 
 adjoining, they will spread themselves over the field and eat greedily ; never- 
 theless in an hour there may be others visibly seized, and in the course of 
 that day they will continue dropping at intervals, and during the next night 
 and day some will continue to die *," 
 
 Mr, Price gives a dreadful account of this disease. " The number of 
 animals that die of this disorder in Romney Marsh is truly astonishing : I 
 should suppose nearly four in a hundred yearly in some soils and situations, 
 and at peculiar seasons, although every precaution in stocking is taken to 
 prevent it ; which if the graziers did not, they would lose half their flock 
 annually. My opinion is that the soil of Romney Marsh, being very rich, 
 consequently the clover and grasses equally so, that sheep feeding on these 
 rich pastures must be more subject to inflammation than those fed on poorer 
 soils, particularly in the spring, when the young shoots of the grasses and 
 natural clover are full of juices : besides, when in this state they are 
 greedily eaten by the animals, which often proves fatal, particularly after a 
 warm day or two. 
 
 " On opening them the contents of the abdomen are more or less infla-med, 
 and some parts are very dark coloured, and emit a very offensive smell. 
 
 * There is a sykenes among shepe, called the blud. The shepe that hath it will 
 dye sodainly, or he wyl stand styl and hange downe the head, and other whyl quake. 
 If the shepherds can espy him, take hym and rub hym about the hede, and especially 
 about his eares, and under his eyen, and with a knife cut of his eares in the mydst, and 
 also let him blede in a vain under his eyen, and if it bleede well he is lyke to lyve, and 
 if he bleede not, then kyll him, and save his flesh, for if he dye hymselfe the flesh is 
 lost : and the skin wyl be far ruddier like blud more than another skin shal be, and it 
 taketh most commonly of the fattest or best lyking. — The Booke of Husbandrye. 1575. 
 
480 SHEEP. 
 
 Sometimes the heart or lungs appear to be primarily affected ; and some- 
 times the liver, bowels, and stomach, which is very easily perceived by the 
 dark and livid appearance of the part. It is said that bad-mouthed sheep 
 never die of this disease, because they cannot feed on short nutritious grass, 
 but on coarse long herbage which does not enrich the blood. I am of 
 opinion that it is an inflammatory disease, and that the only remedy is 
 large bleedings, so as rapidly to lower the system *." 
 
 A species of malignant inflammatory fever must not be passed over 
 unnoticed, although fortunately it seldom appears among the British flocks, 
 but is epidemic in some parts of France, and destroys thousands of sheep 
 every year. It breaks out about the latter end of spring, — rages through 
 the early part of the summer, and begins to disappear in August. Its 
 early symptoms are : — suspension of rumination — loss of appetite — dulness 
 — weeping from the eye — coldness of the ears — alternate shiverings and 
 flushings of heat. Soon afterwards the mouth and the breath becomes hot 
 — the eyes are red, the pulse is accelerated, and weak, and irregular, and 
 there is a mucous discharge from the nostrils, to which succeeds bloody 
 mucus, and then a mixture of purulent matter and blood. By degrees 
 the urine becomes bloody, and the excrements are covered with grumous 
 blood, — the head and the legs are swelled — the debility is extreme, and 
 the animal dies in the course of eight or ten days. 
 
 The greater part of the animals attacked by this disease perish. The 
 sheep in the finest condition die soonest, and with greatest certainty. Those 
 that are out of condition, yet not unhealthy, struggle longest with the 
 malady, and sometimes recover. If the weather is chilly the patients have 
 less chance, but tliey begin immediately to renovate when the air becomes 
 warm and seasonable. More lambs and shearlings perish than those of 
 greater age. It is an epidemic, but not a contagious disease. 
 
 The appearances after death do not correspond with the apparently pesti- 
 lential character of the disease during life. The mesenteric glands are 
 generally enlarged — there is effusion, to no great extent, of bloody serosity 
 in the thoracic and abdominal cavities — little affection of the small intestines, 
 but the large ones exhibiting spots, or patches of inflammation and extra- 
 vasation — the liver enlarged, and vesicular accumulations of a thick red 
 fluid on its surface. The lining membrane of the air-passages is red — the 
 passages themselves fill with a bloody spume, or with pure blood — the 
 surface of the lungs covered with ecchymoses, and the right ventricle of the 
 heart usually inflamed. 
 
 This disease is termed La Maladie de Sologne, from the name of the 
 district in which it is most prevalent. La Sologne is a low marshy country. 
 It produces few beside aquatic plants, and nowhere are small lakes of 
 water more numerously scattered. When April is a rainy month, the 
 disease is sure to follow speedily, and to be exceedingly destructive, and 
 mostly so on the low grounds. The food of the sheep is very irregular ; 
 it is abundant in summer ; it begins to get scarce in autumn, and is deficient 
 during the other part of tlie year. In winter the sheep are half-starved : 
 there is nothing in the fields, and nothing in the sheep-house but a little 
 stubble and the leaves of trees. The spring grass in such a district is 
 exceedingly succulent, and succeeding all at once to a state approaching to 
 starvation, the occurrence and the devastations of this disease are no longer 
 mysterious. 
 
 The manner of breeding and rearing the lambs is exceedingly faultv. 
 
 * Price on Sheep-grazing anil Manaf^ement.p. 392. 
 
INFLAMMATION AND FEVER. 481 
 
 Tlie ewes are poor and weak — they are ill-fed while with lamb — they have 
 nothing but the worst fodder. The lambs, when dropped, are necessarily 
 puny and weak. They can scarcely obtain sufficient milk to satisfy their 
 hunger, and a portion of that milk is abstracted in order to manufacture a 
 worthless kind of cheese. These lambs, debilitated and dying of hunger 
 at other times of tlie year, gorge themselves in the spring on the watery 
 produce of the district. There are sheep-houses, into which tlie young 
 and the old are driven at night, but they are badly constructed — low, damp, 
 and completely closed. The inhabitants of them have nothing to breathe 
 but an impure and poisoned air. The treatment of the disease consists of 
 dry food with salt, and the administration of camphorated drinks, with 
 various vegetable tonics. During the earliest and febrile stage bleedings 
 have been used, with good effect, but the time during which they are 
 admissible soon passes away. M. Tessier, to whom the French agricul- 
 turalists are indebted for the most valuable observations on this malady, 
 which not only is so destructive at La Sologne but in several other districts 
 of France, has very little faith in any medical treatment, and has recom- 
 mended the following rules for the prevention of the disease : — To keep 
 the flock more in the sheep-house during the rainy season ; to feed better 
 the ewes that are pregnant, or that are giving suck ; never to milk the 
 ewes ; not to turn the young lambs on those marshy situations on which 
 the danger of being infected with the rot makes them afraid to place the 
 mothers ; to keep salt within the reach both of the lambs and the ewes ; 
 not to send the sheep to the field when the weather is cold, and to drive 
 them back when storms threaten ; not to shear the sheep so early as they 
 are accustomed to perform that operation ; and to endeavour by every 
 possible means to drain the ponds and marshes with which that and so 
 many other districts of France abound*. 
 
 Typhus fever is not so common among sheep as cattle, but it often 
 destroys its thousands, and particularly when the sheep are exposed to cold 
 and wet and deprivation of food. Many of the diseases which are recog- 
 nised in Scotland, and in some parts of the north of England, under thp 
 name of " braxy," are of this description. It is most prevalent in Autumn, 
 and sooner or later in proportion as vegetation ceases early or continues 
 until a later period of the season. It is sometimes gradual in its attack, 
 and slow in its progress ; at other times the animal is destroyed in two or 
 three days. Mr. Hogg thus, in substance, describes it : — The loss of cud 
 is the first token of the presence of this, as well as most other serious 
 diseases. The animal is evidently in a state of suffering, indicated by its 
 manner of standing : the back is bowed, and the four feet are brought into 
 the smallest possible compass ; or the animal grinds his teeth, and expresses 
 his uneasiness by lying down or getting up every two or three minutes. 
 He creeps away from his companions, and lies in some retired place, bleating 
 incessantly from extremity of pain. The eyes are heavy and dull, and the 
 countenance is expressive of distress. The ears hang down ; the mouth is 
 dry, and the inside of it, or the lips, or both, covered with pustules or ulcers. 
 The pulse is full and quick at first, but it soon assumes the character of 
 debility, and there is great and general prostration of strength. The 
 urine is high-coloured, the dung covered with foetid mucus, and the breath 
 most offensive. The appearances after death are various: but there is one 
 general character of s])eedy decomposition. The heart is filled with black 
 
 * Tessier, Instruction sur les Betes a Laine, p. 281 ; and Dictionnaire V^t. par 
 Hurtrel D'Arboval, iii. 81. 
 
 2 I 
 
and congealed blood, or the lungs are gangrenous, or the liver enlarged 
 and putrid. The lining membrane of the bowels is of a livid redness 
 through its whole extent, and their contents are dreadfully offensive and 
 putrid. The body emits a strong sulphureous smell, and the flesh has 
 frequently engendered disease in the animals that ate of it. This dreadful 
 malady is seldom seen in the south, and its ravages are very materially 
 lessened in the north. It generally arises from feeding on watery or foul 
 food, and is materially increased when the season is cold and wet. It often 
 assumes an epidemic character. 
 
 If taken at the very commencement it may occasionally be subdued. 
 The lancet and the Epsom salts are the best means of cure : but after 
 apparent debility has commenced, few things will arrest the progress of 
 the disease. Common salt, with gentian and ginger, are then indicated. 
 In a few cases they effect a cure ; but in the majority of instances the 
 amendment is delusive, for the cold of the ensuing winter or spring too 
 often destroys the patient*. 
 
 THE VEINS. 
 
 The arteries having ramified into myriads of capillaries, and thus effected 
 the various secretions, and carried the elements of nutrition to every part 
 of the frame, begin again to unite with each other, and to increase in size, 
 and to convey the blood — now much altered in its character, and exhausted 
 of its vital properties — back to the heart. They now assume the name of 
 veins. The blood flows through them, not from any propulsive force 
 behind, but by the influence of atmospheric pressure called into action by 
 the temporary vacuum formed by the sudden expansion of the cavities of 
 the heart. The stream thus set in motion is accelerated by the pressure 
 of the muscles, while certain valvular duplicatures of the lining membrane 
 of the veins permit the blood to flow in one direction only, namely — 
 towards the lieart. 
 
 The coats of the veins are weaker and more distensible than those of 
 the arteries, and therefore they are subject to various enlargements, tem- 
 
 * For the sake of the veterinary student, the following account is given of the pecu- 
 liar course of the arteries in the head of the sheep : — 
 
 " The arteries of tlie head of the sheep are vi^ry remarkable in their distribution. The 
 common carotid gives off collateral branches, "before it divides into two principal trunks, 
 from which all the other branches are given off'. The branches which pass off before 
 the principal bifurcation, are the suj)erior thyroideal, the ascending pharyngeal, the 
 occipital, the lingual, the posterior auricular, and a parotidean. The external maxillary 
 artery is wanting, and its branches are furnished by other vessels. The common carotid 
 bifurcates into the facial and internal maxillary : the facial furnishes the anterior auri- 
 cular and the temporal ; it is continued under the name of transversalis faciei, which 
 gives off the coronary artery of the upper lip. The inferior coronary is furnished by the 
 mental, which is itself a branch ni' the internal maxillary. The latter is a very important 
 artery in the sheep ; for it not only furnishes branches to the face, but also all those which 
 in man come from the internal carotid. It gives off on each side three branches, which 
 penetrate separately into the cranium, whi re they ramify in the rete mirabile, from which 
 they pass to form the simple trunk of the cerebral arteries, which communicates with 
 the basilar, and is distributed to the brain. As there exists no internal carotid, the 
 carotid canal is wanting ; the sulcus which is observed on the sides of the sella turcica, 
 and which resembles the carotid sulcus in man, contains oidy the inferior cerebral vein 
 which passes from the cranium by the spheno-petrosal fissure. 
 
 " With respect to the branches that pass off from the common carotid, it is necessary 
 to he observed that the ascending pharyngeal, and the occipital, arise from that artery 
 before the lingual ; and with respect to the superior maxillary, Ihe first cerebral branch 
 arises between the inferior maxillary and superior alveolar ; the other cerebral arteries, 
 and the ophthalmic, are situated between the superior alveolar and infra orbitar."— Nova 
 Acta Acad. Natur. Curios., torn. xiii. pars 1. 
 
BLEEDING. 483 
 
 porary and permanent. These are frequent in the horse — they are occa- 
 sionally seen in the ox — they doubtless, under certain circumstances, exist 
 in the sheep, but they have not been noticed in that animal. 
 
 BLEEDING. 
 
 The only thing with regard to the veins that comes within the scope of 
 this work is the opening of them for the purpose of the abstraction of 
 blood. In every case of febrile action, the diminution of the vital current 
 by means of venesection is one of the most important means of relief and 
 cure that the surgeon has at his disposal. 
 
 The artery is not usually selected for this purpose, because there are 
 few of tlie arteries that are superficial ; because they are smaller than the 
 veins, and not so easy to open ; and also because it is often very difficult 
 to arrest the flow of blood from a wounded artery. The veins are more 
 superficial — they are larger — their coats are more easily penetrated, and 
 the bleeding is more easily stopped. The shepherd is generally accustomed 
 to bleed from the angular or cheek vein. He needs no assistance in order 
 to accomplish this. He opens his lancet, and holds it between his lips — 
 he then seizes the sheep, and presses him firmly between his knees, so that 
 he shall neither be able to get away nor to struggle much. After this, 
 moving his left knee a little in advance of the right, and passing his left 
 .aand under the head of the animal, he presses with his fingers beneath, and 
 within the right jaw, near to the posterior angle of it, in order to com- 
 press the angular vein which passes at that place, and to make it swdl. 
 With the other hand he touches the right cheek, at about an equal distance 
 between the eye and the mouth. He there finds a long tubercle, and 
 beneath it he will feel the swelling of the angular vein. He then takes the 
 lancet which he held in his mouth, and opens the vein in a direction from 
 below upwards, and halfa finger's breadth below the middle of the tubercle. 
 Having abstracted as much blood as he deems the case to require, he 
 ceases to press upon the vessel, and the bleeding will generally stop ; but 
 in order perfectly to secure this, it will be prudent to close the orifice with a 
 pin. If the vein does not readily rise, a ligature passed round the neck will 
 render it much larger and more tangible. 
 
 In cases of rheumatism, or garget, or local inflammation referrible to the 
 hind-quarters, it may sometimes be. advisable to bleed from the saphena, or 
 thigh vein. The assistance of another person is required here. The sheep 
 must be laid on his side, on a table, or on some straw, the thigh from 
 which it is intended to abstract the blood being undermost. The other 
 three legs must then be tied together, and the assistant must draw out and 
 firmly hold the fourth, while the operator cuts away the hair from that 
 portion of the thigh at which he intends to operate. A person acquainted 
 with the anatomy of the part will at once put his finger on the course of 
 the vein on the upper part of the thigh, and compress it, and thus cause 
 it to become larger below the pressure ; but he who is not so much used 
 to the operation will do right to pass a ligature (a piece of coarse tape will 
 constitute the best) round the higher part of the thigh, which will render 
 the vein sufficiently evident. It must be opened, and afterwards secured 
 in the same manner as the cheek vein. 
 
 It, however, occasionally happens, that the blood will not flow rapidly 
 from either of these veins, or the stream will stop before the desired quan- 
 tity is obtained i it will, therefore, be better practice to bleed at once from 
 the jugular vein, as in the horse and in cattle. An assistant is here also 
 requisite, who is to hold the sheen by the ears or by iW horns, keeping tlie 
 
 ^12 
 
484 SHEEP. 
 
 head somewhat elevated, and the animal closely pressed and confined 
 between his knees. A little of the wool is next to be cut away with a pair 
 of scissors, in the direction of the jugular, and about the middle of the 
 neck, and a ligature tied round the neck below the part thus marked. Tl»e 
 vein is then to be opened in the manner already described, and, after a 
 sufficient quantity of blood has been taken, the vein must be secured by 
 means of pins and a few fibres of wool. 
 
 The quantity of blood to be abstracted at once will depend on the state 
 of the sheep and the character of the disease. In case of fever, or of any 
 serious disease that requires bloodletting, the stream should continue to 
 flow until the character of the pulse is in some degree altered, or it begins 
 to falter or intermit : the flow of blood should then be immediately stop- 
 jied, and there should be considerable hesitation before a second bleeding is 
 attempted. The sheep contains but a small quantity of blood, in proportion 
 to his size, compared with other animals. A lean man, in good health, 
 contains about one-fifth part of his weight in blood — but in proportion as 
 his weight accumulates from idleness or tendency to fatness, the blood bears 
 a less proportion, and may be averaged at one-tenth of his weight. The 
 blood of the horse is about one-eighteenth part of his whole weight — that of 
 the ox in good condition somewhat more than a twentieth part ; a sheep in 
 fair marketable condition has but one twenty-second part of his weight in 
 blood, and on an average of all the fatted sheep, exhibited at the Christmas 
 Show for many years past, and slaughtered in the metropolis, so far as the 
 quantity could be ascertained, and the author was at no little pains to obtain 
 a fair average, the blood constituted rather more than one twenty-eighth part 
 of the weight of the animal. This is a wise provision of nature, as rendering 
 inflammation somewhat difficult to be excited in those who, from their gross 
 fatness, and want of exercise, and redundancy of food, would seem so 
 likely to be the subjects of it ; and it is a lesson to the practitioner and the 
 farmer, in their treatment of this animal when diseased, not to reduce the 
 vital powers too rapidly and too far. 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. 
 
 The blood that is returned by the veins, and the chyle that is brought 
 by means of the absorbents, must undergo a certain process of purification 
 before it is rendered capable of supporting life : it must get rid of a por- 
 tion of the superabundant carbon, and it must attract and absorb a quantity 
 of oxygen. This is accomplished by means of the lungs. The auricle on 
 the right side of the heart receives this returned blood and chyle, and 
 transmits it to the ventricle, whence it is propelled through the medium of 
 the pulmonary artery into the lungs. The lungs are composed ofinnume 
 rable minute cells, the terminations of the air passages, when the bronchial 
 tubes have attained their utmost degree of minuteness. These cells do not 
 communicate with each other, but are composed of, or separated by mem- 
 branes infinitely finer than the gossamer's web. On this web-like mem- 
 brane the vessels carrying the impure venous blood ramify. At each act 
 of inspiration these cells are filled with atmospheric air, and through 
 these delicate walls certain of the principles of the air pass — the carbon of 
 the blood is given to the air, and imparts to it a poisonous quality, and a 
 
NASAL DISCIIAKGE. 485 
 
 portion of the oxygen of llie air is given to the blood, and communicates 
 to that fluid a vital power. As the air becomes loaded Ufith carbon, and 
 exhausted of oxygen, it is expelled by the act of expiration; and by an 
 act of inspiration, or inflation of the lungs, they become again distended 
 with fresh air. By means of the percussive action of the heart the blood 
 pursues its course over these gossamer membranes ; and, as fast as it is 
 purified, is returned to the left side of the heart, to be thence propelled 
 through the general circulation. 
 
 THE RESPIRATORY PASSAOES, 
 
 The respiratory passages in the sheep must now be described as rapidly 
 as the subject will permit. They commence with the nostrils, which are 
 far from being so expanded as in the horse, but which are peculiarly 
 adapted for the purpose of quiet and undisturbed breathing, and can be 
 contracted still closer, in order to ward off" an attack of that pest of the 
 sheep in the summer months — the fly. It is therefore somewhat difficult 
 to obtain intelligence of the general state of the circulation, and par- 
 ticularly in the respiratory organs, by inspecting the colour of the mem- 
 brane of the nose, as in the horse and ox. If, however, the aperture of llie 
 nostril is small, it is in a very striking degree more circular than in the 
 horse or ox, in order that it may be sufficiently open for the ordinary pur- 
 poses of breathing. 
 
 If the nasal cavity itself is now examined it will be found completely 
 filled by the thin, and cellated, and complicated bones which are placed 
 there in order to render the sense of smell more acute, by increasing the 
 surface on which the olfactory nerves may ramify. The great development 
 of the sethmoid and turbinated bones are well shown in the cut of the sec- 
 tion of the head, p. 384, figs. 12, 13, and 14. The lower one fills up as it 
 were the whole of the cavity, accounting for the readiness with which the 
 respiration of the sheep becomes distressingly laborious when he is a little 
 hurried. 
 
 NASAL DISCHARGE. 
 
 The sheep suffers like other domestic animals when tlie sensitive mem- 
 brane of the nose becomes inflamed by exposure to cold in the winter or at 
 other times. The consequence of that inflammation is tumefaction of the 
 membrane, and obstruction in the nasal passages, and some degree of 
 difficulty in breathing. Matter will be seen running from the nostrils of 
 three-fourths of the sheep of some flocks in the winter ; and it will annoy- 
 ingly plug up the narrow aperture of the nasal cavity, already filled by this 
 singular development of the ^ethmoid and turbinated bones. The animal 
 will stop for a moment at every second or third bite at the herbage, and 
 will snort violently, or stand with his head protrudedj labouring for breath. 
 Some persons have imagined that this gleet is contagious, but there is no 
 proof of its being so : it rather f^preads through the flock, on account of all 
 the sheep having been exposed to the same exciting cause. 
 
 This will sometimes continue during the whole of the winter months, the 
 health of the sheep being little or not at all aff'ected. It is a mere local 
 affair, and there is not even enlargement of the submaxillary glands. 
 Then, as in a similar disease in oxen, as soon as the warm breezes offspring 
 are felt, the discharge rapidly diminishes; and, whether it is to be attributed 
 to the genial change of the season, or to the medicinal power of the first 
 flush of grass, in the course of a week not a vestige of it remains in nine- 
 tenths of the flock. But the tenth part? — why that which renovates the 
 
.186 SHEEP. 
 
 others produces in them a faint struggle against the malady ; they soon 
 become weaker and weaker — the inflammation spreads and affects other 
 passages — ulcers are in the nose — every sinus is full of pus — the larynx, 
 the windpipe, and the air passages of tlie lungs, are lined by a kind of false 
 membrane composed of mingled mucus and pus, and underneath that is a 
 flush of inflammation of the intensest kind, with deep and spreading ulcera- 
 tion. The animal continues to get weaker, and more and more emaciated, 
 until pulmonary consumption is confirmed, and death closes the scene. 
 
 In some cases the " fever powder" (see list of medicines) may be given 
 with advantage, in doses of from ten grains to a scruple. In bad winters, 
 and when the disease is more prevalent and virulent than usual, it may be 
 given to the whole flock ; there will be fewer of the fated lot remaining, 
 and some of them will be redeemed from the destruction that seems to await 
 them. 
 
 If much, however, cannot be done in the medicinal treatment of this 
 disease, a great deal may be effected in the way of prevention. If the 
 return of spring cannot be hastened, the shiverers can be removed to a 
 drier and warmer situation : especially, some shelter can be afforded for the 
 ewe that has just yeaned, and for the newly-dropped lamb. 
 
 This disease has been called the glanders of sheep, but it has no affinity 
 to that malady of the horse. The result of several experiments on this 
 important subject is, that the sheep is not susceptible of glanders. There 
 is no instance of the disease being communicated by a glandered horse 
 feeding in the same pasture with sheep. The matter of glanders has been 
 thrust up the nostrils of the sheep without bad effect ; and the liorse has 
 been inoculated with matter from the nose of the sheep labouring under 
 this disease, without any evil consequence. 
 
 This disease must not be confounded with another discharge, small and 
 limpid, but accompanied by seemingly insupportable annoyance to the 
 animal, who is snorting and throwing himself about, and galloping in every 
 direction. This, as has been already described, attacks only a few of the 
 flock, and is occasioned by the larvae of the oestrus ovis crawling up the 
 nostril, in order to reach their destined residence during their larval or 
 caterpillar state. 
 
 STRANGLES. 
 
 Occasionally, but very rarely, a disease is recognised in sheep — usually 
 hoggets — resembling strangles in the horse, and stranguUion in cattle. A 
 swelling appears under and between the jaws, at first hard, but gradually, as 
 it enlarges, softening, and evidently containing matter. It is hot and tender, 
 and the sheep loses his appetite, and coughs, and becomes evidently and 
 rapidly weak. As soon as the tumour points at any particular part of it — 
 yields to the pressure of the finger, and shows that there is fluid beneath — 
 it should be lanced, otherwise deep and troublesome ulcers will probably be 
 formed about the throat. The wound, if offensive, should be washed with a 
 solution of chloride of lime, and healed as quickly as may be, by the appli- 
 cation of the tincture of aloes. A dose of Epsom salts should be given with 
 a little ginger, and there the matter will usually end. In case of conti- 
 nued weukiTess, small doses of ginger and gentian will be useful. The 
 maturity of the tumour, if slow, may be hastened by the application of a 
 blister/ It is the regular and indispensable progress of this disease, that matter 
 should form in the tumour and be discharged. It will hence appear, that 
 physic is not indicated before the suppuration of the tumour, and that 
 bleeding would be detrimental unless there is a considerable degree of 
 fever 
 
STRANGLES. 487 
 
 When the upper part of the nostril of the sheep is examined, it will be 
 perceived that the cartilaginous division between the nostrils is not perfect, 
 as in the horse. It extends sufficiently far, and hangs sufficiently low, to 
 impede the spread of inflammation in common cases; and the sheep not 
 being susceptible of glanders, nothing more is required. For the same 
 reason also, the velum palati, or curtain at the back of the mouth, does not 
 reach the tongue as in the horse, but leaves room for breathing through the 
 mouth, and also for the regurgitation of food in the same way. 
 
 The Os Hyoides of t]\e. sheep is very similar in construction to that of the 
 ox, described in Cattle, page 325. There is no spur penetrating into the 
 root of the tongue, and confining it there in order to give a firmer cushion 
 for the bit, but there is the same additional joint in the cornua or wings of 
 the bone, giving still more extensive action to this organ, and there is also 
 that curiously-formed socket in the temporal bone, in which the os hyoides 
 can play so loosely and yet be attached so securely. For the convenience 
 of man the freedom of the tongue of the horse is restrained ; and from the 
 double set of incisors which he possesses, and the food by which he is 
 usually supported, he suffers little or no inconvenience on this account : 
 but the sheep, as well as the ox, requires the most extensive action in this 
 organ, in order to assist in gathering the food, and freeing the lips and the 
 muzzle from many a nuisance by which the animal would be otherwise 
 annoyed. This subject, however, has been already adverted to. 
 
 There is nothing peculiar to detain the reader in the structure of the 
 LARYNX in sheep. It is comparatively shorter and v^'ider in this animal than 
 in the ox; the opening into the windpipe is smaller, and, consequently, the 
 epiglottis or covering of this fissure is also smaller; the thyroid cartilage is 
 still weaker than in the ox, and there are no lateral ventricles. The natural 
 voice of the sheep does not require even the degree of complication which 
 is found in the ox, for the sheep is comparatively a silent animal. Its 
 voice is seldom heard except when the mother is calling her lamb, or the 
 lamb is bleating for the mother ; or, in their travels to and from the fold, 
 or from one pasture to another, they are challenging the companions from 
 whom they are for awhile separated. During the period of oestrum the 
 voice of the ram is but a kind of low indistinct grunt, and the evve utters 
 only the same unvarying sounds when she is caressing her lamb. There 
 is, however, sufficient difference in the voice to enable the mother to recog- 
 nise her own lamb in an instant, in the midst of a flock of many hundreds. 
 The thyroid glandu are two small oval glandular bodies, placed on 
 either side and in front of the windpipe immediately below the larynx. 
 Their use is not known, but they doubtless effect some important purpose 
 for they are plentifully supplied with nerves and blood-vessels. They are 
 frequently diseased in the sheep. In young lambs, early dropped, and 
 half starved, they will uniformly be found enlarged ; and in every case in 
 which the farmer traces the progress of the rot, he will find the same 
 kind of enlargement, contemporary with, and marking the precise period 
 when the stage of debility and emaciation commences. 
 
 The windpipe differs principally from that of the ox, in being propor- 
 tionally smaller and weaker. The cartilaginous rings have less firmness, 
 and the interposed ligamentous substance has not the same power ; but 
 they are closer together, for the head of the sheep has not to be depressed 
 so much in the search of food as that of the ox. There is a still weaker 
 connexion between the rings at the posterior part of the windpipe; there 
 is the same absence of the transverse muscle, and the lining membrane of 
 this tube is thinner and weaker. 
 
488 SHEK1\ 
 
 It is comparatively seldom that there will be occasion to open the wind- 
 pipe of the sheep, in order to prevent suffocation from obstruction in 
 the larynx above, and to enable the animal to breathe. In two cases, one 
 of inflammation of the larynx, and the other of obstruction in the 
 pharynx, the author had recourse to it, and with complete success. The 
 operation is described in page 162 of " The Horse," and 374 of " Cattle." 
 It may be performed quite as easily and safely on the sheep. 
 
 At the base of the windpipe commence the bronchial tubes, or that con- 
 tinuation and subdivision of the windpipe by which the air is conveyed to 
 and from the terminating cells. There is the same contrivance of carti- 
 laginous rings, in order that these passages may always be pervious ; and 
 there is the same ligamentous or muscular apparatus by which the action 
 of these cartilages is regulated. The diseases of these important organs 
 may now be considered. 
 
 The affection of the nasal passages which has been described in page 485, 
 frequently extends to other portions of the respiratory canal. It involves 
 the pharynx and the throat, and the membrane of the larynx ; and then the 
 discharge from the nose, and the redness of the eye, and the defluxion from 
 the eye, and the loss of appetite increase, but without any great degree of 
 fever or laboured breathing. The farmer will here distinguish the fre- 
 quent sneezing that accompanies nasal discharge, from the cough more 
 or less frequent and painful, which proves the extension of the dis'^ase at 
 least as far as the larynx. If the cough is observed more than a few days, 
 and especially if it is accompanied by the above-mentioned symptoms, he 
 will be wrong if he does not have that sheep caught, and bleed him, and 
 administer first a purging drink, and, that having begun to operate, the 
 fever medicine : if the weather is cold the animal should be removed to 
 the straw-yard, or to some dry and sheltered situation. It will be seen 
 by and by that this cough creeps on most insidiously and dangerously, and 
 lays the foundation for, and degenerates into that fatal affection of the 
 lungs — phthisis, by which hundreds of thousands of sheep are destroyed 
 every year. 
 
 LARYNGITIS. 
 
 Inflammation sometimes attacks, or exerts its greatest virulence on, par- 
 ticular portions of the respiratory passages. It oftenest does so when 
 any epidemic or atmospheric influence mingles with the origin or progress 
 of the disease. Sheep, and particularly in the changeable weather of the 
 spring or autumn, are suddenly affected with cough, which by its urgency 
 and sharpness of sound, is especially referrible to the larynx. It is not 
 merely the snorting that accompanies and characterizes nasal catarrh, 
 although there is a frequent effort to get rid of the matter which runs, 
 and sometimes in great quantities, from the nose, but is now of a 
 thinner and less adhesive nature, but there is a painful and ringing 
 cough. The sheep is often observed to stretch out his head, as if to breathe 
 more freely. There is evidently a dread of suffocation, yet not referrible 
 to obstruction in the nose : the open mouth and stretched out neck plainly 
 refer to the upper part of the throat, and, occasionally, some have perished 
 from general thickening of the larynx and the closure of the entrance into 
 the windpipe. Bleeding in urgent cases, purging, and, above all, removal 
 to a more sheltered pasture or to the straw-yard or sheep-house, will 
 afford the best chance of cure. 
 
ACUTE INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS 489 
 
 It may be difficult to describe the symptoms wbich characterize inflam- 
 mation of the windpipe, although examination of many sheep after death 
 has shown that this was the portion of the respiratory passages principally 
 affected. It is, however, most usually complicated, either with inflamma- 
 tion of the larynx, or of the bronchial passages within the lungs. 
 
 BRONCHITIS. 
 
 Lambs, and particularly when too early, and too much exposed, are sub- 
 ject to inflammation of the bronchial passages, indicated by loss of appetite, 
 tenderness when the throat, or the belly is pressed upon, and particu- 
 larly by a wheezing cough, which the careful observer will at once dis- 
 tinguish from the ringing one of laryngitis. The Epsom salts, with, in the 
 treatment of the diseases of these youngsters, the addition of more than 
 the usual proportion of ginger, will generally give relief, especially if the 
 comfort of the animal is somewhat attended to. 
 
 Bronchitis in young cattle is often accompanied or caused by tlie pre- 
 sence of worms in the air passages, which are a source of great irritation, 
 and frequently of death. Sheep are far less troubled with these parasites : 
 but several cases have come under the cognisance of the author, in which 
 the air-tubes were filled with them, and the animal destroyed by the inflam- 
 mation which they set up. This will be suspected when the cough is un- 
 usually distressing, and almost continual. Like the same disease in cattle, 
 it is confined almost entirely to low marshy, woody pastures — and to younij 
 lambs and hoggets ; and is oftener seen in those that have been neglected 
 and are weakly, than in the well-fed and healthy stock. Occasionally, 
 however, it prevails in dry summers, and on good pastures, when the 
 ponds are nearly dried, and full of animalculae. 
 
 The first, and the most important curative measure consists in removing 
 the sheep from the pasture, of whatever character it may be, on which they 
 become diseased. The medical treatment lies in a small compass ; it is 
 the administration of common salt, in doses of 1^ or 2 oz., daily, with 6 
 or 8 oz. of lime-water, given in some other part of the day. The author 
 is indebted to his friend Mr. Mayer, of Newcastle-under-Line, for the 
 knowledge of this most successful method of treating bronchitis in young 
 cattle, and he has found it quite as successful in sheep *. 
 
 ACUTB INFLAMMATION OP THE LUNOS. 
 
 This is by no means an unfrequent disease among sheep. It is caused 
 by cold and wet pasture — chills after hard driving — washing prior to 
 shearing — shearing during inclement weather, and other circumstances of 
 a similar description. Its first indication is that of fever — .hard and quick 
 pulse — disinclination for food — cessation of rumination — unwillingness to 
 move — slight heaving of the flanks, and a frequent and painful cough. 
 To this succeeds a more frequent and distressing cough — a greater dis- 
 turbance of respiration — a total disgust of food — an oppressed and perhaps 
 intermittent pulse — a discharge of foetid matter from the nose — a grinding 
 of the teeth — an insatiable thirst and an eager darting at the food offered, 
 but which is afterwards retained in the mouth unmasticated, as if the animal 
 were unconscious of its presence. A short time only passes ere other 
 symptoms follow. The pulse becomes almost imperceptible, the cough is 
 weaker and yet more painful — the flanks convulsively agitated — a crepitus, 
 or pressure on the loins — a nauseous discharge from the nostrils — a stag- 
 
 * See Veterinarian, vol. vii'. p. 399, 
 
«0 SHEEP. 
 
 gering walk — a clouded eye — a countenance expressive of suffering and 
 despair. The cough now ceases — the pulse dies away— the animal becomes 
 half unconscious — perhaps delirium succeeds, shortly after which death 
 closes the scene. Examination after death exhibits the lungs, almost 
 always, gorged with blood, black, decomposed, and lacerated by the slightest 
 touch, and one, or sometimes every lobe strangely increased in bulk, and 
 not subsiding in the slightest degree when the atmospheric air presses upon 
 it. These are the characteristic lesions, but in addition to them are in- 
 flammation of almost all the viscera — fullness of the maniplus, distension 
 of the abomasum, and enlargement and softening of the liver. 
 
 It is difficult to account for the fact, that inflammation of the lungs 
 in sheep generally takes on this gangrenous character. Is it because 
 the animal seems to be destined to the quiet and undisturbed accumulation 
 of fat and growth of wool, and that no provision is made for those dis- 
 turbances of the respiratory apparatus, and therefore the structure of the 
 lungs is soon disorganized ? 
 
 If such is the rapid and fatal progress of this disease in sheep, character- 
 istically called by the shepherds, the " rot of the lights," the course of 
 treatment is sufficiently plain. In the early stage bleeding and purging 
 must be carried to their full extent : for by such means alone can a disease 
 like this be subdued. On the other hand, however, the actual state of the 
 patient must be carefully ascertained. Depletion may be of inestimable 
 Value during the continuance, the short continuance, of the febrile state ; 
 but excitation like this will soon be followed by corresponding exhaustion, 
 and then the bleeding and the purging would be murderous expedients, and 
 gentian, ginger, and the spirit of nitrous ether, will afford the only hope of 
 cure. 
 
 CONSUMPTION. 
 
 There is another, and still more frequent, and equally fatal disease of the 
 lungs, but it assumes an insidious character, and is not recognised until 
 irreparable mischief is effected, viz., sub-acute, or chronic inflammation 
 of the lungs, and leading on to disorganization of a peculiar character — 
 tubercles in the lungs, and terminating in phthisis. The sheep is observed 
 to cough — he feeds well, and he is in tolerable condition — if he does not im- 
 prove quite so fast as his companions, still he is not losing ground, and the 
 farmer takes little or no notice of his ailment. Perhaps it can hardly be 
 expected that he should, for although it might be difficult, or perhaps im- 
 possible to prepare this cougher for the Christmas show at Smithfield, 
 there is no difficulty in getting him into fair marketable condition. 
 
 He is driven to the market, and he is slaughtered, and the meat looks 
 and sells well ; but in what state are the lungs ? Let him who is in the 
 habit of observing the plucks of the sheep, as they hang by the butcher's 
 door, answer the question. He sees plenty of sound lungs from oxen — 
 he sees the lungs of the calf in a beautifully healthy state ; but he does not 
 see one lung in three belonging to the sheep that is unscathed by disease — 
 whose mottled surface does not betray inflammation of the investing mem- 
 brane, and in the substance of which there are not numerous minute con- 
 cretions — tubercles. 
 
 Perhaps these lesions quickly follow sub-acute inflammation of the lungs, 
 but they do not rapidly increase afterwards. Their existence produces a 
 slight cough, which scarcely interferes with health — nay, it is a matter of 
 question whether the degree of irritation which tiiey produce does not for 
 awhile btim>\late the lung to an increased discharge of duty, and whelher 
 
EPIDEMIC DISEASK. 491 
 
 there is not more blood arterialised, and more flesh and fat produced ; and 
 therefore, in the modern system of grazing, when the sheep is sent to the 
 market, sometimes at eighteen months old, and seldom later than thirty 
 months, this disease, which at a more niatm-e age would destroy the animal, 
 is disarmed of most of its terrors. 
 
 This constitutes a material distinction between consumption in the cow 
 and the sheep. In the first animal there is for a time, and often a long 
 time, appetite and condition, and a plentiful secretion of milk ; but, for the 
 purpose of breeding and milking, the cow is kept year after year, until the 
 disease is fully established and runs its fatal course : in the other animal 
 the disease is not allowed time to develope itself. But what is the case, 
 and that not unfrequently, with the ram and the ewe when they get three 
 or four years old ? The cough continues — it increases — a pallidness of 
 the lips, or of the conjunctiva, is observed — a gradual loss of flesh — an 
 occasional or constant diarrhoea, which yields for awhile to proper medicine, 
 but returns again and again until it wears the animal away. How many, 
 in a breeding stock of sheep, perish in this way ? Of how many diseases 
 is this cough and gradual wasting the termination? It is the frequent 
 winding up of turnsick ; it is the companion and the child of rot. 
 
 This disease is especially prevalent in low and moist pastures, and it is 
 of most frequent occurrence in spring and in autumn, and when the weather 
 at those seasons is unusually cold and changeable. It is almost useless to 
 enter into the consideration of treatment. It would consist in a change 
 to dry and wholesome, and somewhat abundant pasture — the placing of 
 salt within the reach of the animal, and, if he was valued, the administra- 
 tion of the hydriodate of potash, in doses of three grains, morning and 
 night, and gradually increasing the dose to twelve grains. With regard, 
 however, to the common run of sheep— when wasting has commenced, and 
 is accompanied by cough or dysentery, the most honest and prc>fitable advice 
 which the surgeon could give to the farmer would be, to send the animal 
 to the butcher while the carcase will readily sell. 
 
 EPIDEMIC DISEASE. 
 
 In a great measure the sheep is exempt from those epidemic diseases by 
 which so many horses and cattle are frequently destroyed. The cause of 
 this immunity it is perhaps difficult to explain. The sheep do not lead so 
 artificial a life as some of the other domesticated animals, and they have 
 a disease peculiar to themselves, sufficiently destructive, without sharing in 
 the epidemic maladies by vvhich the others are swe[)t away. The earliest 
 record in British history of any prevalent fatal disease among sheep, is 
 dated 1041, when it is said that the greater part, both of cattle and sheep, 
 were destroyed. Another still more destructive epidemic occurred in 1125. 
 In 1315 an epidemic prevailed that was equally destructive to the human 
 being and to every other domesticated animal ; and another of a similar 
 character followed in 1665. In general, however, the sheep were exempt, 
 jr suff'ered slightly*. 
 
 * In the gardens of the Zoological Society of Loudon, there are generally several 
 ;'oreigii sheep — some from the interior of Asia — others from the north, and others still 
 from the southern extremity of Africa. They arrive in the gardens, usually in fair, but 
 never in good condition ; hut we cannot keep them. Few or none die of the rot, but 
 they are phthisical — and they waste and waste away, to a degree that would scarcely be 
 thought possible. They stalk about actual living skeletons ; dysentery in the latter 
 stagts contributes to hasten the catastrophe. Some from Wallachia or from Hungary 
 contimie with us year after year, but not one of those from a torrid climate lasts out the 
 second year, and when they die the lungs are tubeiculated or full of vomica}. 
 
492 SHEEP. 
 
 In the years 1834 and i83b an epidemic prevailed among the sheep in 
 the colony of New South Wales. Some of the settlers lost more than half 
 iheir stock, and the mortality was fearful through a considerable portion of 
 the colony. In conformity with the order of the Governor, Mr. Bcnnet, 
 the surgeon to the colony, assisted by two other gentlemen, inquired into 
 the nature and cause of the malady. The following is an abstract of 
 their report, which will give the reader some idea of these occasional epi- 
 demics in modern times : — 
 
 The character of the runs on which the sheep fed was that of lofty 
 ranges abounding in excellent pasture and good water. They had been 
 placed in this locality five or six years, and had remained perfectly healthy. . 
 The winter months had been dry with severe frosts, but the rain setting in 
 during the latter part of the spring, the epidemic began to appear. 
 
 The animal separates from his companions, and appears depressed and 
 listless ; the eyes are watery, the membrane of the nose red, and the sheep 
 sneezes frequently. A watery discharge, but soon becoming glairy and 
 clammy, is observed from one nostril, and there is a collection of adhesive 
 mucus encrusting the eye-lids — the animal ceases to ruminate, and droops 
 his head, but is evidently uneasy and continually shifting his posture or 
 his place. This first stage lasts from four to twelve hours. The eyes and 
 nose become redder ; the discharge increases ; it is thicker and of a yel- 
 lowish hue, and it hardens about the orifices of the nose, and obstructs 
 respiration. The orifice of the nostrils is swelled, the breathing is evidently 
 hurried, and the animal is in great pain ; the head is heavy and is rested 
 on the hurdles of the fold, and a cough, troublesome and painful, is ob- 
 served. 
 
 The third and last stage now advances. The membrane of the nose 
 assumes a leaden or dark purple hue ; the discharge is lessened, but it is 
 very thick and streaked with blood ; the breathing is more laborious, and 
 the cough more painful. The lips and particularly the upper lip, the 
 nostrils, and sometimes the whole face and head, are swollen ; and, pre- 
 sently, a general trembling comes over the animal ; he appears stupid ; he 
 runs against everything in his way ; he kneels down, or falls down, be- 
 comes comatose, and, after a few struggles, expires. 
 
 In some of the sheep death occurred in six hours after the first &ttack — 
 oftener twelve hours elapsed, and sometimes the animal lingered on to the 
 third day. If he lived beyond that time he usually recovered. In those 
 that did recover, general debility remained for a long while, and in almost 
 all of them the wool fell off, leaving the poor animals perfectly naked. 
 
 The surface of the body, after death, appeared to be of a dark purple, or 
 livid hue, and the carcase very speedily became putrid. Post mortem ex- 
 amination presented, in most cases, inflammation of all the sinuses of the 
 skull, a strong infection of the membranes of the brain, but not the slightest 
 disease of the substance of the brain. The membrane of the nose was 
 highly inflamed and thickened, and a tough viscid matter was effused over 
 it, which could be scraped away with a knife. In many cases the disease 
 was confined to these membranes, except that the heart was gorged with 
 black blood. In other animals the disease was confined to the pulmonary 
 organs, the inflammation extended down the larynx, the trachea, and all 
 the bronchial passages ; the membrane was thickened, and the air-tubes 
 obstructed with viscid mucus. The stomachs were usually healthy, and 
 filled with food in a healthy state : the whole of the intestinal canal was 
 perfectly sound, except tha't the faeces had accumulated in hard lumps, and 
 produced some abrasion of the mucous membrane. The liver was usually 
 free from disease, as were al^o the kidneys and the bladder. 
 
BREEDING. 493 
 
 The treatment was simple but decisive. The animal was bled almost to 
 fainting, and an ounce of Epsom salts administered with a drachm of 
 nitre in warm gruel. The infected sheep were separated from the sound 
 ones, without, however, fatiguing or distressing the animals by long or 
 harassing journeys or otherwise. If the patient was not relieved in 
 four or six hours, the bleeding was repeated, and the quantity regulated by 
 the effect which it produced on the pulse. The administration of the salts 
 was also persevered in until the bowels were well opened. The chance 
 of success was greater in proportion as these remedial means were early 
 applied. Even in the second stage of the disease, they occasionally had 
 good effect, but in the third stage they were of no avail. Relapses or 
 change of weather were frequent : the convalescents being for a long 
 period extremely weak. There did not seem to be any preventive; 
 and those who bled all their sheep, on the appearance of the disease in 
 a few, had reason to repent of it, on account of the greater number that 
 were eventually attacked, and the increased proportion of deaths. It was 
 difficult to ascertain the number of sheep that were affected and died or 
 recovered, because this epidemic, like almost every other, was very capri- 
 cious as to the farms that it attacked, and the proportion of its victims. The 
 greater part of the flocks escaped altogether. Where a flock of sheep con- 
 sisting of about 300 was attacked, the average number of patients would 
 be 100, of which about 55 would recover and 45 be lost. The whole 
 number of deaths was more than 7000. It was plainly an infectious dis- 
 ease, but only communicable when the animals were brought into actual 
 contact. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 BREEDING— THE GENERATIVE AND URINARY SYSTEMS. 
 
 The object of the sheep-master is to raise and to retain that animal which 
 will pay best for the consumption of its food. With the breeder of cattle 
 this is aWy simple affair — he selects and cultivates that animal which will 
 attain the greatest maturity and weight in the shortest time, and on the 
 least quantity of food. The dairy-man wishes to add another quality 
 to the aptitude to fatten, namely, the yielding, and for a considerable time, 
 a large quantity of milk. The sheep-breeder also derives his profit from 
 two sources, the early maturity of the carcase, and the quantity and useful 
 properties of the wool. Both will occupy his attention : the first, in every 
 case, and as his grand object ; the second as valuable, but regarded more 
 as a subsidiary. 
 
 How shall he attain these objects? He looks carefully over his flock, 
 and he observes that some of his sheep — the food and the general manage- 
 ment being the same — fatten more quickly than others. There is the same 
 attention paid to all, but the profit is abundantly more from some than from 
 the majority of their companions. He is anxious to account for this. He 
 compares these sheep wiih some of their fellows, and he observes that there 
 is an evident difference of conformation, a fineness of bone, a roundness 
 and compactness of form, a condensation of substance, and a beautiful pro- 
 portion of every part. He studies this, and he finds that there is n.ore or 
 lesB of this conformation in every sheep that materially outstrips his fel- 
 
494 SHEEP 
 
 lows. He inquires farlluT, and if be lias employed different rams, the one 
 that possesses most perfectly this peculiarity of form, and its accompanying 
 aptitude to fatten, was the parent of these promising sheep, or their 
 dam had these points in considerable perfection. He now begins to form 
 some notion of the kind of animal that the profitable sheep should be ; and 
 he has living proof that these valuable properties may and will descend to 
 the offspring. 
 
 His pride and his interest are involved, and he examines these flowers of 
 his flock with still closer attention. He finds that, in the handling, they 
 present as great a difference to the feeling as they do to the eye. There 
 is a softness, a springy elastic softness, in distinction from the hard, harsh, 
 unyielding nature of the skin and the texture immediately beneath it 
 in others, which once impressed on the mind, can never be forgotten ; and 
 he associates this with the certainty of early maturity. 
 
 Having satisfied himself with regard to these things, he dismisses the 
 ram that does not exhibit these qualities, or that fails in getting lambs pos- 
 sessing them ; and the ewes that do not approach to the beau-ideal which 
 he has formed in his own mind, or whose lambs are inferior in appearance 
 or in thrifliness. He fattens these and sends them to the butcher. He 
 collects together the lambs as soon as their form and qualities begin to 
 develop themselves — a little experience will enable him to judge accu- 
 rately of this at a very early age — and without hesitation he discards those 
 that are not up to the mark, whether ram or ewe-lambs. He puts by a 
 few of the very best of the males for a second examination at no very dis- 
 tant time, and every faulty one is selected from the ewe-lambs, and pre- 
 pared for the butcher as quickly as may be. In this way the flock is 
 systematically and rapidly improved, and the breeder is well repaid for the 
 diligent attention which he has given to this important object. If hisjlock 
 is large he will find in this principle of selection every thing that he can 
 want. 
 
 There is one point more, the importance of which he cannot overrate — 
 he should never preserve a lamb that has an evident and glaring defect. 
 In proportion as his flock improves he should regard this as a rule that 
 admits of no exception ; for the principle that " like produces like" extends 
 as powerfully to the defects as to the excellencies of the animal. Jfhe pro- 
 geny infallibly inherits the defects as well as the excellencies of the parent ; 
 and no improvement in a good point, already possessed to a considerable 
 extent, can compensate for the introduction of an obvious blemish. 
 
 On this principle of selection the breeder will continue to proceed, if his 
 flock is tolerably large, and he will even be jealous of the introduction of 
 a foreign breed. The good qualities of his sheep, transmitted from one 
 generation to another, are no longer accidental circumstances. They have 
 become a part and portion of the breed, and may be calculated upon with 
 the greatest degree of certainty. They constitute the practical illustration 
 of the term blood. It would be long ere the good qualities of a stranger 
 would form an identical portion of the sheep ; and no animals will elsewhere 
 thrive so well, or improve so rapidly, as on the pastures on which they and 
 their forefathers have, generation after generation, been accustomed to 
 wander. 
 
 But, after awhile, with a considerable degree of certainty in a small 
 flock, and too frequently in a larger one, the sheep will continue to arrive 
 early at maturity, and to fatten as kindly as before, or even more so, but 
 they evidently are decreasing a little, and yet only a little, in size. They 
 do not bear the severity of tlie weather quite so well, and perhaps they are 
 
BREEDING. 49.'. 
 
 somewhat more subject to disease. The farmer will do well to lako 
 warning. He has been breeding too long from close affinities ; and he 
 must introduce a little different and yet congenial blood. He must select 
 a ram from a soil, and kind of food, not dissimilar to his own, although at 
 a distance perhaps as great as convenience will permit — with points as much 
 resembling his own sheep as may be, — quite as good as those in his own 
 flock — superior if possible in some points, and inferior in none, and he must 
 dismiss his own ram for one year and make use of the stranger. His 
 purpose will be completely answered. He will have infused a tone and vigour 
 among his sheep — they keep their propensity to fatten, and they re-acquire 
 that health and hardiness which they used to exhibit, and the farmer is 
 enabled to go on satisfactory for a certain number of years ; when experi- 
 ence will tell him that a stimulus, in the form of a little foreign blood, is again 
 wanted. Thus is illustrated that axiom with regard to all our domesticated 
 animals — '' selection with judicious and cautious admixture, is the true 
 secret of forming and improving a breed." The errors to be avoided are 
 too long-continued and obstinate adherence to one breed ; and, on the 
 other hand, and even more dangerous, violent crosses, in which there is 
 little similarity between the soil, the pasture, or the points and qualities of 
 the animals that are brought together*. 
 
 The ewe is sufficiently matured for breeding at fifteen or eighteen months. 
 The old farmers did not employ them for this purpose until after the 
 second shearing ; but the improvement in the breed, which develops so 
 soon a disposition to fatten, and prepares them so much earlier for the mar- 
 ket, hastens also the development of the generative powers in the sheep. 
 
 The ewes and rams being kept in different pastures, the farmer can select 
 his own time-for bringing fhem together, and consequently, the time for 
 yeaning ; and that will depend on various circumstances. Where there is 
 a demand for house-lambs, or the farmer adopts the rearing of such lambs 
 as a part of his system of management, the period of yeaning should com- 
 mence as early as September or October, in order that in November and 
 December the lambs may be ready for the market, and, at which time they 
 will obtain a good remunerating price. 
 
 In the general course of breeding, however, it is desirable that the lambs 
 should not fall until the cold of winter is over, and the pasture begins to 
 afford some food for the little ones. This is peculiarly important in bleak 
 and exposed situations. Thousands of lambs die every year from the cold 
 to which they are exposed as soon as they are yeaned. On the other 
 hand there may be some inconvenience and danger if the period of lambing 
 is too late. Hot weather is as fatal to the mother as cold is to the off- 
 spring. It frequently induces a dangerous state of fever; and both the 
 mother and the lamb may be then injured by the luxuriance of the grass. 
 If the lamb falls late in the season, it will be longer ere the ewe can be 
 got ready for the butcher, and the ground cleared for other stock — and, in 
 addition to this, the early lambs become larger and stronger and better 
 able to resist the cold of the succeeding winter. The yeaning time will, 
 therefore, be regulated by the situation of the farm, the nature of the pas- 
 ture, and the demand from the neighbouring markets. It will seldom, 
 however, commence before the middle of March, or be postponed beyond 
 the middle of April. 
 
 The duration of pregnancy is about five months or 152 days, and that 
 
 * See Quarterly Journal of Agriculture Sept. 1830, p. 250. Low's Elements of AgricuU 
 ture,. p. '192, and Dickson's Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 639. 
 
4i)8 SJIEKP. 
 
 with comparatively trifling deviation *. The time for putting tlie ram with 
 the ewes will therefore be from the middle of October, to that of Novem- 
 ber. No preparation is necessary, except, for a few weeks previously, to 
 place the ewes on somewhat better pasture than usual. Before the ram 
 is admitted the farmer should always fold and examine the ewes, first as 
 to their possessing that form and appearance that are likely to perpetuate 
 the breed which he is desirous to possess, and secondly, to ascertain whether 
 they are in good health, the proof of which will be the whiteness and firm 
 jiess of their teeth, the sweetness of their breath — the brightness of the eye 
 md of the countenance, the degree of fat which they carry, and the firm- 
 ness with which the wool adheres to the pelt. Every inferior or diseased 
 ewe should be separated from the rest, and prepared, as speedily as may 
 be, for the butcher. 
 
 In consequence of the new system of breeding and management, the 
 ram will be sufficiently matured at the same age as the ewe ; but it will 
 not, perhaps, be prudent to allow him so many ewes as would be placed 
 with one of greater age. The number should be somewhat regulated by 
 the apparent health and strength of the animal, and the pasture from whicli 
 he comes. Forty or fifty ewes may be allowed to the slieerling, and seventy 
 or eighty to the older ramf. The practice of worrying the ewes with dogs, 
 or employing a teaser — have deservedly fallen into considerable disuse. 
 It was formerly the custom to raddle the ram, or rub a little red ochre 
 on him from his brisket to his belly, and repeat this daily for a fortnight. 
 If the marked ewes still continued in blossom and followed the ram, it 
 would show that they had not been impregnated by him, and experience 
 proved that if the first connexion was not successful no other would, gene- 
 rally speaking, be so with the same ram. This ewe would then, probably, 
 be put with another ram, or another ram would be selected to take the place 
 of the first in the ewe-flock. 
 
 The ram having been put with the ewes, the owner should visit the inclosure 
 once or twice every day. During the first four or five days the ewes will 
 be seen flocking around him, and following him from place to place; but 
 if this long continues there will be reason to suspect that he is incompetent 
 to his duty, and the owner will probably be disposed to. remove him, or to 
 place a younger ram in the same fold with him, who, although he may be 
 persecuted and driven about by the first, will find opportunity to impreg- 
 nate those ewes with whom the other has failed. At the expiration of the 
 third week, the first ram, whether he appears to. have discharged his duty 
 
 * M. Tessier presented a valuable memoir to the Royal Academy of Science in Paris 
 containing his observations on the period of pregnancy of almost every domestic animal. 
 Out of 912 ewes the shortest period was 1-16 days, and the longest 161, being a difier- 
 ence of 15 (Jays ; but more than three parts of them yeaned between the 150th, and 
 154th day after impregnation ; bringing the aveiage as nearly as possible to 152 days, 
 or five calendar months, or twenty-one weeks and five days. 
 
 There is a singular case on record of a ewe exhibiting every sign of approaching 
 ^parturition, and even the peculiar membrane protruding and breaking, and the water 
 3scaping. No assistance, however, was rendered to her, and the foetus was retained. 
 Her health did not appear to be materially affected, and two years passed on, at the 
 expiration of which period she died. A full grown lamb, and not at all putrid or de 
 composed, was found within her. — Rec. de Med. Vet. 1824, p. 155. 
 
 f Mr. Parkinson, who allots the same number of ewes to a ram as a general rule, 
 speaks of one which he hired from Mr. Chaplin, at the time when the system of letting 
 was first established, and to which he had put no fewer than nine score of lainbs, and 
 they all proved in lamb except one. — Parkinson on Live Stock, p. 276. This is, how- 
 ever, very bad practice, and a puny and almost worthless breed would result from over- 
 taxing the powers of nature. 
 
ABORTION. 497 
 
 or not, should be removed, and anotl)er put in his place. By this means 
 all except the barren ewes will certainly be impregnated. 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF THE EWE DURING PREGNANCY. 
 
 The rams having been finally parted from the ewes, some little attention 
 should be paid to the latter. They should be driven gently to and from 
 the fold ; no dogging should on any account be allowed ; they should be 
 separated from the rest of the flock, and, if possible, a sheltered and 
 tolerably good pasture should be allowed them. If the convenience of the 
 farmer requires it, they may have turnips, or mangel-wurzel, or other 
 green food in the winter ; but they must not be suffered to gorge them- 
 selves ; nor indeed should any food, or quantity of food be given to them , 
 by means of which their condition may be materially or scarcely at all 
 increased. It has been supposed by some breeders that, because the ewe 
 is with lamb, an additional quantity of food, and of more nutritive food, 
 should be allowed — nothing can be more erroneous or dangerous, both to 
 the mother and the offspring. There will be too many causes of inflamma- 
 tion ready to act, and to act powerfully, during the time of going with 
 lamb, to permit the least approach to excess of food. 
 
 ABORTION, 
 
 One of the evils to be dreaded is premature labour. The ewe is not so 
 subject to this as the cow; but there are occasional instances of it. For- 
 tunately, however, it is not so infectious — if this term may be used — it 
 does not spread so rapidly through the flock as through a herd of dairy 
 cows. The causes of abortion are various, and some of them as contrary 
 as possible in their nature. It may arise from starvation, and especially 
 when a cold winter succeeds to a wet summer and autumn. It is also pro- 
 duced in the open and neglected part of the country, from continued inter- 
 course with the ram after the period of gestation is considerably advanced. 
 This is frequently the case among the mountain and the moor sheep. It has 
 often been known to follow the incautious and hasty driving of the sheep 
 into the fold in the later period of pregnancy. A leap over a ditch or a low 
 gate has been followed by abortion, and so has a sudden fright when a dog 
 addicted to worrying sheep has suddenly made his appearance in the flock. 
 
 Some very intelligent flock-masters have assured the author that they 
 have attributed it, and satisfactorily so, to the too liberal use of salt. They 
 had adopted the modern and judicious practice of putting salt within the reach 
 of the greater part of their flock, and particularly of those that were sup- 
 posed to be aff"ected with the rot. A portion of the flock had not access 
 to the salt. Some cases of abortion had occurred in the flocks of all of them, 
 but it was almost confined to those ewes that had partaken of the salt. One 
 gentleman told the author that he had given two ounces of common salt, 
 with a little ginger, to a pregnant ewe that was dull and off her food, and 
 that she aborted twelve hours afterwards. Here was a striking coincidence 
 in point of time, but it must be left for future experience to determine how 
 far this, generally speaking, invaluable medicine may be injurious to the 
 pregnant ewe. One favourable circumstance may be stated — that when 
 abortion occurs, from whatever cause, it is rarely fatal to the ewe. 
 
 There is one singular and too frequent consequence of abortion, namely, 
 the detachment of a portion, or of almost the whole of the wool, during 
 the following spring. 
 
 There are few symptoms that designate the approach of abortion in the 
 sheep until it is too close at hand to be prevented from occurriner. A 
 
 •2 K 
 
498 SHEEP. 
 
 degree of dulness and of disinclination to food, and a frequent or almost 
 continual bleating, followed by the discharge of a glairy, or yellow, or red, 
 and fetid discharge from the vulva, would sufficiently indicate it, but bein"- 
 so near at hand as not to be arrested in its course. Were it not for the 
 woolly covering of the ewe, the cessation of the motion of the foetus, and 
 the sudden falling of the belly, would leave no room for doubt. 
 
 The consequence of abortion is uniformly the death of the lamb. In the 
 majority of cases this occurs some hours or days before the foetus is parted 
 with ; in a few instances the lamb is born alive, but it dies in a very 
 short space of time afterwards. 
 
 The treatment after abortion will depend entirely on the circumstances 
 of the case. If the foetus had been long dead — proved by the fetid smell 
 of it, and of the vaginal discharge — the parts should be washed with a weak 
 solution of the chloride of lime; some of which may also be injected into 
 the uterus. If fever should supervene, it should be met by the treatment 
 already recommended for that form of disease. If debility and want of 
 appetite should remain, a little gentian and ginger, with small doses of 
 Epsom salts, will speedily restore the animal, care being taken that the 
 food shall not be too nutritive, or too great in quantity. 
 
 THE LAMBING. 
 
 The 152nd day from the admittance of the ram among the flock now 
 approaching, some have recommended that the ewes should be put on 
 better pasture, in order that they may have sufficient strength at the 
 moment of yeaning, and that there may be an adequate supply of milk for 
 the support of the lamb. If, however, she has during her pregnancy been 
 placed on tolerably fair pasture, and is now in moderate condition, this 
 stimulating system is to be deprecated as fraught with evil. Few ewes 
 have sunk under the labour of parturition, unless they had been previously 
 half«8tarved ; and it is seldom that nature fails to supply sufficient nutri- 
 ment for the young one ; but many a ewe has been lost by means of that 
 inflammation for which the stimulating plan lays the almost- necessary 
 foundation, and thousands of lambs have been destroyed by a flush of too 
 nutritive milk, of which their weak powers of digestion could not dispose. 
 Many a grazier has sustained considerable loss from having lambed his 
 ewes thinly on strong land, but few have suffered who have placed them 
 more thickly on the pasture. 
 
 The ewes should be removed as near to home as convenience will per- 
 mit, and, according to the quality of the pasture, should occupy as little 
 space as possible, in order that they may be more under the immediate eye 
 of the lamber. 
 
 The process of clatting should now commence. The ewes snould be 
 driven into a fold, and the hair removed with the shears from under the 
 tail and the inside of the thighs and around the udder. Without this 
 many a lamb would be prevented from sucking by means of the dirt and 
 filth which had accumulated around these parts ; and, after the clatting, the 
 lamber will be more readily able to distinguish the ewes that have lambed. 
 This is a matter of some consequence, for it will not unfrequently happen 
 that the young ewes will desert their lambs, and graze among the others as 
 careless and indifferent as if nolliing had happened. The barren ewes will 
 also be readily detected and separated. 
 
 Some farmers clat the ewes before the ram is admitted into the field, but 
 this is an exceedingly bad practice. The winter is approaching ; tiie ewe 
 will be uncomfortable and cold, and, occasionally, garget, and inflammation 
 
THE LAMBING. 499 
 
 of the womb, and abortion, and death, will be the consefjuence of this 
 thoughtless and cruel exposure. 
 
 The lamber should now be on the w-atch day and night. The farmer 
 himself should superintend, or assist in the duties of this season. Few of 
 them are sufficiently aware of their interests here, or the immense losses", 
 which they sometimes sustain from the carelessness, or impatience, or 
 brutality o^ the lamber. " Many lambs," says Mr. Price, in that most 
 interesting part of his valuable treatise of sheep — the management of the 
 ewes and their progeny during the lambing season — " may be lost without 
 it being possible to charge the lamber with neglect or ignorance, although 
 greater attention on his part might have saved many that otherwise perish. 
 The practice of lambing is at times very intricate, and is apt to exhaust the 
 patience of a lamber. Sheep are obstinate, and lambing presents a scene 
 of confusion, disorder and trouble, which it is the lamber's business to 
 rectify, and for which he ought always to be ])repared. Some of the ewes 
 perhaps leave their lambs, or the lambs get intermixed, and the ewes that 
 have lost their lambs run about bleating, while others want assistance. 
 These are only a few of the various occurrences which call for the imme- 
 diate attention of the lamber*,'' and which render it necessary that the 
 owner of the sheep should be on the spot, and should superintend the 
 whole concern. *' In the year 1S05," continues Mr. Price, '* I mentioned 
 this to one of the greatest sheep-owners on the Marsh, and who said that 
 he would watch the lamber more attentively than ever ; and the consequence 
 was that in the following spring he was more successful than he had been 
 in any one of the preceding twenty-five years." Another master, pursuing 
 the same plan, saved 200 pairs of twins out of 800 ewes, whereas he had 
 never before saved more than 100, and, in some years, not more than one 
 lamb to each ewe. 
 
 There is one custom, which has been hinted at in a former part of this 
 work, and that should be for ever abolished — the skins of the dead Iambs 
 becoming the perquisite of tlie lamber. It would be unfjiir and unjust to 
 charge the lamber with being generally dishonest ; but he should not be 
 exposed to the temptation of becoming so : his interest should be insepara- 
 bly united with, and not in opposition to, that of his master. 
 
 THE IMMEDIATE PREPARATION FOR LAMBING. 
 
 The time of lambing nearly approaching, and the lambing field having 
 been selected, a small pound or folding-place should be enclosed in the 
 most sheltered corner of it, into which the ewes and lambs that require 
 assistance may be driven. The fences, and particularly the ditches, should 
 be well examined, and if there is water in the ditch the bank of it should 
 be carefully guarded. The ewes often select the side of the hedge or ditch 
 to lamb on, because it is usually barer of grass than most other parts of 
 the field. Except })recaution has been taken, these will be found exceed- 
 ingly dangerous spots, for the lamb, when rising, may stagger back into 
 the ditch, and if he does so he will certainly be drowned. If there is the 
 least danger attending any jiart of the ditch, and a ewe seems to have 
 selected that for her place of yeaning, she should be driven from it again 
 and again, and especially when the lambing field is left for the night. 
 
 Another and smaller field, and with somewhat better pasture, should 
 also have been selected, into which the ewes that may have twins may be 
 turned. There will be less of the confusion which often occurs amon<3 
 
 * Piice on Sheep, p. 115. 
 
 '2 K -3 
 
500 SIIKEF. 
 
 these twins, ami tlie ewe will be better enabled tp provide for lier double 
 progeny. 
 
 The iamber should have with him his lamb crook ; a bottle of milk — 
 ewes' milk if possible, and carried in his bosom or in an inside pocket, that 
 it may be kept warm ; some conls to tie the legs of the ewes that he may 
 have occasion to assist or to examine ; a little pot of tar, with two or three 
 small marking-irons, that he may place a different mark on each pair ot 
 twins, in order that he may be enabled afterwards to recognise lliem ; 
 another little pot of grease or oil, to lubricate his hand, if he should have 
 occasion to introduce it into the womb of any of the ewes ; a sharp knife, 
 with a round or ratl>er curved extremity, should it be necessary to remove 
 the lamb piece-meal from the mother ; a piece of stout polished iron rod, 
 of the size of a goose-quill, twelve inches m length, and rounded at one 
 end, somewhat like a button-hook, in order to remove from the womb a 
 dead or divided foetus ; a sheep's drenching-horn ; a small bottle of cor- 
 dial, consi^ing of equal parts of brandy and sweet spirit of nitre; and a 
 strong infusion of ergot of rye. 
 
 If the ochre had been applied to the ram, and the order in which tiie 
 ewes were stained by it had been noted, he would be aware what ewes 
 required the earliest watching. Tliis is seemingly a trifling thing, yet 
 may be the cause of many a lamb being saved in the course of the season. 
 As he goes his rounds among them he should raise every ewe that appears 
 early in the list, and which he finds lying down, and he should observe 
 whether there are about her any symptoms of approaching labour ; and 
 as the ewe-flock had previously been kept as free from disturbance as 
 possible, he should now approach them with additional care and tenderness. 
 
 In the more open parts of the country, the ewes, as the yeaning time 
 approaches, should be folded every night. With commendable humanity 
 and prudence too, the hurdles are frequently guarded with straw, Mr. 
 Price says that he knew a grazier who used boarded hurdles as a pro- 
 tection to the lambs, and they were lambed in folds, the laniber attending 
 on them during the night. When he lived in Herefordshire the ewes were 
 driven into cots every night during the lambing. They were turned out in 
 the day into an adjoining pasture, and had peas and straw, and sometimes 
 turnips given to them during the night*. 
 
 THE LAMBING. 
 
 The period of lambing having commenced, the attention of the Iamber 
 should be increased. He should carefully observe every ewe that appears 
 to be in labour. While she walks about and does not exhibit any extra- 
 ordinary degree of suffering, he should not interfere ; nor should he do so 
 if she rises when he approaches, and walks away, unless her labour has 
 been protracted twenty hours or more. He should not be in haste to render 
 his assistance, although she should be continually lying down and getting 
 up again, and showing more impatience or irritability than actual pain : but 
 if her streni,fth appears to be declining, his immediate aid is required. 
 If he has to drive her to the fold or pound, it should be as gently as possi- 
 ble, or he should drive some others with her, in oriler that she may not be 
 
 * Price on Sheep, p. 153. For many of the observations on the treatment of" the 
 ewe and the lamb during the time of yeaning, the author acknowledges hirfiself indeiited 
 to this valuable work. It is the only original modern work on th s suiject. In some 
 important poii\t8, however, he lias ventured altogether to differ from Mr. Prici". This 
 gentleman professes to treat of the management of the Romney Marsh sheep alone ; biit 
 liiere is that in his work which claims lor it a place in the library of every sheep-owner. 
 
THE LAMlilNG. 501 
 
 frightened by being alone selected. Tlie early interference of the laniber 
 is always prejudicial, and very frequently fatal. Nature, in the course of 
 twenty or twenty-four hours will, in the great majority of cases, accom- 
 plish that which cannot be hurried on by art without extreme danger. 
 
 The state of the weather will cause a very considerable difference in the 
 duration of the labour. When the weather is cold and dry, and especially 
 if the situation is somewhat exposed, the progress of the labour will be 
 slow — the throes will be comparatively weak and ineffectual, and the ewe 
 may and should be left a considerable time before mechanical assistance 
 is rendered. When, however, the weather is warm, and especially if, at 
 the same time, it is moist, the throes will be violent, and the strength of 
 the sufferer will be very rapidly wasted ; there will be a dangerous ten- 
 dency to inflammation, and the aid of the lamber is speedily required. 
 Except under these circumstances, no motive of curiosity, no desire to 
 know how the affair is going on, should induce the lamber to interfere 
 while the throes are natural and the strength continues, unless it is evident, 
 without handling the ewe, that a false presentation, or some mechanical 
 cause, prevents the expulsion of the foetus. When the ewe is nearly ex- 
 hausted, she vvill often suffer the lamber to kneel beside her and successfully 
 afford the requisite assistance. If there is a violent struggle between the 
 patient an<I the lamber, the foetus will often be destroyed ; but his help, when 
 she quietly submits to him, vvill rarely fail to preserve the mother and her 
 offspring. Let it be supposed that, from certain circumstances, she is 
 driven to the pound, or that she is lying quietly by the lamber in the field. 
 He should first endeavour to ascertain the nature of the presentation. Is 
 the lamb coming the right way, with its muzzle first and a forefoot on each 
 side of it? If the tongue is not protruding from the mouth and becoming 
 almost black, and her strength is not quite wasted, a table-spoonful of his cor- 
 dial, with double this quantity of the infusion, will probably increase or recall 
 the pains ; and the lamb will soon be born. If this is not effected in a quar- 
 ter of an hour, a second dose of the infusion should be given ; and, that 
 being followed by no good result, he should try what mechanical assistance 
 vvill do. He should draw down first one leg and then the other, endea- 
 vouring with his finger to solicit or coax the head onward at the same time. 
 If he cannot readily get at the legs, he should push the head of the Iamb a 
 little backwards and downwards, when he will probably be enabled to grasp 
 them. If he does not now succeed, the cause of the obstruction will be 
 sufficiently plain, namely, the too great largeness of the head, which can- 
 not readily pass the arch of the pubis ; and, therefore, either tying the legs 
 of the ewe, or an assistant keeping her down on her right side, the lamber 
 should grasp the two fore-legs in one hand, and, with one or two fingers 
 of the other, introduced into the vagina by the side of the head, urge it for- 
 ward with as much force as is consistent with the safety of the lamb. The 
 young one will rarely fail to be extracted by these means, except the head 
 very much exceeds the common size. An account of the occasional losses 
 sustained by reason of the large heads of some breeds has already been 
 given in page 371. 
 
 The false presentations are not numerous in the ewe, and they are usually 
 accounted for with tolerable readiness. When the ewe in-lamb has been 
 violently hunted by a dog — whether occasioned by the thoughtlessness or 
 brutality of the shepherd, or his boy, or the natural ferocity of the animal — it 
 may be readily conceived how much the situation of the foetus may be dis- 
 arranged by the leaps and falls of the sheep. The author has more than 
 once fancied that he could trace a connexion between the unnecessary and 
 
502 SHEEP. 
 
 rough handling of the shepherd, in tlie early period of parturition or before 
 the commencement of it, and an altered position of the foetus. The clatting 
 is a necessary operation, but there needs not a tenth part of the violence 
 tliat is sometimes used. Tiie connexion between these circumstances is of 
 so frequent occurrence, that, on this account alone, some sheep-masters 
 defer the clatling until after the dropping of the lamb. 
 
 The most usual false presentations are, — the side of the lamb pressing 
 against the mouth of the womb, which may be readily detected by feeling 
 the ribs — or the back, and then the bones of the spine can scarcely be 
 mistaken — or the breech, when the bones of the haunch will be immediately 
 recognised. The hand, well oiled or greased, should be introduced 
 into the vagina, and, the foetus being pushed a little back, one of the legs 
 will probably be felt, and may easily be drawn into the passage. Being 
 held there with the left hand, the corresponding leg must be got at like- 
 wise, and brought into the passage ; after which the delivery will usually 
 be effected without any great degree of trouble. The most dangerous pre- 
 sentations, and the most difficult to manage, are the crown of the head and 
 the breech. In both cases the lamb must be pushed back into the womb. 
 The head must then be raised with the fingers, and brought into the pas- 
 sage in the former case, and in the latter the lamb must be pushed far 
 enough into the womb, to enable the shepherd to bring down the hind-legs, 
 a work not always easily accomplished, or to be accomplished at all, on 
 account of the manner in which they are extended under the belly. The 
 principal loss in lambing is to be traced to one or the other of these pre- 
 sentations, and chiefly to the latter 
 
 The lamb having been placed in its natural position, and the labour pains 
 being strong, much may be left to nature ; the strength of the animal being 
 supported, and the pains rendered more regular and effective by small doses 
 of ginger and the ergot of rye. The position, however, being unnatural, 
 manual assistance cannot be too early afforded. The lamber should not 
 use more force than is absolutely necessary in order to draw away the lamb ; 
 vet a considerable degree of iit may be quietly employed without endan- 
 gering the life of either the mother or the offspring. If the ewe is nearly 
 exhausted, the application of this force is imperiously required. 
 
 Difficulty sometimes occurs in cases of twin-lambs. They may both 
 present at the same time, either naturally or otherwise. The one that is 
 least advanced must be returned, and the other extracted as speedily as cir- 
 cumstances will permit. The lamb ^ that was returned may then be left to 
 the power of nature, and will speedily follow. 
 
 As soon as it can be ascertained that the lamb is dead within the mother, 
 means must be taken for its extraction. There are instances in which the 
 dead lamb has been retained in the womb during a considerable period of 
 time, or, even during the life of the mother, but they are rare ; the animal 
 has seldom thriven vvell ; and, in the greater majority of cases, she has 
 pined away and died. The foetus may sometimes be extracted by the 
 hand ; at other times a blunt-pointed knife, and an instrument somewhat 
 resembling a large button-hook, are necessary. 
 
 THE CJESARIAN OPERATION. 
 
 Supposing, however, that the lamb is strong and lively, and the mother 
 is not quite exhausted — but it is evident, from the size of the lamb, or from 
 peculiarity of position, that it cannot be extracted alive, but that both the off- 
 spring and the mother must be destroyed — supposing also that the breed is 
 valuable, — would the opening of the belly of the mother, and the extraction 
 
INVERSlOxX OF THE WOMB. 503 
 
 of the lamb through the openhig, be warrantable ? The Caesarian opera- 
 tion, as it is called, has been performed on the human female, and in a few 
 cases with success. It has also been attempted on the quadruped, and 
 would oftener be so, were the veterinary surgeon supposed to know any- 
 thing respecting the diseases of sheep. 
 
 There are two cases on record in which it was performed on the sheep. 
 A four-year-old ewe was brought to M. Gohier, veterinary professor at 
 Lyons. She had been in labour twelve hours. The pains were now 
 rapidly becoming weaker, and she was nearly exhausted. From malforma- 
 tion of the parts it was, after numerous trials, and which completed her 
 exhaustion, found to be impossible to deliver her: the lamb also was dead. 
 It was determined, as the only chance of saving her, to attempt this opera- 
 tion. An incision, five inches long, was made in her flank ; the mass of the 
 intestines was pushed aside ; an incision of the same length was made into 
 the womb, and the foetus and the placenta extracted. The intestines were 
 then replaced, the wound closed by several sutures, and a bandage passed 
 round the belly, and over the wound. The operation was unsuccessful, and 
 it had been attempted too late, for the powers of life were exhausted, and the 
 poor animal died on the following day*. 
 
 On the other hand, the following account appeared in the Farmer's 
 Journal, May 26, 1S23 : — " On the 8th ult. a ewe, the property of Mr. W. 
 Pickering of Kettering was in labour. W. Dexter, the shepherd, not 
 being able, with projier assistance, to bring the lamb forward, opened the 
 ewe, and took out the lamb alive ; he afterwards replaced the intestines, 
 sewed up the wound, and carefully dressed her. In a short time the ewe . 
 grazed as before the operation, and, six weeks afterwards, both the ewe 
 and her lamb were doing well." 
 
 In cases, then, of imperative necessity, and when the death of the mother 
 would otherwise be inevitable, this operation is admissible. 
 
 In some lambs that are born apparently dead, the vital principle is not 
 extinct, but it soon would be so if the httle animal were suffered to remain 
 on the cold damp grass. Every lamb that is found in this situation should 
 be carefully examined, and if there is the slightest degree of warmth re- 
 maining about it, the shepherd should blow into its mouth, in order to 
 inflate the lungs : many a little one has been thus saved. 
 
 The lamber needs to trouble himself very little about the expulsion of 
 the placenta, or cleansing, although a day or two may pass before it is de- 
 tached. A couple of ounces of Epsom salts, with a little ginger, may be 
 given it" there should be a longer delay, or if symptoms of fever should be 
 exhibited, but the farmer will do well to avoid the rough barley, or the 
 misletoe, or, in fact, any stimulant, for there is at this time sufficient dis- 
 position to fever, without its being artificially set up. 
 
 INVERSION OF THE WOMB. 
 
 The womb will occasionally be protruded and inverted after a labour of 
 unusual severity, or when great violence has been resorted to in extract- 
 ing the lamb. It is usually returned as gently and as speedilv as possible, 
 and confined in its situation, either by a suture, or by a little iron ring 
 passed through the lips of the external parts. The ring is the surest method, 
 for the twine or thread may cut through the lips of the orifice ,; and in some 
 cases it is long before the uterus, although carefully returned, will remain 
 in its natural situation. 
 
 * M^moires et Observations sur la Chirurgie Vetcrinaiie, by J. B. Gohier. Tome I, 
 
504 SHEKP. 
 
 The Frencli place a pessary high up in the vagina, and secure it in i43 
 situation by means of the suture or ring. This renders the thing somewhat 
 more secure. A far better operation would be, not to return tlie womb at 
 all, but to tie a strong ligature round the protruded parts, as near to the 
 mouth of the vagina as possible. The uterus will slough off in tiie course 
 of two or three days. There will be no bleeding or the slightest inconve- 
 nience, and the ewe will become as healthy and as fat as any of the flock*. 
 
 Every ewe from whom the uterus has protruded should be fattened for 
 the butcher as soon as slie has reared her lamb. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB. 
 
 The ewe is subject to two species of inflammation of the womb, one 
 before and one after himbing. The first disease, which is primarily inflamma- 
 tion, rapidly degenerates into dropsy. It usually begins about a month 
 before lambing. Sometimes the ewe increases in size until the weight 
 becomes insupportable, and then she dies from weakness, before, or shortly 
 after, parturition. In other cases, when slightly affected, she recovers ; 
 but the disease seems to have extended to the lamb, which, although it 
 may appear strong when it is first dropped, soon refuses to suck, and dies 
 on the first or second day ; and, when examined, is found to contain consi- 
 derable fluid in diff'erent parts of the abdominal cavity. The shepherds 
 term them water-bellied lambs. The loss of lambs in this disease, either 
 from bad feeding or some epidemic influence, or both, has occasionally 
 amounted to 10 or 15 per cent. Remedy there is none ; for the nature of 
 the disease is scarcely discovered ere the animal dies. The preventive may 
 be, the withholding of the dangerous quantity of turnips that is sometimes 
 allowed to ewes at this time, and the substitution of a corresponding por 
 tion of dry food. 
 
 The inflammation of the womb after parturition usually comes on between 
 the first and the fourth day, and especially when any violence has been used 
 in extracting the lamb. It is a most fatal disease, and speedily runs its course. 
 The treatment should be, bleeding and j.urgatives of Epsom salts. On some 
 farms the loss of ewes from this disease has been two or three per centt. 
 
 AFTER-PAINS, 
 
 Connected with the last disease, or a variety of it, are the after-pains or 
 heaving to which ewes are subject, and which are frequently severe and 
 destructive. They are apparently the same pains, but considerably stronger, 
 which nature uses to expel the lamb. 
 
 Mr. Price says that a farmer on Romney Marsh lost several ewes in 
 1806, in the latter part of the lambing season. They lambed without any 
 assistance, but they were afterwards seized with heaving pains. He had 
 removed them from poor to rich keep. Another grazier had thirteen ewes 
 to lamb, during the latter end of the lambing season. The weather became 
 warm, and the grass was luxuriant, and he lost eleven of them from heaving. 
 
 This disease is evidently produced by the ewes being too well kept 
 during their pregnancy. It cannot be too often repeated, that it is 
 a fatal error to overfeed the ewes at this period, with the view of giv 
 ing them strength to support their approaching labour. It is a most 
 unscientific and injurious practice, and severely does the farmer suffer for 
 it. But there is some epidemic influence also at work, or the constitution 
 
 * Proceedings of the Zouloo;ical Society for 1830, p. 30. 
 
 t Mr. Clarke on Inflammation of the Uterus in Sheep. — Veterinarian, viii. 507. 
 
CARE OF THE LAMBS. &C5 
 
 of thr} sheep is at that time irritable almost beyond belief; for Mr. Pi ice 
 adds, " This inflammation takes place sooner or later, according lo tlie 
 extent of injury received during parturition, or the condition of the body, 
 or the nature of the keep, or the slate of the weather ; for I have seen 
 ewes, kept alive a long time from the wind being in the north, perish the 
 moment it changed to the south *." 
 
 MONSmOSiTIES. 
 
 Although not so subject to strange variations from the usual form as are 
 swine, cats, and some other animals, the sheep have occasionally strange 
 malformations or multiplications of certain parts — a duplicature of heads, 
 a duplicature of bodies, and a multiphcation of legs, have not unfrequentiy 
 been seen. The lamber should not be unmindful of this in cases of long 
 and difficult parturition. The introduction of the hand will usually detect 
 any circumstance of this kind ; and the lamber should immediately adopt the 
 proper course of treatment. A misshapen animal is a worthless one, except 
 for the museum of the curious ; therefore, at all hazard to the fuetus it must 
 be immediately removed by the hand, if possible, or, if that cannot be 
 accomplished, by the agency of the knife. 
 
 CARE OF THE LAMBS. 
 
 It is the duty, and would be the interest, of the farmer, to attend to the 
 comfort of his ewes and lambs at this period ; therefore the lambing-field 
 should always be a sheltered one, and there should be a temporary or a 
 permanent retreat for the weakly and the cold. The first care of the shep- 
 herd therefore should be to examine the newly-dropped lambs. If they are 
 chilled and scarcely able to stand, he sliould givt; them a little of the milk, 
 which he carries always with him, and then take them to some shelter, 
 or place them in a basket well lined with straw. Nursing of this kind for 
 an hour or two will usually give the animal sufficient strength to rejoin its 
 mother. 
 
 Nature has given to the sheep, as well as to other animals, an instinctive 
 and strong affection for its young ; an affection which strengthens in propor- 
 tion to the necessities of the parent and the offspring. It has already been 
 remarked (p. 375) that the more inhospitable the land is on which they feed, 
 the greater their kindness and attention to their little ones : nevertheless it 
 will occasionally happen that the young ewe, in the pain and confusion 
 and fright of her first parturition, abandons her lamb. Some, when 
 the udder begins to fill, will search it out again, and with mierring pre- 
 cision — others, severed from their offspring before they had become 
 acquainted with its form and scent, are eagerly searching for it all over 
 the field with incessant and piteous bleatings. Some will be hanging over 
 their dead offspring, while a few, strangely forgetting that they are mothers, 
 are grazing unconcernedly with the rest of the flock. 
 
 There is another circumstance that adds to the confusion. Some of the 
 ewes have had twins ; they have inadvertently strayed from one of them, or 
 stupidly or capriciously have driven it from them ; and the neglected one is 
 wandering about, vainly seeking its parent, or angrily repulsed by it. 
 
 The first thing a lamber has to do is to remedy as well as he can this 
 confusion. He first seeks out for those that have twins, that have 
 
 recognised both of their lambs, and, taking his little marl 'ttle and 
 
 marking-iron, he puts a particular mark on each of the twins, b' hemay 
 
 * Price on Sheep, ['. 142. 
 
1,06 SHEEP. 
 
 again recognise them, and on each pair he puts a different mari<. If they 
 are just dropped, and are weak, lie leaves them for a while ; but if they are 
 able to travel a little, he drives them into a pound, or into a corner of the 
 field with the other twins, or he at once removes them into another and 
 somewhat better pasture, which he had destined for the twins. 
 
 He then looks for the lambs that have apparently been abandoned by 
 the mother, and if, as he takes one of them up, it bleats, he will presently 
 find whether there is any responsive call or gaze of recognition. If the 
 mother eagerly calls to it, he has but to put it down, and she will speedily 
 rejoin and suckle it, if it is strong enough to raise itself from the ground for 
 this purpose. If the animal is almost exhausted, he must catch the ewe, 
 and assist her to suckle the lamb. It will soon revive, and her love 
 for it will revive too. If she merely gives a careless look of recogni- 
 tion, he must suckle the lamb from his bottle of ewe's milk, and leave 
 it for a while ; perhaps her affection will return when her udder begins 
 to be distended with milk : if not, he must drive her with others into 
 a fold, and, suffering the rest to escape, try every means to induce her 
 to let the little one suck. There may be considerable difficulty in this at 
 first, but, by the exercise of some patience and tact, he will generally 
 succeed. After all, however, he will probably have some lambs upon his 
 hands for whom he cannot find a mother, or whose own mother will not 
 suckle them. 
 
 On the other hand, he will find some ewes who are gazing mourn- 
 fully on their dead lambs. With some contrivance he will generally find in 
 her a foster-mother for one of his abandoned ones. He ties a piece of 
 cord round the hind feet of the dead lamb, and the mother, if she has not 
 been unnecessarily frightened by the lamber or his dog, will follow for 
 miles with her nose close to the lamb, and may be led wherever the shep- 
 herd chooses. An instance of this has been related in page 376. 
 
 AFFECTION IN THE EWE FOR HER LAMB. 
 
 The Ettrick Shepherd tells another story of the continued affection of 
 the ewe for her dead lamb. " One of the two years while I remained on 
 the farm at WiUenslee a severe blast of snow came on by night, about the 
 latter end of April, which destroyed several scores of our lambs, and as we 
 had not enow of twins and odd lambs for the mothers that had lost theirs, 
 of course we selected the best ewes and put lambs to them. As we were 
 making the distribution, I requested of my master to spare me a lamb for 
 a ewe which he knew, and which was standing over a dead lamb in the end 
 of the hope, about four miles from the house. He would not let me do it, 
 but bid me let her stand over her lamb for a day or two, and perhaps a twin 
 would be forthcoming. I did so, and faithfully she did stand to her charge. 
 1 visited her every morning and evening for the first eight days, and never 
 found her above two or three yards from the lamb ; and often as I went my 
 rounds, she eyed me long ere I came near her, and kept stamping with her 
 foot, and whistling through her nose, to frighten away the dog. He got a 
 regular chase twice a-day as I passed by ; but however excited and fierce a 
 ewe may be, she never offers any resistance to mankind, being perfectly and 
 meekly passive to them. 
 
 " The weather grew fine and warm, and the dead lamb soon decayed ; 
 but still this affectionate and desolate creature kept hanging over the poor 
 remains with an attachment that seen ed to be nourished by hopelessness. 
 It often drew the tears from my eyes to see her hanging with such fondness 
 over a few bones, mixed with a small portion of wool. For the first fort- 
 
AFTSR-CARE OF THE LAMBS. 507 
 
 night she never quitted the spot ; and for another week she visited it every 
 morning and evening, uttering a few kindly and heart-piercing bleats ; till 
 at length, every remnant of her offspring vanished, mixing- with the soil, or 
 wafted away by the winds*." 
 
 THE SUBSTITUTE LAMB. 
 
 The bereaved and affectionate ewe is induced to follow the remains of 
 her little one to the lambing pound, or to some other convenient place. A 
 lamb that has lost, or been abandoned by its mother is then selected. The 
 head, tail, and legs of the dead lamb are cut off — an iiicision is made along 
 the beily, and the body turned out, and this skin is men drawn over the 
 substitute lamb. The body of the dead lamb is opened, the liver taken 
 out, and the head and legs of the living lamb, and what other parts the 
 skin does not cover., are smeared with the blood. In the darkness of the 
 night, and after the skin has been warmed on it, so as to give something of 
 the smell of her own progeny, the substitute is put to the bereaved ewe. 
 In the majority of cases the fraud is altogether successful, and the impostor 
 is at once received and fondled and suckled. This being effected, the 
 shepherd hastens to remove the false clothing ; the lamb is returned to her, 
 and "whether it is from joy at this apparent reanimation of her young one, 
 or because a little doubt remains on her mind, which she would fain dis- 
 pel, cannot be decided ; but for a number of days she shows more fondness 
 by bleating over and caressing this one than she did formerly over the one 
 that was really her own." 
 
 If she does not take to it at first, she must be compelled to suckle it, 
 and confined, so that she shall not be able to kick or otherwise hurt it. In 
 two or three days she will generally own it, and then they may be turned 
 together into the field without any apprehension or trouble. 
 
 Care should, however, be taken that the age of the substitute lamb and 
 that of the true one should correspond as much as possible. If a lamb 
 lately dropped is put to a ewe whose young one would have been a week or 
 two old, the milk'" will be too strong, and a purging will be set up, which, 
 probably, no medicine can arrest. On the other hand, if the substitute 
 lamb is a week or two old, and tlie foster-mother had lost hers in the act 
 of yeaning, her milk will be injurious on account of that purgative quality 
 by which the intestines of the newly-dropped lamb are first excited to action. 
 Sometimes the ibster-lamb, frightened or exhausted, will not readily take 
 the teat, however disposed the ewe may be to adopt and feed it. Care should 
 be taken to ascertain whether this is the case, and, if necessa^y, the lamb 
 should be held while a little of the milk is pressed into its mouth from the 
 udder. This will rarely need to be repeated, for instinct will teach it 
 where to seek and how to obtain its proper nutriment. 
 
 AFTEK-CARE OF THE LAMBS. 
 
 In the course of a little more than a week, the great majority of the 
 ewes will have produced their young, and the lamber will have more leisure 
 for those cases which particularly require his attention. The twin-field will 
 particularly demand his care. He will seldom enter it on the morning 
 without finding some degree of confusion. Some of the lambs will have 
 strayed from or been abandoned by their mothers ; and these twin-mothers 
 are sometimes not a little capricious, and especially when, not having suffi- 
 cient milk fur the two, they are teased and worried by the incessant suck 
 
 Hogg's Shepherd's Calendar, vol. ii. o. 191. 
 
508 SHEEP. 
 
 iiig of the twins. In such case they will, in the most determined and 
 furious manner, repulse one of them. Amidst the intermingling of the 
 offspring of the different ewes he will find the advantage of having marked 
 the respective twins, and thus, although not always without regularly draw- 
 ing them off, he will be enabled properly to separate the respective families . 
 he will relieve the weakly ewe from a burden which she cannot support ; 
 and, on the other hand, he will reconcile tlie deserted little one to its 
 unnatural parent, or find a better mother for it. The ewes with their 
 single lambs will not, after the first few days, require any extraordinary 
 degree of trouble, but those with twins must be carefully watched, at least 
 until the lambs begin in good earnest to graze. Many a lamb lias been 
 stinted in his growth, and irreparably injured, by the insufficient supply of 
 milk which the ewe with twins can afford. 
 
 TWINS. 
 
 This is the proper place to speak of the desirableness of having many 
 twins. Most breeders are partial to them, on account of the apparent 
 rapid increase of the flock, or the additional quantity of lambs that can be 
 prepared for the market. The question depends entirely on the quantity of 
 land which the farmer holds, and the nature of the soil. If he has pasture 
 enough, and good enough, twins are highly desirable; for at only the usual 
 expense before the yeaning time the number of his lambs is doubled, and, 
 the pasture being good and the lambs well fed, there will be very little differ- 
 ence in health, condition, or value, between the twins and the single Iamb. 
 
 The ewe has seldom twins at her first yeaning ; and it is fortunate that 
 she has not^ for it is seldom that she has any great supply of milk then, 
 and consequently the mother and her offspring would equally suffer. The 
 twins are generally obtained from ewes that are three, four, or five years 
 old. The disposition to twinning is undoubtedly hereditary. There are certain 
 rams that have the credit of being twin-getters, and that faculty usual-y 
 descends to their offspring ; but._^this is oftener the case with regard to the 
 ewe, agreeably to the old couplet,— 
 
 " Ewes, yearly by twinning, rich maslers do make : 
 The lambs of such twinaers for breeders go take." 
 
 The female of every species of animal has far more to do with this unusual 
 multiplication of the offspring than has the male ; and the farmer who 
 wishes rapidly to increase his stock through the medium of twins, may go 
 some way towards the accomplishment of his object by placing his ewes on 
 somewhat better pasture, or allowing them a few turnips when November 
 approaches. The old Teeswater breed used to be celebrated for the 
 frequent occurrence of twins. The Dorset ewes often produce twins, 
 which may be in some measure easily accounted for by the flush of grass 
 at the period at which they couple. The South-Down ewes yield a fair 
 proportion of twins. In 1804, 589 ewes, belonging to Mr. John Ellman 
 of Glynde, produced 701 lambs; or in other words, 11:2 of the ewes had 
 twins, being Tather more than one in five. In 1806, however, in a flock of 
 his, consisting of 252 ewes, 344 lambs were reared ; or, without making 
 any allowance for accidents, nearly one ewe out of three yielded twins. In 
 the Account of the Romney Marsh Sheep, by Mr. Price, it appears that 
 out of 3600 ewes that fell under his notice in one year, 775 had twins, or 
 about one in five. Varying in different seasons, and with the condition of 
 the animals when they couple, and particularly that of. the ewe, this may 
 be considered as about the usual average. Occasionally three, or more 
 
TWINS. 509 
 
 than three lambs are dropped ; and there are several instances on record 
 of five lambs being yielded at one birth. Mr. CuUey, an authority not to 
 be disputed, says that a Teeswater ewe " when two years old, in 1772, 
 brought four lambs ; in 1773, five ; in 1774, two ; in 1775, five; in 1776, 
 two ; and in 1777. two ;" or twenty lambs in six years*. 
 
 Mr. Middleton, speaking of the same sheep, says, " with respect to these 
 ewes, they usually bring two lambs each, at least the number of ewes that 
 have but single lambs are so few that they are nearly equalled by those 
 that bear three : but then the generality of ewes cannot suckle three lambs ; 
 however, that is possible, as a neighbour of mine has a ewe that often does 
 it ; and I have seen the tln-ee lambs sucking her at the same time, one stand- 
 ing on each side of her in the usual manner, and the third standing behind 
 hert." 
 
 This must be bad practice. Few ewes are capable of suckling three 
 lambs without essential injury to themselves and their offspring. The third 
 lamb should always be removed, and a foster-mother provided for it. Mr. 
 Middleton adds, that " about 36 or 38 lambs are usually reared from every 
 score of breeding ewes, after allowing for accidental deathsj." 
 
 Ewes are mostly drafted for fattening when they have had their third 
 or fourth lamb. Generally speaking this is good practice ; for at or before 
 that time they will usually have lost the greater part of their teeth, and will 
 
 * Culley on Live Stock, p. 123. 
 
 •)■ Annals of Agriculture, vol. xv. p. 502. 
 
 I The following extraordinary instances of fecundity should be placed on record : — 
 
 " A ewe, of the ordinary breed of the lower part of Berwickshire, produced, in 180.3, 
 four lambs ; three in 1804 ; and four in 1806." — Kerr's Agricultural Survey of Berwick- 
 shire. 
 
 " In 1806, in a flock of Norfolk ewes, belonging to Mr. Wythe of Eye, one on the 
 18th of February yeaned three lambs; on the ^Oth another dropped three, and a third, five, 
 onthelilst; a louiih, four, ou the 'iSrd ; and on the same day a fifth produced three. 
 On the 25th, a sixth ewe dropped three lambs; and a seventh yielded four on the 27th. 
 So that seven ewes yeaned twenty-five lambs, all of which were reand." — Annual 
 Register, 1806. .*: 
 
 '• Last week a ewe belonging to Mr. Kitter yea'^aed five lambs ; she also brought five 
 lambs last year, and four the year before ; i. e. fourteen lambs in three years, and not a 
 weak or deformed one in the whole number." — Gentleman's Magazine, March, 1750. 
 
 •' Mr. Meadows, of Sakey Forest, Northamptonshire, has a ewe which brought him 
 three lambs in 1802 ; four in 1803 ; four in 18U4 ; and four in 1805 ; being fifteen lambs 
 in four years."— Agricultural Magazine, April, 1804. 
 
 An old book, entitled •' The Gentleman Farmer, written by a Person of Honour," and 
 in which are many excellent remarks on the sheep-husbandry of the seventeenth century, 
 contains the following strange account (p. 15): — -'They have in Flanders a kind of 
 sheep, and particularly in a place between Vecue and Dixmeire, that ordinarily bring 
 five or six lambs apiece, and by feedipg the ewes with roots, and bringing the lambs to 
 eat anything, they will all come to good." A great part, however, of the mysteiy is dis- 
 persed by the recoUecliou that, at that time, it was the almost invariable custom in that 
 part of the continent to obtain lambs from their ewes twice in the year : yet, after all, it 
 IB a remarkable instance of the fecundity of the breed. The custom of breeding twice 
 in the year was never generally adopted in Great Britain. It occasionally happened, but 
 mostly unsought for, among the Dorset sheep ; and by some farmers it used to be fol- 
 lowed on the Mendip, Hills : but this was long before the present mode of breeding and 
 grazing was adopted ; and it is much to be questioned whether, even on the best land, the 
 lamb or the ewe could be brought to compete with the improved and beautiful animal 
 of the present day. 
 
 There is an instance on record of the power of thus producing two families in the year 
 not being confined to the Meudip and Dorset breeds: — " In the spring of 1801, Mr. 
 Sheriff, of Kinmyles, Inverness, bought a parcel of ewes in lamb, of the white-faced 
 Highland breed. They lambed in March and April. One old ewe, without a tooth, 
 dropped a second lamb on the 1st of November, 1801 ; a third on the 29ih of April, 1802 ; 
 and a fourth on the IJth of January, 1803 ; so that she reared four lambs at diflPerent 
 times in the course o'', wenty-one months." — Agricultural Magazine, Feb. 1803. 
 
510 SHEEP. 
 
 find considerable difficulty in gathering sufficient food to keep themselves 
 and their lamb ; but there are frequent exceptions to this. Many ewes will 
 retain a full mouth some years after this period ; and if so, and they have 
 been good and careful nurses, and have brought good lambs, and have 
 large and sound udders, it would be bad policy to draft them ; although there 
 is no doubt that they would now fatten kindly and well, and that the pro- 
 pensity to fatten afterwards will gomewhat decrease every year. 
 
 There are some interesting accounts of the age to which the ewe has 
 been preserved, and usefully and profitably so. The reader is referred to 
 two given on unquestionable authority : — " Mr. Geo. Moore of Winthorpe 
 had on his pastures a ewe which yeaned a pair of lambs when she was a 
 shearling, and had twins yearly for fifteen years. On each of the two fol- 
 lowing years she had single lambs*." 
 
 " Mr. Tamlyn, of Porlock, has at the present time (1837) a ewe of the 
 Exmoor breed, which is now twenty-one years old, and which has produced 
 altogether the extraordinary number of thirty-eight lambs f." 
 
 While, therefore, a ewe with valuable points about her, a sure breeder, 
 and a good mother, exhibits no symptoms of disease or debility, it will, 
 under many circumstances at least, be the interest of her owner to' continue 
 to breed from her. 
 
 THE MANAGEMENT OF THE LAMBS. 
 
 We return once more to the lambs, now a few davs' old. The old ewes 
 will prove assiduous and faithful nurses, but the young ones will occasionally 
 wander from their lambs, and prove inattentive to, or have not recognised 
 their bleatings. Such mothers must be separated from the flock, and 
 folded and confined with their young ones, until they appear to be disposed 
 faithfully to do their duty. Some lambs refuse the attention of the mother, 
 and lie weak or sullen, and droop away and die. Some of the mother's milk 
 should be frequently introduced into the mouth ; and if that has not the de- 
 sired effect, a foster-mother must, if possible, be found ; or the little churl 
 must be brought up by the hand. There will, generally speaking, be very 
 little difficulty about this. If it is at first fed with warm sheep or cow's 
 milk, by means of a spoon, until it is old enough to suck out of a sucking- 
 bottle, it will soon begin to bleat for its food, and greedily meet the bottle 
 the moment that it is presented to it J. 
 
 The cuckoo lambs will require the particular attention of the shepherd. 
 They are those that are dropped from the middle of April or the beginning 
 of May, when the cuckoo is just making his appearance, and after whom 
 they are named. They are usually the progeny of very young or verv old 
 mothers, who were not impregnated so soon as the others, and who gene- 
 rally are not so strong and so hardy as the rest of the flock. Care must 
 be taken that they have sufficient, yet not too nutritive food ; and that the 
 diseases to which weakly lambs are subject are promptly attended to. 
 
 * Farmer's Journal, May 3, 1824. 
 
 f Farmer's Magazine, April, 1837. 
 
 J 01(1 Ellis tells au interesting story about this. " A ewe brought three lambs at a 
 time, and the brutal shepherd threw the third into the hedge, in order that there might 
 be better room lor the ewe's suckling the other two. A jioor woman accidentally saw 
 this, and begged the thrown-away lamb, and she employed her utmost care in nUrsing it 
 with warm cow's milk, by means of the spoon and the sucking-bottle, and she reared it 
 until it could feed upon grass, and shift for itself. She then turned it on the common 
 with some other sheej) belonging to her neighliours. It was a ewe-lamb, and in due time 
 it brought her twins ; and she raised a flock of sheep from this single ewe and her breed, 
 and in process of time became a woman of worth. " — The Shepherd's Gtiide, p. 78, 
 
CASTRATION. 51 J 
 
 Some ewes will permit other lambs beside their own to suck them, aiul 
 then there will possibly be one or more greedy lambs, who will wander 
 about from ewe to ewe, robbing the rightful owner of the greater part of his 
 share. He and his mother must be removed to another pasture, where he 
 will soon learn to satisfy his voracious appetite with the grass. 
 
 As the shepherd takes his round he should inspect every lamb. If one 
 does not appear to thrive, he should endeavour to ascertain the cause. Has 
 the mother any or sufficient milk ? Are the teats free from disease ? He 
 should either supply the deficient nutriment, or provide a foster-mother. 
 
 Does the milk disagree with the Iamb ? Is there any, or considerable 
 purging ? The calves' and sheep's cordial must be immediately resorted to ; 
 and, if necessary, nursing, or separation from the mother. 
 
 In two or three weeks, and often considerably sooner, the lambs will 
 begin to nibble a little grass. Is it too luxuriant for them, or has it been 
 eaten down close by the ewes, and is the owner thinking of providing a 
 fresh pasture? Let him beware! There is no situation in which the old 
 advice of not making " more haste than good speed" should be more care- 
 fully heeded than in this. If one paramount cause of disease, and fatal dis- 
 ease to lambs, were selected, it would be a sudden change from bare to 
 \uxuriant pasture. It often sets'up a degree of inflammatory fever, which 
 no depletion will extinguish, or a diarrhoea which no astringent can check. 
 In that candid and invaluable record of the management of his breeding 
 flock, in 1804, which Mr. Ellman published, we read, — " April 5th. — Lost 
 a lamb at first eating of grass, when about three weeks old. 8th, Lost 
 another lamb from the same cause. 9th, do.," and so on until the 22nd, 
 when he had lost eight lambs. 
 
 The technical term which the shepherd applies to the lamb diseased from 
 this cause is gall-lamb. The liver seems to be the principal seat of inflam- 
 mation, and a great quantity of bile or gall is found in the duodenum and 
 small intestines ; a portion of it has frequently regurgitated into the abo- 
 masum or fourth stomach, and some has entered into the circulation, and 
 tinged the skin and flesh of a yellow colour. It is a disease which very 
 speedily runs its course ; occasionally carrying oif its victims in a little more 
 than twelve hours, and seldom lasting more than three days. Immediate 
 bleeding in the early stage, and afterwards Epsom salts, with a small por- 
 tion of ginger, will afford the only chance of a cure. The poor animal is 
 often condemned and slaughtered at once — that is barbarous work. 
 
 CASTRATION. 
 
 There is a great difference of opinion as to the time when the tup-lambs 
 that are not intended to be kept for breeding should be castrated. Some 
 recommend the performance of this operation as early as three days after 
 the birth. Mr. Parkinson says that *' he has several times cut a lamb the 
 very day that it was lambed, when strong and healthy, and that he never 
 knew one do ill from the operation." The proper period depends a great 
 deal on the weather, and on the stoutness of the lamb, and varies from the 
 third or fourth to the fourteenth or twenty-first day, the weather being cool 
 or even cold*, and somewhat moist. It would be highly improper and dan- 
 
 * The following account by Mr. Parkinson shows the little danp;er that is to be 
 apprehended from cold. "When I lived with my father, there happened, as we thought, 
 a very unfavourable time for the castrating of lambs, it being cold and wet. One morn- 
 ing proving much finer, and as it was our custom to cut once a week at farthest, I 
 embraced the opportunity, there being then more lambs than usual to cut, and cas- 
 trated every lamb down to one day old. In the day it turned cold, with some snow, but 
 
512 SHEEP. 
 
 gerous to select a day unusually warm for the season of the year. The 
 absence of unusual warmth, and the health of the animal to he operated 
 upon, are the circumstances which should have most influence in deter- 
 mining the time. 
 
 There are two methods of performing the operation. The lamb being 
 well secured, the oj)erator grasps the scrotum or bag, and forces the testicles 
 down to the bottom of it. He then cuts a slit across the bottom of the bag, 
 in a direction from behind forwards, through the substance of the bag, and 
 large enough to admit of the escape of the testicles. They immedi- 
 ately protrude through the incision, being forced down by the pressure 
 above. The operator then seizes one of them, and draws it so far out of 
 the bag that a portion of the cord is seen ; and then, if he is one of the old 
 school, he seizes the cord between his teeth and gnaws through it. This is 
 a very filthy practice, and inflicts some unnecessary pain. The testicle 
 being thus separated, the cord retracts into the scrotum, and is no more seen. 
 The other testicle is then brought out and operated upon in a similar 
 manner. Very little bleeding ensues — and the young one may be returned 
 to its mother. An improvement on this operation, and which any one 
 except of the lowest grade would adopt, is to use a blunt knife instead of the 
 teeth. By the sawing action which such a knife renders necessary the 
 artery is even more completely torn than with the teeth ; and yet without so 
 much bruising of the part, and probability of ensuing inflammation. It is 
 by the laceration, instead of simple division of the cord, that after-bleeding 
 is prevented. 
 
 Another way of performing the operation is to push the testicles up 
 towards the belly, and then, grasping the scrotum, to cut off a sufficient 
 portion of the bottom of the bag to admit of the escape of the testicles when 
 they are again let down. They are, one after the other, pushed out, and 
 taken off" in the manner already directed. The wound is considerably 
 longer in healing when the base of the bag is thus cut away, and the ani- 
 mal consequently suffers more pain. The first is the preferable way, if 
 the incision is made sufficiently long to prevent its closure for two or three 
 days, thus leaving an outlet for the escape of the blood and pus from the 
 inside of the bag. 
 
 There is usually little or no danger attending the operation, and 
 yet occasionally it is strangely fatal. In a whole flock not a single 
 lamb will sometimes be lost ; but at other times the deaths will be fearfully 
 numerous, the same person having operated on both occasions. Much, 
 probably, depended on some peculiar state of the atmosphere, of the actual 
 nature of which we know nothing at all ; and more probably might be con- 
 nected with a disposition to inflammation in the patient proceeding from too 
 high feeding, or from a debilitated state of the frame, and which had not 
 been observed or properly estimated. 
 
 When fatal disease occurs after castration it usually assumes the form of 
 tetanus, or locked-jaw. The village operator pretends to tell when this 
 will or will not supervene. The usual struggles of the animal, or the usual 
 expressions of pain, he does not regard : but when, as he is gnawing the 
 cord asunder with his teeth, he feels a deep and universal shudder of the 
 animal, he says at once that that lamb will die. He is often right about 
 this, and when lie is, it can be easily explained. By the fearful torture he 
 
 (luring the night there was a very heavy fall, so that many of the lambs that had been 
 cut the day before were drifted up with the snow, among which we had them to seek, 
 iind even for several of the old sheep, I was nuich ahinneil, thinking that they must all 
 (lie, but not one of them was lost." — Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 2^7. 
 
DOCKING. 513 
 
 has inflicted, he has caused a shock of the whole nervous system, from 
 which the poor sufferer can never perfectly recover. 
 
 Occasionally, when the lamb that was selected as a breeder does not 
 turn out well, it is necessary, in order to fatten him and to make his flesh 
 saleable, to castrate him. There are various ways of performing this 
 operation on the young or fully adult sheep. Some proceed precisely as 
 with the horse. An incision is made into the scrotum — the testicle is 
 forced out, the iron clams are put on the cord, which is then divided between 
 the clam and the testicle, and the cautery is had recourse to in order to sear 
 the part and prevent bleeding. This operation usually succeeds well, but 
 it is not every operator on sheep that has the clams or the firing-iron. 
 
 The French, and a few English veterinarians, have recourse to a curious 
 species of tortion called bistournage. The lamb being secured, the opera- 
 tor seizes the testicles, and pushes them violently upwards and downwards 
 several times, in order to destroy their adhesion to their coverings. Having 
 effected this, the spermatic cord will be easily felt, and has become con- 
 siderably elongated. He grasps it between the finger and thumb of his 
 left hand about half an inch from the testicle, and then taking the bottom 
 of the scrotum in his right hand, he turns the testicle, pushing it forcibly 
 upward until he has reversed it, and its inferior extremity is uppermost. 
 He now turns the testicle round five or six times, until there is great diffi- 
 culty in proceeding with the operation from the tightness and hardness of 
 the cord. Preventing this testicle from descending or untwisting, he seizes 
 the other and elevates and turns it in the same way, and to remove the 
 possibility of their descending or untwisting, he ties a piece of waxed cord 
 round the bottom of the scrotum as tightly as he can. 
 
 The circulation in the testicles is thus entirely cut off, and they speedily 
 wither away. The cord is cut about the second or third day, but the tes- 
 ticles have formed new adhesions above, and descend no more. There is 
 little danger attending this operation, and not a great deal of pain ; but there 
 is considerable difficulty in the manipulation, and it requires a great deal of 
 practice to be enabled to perform it adroitly. 
 
 The third, and the preferable way of operating, is to tie a waxed cord as 
 tightly as possible round the scrotum above, and quite clear of the testicles. 
 The circulation will here also be completely stopped, and usually in two or 
 three days the scrotum and the testicles will drop off. Accidents have 
 occurred, but which are attributable to the operator ; he has included a portion 
 of the testicle in the ligature, and thus laid the foundation for very great and 
 fatal inflammation j or he has used too large a cord, and which could not 
 be drawn sufficiently tight ; or the knot has slackened, and the hgature has 
 pressed sufficiently to produce excessive inflammation and torture, but not 
 completely to cut off the supply of blood. Care being taken in the applica- 
 tion of the cord to the exact part, and the tightening of the ligature, the 
 animal seems scarcely to suffer any pain. Indeed the nerves are evidently 
 deadened by the compression of the cord, and ho accident occurs. 
 
 , There is much variety of opinion among sheepmasters as to the time when 
 this operation should be performed. Some, like Mr. Parkinson, think that 
 it should be done within a very few days after the birth : the ewes on the 
 first, second, or third day, and the male lambs vrhen they are castrated. 
 The author of the " Complete Grazier" would defer it until the lambs are 
 three or four months old. This must depend on the state of the weather, 
 and the health of the animals. No one would dock his lambs when the 
 
 2 L 
 
514 SHEKP 
 
 weather is very cold, because tlie bushy tails of the animals afford a great 
 deal of warmth. On this account, in particularly exposed situations, it is 
 deferred until the warm weather sets thoroughly in, and by some, and par- 
 ticularly with their ewes, not practised at all. The tail certainly affords 
 both protection and warmth to the udder, and likewise defence against the 
 dreadful annoyance of the flies in hot weather : but, on the other hand, it 
 permits the accumulation of a great deal of filth ; and if the lamb or the 
 sheep should labour under diarrhoea, and the shepherd should be somewhat 
 negligent, the tail may cling to the haunches, and that so closely as to form 
 an almost insuperable obstruction to the passage of the feeces. It likewise 
 can scarcely be denied that the removal of the tail very much improves the 
 beauty of the animal, by the fullness and width which it seems to impart 
 to the haunches. 
 
 The operation is a very simple one. An assistant holds the lamb with 
 its back pressing against his belly, and thus presenting the haunches to the 
 operator, who, with a knife, or a strong pair of scissors or forceps, cuts it 
 off at the second or third joint from the rump. A few ashes are then 
 sprinkled on the wound — common flour would do as well, in order to form 
 a coagulum over the part and stop the bleeding. It is seldom that the 
 bleeding will continue long ; but if the lamb should appear to be growing 
 weak in consequence of tlie loss of blood, a piece of twine tied tightly 
 round the tail, immediately above the dock, will at once arrest the hemor- 
 rhage : the twine, however, must be removed twelve hours afterwards, other- 
 wise some sloughing will ensue, and care must likewise be taken that the inci- 
 sion is made precisely in the joint, otherwise the wound will not heal until 
 the portion of bone between the dock and the joint above has sloughed away. 
 
 The shepherd, and especially in the early period of suckling, should o!)- 
 serve whether any of the ewes are restless and exhibit symptoms of pain 
 when the lambs are sucking, or will not permit them to suck at all. The 
 ewe, like the cow, or oftener than that animal, is subject to inflammation 
 of the udder during the time of suckling, caused either by the hardness or 
 dryness of the soil on which she lies, or, on the other hand, by its too great 
 moisture or filth, or by some tendency to general inflammation, and deter- 
 mined to the udder by the bumps and bruises, sometimes not a little severe, 
 from the head of the lamb. 
 
 If there is any refusal on the part of the ewe, or even disinclination to 
 permit the young one to suck, she must be caught and examined. There 
 will generally be found redness, and enlargement and tenderness of one or 
 both of the teats, or sometimes of the whole of the udder, and several 
 small distinct kernels or tumours on different parts of the bag. Tlie udder 
 should be cleared from the wool which surrounds it, and should be well 
 fomented with warm water; a dose of Epsom salts administered, and 
 then, if there are no large and distinct knots or kernels, she should be 
 returned to her lamb, whose sucking and knocking about of the udder will 
 contribute, more than any other means, to the dispersion of the tumour and 
 the regular flow of milk. It may occasionally he necessary to confine 
 her in a pen with her little one, in order that he may have a fair chance to 
 suck. 
 
 A day, however, having passed, and she not permitting it to suck, the lamb 
 must be taken away ; the fomentation renewed, and an ointment, composed 
 of a drachm of camphor rubbed down with a few drops of spirit of wine, a 
 drachm of mercurial ointment, and an ounce of elder ointment, well incor- 
 
SPAYING. 515 
 
 porated together, must be rubbed into the affected part, or the whole of the 
 udder, two or three times every day. Slie must also be bled, and the phjsic 
 repeated. If the udder should continue to enlarge, and the heat and 
 tenderness should increase, and the knots or kernels become more 
 numerous and of greater size, and some of them should begin to soften or 
 evidently to contain a fluid, no time must be lust, for this disease is abun- 
 dantly more rapid in its progress in the sheep than in the cow. A deep 
 incision must be made into that part of the udder where the swellings are 
 ripest, the pus or other matter squeezed out, and the part well fomented 
 again. To this should succeed a weak solution of the chloride of lime, with 
 which tlie ulcer should be well bathed two or three times in the day, AVhen 
 all fetid smell ceases, and the wound looks healthy, the friar's balsam may 
 be substituted for the chloride of lime. 
 
 The progress of disorganization and the process of healing are almost 
 incredibly rapid in these cases, and the lamb may sometimes be returned to 
 the mother in the course of a few days. Both teats may possibly be well, or 
 if but one is perfectly restored to its natural function, there will be sufficient 
 milk for the support of the young one. That season having been got 
 through, it will be prudent — except the ewe is an exceedingly favourite 
 one — to fatten her for the butcher ; for there will always be a tendency to 
 the recurrence of the disease, and a very slight cause will excite it. There 
 are particular seasons, especially warm and damp ones, and when there is a 
 superfluity of grass, in which garget is peculiarly frequent and fatal. 
 Without warning, the udder swells universally with hardened knobs, which 
 sometimes bring on great inflammation, and if that is not stopped in the 
 course of twenty-four hours, part, if not the whole, of the udder mortifies, 
 and the mortification rapidly spreads and the sheep dies*. 
 
 A few weeks after this the spaying of the rejected ewe-lambs will succeed, 
 an operation which will materially contribute to their increase of growth and 
 disposition to fatten. It is singular that this practice should be almost 
 confined to Great Britain and to Italy, for there can be no manner of doubt 
 of the advantage of it. Daubenton, however, in his " Instructions to 
 Shepherds," gives a useful account of the manner in which it is best per- 
 formed. 
 
 At the age of six weeks, the ovaries are grown sufficiently large to be 
 easily felt, and that is the time usually selected for the spaying, being imme- 
 diately after tlie first formal examination of the flock. The lamb is laid on her 
 right side, near the edge of a table, with her head hanging down by the side 
 of the table ; an assistant stretches out the left hind leg of the animal, and 
 holds it in that situation, with his left hand grasping the shank ; and in 
 default of a second assistant, he also -holds the two fore legs, and the other 
 hind leg with his right hand. The lamb being thus disposed, the operator, 
 tightening the skin of the part, makes an incision of an inch and a half in 
 
 * Hogg's Shepherd's G-iii'le, p. 184. This disease is very prevalent on many parts 
 of the continent, and particularly in France. It is there called the spider disease, 
 mat (taraignee, from a false notion that it is produced by the bite of a spidi r. It is 
 particularly fatal there " from causes," according to Hurtrel d'Arboval, •' that have 
 never been clearly explained." The principal'is general neglect of the animals, and the 
 usually neglected and filthy state of the sheep-houses and folds. See Diet, de Med. et 
 Chirurg. Vet., by Hiutrel d'.A.rboval, Mot, Mamei.i.es (maladies de) ; also Instructions 
 Bur les Betes a Laine, par M. Tessier, p, 249 : Gasparin attributes the disease to the 
 negligence of the shepherd, and especially his not adopting some decisive measures in 
 its earliest stage; Manuel d'Art. Veterinaiie, par M. A. de Gasparin. 
 
 2 L 2 
 
516 SHKKP. 
 
 length, midway between the top of the haunch and the navel, and pene- 
 trating through the skin ; another incision divides the muscles of the belly 
 and the peritoneum. A careful operator will, perhaps, make three incisions, 
 the first through the skin, the second ihrough the abdominal muscles, and 
 the third through the peritoneum. He then introduces his fore-finger into the 
 abdominal cavity, in searcli of the left ovary, which is immediately under- 
 neath the incision ; and, having found it, he draws it gently out. The two 
 broad ligaments, and the womb and the right ovary, protrude at the same time. 
 The operator cuts off the two ovaries, and returns the womb and its depen- 
 dencies ; he then closes the womb by means of two or three stitches through 
 the skin, carefully avoiding the abdominal muscles below ; and, last of all, 
 he rubs a little oil on the wound, or he does nothing more but releases his 
 patient. 
 
 The lamb very probably will be unwilling, and perhaps will altogether re- 
 fuse to suck or to graze during the first day, but on the following days he will 
 feed as usual. In ten or twelve days the wound will have perlectly healed, 
 and the threads may be cut and taken away. The only thing to be feared 
 is inflammation of the peritoneum which was divided in the operation ; but 
 this rarely occurs, and, on the whole, there is not so much danger in the 
 spaying of the ewe-lamb, as in the castration of the tup. 
 
 A practice has been lately introduced on the Continent, and to which 
 the attention that it deserves has not yet been paid in Great Britain ; — 
 namely, — the spaying of the cow about a month after she has calved, and 
 when she is yielling almost the greatest quantity of milk. The conse- 
 quence of this has been, that she has continued to yield the same quantity 
 of milk, year after year, and perhaps would do so as long as she lived. It 
 may deserve consideration, in the districts, at least, in which the rearing of 
 house-lamb is pursued, whether it might not be profitable always to have 
 some s{)ayed ewes, to assist in rearing the lambs earlier and later than at 
 present ; or to provide milk for them, if it were necessary, all the year round, 
 and that milk on which the lamb would fatten abundantly faster than when 
 cow's milk is often necessarily substituted, and at the same time not be so 
 liable to disease. In the usual lambing season, such foster-mothers would 
 often be invaluable. When the milk was not needed for the lambs, the 
 farmer would not find it difficult to employ it to considerable advantage in 
 many ways. This is merely thrown out as a hint worthy of some attention. 
 Free martins are not so common among sheep as cattle, or at least their 
 occurrence has not been so often noted. There has, however, always been 
 a prejudice against them ; they are said to be smaller than other sheep, and 
 not so easily fattened*. 
 
 WEANINO. 
 
 The time of weaning differs materially, according to the locality of the 
 farms and the quality of the pasture. In a mountainous country, and where 
 the land is poor, the weaning often takes place when the lamb is not more 
 than three months old, for it requires all the intermediate time to get the 
 ewes in good condition by the time of blossoming, or to prepare them for 
 the market. In a milder climate, and on better pasture, they need not to 
 be weaned until four months old, and that is about the period usually 
 selected. On the other hand, if the pasture is good, and especially if it is 
 the system or the interest of the farmer to sell his lambs in store condition, 
 
 * " There is said to be a peculiarity' in their manner of discharging their urine, which 
 frequently dribbles from them down their thighs, so that they liave even a more -.in- 
 pleasant smell than the goat." — Lisle's Observations in Husbandry, p 308. 
 
THE DlSilASES OF LAMBS. 517 
 
 they frequently are not weaned until they are six nionilis old. It is very 
 easy to imagine of what advantage a few of these spayed wethers, of which 
 mention has just been made, would be to afford a plentiful supply of milk 
 both for tiie early and the late weaning time. Nothing would so materially 
 contribute to get the lambs into good heart and strength, when they were 
 early taken from their mothers ; or to make them, what may be termed 
 " prime for sale," as a plentiful supply of ewe's milk, even although it 
 m.ight be necessary to force it upon them with the horn. 
 
 The first thing to be attended to, is to remove the lambs and the ewes as 
 far as possible from each other. There will be plenty of confusion and 
 unhappiness for awhile, and which would be prolonged until it was injurious 
 both to the mother and the offspring if they were able to hear each other's 
 bleating ; indeed, it would frequently happen that the ewe could not be 
 confined in lier pasture if she heard the continued cries of her young one. 
 Two or three days before they are intended to be parted, the ewes and the 
 lambs should be removed to the pasture which the latter are afterwards to 
 occupy, and then, in the evening of the appointed day, the ewes are to be 
 driven away, probably to the pasture which they had occupied with their 
 lambs, or if they are moved to another it should be a poorer and barer one. 
 It will be advisable, although it is not always practised, to milk them two 
 or three times, in order to relieve their distended udders, and to prevent an 
 attack of inflammation or garget. In a day or two they will be tolerably 
 quiet, or if any one should refuse her food she should be caught and 
 examined, and the state of her udder should be particularly observed. 
 
 The management of the lambs will depend on the manner in which the 
 farmer means to dispose of them ; but at all events they should be turned 
 on somewhat better pasture than that to which they had been accustomed, 
 in order to compensate for the loss of the mother's milk. Many farmers 
 are very fanciful as to the provision for the weaned lambs. The clover, or 
 the sainfoin, or the after-math, are selected by some ; others put their 
 smaller and more weakly lambs to weed the turnip crops ; but there can 
 be nothing more desirable than a fresh pasture, not too luxuriant, and 
 yet sufficient to maintain and increase their condition. A great deal of 
 caution is requisite here. The lamb must not be overgorged, lest some 
 acute disease should speedily carry him off; on the other hand, he must not 
 be suffered to decline, for if he does he will rarely recover his condition 
 however good the keep may afterwards be. 
 
 THE DISEASES OF LAMBS 
 
 The greater part of these have been already hinted at, as the diseases of 
 the different functions passed under consideration. 
 
 One of the most fatal is Diarrhoea, arising from cold, or from some 
 fault in the mother's milk, or from the new stimulus of the grass when the 
 lamb first begins to crop it, or from its overpowering stimulus at the time 
 at which we are now arrived — the weaning time — and when it constitutes the 
 only food of the animal. Little can be added to the advice given in p. 489, 
 except that at weaning time the farmer must naturally expect that the 
 bowels will be somewhat disturbed, and he must not be too much alarmed 
 about it. While the animal feeds and plays, and the countenance is cheer- 
 ful, there is no danger; but when the eyes are heavy, and the step is slow 
 and sluggish, and the wool begins to look unkindly, no time is to be lost, 
 A gentle aperient is first indicated, in order to carry off any offensive 
 matter that may have accumulated in and disturbed the bowels, — haif an 
 ounce of Epsom salts, with half a drachm of ginger, will constitute the best 
 
')18 SHEEP. 
 
 ajjeiieiit that can be administered. To that must be added the sheej/s cor- 
 dial, and housing and nursing*. 
 
 The next disease to be mentioned is one of a mingled character. The 
 milk of the mother is no sooner received into the true stomach — the abo- 
 masum — of the lamb, than, by the action of the gastric juice, it undergoes 
 a sudden change ; a portion of it is converted into a firm curd, while the 
 other retains its liquid form, but is altered in character and is become 
 whey. When either the milk or the stomach of the lamb is not in a healthy 
 state, this change takes place in a more decisive manner ; the curd is hard- 
 ened, and retained, and sometimes accumulates to a strange extent ; and 
 the whey, pressed out in greater quantity, finds its way quickly through the 
 bowels, and gives an appearance of purging of a light colour. In the 
 natural and healthy state of the milk and the stomach, this curd afterwards 
 gradually dissolves, and is converted into chyme ; but when the one takes 
 on a morbid hardness, and the other may have lost a portion of its energy, 
 the stomach is sometimes literally filled with curd, and all its functions 
 suspended. The animal labours under seeming purging from the quantity 
 of whey discharged, but the actual disease is constipation, it is apt to 
 occur about the time when the lamb begins to graze, and when the function 
 of the stomacli is naturally somewhat deranged. 
 
 This is too often a fatal disease. Mr. Parkinson hints at a piece of 
 peeled willow, tied round the neck of the lamb, as being as effectual in the 
 cure of the white skit — for so tliis complaint is called — as the green willow 
 was for the green skit. He cannot do harm by this superstitious proce- 
 dure, except that the patient may be lost by the delay ; but the remedy, the 
 use of which he urges, can scarcely fail of being destructive. 
 
 This coagulation of the milk is produced by the gastric juice, and the 
 accumulation of the coagulated mass is to be traced to the suddenly increased 
 power of this fluid when a new species of food, and more difficult of diges- 
 tion, begins to be received. Mr. Parkinson orders some runnel — the pre- 
 served gastric juice of the calf — to be mixed with more milk, and poured 
 down as rapidly as possible ; for being thus introduced into the stomach in 
 an unchanged state, he imagines that it will intermix with the food and 
 produce a regular and healthy digestion. The contrary must, of necessity, 
 take place, for the additional quantity of runnet will still more harden the 
 milk, and the death of the animal will be rendered more certainf. 
 
 The existence of this coagulation may be suspected, when a lamb 
 that has been apparently healthy, and the mother yielding a sufficient 
 quantity of good milk, is evidently distressed, begins to heave at the flanks, 
 can scarcely be induced to move, has its belly considerably swelled, and 
 is either quite costive, or there is a discharge of whitish whey-like faeces. 
 The stomach has occasionally been found perfectly filled with this curd, 
 and which has weighed three or four pounds. The only chance of saving 
 the lamb consists in dissolving this coagulum. The runnet of Mr. Parkin- 
 
 * Mr. Parkinson, in his valuable work on the management of " Live Stock," has 
 distinguished, or fancied that he has done so, two distinct kinds of purging in lambs, 
 and proceeding fiom altogether different causes. The first is that just referred to iu the 
 text, and which he describes as '' the green sit/," aud generally occasioned by a change 
 of food, from poor nutriment to that of a rich juicy nature. His method of cure is most 
 inefficient and absurd, and that farmer would deserve to suffer who could be so lost to 
 alt common sense as to have recourse to it. " Take a green willow twig, one of the 
 lasc shoots, and, having twisted it, put it round the neck of the sheep, and it, will imme- 
 diately stop the skit. Simple as this may appear, it is an effectual remedy." Vol. i. 
 p. 410. 
 
 f Paikiuson, vol. i. p. 411. 
 
SORTING OF THE LAMBS. jl9 
 
 son would harden it still more. Chemistry teaches that, while a free acid 
 produces coagulation of the milk, an alkali will dissolve that coagulum. 
 Magnesia, therefore, should be administered, suspended in thin gruel, or 
 ammonia largely diluted with water, and with these should be combined 
 Epsom salts to hurry the dissolved mass along, and ginger to excite the 
 stomach to more powerful contraction. Read's stomach-pump will be 
 found a most valuable auxiliary here. A perseverance in the use of these 
 means will sometimes be attended with success, and the little patient being 
 somewhat relieved, the lamb and the mother should be moved to some- 
 what baser pasture. 
 
 Costiveness. — This, as connected with the accumulation of coagulated 
 milk in the stomach, has been already considered in page 471. It occa- 
 sionally exists independently of this, both when the lamb is with its mother, 
 and after the weaning. It is generally connected with a bare and dry state 
 of the pasture. The existence of it having been clearly ascertained — there 
 not being, on the one hand, any mechanical obstruction from the wool of 
 the tail being glued over the fundament ; nor, on the other hand, any eva- 
 cuation of small drops of liquid fiseces, accompanied by violent straining ; 
 the case must be immediately attended to, for it will generally be connected 
 with a degree of fever that may be exceedingly dangerous. Half ounce 
 doses of the Epsom salts, in solution, should be administered every six 
 hours until the bowels are well evacuated ; after which the Iamb and the 
 mother should be turned into more succulent pasture. 
 
 Fever, and Inflammatory Fever. — It has already been stated in page 478, 
 that the lamb is very subject to fever, rapidly degenerating into inflamma- 
 tory fever. It is sudden in its attack, and usually confined to the best con- 
 ditioned and most thriving lambs in the flock. If taken in time, the loss 
 of a little blood, or the administration of a tolerable dose. of Epsom salts, 
 will generally arrest the malady in its commencement. 
 
 In some cases, and when the lamb has been hurried on too fastly for the 
 early market, the stage of simple fever will scarcely be recognised, but the 
 animal will be taken all at once with what is termed "staggers." It is 
 precisely the same inflammatory fever which is recognised by the term 
 " blood " in cattle. An hour before, the animal seemed to have been in 
 perfect health ; then, almost without warning, he becomes evidently ill ; 
 the head is protruded, and the walk is staggering, or the lamb stands still, 
 unable to walk at all ; and then he falls, and struggles a little while, and dies. 
 The whole flock being exposed to the same exciting cause, and the myste- 
 rious, and powerful, although unsuspected, influence of sympathy being at 
 work, it seems to run through the flock like wild-fire, and a dozen of them 
 have been lost, in less than as many hours. The lancet, physic, and com- 
 parative starvation, will afford the only means of cure or prevention 
 
 SORTING OF THE LAMBS 
 
 Soon after the weaning time, and before the operation of spaying com- 
 mences, the ewes and the lambs of the whole flock should be carefully 
 examined, in order to draft out of it those that are past service, and the 
 younger ones that do not promise to be any acquisition to the flock. In a 
 breeding stock this is absolutely necessary, but in a flying stock, or that in 
 which the ewes and the lambs are usually sold before the termination of the 
 year, this may be dispensed with ; for if a flock is kept merely for the sake 
 of obtaining an annual profit on the purchase, it is of little consequence 
 whether the sheep are or are not well bred, provided they rsar their lambs 
 and get into marketable condition afterwards. 
 
It is altogether a ililTereiit thing with the breeder of sheep. His object 
 is to maintiiin the purity and acknowledged excellence of his flock, and 
 therefore it is necessary for him every year to draft, that is, to set aside for 
 immediate fattening and sale, a greater or less number, and often a consi- 
 derable number of his young and old stock. 
 
 It can scarcely be supposed that there will be any flock in which a great 
 number will not degenerate from the standard of excellence which the 
 breeder had established in his own mind. 
 
 The lambs are now particularly under consideration. The sheepmaster 
 is, or ought to be, enabled from long practice to form a sufficiently accurate 
 opinion of the future make and properties and value of the lambs ; and a 
 little after the weaning is the most convenient and proper time for this 
 examination. 
 
 The first object of the owner of the flock is to select a sufficient number 
 of ewe-lambs to fill up the deficiencies caused by the death of some of his 
 ewes, and the barrenness of others. The principle by which he will be 
 guided is a very simple one. By careful management his flock has assumed 
 a certain character. It possesses certain points in which, in his opinion, 
 the value of the breed mainly consists. Then he will immediately draft or 
 condemn every ewe^-lamb that is manifestly deficient in these points,and which 
 are sometimes not a little arbitrary. Some breeders (but their number is 
 decreasing) may look to considerable largeness of bone, and, consequently, 
 of carcass; they may connect this with the supposed advantage, but often 
 real inconvenience, of large joints. Others regard the early disposition to 
 fatten — others, again, the tendency to produce twins — and a fourth party 
 may chiefly look to the quality and the quantity of the wool. They are all 
 good points, and the soil, or the market, or various other circumstances, 
 must determine which should be the primary object o.f pursuit. The lamb 
 that is manifestly deficient in these points should immediately be drafted. 
 
 Although the breeder may have his attention mostly directed to one of 
 these points, yet the lamb that promises to excel in all, or not to be mani- 
 festly deficient in either, will be promptly selected ; and as the soil and the 
 climate will favour one of these characters more than the others, he will 
 incline to the sheep that seems to possess that character. 
 
 The possession of these points, however, will not obtain the ewe-lamb a 
 certain exemption from the draft ; for the sheep-owner will still further 
 examine whether this good quality is counterbalanced or neutralized by any 
 glaring defects regarding some other of these qualities, or by any defects 
 at all ; and one glaring defect should condemn her, although she may be 
 faultless in every other respect. The defects, as well as the excellencies of 
 the parent, are transmitted to the offspring. 
 
 The different districts of the country contain a sheep of a certain and de- 
 cided character. That character may be improved, but can never, with 
 advantage, be essentially changed. It may be connected with one or two, 
 or with all of the principal excellencies of the sheep. Then comes the con- 
 sideration, — is there any point about the animal under consideration, that is 
 directly opposed to the characteristic excellence of that district? If so, 
 whatever other good points the animal may possess, it has no risht to belong 
 to that flock. The general health, appetite, and growth should be taken into 
 consideration, and perhaps peculiarities of colour will not be quite over- 
 looked. 
 
 '* It is safe practice to draft as largely as the good qualities of those 
 that are to be transferred to tha ewe stock will warrant. The ewes are 
 drafted immediately after the milk has passed away in the weaning of the 
 
THE LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS? 621 
 
 lamb. The sooner they are drafted after that the bettei, as the sooner the 
 draft ewes are put on good pasturage, which they should always be, the sooner 
 they will be ready for the butcher. Those ewes that have missed lamb, 
 having been drafted from tlie ewes in the lambing in April, and having 
 enjoyed a good pasture all the summer, should be mixed again with tl"' 
 draft ewes, ai>d sold along Avith them*," 
 
 The lamb, even of tliis age, should have that peculiar yielding feeling of 
 the skin and the texture beneath, which cliaracterizes, almost beyond the 
 possibility of mistake, the profitable breed; and a tolerably correct notion 
 may already be formed of the quantity and the quality of the wool. It will 
 be principally on account of the ewes that this first examination is insti- 
 tuted, but the ram and wether-lambs should not be overlooked, and their future 
 destiny will at least be guessed at, if not finally determined. "Efficient 
 drafting is of the utmost importance in the ewe flock, for on that depends 
 the future character of the whole sheep stock." 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 THE LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS 
 
 It needs but a slight inspection of the skeleton of the sheep (see p. 109) 
 to be convinced, that the bones, compared with those of cattle, are compa- 
 ratively slender and light. It is an animal never destined for labour, and 
 rarely thus employed even in the earliest periods of its history, either exist- 
 ing in a wild state, or its journeying confined to a short peregrination to and 
 from the fold, or to a periodical but slow travelling from one pasture to 
 another. It therefore wanted comparatively little substance and strength 
 of bone in order to give attachment to the muscles. 
 
 A very great alteration has taken place within the last half century in the 
 size and weight of the bones. The old midland long-wooUed sheep were 
 long-legged, and coarse-boned to a very injurious extent. The sheep of 
 the western downs were heavy-boned compared with their successors, if not 
 their descendants, on the south downs. In all of them the leg has been 
 shortened and diminished in bulk, while the chest has been comparatively 
 more developed, yet has not proportionably increased in weight. On the 
 wliole, and particularly in the more valuable parts, the bone has diminished, 
 and the muscle and fat have increased in proportionate weight. 
 
 Every improvement, however, pushed too far becomes a defect, and the 
 cases are somewhat numerous in which the smallness of the bone has been 
 carried to such an extent as to produce a very objectionable delicacy and 
 tenderness of constitution. There might have been formerly, and there 
 certainly was, too great a quantity of bone in proportion to the meat ; bnt, 
 on the other hand, it has been incontrovertibly proved that a strong con- 
 stitution is not compatible with a very small proportion of bone. 
 
 The comparative weight of bone and of flesh in sheep of the old and 
 of the new breed, being supposed, for the sake of comparison, to be nearly 
 the same, the main improvement tiiat has taken place is the removal of the 
 flesh from the compaialively worthless parts, and its accumulation on those 
 which are more valuable : thus in the scrag of the neck, the proportion of 
 
 * Quarterly Journ. of Agric, vol. iii.,, p. 109. 
 
522 SHEEP. 
 
 bone to that of meat in a Leicester sheep is probably 6 oz. in the pound, 
 or nearly a tliird : in a sheep of a coarser breed, the proportion of bone 
 would be scarcely 3oz. in the pound, or not one-fifth: but then, on the 
 other hand, the proportion of bone in the leg, in the manner in which it is 
 usually cut by the butcher, would not be more than 1 oz. in the pound in 
 the new breed, and from 1^ to 2 oz. in the other. 
 
 The bones of the sheep are less compact than those of the horse, or other 
 cattle. Thence occurs, in the first place, the liability to fracture. From 
 accident, or from the brutality of the drover, a broken-legged sheep is much 
 oftener found in a travelling flock than a broken-legged ox. Notwith- 
 standing the exertion of the greatest care in travelling in a crowded road 
 or street, fractures of various kinds will often occur ; yet, if the farmer will 
 recollect his own thoughtlessness and cruelty when he was a boy, or has 
 observed the frequent brutality of the drover, he will be convinced that 
 very few of these mishaps can be fairly charged to accident. 
 
 The very brittleness of the texture of the bones of the sheep, and the 
 abundance of the spongy substance that enters into their composition, 
 will ensure and quicken the formation of the callus, which is the first step 
 towards the reunion of the bone. If it is the leg that is broken, the 
 divided edges of the bone should be brought as nearly as possible into ap- 
 position, and confined by a few splints, and in the course of a very few 
 days new bone will have been secreted, and the fracture repaired. In some 
 cases, however, and more than in any other animal except the dog, when 
 the splints are taken off, there will be an imperfect union by means of the 
 callus, and a false joint will be left. If, when this is discovered, the hal.^- 
 united part is a little rudely rubbed and handled, and the splints again 
 put on, complete bone will usually be secreted. 
 
 The author of this treatise has more than once succeeded in reducing a 
 firacture of the thigh in a valuable ewe, but the fractures were rather low 
 down, and he was compelled to sling the patient, which was very easily 
 accomplished. A common napkin with a cord at each corner of it was suf- 
 ficient for the purpose. The cure was effected in less than three weeks in 
 both cases. This is mentioned in order to prevent the shepherd or the 
 farmer from too hastily dooming the sufferer to the knife if there is any- 
 thing in its breed which renders it desirable to preserve the animal*. 
 
 Fracture of the shoulder is not of frequent occurrence, but will usually 
 be successfully treated if the wool is completely removed, and, as is cus- 
 tomary with the dog, a pitch plaster is placed over the whole of the bone. 
 A sheep should not be condemned for fracture of the arm or of the fore- 
 arm ; it will, however, be a different matter if the animal was previously 
 destined to the butcher, or travelling to the market in good condition. In 
 such case it may be destroyed, and that should be done immediately lest the 
 flesh become discoloured. 
 
 SWELLING OF THK JOINTS. 
 
 Lambs from two to five weeks old are very subject to them. The knee 
 
 * Ellis says, that " a very poor sheep of his neighbour's was put into a clover field 
 with hors'es, and had its thigh broken so high that thero was no setting it. However, it 
 was continued in the clover till it got very tat, so that when killed the tlair of it weighed 
 10 lbs. The thigh knit and did so well of itself that the sheep went perfectly well on it, 
 only that quarter on the side of the fracture was less thau the rest." — Ellis on Sheep, 
 p. 276. 
 
DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 523 
 
 is the most frequent seat of disease ; sometimes the fetlock is involved, and 
 occasionally the hock. The joints become very much swelled, and stifl, 
 and hot, and painful. A general stiffness often precedes the local attack. 
 The animal crawls about on its knees, or is unable to raise himself suffi- 
 ciently even for that purpose ; presently he lies down, rarely struggling 
 much, but wastes away, and, in the majority of instances, the case termi- 
 nates either in death or incurable lameness and worthlessness. The princi- 
 pal cause is a low damp situation, and the dampness aggravated by a cold 
 and wet season. The best remedy is warmth. The lambs must be taken 
 under shelter; their little limbs must be well embrocated with some stimu- 
 lating embrocation, the bowels kept tolerably open, and some cordial medi- 
 cine occasionally administered in warm gruel. 
 
 In bad cases, and especially when the knee is the part attacked, the inflam- 
 mation proceeds to dropsy of the joint, or the discharge of purulent fluid, or 
 general enlargement of the limb, and, eventually, stiff-joints. Sir Geo. Steuart 
 Mackenzie describes this under the name uf " Leg Evil " or " Black Leg," 
 as " a very formidable disease. It begins at tlie hoof or knee, which swells 
 and makes the sheep quite lame. The limb is usually covered with small 
 blisters filled with a blueish fluid, and the skin is of the same colour and 
 soon breaks out in sores. This complaint being infectious, care must be 
 taken to remove every animal affected by it from the flock. The diseased limb 
 should be well washed and cleansed in soapy water, and the sores dressed 
 with some caustic ointment*." 
 
 RHEUMATISM. 
 
 There are a thousand proofs of the existence of this complaint in sheep, 
 from the careless and cruel exposure of the young and old to cold and 
 wet. It is particularly prevalent in low marshy countries in exposed 
 situations. It principally attacks old sheep and very young ones. It 
 sometimes appears as an inflammatory complaint, and considerable fever 
 accompanies it ; at other times it has all the characters of a chronic 
 disease, the walk of the sheep or lambs being stiff and cautious, marking the 
 rheumatic patient. Having once seriously attacked the animal, the malady 
 will seldom be completely eradicated ; it will therefore be pulitic to pre- 
 pare the animal for the butcher as soon as circumstances will permit, 
 
 SPRAINS. 
 
 The sheep is never made a beast of burden in any of the European 
 countries, nor is it scarcely ever urged to the top of its speed, therefore 
 sprains are of rare occurrence. They do, however, occasionally happen from 
 violent dogging, or from leaping, either to escape their pursuers, or in their 
 frequent attempts to break the bounds which their owner h;)s assigned. 
 Lameness from this cause is seldom the object of medical treatment, yet a 
 good sheep has sometimes been ruined by it. Inflammation has spread over 
 the whole of the joint, and bony enlargement and utter loss of motion have 
 .-extended to the fetlock and pastern joints. 
 
 DISEASES or THE FOOT. 
 
 The dreadful and too frequent disease termed foot-root belongs to the 
 present chapter. There are two varieties of it, or rather tliere is disease of 
 the foot, properly speaking, and of the fetlock and pafctern joints"^ 
 
 * Mackenzie on Sheep, p. 49. 
 
 •f These diseases of the pasterns and feet of sheep have either very much altered their 
 character, or are fur more prevalent than they used to be, for the old writers on hus- 
 
524 SHEEP. 
 
 DISEASE OF THE PASTERN, OR BIFLEX CANAL, AND FETLOCK-JOINTS. 
 
 Tlie fetlock of the sheep, hke that of the ox, is a very compHcated joint. 
 There are two pastern-bones in each leg articulating with the canon or 
 sliank-bone. The leg-bone itself is double in the foetus, but the cartilagi- 
 nous substance between the two portions of it is afterwards absorbed, and 
 they become one large bone. The lower bones, however, continue sepa- 
 rate, and each division has its own ligaments and tendons, and is covered 
 
 bandry make scarcely any mention of them. They are first alluded to in " La Maison 
 Rustique," published by MM. Etienne and Liebault, two French physicians, in 1529: — 
 •' If a sheep," say they, " becomes lame through tenderness of his claws, too much soft- 
 ened by having stood over long upon his own duug, and that in such sort as that he 
 cannot go, you must cut ofi'the tip of his so-decayed claw, and put thereupon quick 
 lime, tying it (m with some linen cloth, and this to be continued only for the space of a 
 day, and then on the day following to apply uato it some verdigrease, and thus to use 
 these two things in like courses so long as until the hoof be whole and sound." After 
 that no mention of it occurs among the French agricultural writers, and although doubt- 
 less under the form of galled feet it always existed to a greater or less extent, yet as a 
 distinct, and severe, and contagious disease, it does not seem to be taken into considera- 
 tion until after the introduction of the merinos into France. Chabert wrote on it, 1791, 
 under the title of Crapaud, and described it, as then prevailing, as an epizootic on the 
 banks of the Gironde, and in the Pyrenees ; Tessier observed it in the environs of Paris, 
 and Husard in Piedmont ; but it was not until the year 1805 that Pitet attracted gene- 
 ral attention to it, by a very laboured essay on its nature and treatment. 
 
 LuUin, in his account of the Swiss sheep, speaks of it as not having been known in 
 Geneva until about the year 1786, when it was brought from Piedmont. In the account, 
 by authority, of the management of the Flemish sh«ep in 1763, there is no mention of 
 the foot-rot. 
 
 Among our own writers, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, or Fitzherbarde, in 1523, speaks of 
 the disease of the biflex canal, and adopts the superstition or error respecting it, which is 
 not altogether discarded at the present day, that the lameness proceeds from a worm in 
 the sheep's foot. " There be some shepe that hath a worme in his foote that maketh 
 hym halte. Take that shepe and loke betwene his clese, and there is a lyttell hole, as 
 rooche as a grette pynnes heed, and therin groweth fyve or yxe black heares, like an 
 inche long and more. Take a sharpe poynteil knyfe, and slitte the skynne a quarter of 
 an inche longe above the hole and as moche bonethe, and put thy one hande in the hoi ■ 
 lowe of the i'ote under the hynder cle>e, and set thy thombe above almooste at the slytte, 
 and thruste thy fyngers vndernetlie forward, and with thy other hande take the blacke 
 heares by the ende, or with thy knyves poynte, and pull the hearts a lyttel and a lyttel, 
 and thruste after thy other hande, with thy finger and thy thombe, and theyr wyll come 
 out a worme lyke a piece of fleshe, nygh as muche as a lyttel fiyn^er, and when it is out 
 put a lyttel towe into the hole, and it wyll be shortely hole.'" — Boke of Husbandry, p. 40, 
 
 Geruase Markham, in his ' Alaister-Piece,' first published in 1613, says, " that a certain 
 cure for sheep's feet that are galled is, if you beat a pomegranate, not ripe, with alum, 
 and adding'to it a little vinegar, apply it to the place ; or'the powder of galls burnt, 
 mixed with red wine, and so laid into it, is very good." 
 
 Adam Speed, who wrote in lG-28, gi\es a receipt to cure lame and hurt claws. He 
 says, " for claws that are lame, bruised, overgrown, or broken, pare them as much as 
 is convenient; then make a plaister of bees' wax, rosin, turpentine, unslacked lime, and 
 hog's grease, anoint the claw with oil of camomile, and lay the plaister on it, binding 
 it up hard, and suffer him not to go into wet places till he is well." 
 
 In 1703, James Lambtrt gives a similar receipt lor broken claws. Mr. Lisle, who 
 farmed his patrimonial land at Crux Eastou, in Hampshire, was the first to speak of 
 thefootiot, as it exists at the presmt day. "The sheep" says he, "near Lough- 
 borough,'" — it would seem that the disease had nut then reached Hampshire — ''are 
 mightily troubled with the hose or soreness of the claws, and so are the cows; some- 
 times a hundred sheep in a fluck shall be down together, and so troubled with it, that 
 they Will be forced to feed on their knees ; and many, for want of good management, 
 never recover it, but continue always lame. Verdigrease and hog's lard is a good medi- 
 cine for it, and sume use aqua fortis for it. 
 
 "This distemper breaks out between the claws of a beast or sheep with rottenness or 
 stink. Before you dress the sore, you must pare the claw, so far as it is hollow, then put 
 so much of the liquor — composed of alum and arsenic, boiled in vinegar and water — as 
 will run all over the sore. The foot must be dry when it is dressed, and kept bo for an 
 
DISEASE OP THE PASTERN, AND FETLOCK-JOINTS, 5Jj 
 
 Dv its own integument. The whole of the fetlock-joint is weakened by this 
 ojvision, and each of the pasterns below is also materially weakened. 
 
 At the portion of the skin immediately over the point of bifurcation of the 
 pasterns, there is found in the sheep and in the goat a small orifice called 
 the biflex canal, because it is common to both of the pasterns. It is formed 
 by a fold of the skin, and immediately within the skin it bifurcates, and a canal 
 or tube runs down on each side over the inner face of the pastern, 
 reaching to the coronary ligament at the commencement of the hoof. It 
 contains a great number of follicular sebaceous glands, which secrete a 
 yellow strong-smelling mucous fluid. At the bottom, this canal curves 
 upon itself and terminates in a blind pouch or cul de sac. The superior 
 orifice, always open, is marked by a little tuft of hairs growing from it, and 
 often agglutinated together by the perspiration of the part, or by the adhe- 
 sive discharge from the canal. The function or use of this singular pouch 
 has never been satisfactorily explained. It may answer two purposes — it 
 may contribute to the suppleness, or freedom of motion of the pasterns, and 
 enable them to adapt themselves to the irregularities of the ground and 
 share the weight of the animal equally between them, or it may secrete a 
 bland and evaporating fluid, which will be in contact with the pastern and 
 joints of the foot in cases of sprain and injury. 
 
 Whatever may be the function of the canal it is sometimes the seat of 
 considerable disease, which has been confounded with foot-rot, and which 
 ' in common parlance' is here described as a variety of it. 
 
 An accumulation of this sebaceous fluid in the biflex, interdigital canal, 
 or the introduction of foreign bodies into it, such as dust, dirt, or gravel, 
 may cause a considerable degree of local inflammation, and which may be 
 communicated to the neighbouring parts. Diseases of this canal aie of 
 most frequent occurrence when the flock is turned on hard, dry, or sandy 
 j)astures. Heavy and fat animals are, as might naturally be supposed, most 
 subject to its attacks ; sometimes in every season of the year, but oftenest 
 when the weather is hot and dry. The great number of sheep that have 
 been attacked by it at the same time, and especially as it has been so 
 generally confounded with foot-rot, have excited the suspicion that it is 
 infectious. There does not, however, appear to be any ground for this 
 supposition. 
 
 The inflammation is first discovered by the lameness of the sheep, which 
 probably leads to an examination of him, when the part is found to be hot 
 and tender, with some enlargement. If the animal is neglected, the swell- 
 ing will, probably in a few days, reach the pastern and the coronet below, 
 and the fetlock and the leg-bone above, and to this will follow ulceration of 
 some part of the l)iflex canal, which will speedily become a source of 
 great annoyance and mischief. The pus penetrating inferiorly will find its 
 way under the coronet, and produce quittor, or even loss of the hoof on the 
 aff'ected side ; sometimes ulcers will appear about the fetlock. 
 
 Generally speaking, the disease attacks only one foot, and then the 
 
 hour; and in ordiiiaiy cases, in once or twice dressing you need not doubt of a cure."' — 
 Lisle's Observations on Husbandry, p. 342. 
 
 In the time of Ellis, who wrote in 1749, the disease was perfectly naturalized in Great 
 Britain, and esjiecially in the counties round the metropolis. He speaks of the ewes 
 bfinij seized with the foot-rot, that it is communicated to other sound ewes, and to the 
 lambs which they suckle, and that most of the meadows are so much infected with this 
 sheep malady, that few of the suckling ewes are ever clear from it in a greater or less 
 degree ; the pain and anguish thereof keeps them poor in flesh, and lessens their milk ; 
 so that two or three ewes thus afflicted, give no more milk than one full-milched twe 
 that is in perfect health. — • Elis's Shepherd's Sure Guide,' p. 280. 
 
526 RIIEEP. 
 
 sheep goes about on tliree legs. If l)oth fore-legs fail, he must be content 
 to crawl about on bis knees. The biflex canal is found in all four feet, but 
 it is comparatively seldom that the hind feet are diseased. The poor ani- 
 mals evidently suffer a great deal, for they scarcely feed — rumination is 
 suspended — fever is established, and, in some bad cases, the sheep pines 
 away and dies. 
 
 Before the disease has gone so far as this, the proprietor, acting humanely 
 and wisely, should send the animal to the butcher. The note at p. b'24 has 
 already explained the once common opinion respecting this conij)laint — 
 namely, that it was caused by a worm that had eaten its way into the leg, 
 the bole through which it had entered being still visible. According to this 
 doctrine the only means of cure lie in the removal or destruction of the 
 worm. 
 
 The treatment in the early stage of the disease consists in the extraction 
 of any foreign bodies that may have insinuated themselves into this canal, 
 and in fomenting the part and the whole of the foot. Tliese lotions 
 should be followed by a poultice enveloping the whole foot and the greater 
 part of the leg — an emollient poultice at first, and until the discharge of 
 purulent, and perhaps fetid, matter is staid, and then an astringent one. 
 A decoction of oak bark will form a good liquid for the ])oiihice. In very 
 bad cases, local bleedings (scarifications) round tlie coronet are practised 
 with considerable advantage. Any tendency to gangrene is combated by 
 a solution of the chloride ot lime. 
 
 A cure, however, will not often be accomplished by these means, except 
 when there is no actual disorganization of the biflex canal. If that should 
 have taken place it will be necessary to lay it open or remove it, and when 
 it is dissected out, thickened by inflammation and with its singular njvtural 
 tortuous form, the older shepherds will readily be forgiven for endowing it 
 with life and the power of producing almost irreparable mischief. The 
 French strongly recommend the removal of this singular reservoir, but that 
 will not always be wecessary. The orifice into the canal may be somewhat 
 enlarged, and a probe-pointed bistoury thrust into that division of it which 
 is most or alone affected, or a small seton needle may be introduced, and 
 brought out just above the coronet. Either of these operations, and espe- 
 cially the latter, will usually succeed. The wound, if the bistoury has been 
 used extensively, should be daily dressed with digestive ointment for a 
 while, and which should be afterwards changed for the tincture of myrrh ; the 
 old butyr of antimony not being forgotten if the case seems to require it*. 
 
 Foot-rot is a disease always at first, and usually throughout its whole 
 course, confined lo the foot. The first indication of foot-rot is a certain 
 degree of lameness in the animal. If he is caught and examined, the foot 
 will be found hot and tender, the horn softer than usual, and there will be 
 enlargement about the coronet, and a slight separation of the hoof from it, 
 with portions of the horn worn away, and ulcers formed below, and a diS' 
 charge of thin fetid matter. Tlie ulcers, if neglected, continue to increase ; 
 they throw out fungous granulations, they separate the hoof more and more 
 from the parts beneath, until at length it drops off. 
 
 All this is the consequence of soft and marshy pasture. The mountain 
 or the down sheep — the sheep in whose walk there is no poachy ground, if 
 
 * See Traif6 du Pied, \yjii- J. Giiard, pp. 319 and 34'2, and Diet, de Mt-d. XCt., \mt 
 Hurtrel d'Arboval, toin. ii., p, UU). 
 
FOOT-ROT. 527 
 
 lift is notactually exposed to infection by means of llie virus, knows nothing 
 at all about it; it is in the yielding soil of the low country that all the 
 mischief is done. 
 
 In attempting to explain this, the author cannot do better than to liave 
 recourse to much of the beautifully graphic description of the healthy foot of 
 the sheep and the changes which it undergoes, as given by his talented and 
 excellent friend, Professor Dick, of Edinburgh. 
 
 The foot presents a structure and arrangement of parts well adapted to 
 the natural habits of the animal. It is divided into two digits or toes, which 
 are shod with a hoof composed of different parts, similar in many respects 
 to the hoof of the horse. Each hoof is principally composed of the crust, 
 or wall, and the sole. The crust, extending along the outside of the foot, 
 round the toe, and turning inwards, is continued about half-wav back be- 
 tween each toe on the inside. The sole fills the space on the inferior sur- 
 face of tlie hoof between these parts of the crust, and being continued back- 
 wards becomes softer as it proceeds, assuming somewhat the structure of 
 the substance of the frog in the foot of the horse, and performing, at the 
 same time, analogous functions. The whole hoof, too, is secreted from 
 the vascular tissue underneath. 
 
 Now this diversity of structure is for particular purposes. The crust, 
 like that in the hoof of the horse, being harder and tougher than the sole, 
 keeps up a sharp edge on the outer margin, and is mainly intended to resist 
 the wear-and-tear to which the foot of the animal is exposed. The soft 
 pasturage on which the sheep is occasionally put presents little, if any, of 
 that rough friction to which the feet of the animal is naturally intended to 
 be exposed. The crust, therefore, grows unrestrained until it either laps 
 over the sole, like the loose sole of an old shoe, and serves to retain and 
 accumulate earth and filth, or is broken off in detached parts ; in some cases 
 exposing the quick, or opening new pores, into which particles- of earth or 
 sand force their way until, reaching the quick, an inflammation is set up, 
 which, in its progress, alters or destroys the whole foot. 
 
 The finest and richest old pastures and lawns are particularly liable to 
 give this disease, and so are soft, marshy, and luxuriant meadows. It exists 
 to a greater or less extent in every situation that has a tendency to increase 
 the growth of the hoofs without wearing them away. 
 
 Sheep that are brought from an upland range of pasturage are more par- 
 ticularly subject to it. Tiiis is very easily accounted for. By means of the 
 exercise which the animal was compelled to take on account of the scantier 
 production of the upland pasture, and also in consequence of the greater hard- 
 ness of the ground, the hoof was worn down as fast as it grew ; but on its new 
 and moist habitation the hoofs not only continued to grow, but the rapidity 
 of tliat growth was much increased, while the s^alutary friction which kept 
 the extension of the foot within bounds was altogether removed. When the 
 nails of the fingers or toes of the human being exceed their proper length 
 they give him so much uneasiness as to induce him to jiare them, or if he 
 neglects this operation they break. He can pare them after they have broken, 
 and the inconvenience soon ceases, and the wound heals. When, however, 
 the hoof of the sheep exceeds its natural length and thickness, that animal 
 has no power to pare them down, but there long continues a wound, irri- 
 tated, and induced to spread, by the exposure of its surface, and the 
 introduction of foreign and annoying matters into it. 
 
 The different parts of the hoof, likewise, deprived of their natural wear, 
 grow out of their proper proportions. The crust, especially, grows too 
 long ; and the overgrown parts either break off in irregular rents, or by 
 
528 . SIIKEP. 
 
 overshooting the sole allow small particles of sand and dirt to enter into 
 the pores of the hoof. These particles soon reach the quick, and set up 
 the inflammation already described, and followed by all its destructive 
 effects. 
 
 There is anotlier circumstance which tends to produce disease in an 
 overgrown hoof. Tlie length to which the crust grows, changes completely 
 the proper bearing of the foot, for, being extended forward, it takes the 
 whole weight of the superincumbent parts. By the continual pressure on 
 this lengthened part inflammation cannot fail of being set up. The pro- 
 gress of the disease is not equally rapid in every instance ; sometimes it 
 goes to a certain extent, and llie foot to a considerable degree recovers. 
 AH the feet may not be equally affected ; the fore ones, however, are always 
 the most liable to disease, on account of the additional weight which they 
 carry. Sometimes there is only one foot affected, and that is sure to be a 
 fore one — sometimes only one hoof of one foot, and occasionally one speedily 
 heals while the other continues to get worse and worse. 
 
 In the first stage of the disease there is often found nothing but a little 
 overshooting of the edge of the crust, and which is bent in upon the 
 sole, or the edge of the crust is forced asunder from the sole and a wedge 
 of earth is introduced which presses upon the sensible substance beneath ; 
 but at other times the edge of the crust continues to grow until it envelopes 
 the whole of the sole. It is seldom that there is inflammation enough ex- 
 cited to throw off the whole hoof at once ; but it separates at different 
 parts, and at each part of separation there is new horn formed ; this although 
 soft and unhealthy, and not capable of sustaining pressure, covers, and, 
 to a certain degree, protects the sensible parts beneath. By degrees, 
 from increased and long-continued irritation, the parts are no longer able 
 to secrete even tliis weak horn, but granulations of proud flesh sprout out, 
 and then the work of destruction proceeds in good earnest. 
 
 This is the usual progress of the disease, but at other times inflammation 
 seems to be set up at once over the whole of that division of the foot, and 
 there is considerable swelling about the coronet, and matter is formed and 
 breaks out, and sinuses run in various directions, and the whole of the 
 hoof is gradually detached. The upper part of the space between tiie 
 hoofs becomes inflamed and swelled, the whole of the inner surface of the 
 pasterns is sore and raw; ulceration commences — it eats deeply — it spreads 
 on every side — it spreads upwards — and the toes are separated from each 
 other almost to the opening of the biflex canal. That canal becomes in- 
 flamed — proper inflammation of it is added to that of the sensible parts 
 beneath the hoof — the mucous follicles which it contains, and of which 
 mention has been made, pour out a large quantity of sebaceous discharge, 
 which flows over the fore part of the foot and between the hoofs, and 
 assists in the accumulation of filth by its adhesiveness. In some cases, as 
 has appeared when the diseased state of this canal was examined, the malady 
 commences here. Inflammation of the biflex canal produces much en- 
 largement of the neighbouring parts, and the motions of the foot are inter- 
 fered with, and inflammation and disorganization spread on every side. 
 As these increase, and also the discharge by which they are accompanied, 
 dirt and gravel, and pieces of grass adhere to the ulcerated surface, and in- 
 sinuate themselves between the pasterns, there soon becomes one uniform 
 mass of disease. 
 
 The ulceration of foot-rot will not long exist without the additional annoy- 
 ance of the fly. Maggots will multiply on every part of the surface and 
 burrow in all directions. To this, as may be readily supposed, will be 
 
FOOT-ROT. 529 
 
 added a great deal of constitutional disturbance. A degree of inflammatory 
 fever is produced. The animal for a while shifts about upon its knees, 
 attended by some faithful companion that abandons it not in its utmost 
 need ; but at length the powers of nature fail, and it dies from irritation and 
 want. 
 
 This is a dreadful account, and yet, after all, the disease is more manage- 
 able than could well be imagined, if it is attacked in its earliest stage and 
 treated with proper decision. It will seldom be necessary, or, indeed, proper to 
 adopt any means for the purpose of abating inflammation before the radical 
 mode of cure is adopted. Poultices and emollients will only weaken the 
 parts, and cause the fungous granulations to increase with tenfold rapidity. 
 
 The foot must be carefully examined, and every portion of loose and 
 detached horn pared off, even though the greater part, or almost the whole 
 of the hoof may be taken away. The horn once separated from the parts 
 beneath will never again unite with them, but become a foreign body, and 
 a source of pain, inflammation, and fungous sproutings. This, then, is the 
 first and fundamental thing — every portion of horn that is in the slightest 
 degree separated from the parts beneath must be cut away. A small, 
 sharp, curved-pointed knife, or a small drawing knife, will be the best in- 
 strument to effect this. 
 
 If there are any fungous granulations they must be cut down with the 
 knife or a pair of sharp curved scissors, unless they are exceedingly minute, 
 and then the caustic about to be mentioned will destroy them. The whole 
 foot must be thoroughly cleaned, although it may occupy no little time, and 
 inflict considerable pain on the animal. The after expenditure of time, 
 and the suffering of the patient, will be materially diminished by this deci- 
 sive measure. 
 
 The foot should then be washed with a solution of chloride of lime, in the 
 proportion of one pound of the powder to a gallon of water. Tliis will re- 
 move the foetor, and tendency to sloughing and mortification, which are the 
 too frequent attendants on foot-rot. The muriate or Lutyr of antimony 
 must then be resorted to, and by means of a small stick with a little tow 
 tied round one of its extremities, applied to every denuded part : lightly 
 where the surface has a healthy appearance, and more severely where 
 fungous granulations have been cut oft', or there are small granulations 
 springing up. There is no application comparable to this. It is effectual 
 as a superficial caustic ; and it so readily combines with the fluids belonging 
 to the part to which it is applied, that it quickly becomes diluted, and com- 
 paratively powerless, and is incapable of producing any deep or corroding 
 mischief. So far as these foot cases are concerned, it supersedes every 
 other application. The change of colour in the part will accurately show 
 to what portions it has been applied, and what effect has been produced. 
 
 If the foot has been in a manner stripped of its horn, and, especially, if 
 a considerable portion of the sole has been removed, it may be expedient 
 to wrap a little clean tow round the foot, and to bind it tightly down with 
 tape, the sheep being removed to a straw-yard, or some enclosed place, or 
 to a drier pasture. This last provision is absolutely necessary when the 
 sheep is again turned out; for if the foot is exposed to the original cause of 
 disease, the evil will return under an aggravated form. 
 
 The foot should be dressed every day ; each new separation of horn 
 removed ; and every portion of fungous submitted to the action of the 
 caustic, with a degree of severity proportioned to the necessity of the case. 
 The new horn should likewise be examined. If it appears to be healthy 
 and tolerably firm, nothing should be done to it ; but if it is son and 
 
 2 M 
 
530 SHEEP. 
 
 spongy, the caustic must be lightly applied. The sooner the bandage can 
 be removed, and the sheep turned into some^ upland or thoroughly dry 
 pasture, the better will it be for the foot, and the health of the animal 
 generally. 
 
 The worst cases of foot-rot will readily yield to this mode of treatment, 
 provided the bone has not been exposed, and there are no sinuses running 
 either into the joints or deep-seated parts of the foot, or of the pasterns 
 above. All superficial mischief will be readily repaired, and more speedily 
 than could have been thought possible ; but there is always a considerable 
 degree of uncertainty when, the horn being removed, the ulcerations are 
 found to be deep, and certain sinuses or openings betray the existence of 
 greater mischief within the foot. The case will, at all events, occupy a 
 considerable time, and give no little degree of trouble ; and it will be for 
 the owner to consider whether he had not better destroy the sheep if he is 
 in tolerable condition, than to run the risk of his pining away, and ulti- 
 mately sinking under long-continued and increasing suffering. 
 
 The sheep that has been attacked by foot-rot should not be suffered to 
 rejoin his companions while there is the slightest discharge from any 
 part of the foot. This goes on the supposition that the foot-rot may 
 not only be produced by the causes that have been mentioned, but that the 
 discharge from the sores and sinuses is of an infectious nature. Some va- 
 luable writers, and Professor Dick among the number, have denied the in- 
 fectiousness of foot-rot. They find sufficient reason for the spreading of this 
 disease through a whole flock, from all the animals having been exposed to 
 the same exciting cause ; the feet of all of them having been macerated by 
 the soft and damp pasture on which they have, trodden, and the internal 
 part of the foot being thus denuded and injured. 
 
 There are many flocks, with regard to which it would be idle to seek for 
 the cause of foot-rot in infection ; but the fair question is, have there not 
 been repeated instances in which a diseased sheep has been admitted 
 into a flock that had hitherto been sound, and on pasture that had 
 never given the foot-rot, and in the course of a few weeks or months the 
 complaint has been common among the greater part of them ? It is almost 
 superfluous to argue that there are numerous diseases that may be produced 
 by natural causes, and yet are communicable from one animal to another ; 
 and on the other hand, that it is difficult or almost impossible to suppose 
 that any infection could be communicated while the hoof remains sound. 
 The question is, are there not cases that can only be accounted for on the 
 supposition of infection ? 
 
 Professor Dick relates no experiments of his own or that have come under 
 his immediate observation in proof of the non-infectiousness of foot-rot ; but 
 he refers to some experiments that had been made in France on this sub- 
 ject, and proving, as he imagines, that foot-rot cannot be communicated from 
 one sheep to another by inoculation. He then enters into a train of argument 
 with regard to the improbability, or impossibility, of its communication while 
 the hoof remains sound. The most satisfactory way will be to relate these 
 experiments at length ; their value will then be better estimated. The im- 
 portance of the subject ; the decision of a question in which the interest of 
 the sheep-farmer is so much involved — namely, whether foot-rot is or is 
 not infectious, will be a sufficient apology for any length of detail. 
 
 Professor Gohier of the Veterinary School at Lyons was the experi- 
 menter. Several cases of foot-rot had come under his notice. He first 
 relates them, and the impression which they made on his mind, and the 
 course which they led him to pursue. 
 
FOOT-ROT. :-)ni 
 
 In October, 1807, M. Boucher bought two sheep at a fair. Three days 
 after they liad reached his farm tliey became lame. The disease, which he 
 immediately recognised as foot-rot, became worse and worse ; and, a few days 
 afterwards, he saw some of his own sheep, which had been previously sound, 
 beginning to grow lame, and the disease became general throughout theflock. 
 
 Six sheep, belonging to M. B., mixed in 1808 with some others affected 
 with foot-rot, a short time afterwards they were as bad as the others. 
 
 Fifteen sheep, lame with foot-rot, were sent to another flock composed of 
 forty sheep. About a month afterwards two sheep began to be lame. It 
 was soon plain that they had foot-rot. Four months after that it was 
 almost universal in the flock. 
 
 A ram, from a flock in which foot-rot prevailed, and having it himself, 
 was put with some ewes belonging to two other gentlemen. These ewes 
 soon began to be evidently aftected, and eighteen months passed before the 
 disease was eradicated. 
 
 In 1810 he attended several flocks of sheep among whom foot-rot had 
 raged. It was suspected to have been brought by two sheep that had been 
 purchased at a fair. 
 
 The observation of these cases suggested to him the idea of inoculating 
 some sound sheep with the matter of foot-rot, and thus putting the real con- 
 tagiousness of the disease to the test. 
 
 Experiment 1. — This was made on October 18th, 1815. He pared the 
 two fore-feet of a sheep to the quick, and applied on the sole some morsels 
 of horn covered with the matter of foot-rot. The part was left undisturbed 
 during eight days. This first operation produced no eifect. 
 
 Experiment 2. — On the 18th of December the experiment was repeated 
 on the hind feet of the same sheep, with this difference, that there was no 
 removal of the horn, but the skin of the bifurcation of the pasterns of the 
 fore-feet were well rubbed with the foot of a sheep that had the foot-rot 
 badly. No disease supervened. 
 
 Experiment 3. — January 11, 1816. After having pared the soles of the 
 fore-feet of the same animal until the blood started a portion of horn from 
 the foot of an infected sheep was bound on it. On the 17th this horn was 
 removed. A small fungous ulcer, of a livid colour, was perceived at the 
 top of the external hoof of the left fore-foot. Two days afterwards it 
 appeared as if it were healing, but the animal went lame as he had done on 
 the I7tli. On the 25th the ulcer began to increase, and continued slowly 
 to do so until the Ist of February. The hoof was a little lengthened, the 
 lameness was very great, and the animal was constantly lying down. On 
 the 8th, the ulcer had reached the internal and anterior parts of the hoofs. 
 The horn was removed, and the ulcer vi^as healed ; but it soon appeared 
 on the neighbouring parts. The foot-rot, for it could no longer be misunder- 
 stood, extended between the two hoofs, and the animal became still lamer. 
 The sheep continued in nearly the same state until the 25th of March, 
 when he began to improve, and on the 24th of April no trace of the disease 
 remained, A month afterwards he was destroyed. 
 
 Experiment 4. — On the 24th of March, however, he inoculated the two 
 hind-feet and the right fore-foot of this animal, in the same way as in the 
 two first experiments, but with no effect. 
 
 Two experiments, which he had made in 1810, had the same result. The 
 disease was not communicated until the second inoculation. The disease 
 lasted about a month, and then disappeared witliout treatment.* 
 
 * M^moires et Observations sur la Chinirg. et la Med. Vet. par J. B. Gohier, torn. iL, 
 p. 153. 
 
 2 M 2 
 
0.32 SHREP. 
 
 These experiments, then, instead of proving the non-contagiousnese o( 
 foot-rot, clearly establish the fact that it is contagious. The inoculation 
 succeeded, indeed, but twice out of six times, but it did then succeed ; it 
 produced a disease which Professor Gohier acknowledges could not be 
 raisunderstood. The effect of the inoculation was also precisely that of 
 the same operation in other cases. Tlie disease appeared under a much 
 milder form. It would be quite sufficient to rest the matter here ; 
 but the importance of the question demands the fullest inquiry. 
 
 Mr. Black, the farm-overseer to the Duke of Buccleugh, is also an anti-con- 
 tagionist. He had thirteen score of black-faced sheep, the greater part of 
 which were affected with foot-rot, and many of them crawling about on 
 their knees. He turned them into a drier pasture on which were seven 
 score of Leicester and Cheviot sheep. Ail of the diseased sheep, except 
 four, recovered, and not one of the Leicesters or Cheviots was infected. 
 This is an important fact, and deserves consideration ; but it only proves 
 that infection does not always and necessarily follow the mixture of sound 
 and infected sheep. In tlie experiment of Professor Gohier it was only in 
 two out of six inoculations that the disease was communicated, and in his 
 previous observations no more than a portion of the flock was infected. 
 
 The experience of those who believe in the contagiousness of foot-vot 
 must next be glanced at ; and those of the continental sheep-masters shall 
 first be inquired into. 
 
 " On the 4th of September, 1824, Mr. Vidal, of Abroc, in France, never 
 had had the foot-rot in his flock, which then consisted of forty-six ewes 
 and two rams. He lent one of his rams for the purpose of breeding, and 
 which was put among a flock, the greater part of which were affected by the 
 foot-Tot. On the Hth day of October it was returned very lame. Mr. 
 Vidal, knowing noihing about the foot-rot, and paying no attention to the 
 lameness, placed him among his sound flock. On the 11th of December 
 sixteen of them had evidently contracted the disease. 
 
 " In April, 1825, his flock was entirely renewed and consisted of fifty-two 
 sheep, not one of which was lame. His sheepfold was clean and airy, the 
 dung often removed, and the litter always fresh. Towards the end of the 
 month he hired another shepherd, whom he cautioned never to suffer his 
 flock to pasture with those of other persons. He neglected the caution, 
 and they mingled with a flock among which the rot was general. On the 
 1 1 th of May he had no fewer than six sheep affected with the rot. 
 
 " In June 26, the same shepherd again disobeyed his master's orders, 
 and fifteen became diseased."* 
 
 M. Pictet, in his "Essay on the Foot-rot," (translated in the Philoso- 
 phical Magazine,) says " that a flock of French sheep, labouring under 
 this disease, was driven into the neighbourhood of a Spanish flock. The 
 straw upon which they had lain was not taken away, and the Spanish flock 
 having afterwards been sent into the pent-house, the foot-rot began to show 
 itself among them in about fifteen days." t 
 
 Gasparin, deservedly ranking with the best of the French veterinarians, 
 carries the contagiousness of foot-rot to a still greater extent. He says, 
 " that it occasionally spreads to the pigs, the dogs, and even the poultry." 
 No case has occurred in the practice of the writer of this work that will 
 justify sucli an assertion.! M. Pavre, a Genevese veterinarian, instituted 
 a course of experiments which can leave no doubt at all about the question. 
 
 * Rec. de Med. V6t. Juin, 1831. 
 
 f Sir George Stuart Mackenzie on Sheep, p. 55. 
 
 I Manuel d' Art V^ierinaire, par A. De Gasposin, p. 252. 
 
FOOT-ROT. 633 
 
 He inoculated thirty-two sound sheep with the matter of fool-rot, and twenty 
 of them became infected. On one of the sheep that would not take the in- 
 fection he operated six times ineffectually. He tried once more, and foot- 
 rot was produced.* 
 
 It will, however, be more satisfactory to the British fanner to consult 
 the experience of our own sheep-masters. " As a proof that the foot-rut 
 is contagious," says Mr. Parkinson, " I will relate a circumstance that 
 happened in my flock when I lived in Doncaster. I had hired a ram from 
 a ram-breeder, and when he came to me I found that he had the foot-rot in 
 one foot very bad. I had always known it supposed by the shepherds to 
 be infectious, and this circumstance proved the fact. I ventured to put him 
 to the ewes. The result was, that they took the infection ; nor could I free 
 them from it in the whole of the time I kept them, which was thirteen 
 months."t 
 
 Mr. James Hogg, who from his childhood until he became of mature age 
 was a shepherd, says that " it is highly infectious, for it Ijas often been 
 known that the driving of an infected flock over part of another farm has 
 brought it upon the flock of that farm, with the utmost virulence." J 
 
 Mr. W. Hogg confirms the account of the gradual progress of this dis- 
 ease. He states, that " it is little more than twenty years since it began 
 to appear among the mountains of Scotland." He adds, " that the ra- 
 pidity with which it was propagated, and its destructive consequences, in- 
 duced the store-masters to regard it with the deepest attention, when they 
 found that it was a very contagious disease." His own opinion of the con- 
 tagiousness of it is expressed in very strong language — " Wherever it exists 
 it spreads with an unvarying and constant progress, until it has established 
 itself among the whole flock. "§ This, if not true to the letter, yet very 
 nearly corresponds with the experience of every sheep-master with whom 
 the author of this work has had the pleasure of communicating. 
 
 Mr. Laidlaw, of Bower Hope, than whom there can be no higher autho- 
 rity, states, that " it first began to appear among the Highland breed of 
 sheep about thirty years ago ; and that, when a stock is once infected, it be- 
 comes extremely difficult to extirpate the malady. That the disease is 
 highly infectious every person at all acquainted with it readily admits." || 
 
 There cannot be a doubt on which side the preponderance of evidence 
 lies, and the question would not have been entered into at so great length 
 were not the settlement of it so essentially connected with the interest of 
 the sheep-breeder. It is produced in certain individuals of the flock, by 
 the process of maceration and softness which the hoof undergoes on the 
 moist surface of certain pastures ; but, once set up, an ichorous and venom- 
 ous fluid is secreted, by which the disease is too surely and rapidly 
 spread. " In all situations where it has obtained a footing," says Mr. W. 
 Hogg, " we find it beginning in a particular place, and, if unopposed, ex- 
 tending wherever there are sheep to be affected by it." 
 
 It has been said that the manner in which the contagion is conveyed 
 has not been satisfactorily explained. There is no necessity, however, to 
 have recourse to any epidemic influence, or to any constitutional affec- 
 tion produced by feeding on the grass on which the virus has been de- 
 jjosited. The account that has been given of the state of the foot, its 
 
 * Recueil de Med. Vet., 1825, p. 43. 
 f Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i., p. 409, 
 + Quarterly Jour, of Agric, N. S., vol.ii., p. 701. 
 
 6 Prize Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotf 4nd, N S^ vol iii 
 p. 308. * ' 
 
 II Prize Essays. &c., vol. iii.. p. 314. 
 
534 Slll<.lLi\ 
 
 degree of maceration, the opening of all ils pores, liie frequent laceration of 
 the horn, and the absolute exposure of a greater or less portion of the sen- 
 sitive substance of the foot, the frequent inflammation, and sometimes 
 ulceration of the thin skin which covers the coronet, — all these circum- 
 stances afford means more than sufficient for the absorption of the virus 
 and the production of the disease. 
 
 Some persons have imagined that foot-rot is propagated by means of 
 animalculae which are bred hi the virus of the part, and, falling on the 
 pasture, attack the feet of other sheep. They have gone so far as to de- 
 scribe tills insect, and to give it a name — the pulex penetrans. The author 
 of this work has often sought for it in vain ; and the sources of contagion 
 are numerous and satisfactory enough, without any gratuitous supposition 
 of this kind. 
 
 The establishment of this cause of the disease leads to an evident and 
 an effectual mode of prevention ; the removal of every sheep that begins 
 to halt, and before the secretion of the virus has commenced. It is bad 
 policy to let the poor animals crawl about the pasture on their knees, day 
 after day ; and the sheep-owner will severely suffer for his folly. How 
 long a pasture may be considered to remain tainted it is impossible to 
 decide ; but a heavy rain or sharp frost would probably wash the virus away, 
 or destroy its power. The sheep that are removed should not be permitted 
 to return until their feet are perfectly healed, and have been well washed. 
 
 It would be a very important inquiry whether some breeds of sheep are 
 more subject to it than others. It would hardly be supposed that there 
 would be any constitutional predisposition, and yet it is an undeniable fact, 
 that although galled and sore feet had occasionally existed in sheep-flocks 
 from time immemorial, the foot-rot, with all its dreadful accompaniments 
 and consequences, was not known until the modern system of improvement 
 commenced — until the carcase was heavier, and its support lessened in bulk 
 — until the flesh and the fat were increased, and the bone and the horn dimi- 
 nished. Allied to this is another fact, tliat ewes in lamb are peculiarly sub- 
 ject to foot-rot, on account, probably, of the additional weight which the 
 feet have to support. 
 
 The previous habits of the sheep would have a more decided influence in 
 the production of foot-rot. Supposing different lots of sheep were taken 
 from a dry upland pasture, and placed on a moist and richer soil ; the con- 
 sequence ^would be that the hoofs of all would be macerated and softened, 
 and exposed to injury, but that injury would be proportionate to the pres- 
 sure upon and the wear of the foot. That was a very interesting account 
 which was given by Mr. Black, p. 532, of the progress of foot-rot among 
 certain sheep of different kinds, that had been turned into one of the parks. 
 The black-faced sheep were first affected, and to the greatest degree ; next 
 in degree was a cross between the black-fiiced and the Cheviot ; then the 
 Cheviot, and, last and least of all, the Leicester breed. " I was at a loss," 
 says he, " to account for this peculiar liability in the different breeds, while 
 all were exposed to the same circumstances ; but by carefully watching the 
 flock, I found that the black-faced got up from their lairs the earliest in the 
 mornings, and, from their being accustomed to roam from the hill to the 
 glen at the approach of daylight in search of their food, continued from habit 
 to wander through the park before they began to feed. The other breeds 
 possessed this disposition precisely in the order in which the disease appeared. 
 Consonant with this is the common remark, that Southdovvn sheep, removed 
 from their native downs to low and moist pasture, are peculiarly subject to 
 foot-rot. A most useful conclusion will naturally be drawn hence as to 
 the kind of sheep that should be selected for different soils and pastures. 
 
THE INTEGUMENT.. 585 
 
 As tlie foot-rot proceeds from the distorted form of the hoof, and the irre- 
 gularity of the pressure, more than from the simple wearing away of the 
 softened horn, it might be useful, and especially on suspected ground, to pare 
 tlie feet of all the sheep twice in the year — in October or November, and 
 April or May, taking advantage of a wet day or two, when the horn will be 
 more than usually soft. If there should be the slightest appearance of un- 
 soundness at these periodical parings, the proper applications should be 
 made to the feet. The sheep might occasionally be folded on some bare 
 and hard spot, or driven twice or thrice in the week a little way along the 
 road. Prevention would in this, and many other cases, preserve the animal 
 from disease and torture, and the owner from expense and loss. 
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 THE INTEGUMENT. 
 
 The skin of the sheep, although composed, like that of other animals, of the 
 cuticle, the subjacent mucous tissue and the true skin, differs materially from 
 that of most of them in some of its functions. It is exceedingly deficient 
 both in the powers of excretion and of absorption ; or rather there are cir- 
 cumstances about it which materially limit the action of these functions ; 
 and, as it were, confine the office of the integument to the production and 
 the support of the fleece. It is surrounded by a peculiar secretion, adhesive 
 and impenetrable to moisture — the yolk — destined chiefly to preserve the 
 wool in a soft, pliable, and healthy state. 
 
 Then there can be little cutaneous perspiration going forward from the 
 skin of the sheep, and there are consequently few diseases that are referrible 
 to change in this excretion ; and, on the other hand, little or no advantage 
 can be derived from an increase of it, as indicating a salutary direction of 
 the fluids, or relieving other and dangerously-congested parts. There is 
 likewise less expenditure or radiation of animal heat, both on account of the 
 interposition of the yolk, and the non-conducting power of the wool. The 
 caloric disengaged from the sheep is about the seventh part of that of the 
 human being, although the weight of the animal is one-third of that of man ; 
 or in other words not more than half of the animal heat radiates from a cer- 
 tain surface on the sheep which there does from man. This is a wise and 
 kind provision of nature, well explaining the means by which the ewe and 
 the lamb are enabled to endure, without apparent detriment, many a hard- 
 ship, and rendering those without excuse who still suffer them to be lost 
 from the cruel exposure to cold and wet, which bid defiance even to these 
 admirable means of defence. 
 
 Sheep are accustomed to crowd as closely together as they can during the 
 night. In many parts of the world they are driven into the sheepfold when 
 evening approaches. These provisions are most advantageous here — an un- 
 natural and dangerous state of heat is not so soon produced, and, the skin 
 being defended from actual contact with that of their fellows, infectious diseases 
 are not so readily communicated. It is only when in the open field the 
 animal can rub himself against the gate or the post, so as to break through 
 this natural protection, and denude the skin, that cutaneous maladies spread 
 through the flock. 
 
 If the skin of the sheep is thus deprived of many of the projierties and 
 
536 SHEEP. 
 
 functions which it possesses in other animals, the lungs are compelled to 
 take up the task, and they act powerfully both as excretory and absorbing 
 organs. Their appearance after death sliovvs sufficiently clear how much 
 they have been taxed. While the lungs of cattle of three or four years old 
 often do not present the slightest mark of disease, it is rare to find the 
 lungs of a sheep of that age which are not thickly set with miliary tubercles. 
 Many of the functions of the skin being thus suspended or curtailed, it 
 will not appear surprising that it should be found strangely thin compared 
 with the size of the animal. On this account it can be employed for very 
 few useful purposes, compared with that of the horse and ox.* 
 
 THE SCAB. 
 
 Among the diseases of the skin in British sheep the scab stands foremost 
 in frequency of occurrence and mischief to the wool, the flesh, and the 
 general constitution of the animal. The same disease, or one much resem- 
 bling it, has been known in some parts of the world from time immemorial, f 
 
 It assumes different forms in different seasons and on different animals ; 
 or there are several varieties of it. A sheep is occasionally observed 
 to scratch himself in the most furious manner, and with scarcely a moment's 
 intermission. He rubs himself against every projecting part of the hedge, 
 against every post, and the wool comes off from him in considerable flakes. 
 When he is caught there is no appearance whatever of cutaneous disease. 
 Mr. Young says, that " the sheep rub themselves in all attitudes — they 
 have clear skins without the least sign of scab — never observed that it was 
 catching — the better tlie food the worse they became — some few are taken 
 as if mad, jumping and staggering about as if drunk, and they are wasted 
 away, and die in three<»©f'' four months : the flesh is then quite green, but 
 not stinking."! 
 
 This varietjf.of the disease seems to have been most prevalent among 
 the Norfolk sheep. It is evidently a disease more of the subcutaneous 
 texture than of the skin itself; no satisfactory cause of it has been assigned, 
 nor has any certain mode of cure been pointed out. 
 
 The sheep should be caught and housed, shorn as closely as possible, 
 washed all over, and most carefidly, with soap and water, and, after that, 
 washed on every second day, and as long as may be requisite, with a lotion 
 composed of equal parts of lime-water and a decoction of tobacco. The cor- 
 rosive and arsenic lotion should be carefully avoided, as not only without 
 good effect in a disease of this kind, but its application being attended by 
 
 * For a more detailed account of the skin, see p. 62. 
 
 f Ovid, speaking of a pestilence that prevailed in the Island of j^gina 1300 years 
 before the Christian era, describes the falhng off of the wool of the sheep, and their 
 gradual wasting away: — 
 
 " Lanigeris gregibusbalatus dantibus segros, 
 Sponte sua lanaeque cadunt et corpora tabent." 
 
 Metamorph., lib. vii. 
 
 Livy speaks of a disease, scahius, so prevalent among cattle and sheep, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Rome, in the year 424 before Christ, that it was communicated to all the in- 
 habitants of the country, and ultimately to the slaves. — Tit.Liv., lib. iv., cap. 30. 
 
 No author of modern times has described the mange or scab of sheep more graphically 
 than Virgil in his Georgics. 
 
 All our earliest writers speak of it. Fitzherbert describes " the pockes that appere 
 vppon the skyn of shcpe, and wherof wyll dye many." 
 
 Mascall, Markham, and Shead, all acknowledge its prevalence, and the destruction 
 which it causes ; and there is not a French, or German, or ItaUan writer, that does not 
 speak of the scab as one of the most prevalent and infectious, and ruinous diseases o' 
 sheep. 
 
 I Young's Annalsof Agriculture, vol. xxxi v., p. 418. 
 
THE SCAB. 537 
 
 much clanger. A diluted mercurial ointment has been employed with ad- 
 vantage — one part of the common mercurial ointment, and seven of lard, — 
 two or three ounces being well rubbed in every second day, and the applica- 
 tion renewed not more than three or four times. 
 
 The scab in sheep is much akin to the mange in other animals. It is 
 most common in the spring and early part of the summer. It may be pro- 
 duced by a variety of causes, such as bad keep, starvation, hasty driving, 
 dogging, and exposure afterwards to cold and wet ; thus producing sup- 
 pression of the perspiration. The prevailing cause, however, is contagion. 
 
 The sheep, as in the rubbers, is restless — scratching itself with its feet — 
 nibbling itself — tearing off the wool, or violently rubbing itself against 
 every convenient place. When closely examined, the skin will be found to 
 be red and roughened. There has evidently been an extensive eruption, and 
 there still remain on various parts numerous pustules which .have broken, 
 and run together, and fdtm small or large patches of crust or sca6 — hence 
 the name of the disease — under which there is a sore surface if the cover- 
 ing is removed too soon. The shoulders and the back, most frequently, 
 earliest exhibit these pustules. The general health of the animal is affected 
 according to the extent and virulence of the eruption ; sometimes he pines 
 away and dies, exhausted by continued irritation and suffering. It is a 
 most contagious disease. If it is once introduced into a flock, the farmei 
 may be assured that, unless the tainted sheep are immediately removed, the 
 whole of his flock will become infected, and sadly deteriorated in value ; 
 for they will afterwards be unfit to breed from in his own stock, and he 
 must not sell them,* 
 
 It seems to spread among the sheep, not so much by direct contact as 
 by means of the rubbing places ; for it has ha^ened, that when the farmer 
 has got rid of his tainted flock, and covered his pastures with a new one, 
 the disease has broken out again, and has been as troj^lesome and as in- 
 jurious as before ; and this has arisen from the -gales, and other rubbing 
 places not having been painted or taken away. The time which elapses 
 between the infection and the appearance of the pustules has been ascer- 
 tained with considerable precision ; a circumstance of much importance in 
 any legal inquiry with regard to the soundness of the sheep, and the 
 liability of the seller. About the twelfth day the pustules begin to 
 appear, very small and thick ; and the animal is then first seen to ferret, or 
 rub himself. The skin also becomes rough, and on being handled is found 
 to be covered with small and hard salient points. Four days afterwards, 
 from the rubbing and biting of the animal, the summits of the pustules are 
 broken, and a purulent matter, which soon becomes concrete, escapes. This 
 forms the scab, some of the wool falling off, and the fleece generally be- 
 coming irregular, hard, dry, and brittle. 
 
 The post-mortem appearances are very uncertain and inconclusive. There 
 is generally chronic inflammation of the intestines, with the presence of a 
 great number of vrorms. The liver is occasionally schirrous, and the spleen 
 
 * The following brief notice of a trial at the Norfolk Assizes, iu July IS^'ij'is ex- 
 tracted from the 'Farmers' Journal' of that period : 
 Man V. Parker, 
 
 The action rose on a warranty of twenty score of sheep sold by the defendant to the 
 plaintiff at Kenninghall fair as sound. The warranty was distinctly proved on the part 
 of the i>laintitf, and that shortly after he bought the sheep the scab appi ared, by which 
 disease fourteen of them died, and be lost three shillings per head-on the remainder. — 
 Verdict fur the plaintiff, 731. 6s. 
 
538 SHEEP. 
 
 enlarged ; and there are frequently serous effusions in the belly, and some- 
 times in the chest. There has been evident sympathy between the diges- 
 tive and the cutaneous systems. 
 
 The scab is clearly a permanent and increasing irritation of the skin, 
 under the form of a pustular eruption ; its effects on the general health have 
 not been evident at first, but some becoming so in a disposition to chronic 
 inflammation of all the digestive organs. 
 
 It has now been clearly ascertained that the scab in sheep, like the mange 
 in cattle, horses, and dogs, and the itch in the human being, is connected 
 with, and propagated by certain minute insects belonging to the class of the 
 Acari, and which inhabit these pustules. The disease spreads over the 
 animal by means of these animalculae, and is communicated to the rest of 
 the flock in the same way. As soon as the pustule begins to dry up the 
 acarus leaves his first habitation and travels to another part of the skin, 
 into which it burrows, and so extends the disease. While thus travelling 
 it may be easily conveyed to the skin of another animal with which the in- 
 fected one comes into contact ; or it may be left on the rubbing post, and 
 entangled in the wool of the next visitant. 
 
 M. Walz, a German veterinarian, has clearly traced these operations. 
 If one or more female acari are placed on the wool of a sound sheep, they 
 quickly travel to the root of it, and bury themselves in the skin, the place 
 at which they penetrated being scarcely visible, or distinguished by a 
 minute red point. On the tenth or twelfth day a little swelling may be de- 
 tected with the finger, and the skin changes its colour, and has a greenish 
 blue tint. The pustule is now rapidly formed, and about the sixteenth day 
 breaks, and the mothers again appear with their little ones attached to their 
 feet and covered by a portion of the shell of the egg from which they have 
 just escaped. These little ones immediately set to work, and penetrate the 
 neighbouring skin, and bury themselves beneath it, and find their proper 
 nourishment, and grow and propagate, until the poor animal has myriads 
 of them to prey on him and to torment him, and it is not wonderful that 
 he should speedily sink. 
 
 M. Walz placed some of the male acari on the sound skin of a sheep, and 
 they, too, burrowed their way, and disappeared for a while, and the pustule 
 in due time arose ; but the itching and the scab soon disappeared without 
 the employment of any remedy. Therefore the scab can be communicated 
 from sheep to slieep only by means of the mediate or immediate contact of 
 tlie sound animals with the diseased, or, as they lie by each other in the 
 fold, the impregnated acari travelling from the infected to the sound sheep. 
 Still, however, there is a power of selection, and that to a very considerable 
 extent. The old and the unhealthy sheep are first attacked, and 'the long- 
 wooUed sheep in preference to the short ; a healthy short-woolled sheep 
 will long bid defiance to the contagion, or possibly escape it altogether. 
 This power of selection, if it may be so termed, manifestly exists with regard 
 to all kinds of cutaneous affections both in the human being and the 
 quadruped. The rubbing post, or any projecting substance, by working 
 against which the animal can somewhat ease his torture, is a fruitful source 
 of infection, for on such a body these acari must be plentifully deposited, 
 and are partially or entirely communicated to the next comer. 
 
 The following cut, copied from M. Walz's work, contains drawings of 
 these insects higher magnified. They are very different in form, size, and 
 colour from the insect wliich is connected with, or the cause of the itch of 
 the human being. 
 
Fig. 1. — The insects of their natural size on a dark ground. 
 
 Fig. 2. — The female, of 366 times the natural size, larger than the male, cf an oval 
 form, and provided with eight feet, four before and four beliind. 
 a.— The sucker. 
 
 b. b. b. b. — The four anterior feet, with their trumpet-like appendices. 
 
 c. c. — The two interior hind-feet. 
 
 d. d. — ^The two outward feet, the extremities of which are provided with some long 
 hairs, and on other parts of the legs are shorter hairs. To these hairs the young ones 
 adhere when they first escape from the pustule. 
 
 e. — The tail, containing the anus and vulva, garnished by some short hairs. 
 
 Fiy. 3. — The male on its back, and seen by the same magnifying power. 
 
 a. — The sucker. 
 
 *. b. b. h. — The fore-legs with their trumpet-like appendices, as seen in the female. 
 
 c. c. — The two hind legs, with the same appendices and hairs. 
 
 d. — The rudiments of the abdominal feet. 
 
 e^Tbt; taU. 
 
 Every litter of these parasites comprises, according to our author, from 
 eight to fifteen little onei. The femalea become in a very short space 
 four limes their first size. The acarus newly hatched, and kept in a 
 dry place, dies in a few days, and crumbles into dust. The more adult in- 
 sects become dry, and perish more or less slowly, according to the state 
 of the atmosphere, whether dry or moist ; but when the summer has passed 
 over, and the insect has become old, it retains its life firom the autumnal to 
 the spring equinox, or during the whole of the winter — a very important 
 fact, and illustrating the difficulty of getting rid of scab when it once 
 spreads among them, and also its occasional return in the spring, when no 
 labour had been spared to conquer it in the preceding summer and autumn. 
 The scab is often produced by certain exciting causes, as neglect and 
 mismanagement, as well as conveyed by contagion. In this respect it only 
 follows the law by which many other diseases are governed. Worms will 
 multiply in the intestinal canal when they have once begun to have 
 existence there : the fluke will fill every biliary vessel when the existence or 
 tlie rot has established it in the liver, and the acarus of scab will continue 
 in its cutaneous or sub-cutaneous dwelling when it has once been placed 
 there : but the question yet remains unanswered, how came they first to 
 have existence ; for they have not yet been observed in any other form or 
 state ? Physiologists are fast acknowledging the working of a mysterious 
 but noble principle — the springing up of life under new forms, when the 
 component principles ot previous beings are decaying, or have seemingly 
 
540 SlIKKP. 
 
 perished. Thus if we macerate any vegetable substance the fluid will teem 
 with myriads of living beings, called into existence by the process we are 
 conducting ; or rather by that power of nature, or that principle which was 
 bestowed by the Author of Nature, that life, ceasing in one form, shall 
 spring up in others, and this while the creation lasts. Thus we have probably 
 the hydatid in the brain of the sheep, and the fluke in its liver — parasitical 
 beings which we recognise in no other form, and in no other jdace. They 
 were the product of the disease of the part. In like manner the acarus of 
 scab may be called into existence by the derangements which ourn-eglect, or 
 unavoidable accident, or disease, may have made in the skin of tlie sheep. 
 Scab may be, and is, of spontaneous origin, as well as the product of con- 
 tagion, and the acarus, having sprung into life within the pores of the skin, 
 obeys the laws of all living beings, as to its after existence and multipli- 
 cation 
 
 The cure of scab, then, lies in the destruction of this insect. This is a 
 simple and most important view of the case. The essence of the disease is 
 the existence of, and the irritation caused by, this acarus ; the cure is the 
 removal or destruction of the tormentor. Then the question as to the 
 form under wliich the remedy is best applied is immediately answered. 
 The washes, whether infusions of tobacco, or hellebore, or arsenic, are some- 
 what objectionable. We can never be certain that they are brouglit into 
 contact with the diseased part — the natural yolk of the wool may be 
 interposed — the dense crust which is the product of the disease may be inter- 
 posed — or if that is not the case, can the simple application of a fluid of 
 this or of any other kind reach or destroy the insect concealed in the pus- 
 tule, or perhaps only in its infant state, and deeply buried in the substance 
 of the skin ? These washes have often succeeded ; and if not made too 
 strong — not in a greater proportion than half a pound of the arsenic to 
 twelve gallons of the water — they may be still resorted to by those who are 
 accustomed to their use ; but more care than is usually taken should be 
 exerted, in order that the fluid may penetrate to every part of the skin, and 
 which would be ensured by a previous washing with soap and water. The 
 arsenic, that necessarily remains about the wool when the water has dried 
 away, would probably destroy the acari almost as fast as they are produced. 
 When a greater quantity of arsenic has been used, or the sheep has been 
 kept too long in the water, fatal consequences have occasionally ensued. 
 
 A safer and a more effectual method — destroying the insect and benefit- 
 ing the wool — is the application of a mercurial ointment. It had long been 
 in frequent use among sheep-masters as a cure for the scab, but had got 
 into some disrepute from its having been made too strong, and applied in 
 too large quantities, and thus salivating some of the lambs and the pregnant 
 ewes. The ointment should be made of two strengths. That for bad cases 
 should consist of common mercuiial, or Trooper's ointment, rubbed down 
 with three times its weight of lard. The other, for ordinary purposes, sliould 
 contain five parts of lard to one of the mercurial ointment. TJie operator 
 should begin with the head of the sheep, and rub a little of the ointment 
 well into it. A shred or furrow should then be made from the head to the 
 tail, and in such a manner that the skin is exposed. A little of the ointment 
 should then be applied with the finger to tlie skin along the whole of the 
 exposed surface. Another furrow should then be drawn on either side ; and 
 in this way over the whole sheep, the furrows not being more than four inches 
 apart. When any of-the scabs are easily moved, they should be taken away ; 
 and, last of all, the whole of the ointment that has been thus applied to the 
 furrows must be well and thoroughly rubbed in. The quantity of ointment 
 
ERYSEPELATOUS SCAB. 541 
 
 applied to each sheep inaj' vary from a tew drachms to two ounces, one- 
 third of the quantity being used for a lamb. 
 
 The sheep that has been tlius dressed may be considered at least as in- 
 capable of infecting any of the others; the itching will soon subside; tTie 
 acari will either be destroyed by the mercury as soon as they appear on the 
 skin, or it will penetrate to their deepest recesses and poison tliem there ; 
 or if, at the expiration of ten days, there should continue to be much un- 
 easiness or itching, another but a lighter dressing may take place. 
 
 This ointment will have a kindly etfect on the roots of the wool, encou- 
 raging their growth and that of the natural yolk, and forming a comfort- 
 able and most useful defence against the cold of the ensuing winter. 
 
 ERYSEPELATOUS SCAB. 
 
 This disease, or perhaps cutaneous eruption, without the presence of the 
 acari of scab, sometimes assumes acute and erysepelatous character. Mr. Ste- 
 venson describes it under the objectionable term of " Red-water," thus ren- 
 dering it liable to be confounded with acute inflammation of the bladder or 
 peritoneum. He says that " it consists in an inflammation of ihe skin that 
 raises it into blisters containing a thin, reddisli, and watery fluid, Tliese 
 continue for a short time, break, and discharge their matter, and are fol- 
 lowed by a blackish scab."* This is a rare disease. A little blood slioukl 
 be abstracted, and a purge of Epsom salts administered. Local applica- 
 tions will seldom be necessary, except there sliould appear to be much 
 burning and itching, and then a little sweet oil, or camphorated oil, will 
 aff'ord relief 
 
 The Wild-fire, or more extensive vesication and torture, and to a certain 
 degree infectious, has occasionally existed as an epidemic. 
 
 The Ignis sacer, or violent cutaneous inflammation of the skin of the 
 sheep, is occasionally mentioned in every history of the epidemics of sleep. 
 As, however, a disease to be traced to any definite cause, and attacking soli- 
 tary individuals of the flock, and thence communicated to others, it is 
 unknown. 
 
 The leg evil, or black leg, of Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, has been 
 already alluded to.f 
 
 * Hogg on Sheep, p. 189. 
 
 -f- The sheep in France, aud on the gre;iter part of the continent, used to he subject to 
 a dreadful pustular disease, principally propagated by contagion, yet thought by some 
 to rage at times as an epizootic. Scarcely a sheep escaped its attack in si. me period of 
 its life. It never reached Great Britain, although it has thinned the sheep-fJoeks in 
 every district of France opposite to the English coast. It was termed La C/ave/ee, and 
 the virus by means of which it was propagated was called L^ C/aveau. 
 
 It was a peculiar eruption chiefly, aud always at first appearing on the parts that 
 are most denuded of wool, as the inside of the arms and the thighs, under the belly and 
 tail, on the teats, the scrotum, and around the eyes and nose, and not unfrequently 
 spreading at last over the whole surface of the body. These pustules contained a puru- 
 lent fluid, highly infectious, and when that is secreted they become dry, and fall ofll 
 La C/arf/e'e appears at all seasons of the year, and attacks without distinction the strong 
 and the weak, selecting, however, the lambs in (reference to the adult sheep. The 
 animal in whom the disease has once been fully developed is ever afterwards free from 
 its attacks; but a full half, and frequently two-thirds of the flock are destroyed by it. 
 
 The contagion was communicated in a variety of ways, or in almo-t every possible 
 way — the blightest contact was sufficient to accomplish the purpose. A portion of the 
 virus seems to be detached from the sick animal by everything which it touched, and there 
 it remained for an indefinite period, ntaining all its dangerous properties. Direct indi- 
 vidual communication did not seem to be necessaiy. If it broke out in a flock, it was 
 almost sure to be communicated sooner or later to all that were within a few hundred 
 yards of it. It might be unknowingly conveyed, and probably was, by the butcher, 
 the shepherd, the dog, the sheep merchant, and the medical attendant. It spread by 
 
542 SHEEP. 
 
 LICE AND TICKS. 
 
 There is a species of louse peculiar to the sheep, which occasionally exists 
 in almost incredible numbers, associated with common scab, or connected 
 with or producing an eruptive disease somewhat resembling the scab. This 
 
 means of the transport of the wool and the skins. If a sound flock was turned into that 
 in which a diseased one had been pastured two or three or four months before, or if it 
 was driven along the same road over which an infected flock had lately travelled, the 
 malady was sure to be develo\)ed. It was for many a century the scourge and the de- 
 struction of the sheep. Ill the regular clavelee there were four distinct periods; first, 
 the symptoms which preceded the eruption, as dullness, loss of appetite and strength, and 
 debility, marked by a peculiar staggering gait, the suspension of animation, and slight 
 symptoms of fever. This continued during ahaut four days, when commenced the 
 second period, or that of eruption. Little spots of a violet colour appeared in various 
 parts, and from their centre there sprung pustules accompanied by more or less inflam- 
 mation, isolated or confluent, and with a white head ; their base was well maredd and 
 distinct, they were surrounded hy a red areola, and their centre was flattened. They 
 were larger than an ordinary lentil. In some animals they were confined to few spots, 
 in others they spread over the whole body. They were scattered here and there, or 
 disposed in the form of beads, or congregated together in a mass. 
 
 When the disease was not of an acute chai-acter, and the eruption was not consider- 
 able, and the febrile symptoms were mitigated as soon as the pustule was developed, 
 ttxere was not much to fear. The eruption ran through its several stages, and no serious 
 disorganization remained ; but in too many cases the whole of the integument became 
 reddened and inflamed, the flanks heaved, the pulse, whether strong or obscure, increased 
 in frequency, the mouth was hot, the conjunctiva red, the breath foetid, the head swelled, 
 the eye-lids almost closed ; rumination had ceased, the muscular power was exhausted, 
 the pustules died away with little apparent fluid secretion, a foetid diarrhoea ensued, and 
 death speedily took place. 
 
 The progress of the eruptive stage of the disease was frequently, however, a very un- 
 satisfactory one. When the pustule had risen, and the suppuration had commenced, a 
 new state of febrile excitement ensued, accompanied by more than usual debility. It 
 lasted from three to four days, and during its continuance the pustules became whiter at 
 their summit, and the fluid which they contained was of a serous character, yellow or 
 red, transparent or viscid, and by degrees it thickened and became opaque, and then 
 puriform ; and at this period, when danger was to be apprehended, a defluxion from the 
 nose ensued, and swellings about the head, as already described. 
 
 This was the contagious stage of the disease, and when it was too easily and fatally 
 transmissible by accidental contact or by inoculation. 
 
 Then came the last stage, that of desiccation, and about the twelfth day from the 
 commencement of the disease. The pustules subsided, or the integument gave way, and 
 the fluid which they contained escaped, and a scab was formed of greater or less size and 
 density, yellow or black, and which detached itself bodily, or crumbled away in minute 
 particles or powder. The contagion was now at an end, and the animal recovered his 
 appetite and spirits and strength. This stage of desquamation frequently lasted three 
 weeks or a month. 
 
 A secondary eruption occasionally followed, of an erysepelatous character. There were 
 no distinct suppurating pustules ; but there was a more serous or watery secretion, which 
 soon died. 
 
 This was the regular and the fortunate course of the disease ; but too frequently there 
 was a fatal irregularity about it. Almost at the commencement there was excessive 
 fever, and prostration of strength, and fcEtid breath, and detachment of large patches 
 of the wool, and more rapid and bounding or inappreciable pulse, and strange swellings 
 about the throat and head, and difficult deglutition. There was also a discharge of ad- 
 hesive spumy fluid from the mouth, and of ichorous or thick, and yellow, or bloody, and 
 foetid discharge from the nostrils, often completely occupying and obstructing them. 
 The respiration became not only laborious, but every act of it could be heard at a consi- 
 derable distance — there was a distressing cough — the lips, the nostrils, the eye-lids, the 
 head, and every limb became swelled, the pustules ran together, and formed large masses 
 over the face, and the articulations : diarrhoea, that bade defiance to every medicine, 
 ensued, and the end was not far off. 
 
 Medical men were much struck with the resemblance between this disease and the 
 imall-pox of the human being, and they believed them to be identical ; and every shep- 
 
LICE AND TICKS. 543 
 
 louse, the hiphobosca ovina, is small and active, and of a brown colour, 
 principally tormenting lambs and hog-sheep that are out of condition. 
 Professor Gohier relates a case in which these insects were so numerous, 
 that after the lambs had lain a little while in the sun, they appeared to be of 
 a brown colour; all the lice by which they were infested had crept to the 
 
 herd, of course, adopted this opinion, and the clavellee of the sheep was supposed to be 
 the small-pox of the human being, modified by certain difFt'iences of structure and 
 function. This, however, was very erroneous. There was an evident difference in the 
 pustule ; that of small-pox was developed in the texture of the skin, and surrounded by 
 a rose-coloured areola — that of the clavelee was evidently more deeply seated ; it reached 
 to the subcutaneous cellular tissue, and it was surrounded by an areola of a far deeper 
 colour. The virus of small-pox was usually contained in a simple capsule, which ele- 
 vated the scarf-skin — the virus of the sheep-pox seemed to be more ditiused through the 
 cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue, and there was abundantly more swelling and inflam- 
 mation. The matter of small-pox was first limpid ; it then became turbid, puriforni, 
 and at length assumed the form of white or yellow, or thick pus, which became con- 
 crete, and a scab was formed which became at first yellow, and then brown, and then 
 black, and when it fell off left an impression, or depression, more or less distinct, 
 on the surface of the skin. The pustules of the sheep-pox, before there was any 
 appearance of pus degenerated into scabs, or formed a hard or thick crust, under which 
 the pus accumulated ; and when that scab fellofF, there was a sore left behind,_or some- 
 times a deep ulcer. There were other particulars of disagreement, but these would be 
 sufficient to prove that they were not identical diseases. 
 
 The treatment of this disease was necessarily very simple. It consisted first in sepa- 
 rating the sound sheep from the diseased, and to be careful that, having been thus 
 separated, they were not subjected to the influence of cold or wet, or insufficient food. 
 
 The diseased sheep were supplied with wholesome food — during the febrile stage 
 aperients of Epsom salts were administered : — the state of fever having passed, mild 
 tonics, as gentian and ginger, were administered, the Epsom salts being still retained, 
 but in smaller doses. Common salt was afavorite, and a very useful medicine, on account 
 of its antiseptic and tonic properties. 
 
 About the end of the seventeenth century, it was discovered that the virulence of the 
 small-pox could be modified and controlled by artificial means, and by those v/hich 
 would appear, at first sight, to have a kind of daring about them. The child was in- 
 oculated with the virus taken from an otherwise healthy subject, and a disease of a 
 milder character — milder to a degree that was scarcely credible — was produced. Half 
 a century and more passed before the experiment was tried on the sheep ; but about 
 the year 1760 it was attempted, and with the most perfect success. A disease with every 
 character of the sheep-pox was produced ; but much more mild, which rapidly ran its 
 course, and left no bad consequence behind. This was not immediately acknowledged : 
 — the operation was ridiculed and abused at first, but experience has proved that it is 
 an invaluable one. It is now adopted by almost every continental sheep-master. When 
 the sheep-pox used to break out in a flock, the owner lost a third, and sometimes a half, 
 and sometimes three-fourths of his stock. He now inoculates them, and he does not lose 
 more than one in a hundred. The professors of the veterinary school at Alfort say that 
 not more than 1 sheep in 400 is lost. When it is seemingly followed by disastrous con- 
 sequences, it is because it is delayed until la clavelee has actually broken out in the 
 flock, and then the loss of those that die of the natural disease is unfairly attributed to the 
 inoculation. Whenever the natural disease appears in his neighbourhood, it is now acknow- 
 ledged to be the duty of the sheep-master to subject the whole of his flock to inoculation ; 
 an<l the greater part of the owners of sheep to inoculate all the lambs. The immunity 
 lasts during the life of the animal. The spring and the autumn are the most favor- 
 able periods for inoculation, and the sooner after the weaning of the animal the better. 
 The ear, or the inside of the fore-arm, or the thigh, are the parts usually selected for the 
 inoculation. 
 
 In process of time inoculation with the vaccine matter was introduced into Great 
 Britain as a preservative against the small-pox, and the French veterinarians very 
 naturally put the power of the vaccine matter to the test as a preservative against the 
 oheep-pox. It had power, and to a very considerable degree. An experiment was made 
 sn a very large scale ; 1523 sheep were vaccinated, and the disease passed through its 
 different stages. They were all afterwards inoculated with the matter of sheep-pox, 
 and in 308 of them the disease was produced in the usual mitigated form after this 
 operation. Other experiments were made on a smaller scale, and with a similar result; 
 and, therefore, the vaccine inoculation is now abandoned on the continent, although it 
 
544 SHEKP. 
 
 outside of tlie wool* Tobacco juice, mercurial ointment, and arsenic, are 
 the three drugs usually resorted to in order to destroy them. The tobacco 
 water kills them almost immediately, and so does the mercurial ointment; 
 but the latter should not be used too late in the year, nor when the weather 
 is cold and wet. The mercurial ointment, however, is to be preferred on 
 account of its salutary effect on the skin of the animal, and the growth of 
 the wool. The weaker of the preparations just recommended for the scab 
 should be used.f 
 
 The sheep-tick is a formidable insect. Its instruments for piercing the 
 skin, and almost burying its proboscis and its head within it, are three m 
 number, but it adheres so firmly to the skin chiefly by means of its six legs, 
 which are exceedingly muscular and powerful, and armed with strong double 
 serrated claws. It is a nimble animal, and runs quickly enough about the 
 sheep in search of some favorite spot, and when it has fixed itself there it will 
 hang for weeks and months together. It seems as if it had lost the power 
 of extricating itself, for it never voluntarily comes away. It is sometimes 
 found as large as a horse-bean. It propagates with much rapidity, although 
 not to be compared with tlie sheep-louse. 
 
 It is useless to attempt to force it from its hold; but it will usually 
 yield to the application of the mercurial ointment well rubbed upon and 
 around, or common turpentine, or even linseed oil. 
 
 THE FLY. 
 
 Towards the middle of May, and especially in a woody district, or 
 where the fences are high, certain species of flies begin to deposit their 
 eggs on the wool of the sheep. If the animal labours under diarrhoea, 
 the excrement accumulates and putrefies around the tail, and they will be 
 
 gives immunity to four-fifths of those that have been subjected to it, for inoculation with 
 le c/aveau, on the virus of the sheep-pox, will fi^ve immunity to all. 
 
 There is one disadvantage attending the use of the claveau, that it retains its power 
 not more than a few days, whatever care may be taken of it. The vaccine matter retains 
 all its properties for a much longer period. — See Vatel and Hurtrel D'Arbroval, Articles 
 Clavelie, C/avelisation, and Faccinaiion ; also some valuable remarks on this subject in 
 the works of Gasparn, Tessier, I.uUiii and (iohier. 
 
 * Memoires et Observations, vol. ii., p. 98. 
 
 f Professor Gobier describes a curious experiment that was made on the relative value 
 of certain applications for the destruction of lice. He had twenty-three lambs that were 
 eaten up by lice and mange. He applied to six of them a decoction of white hellebore 
 — a decoction of tobacco to six others — ^of stavesacre to another six— and five he washed 
 with a saturated solution of kitchen salt. On the second day, about half of the vermin 
 were dead. The applications were repeated, and two days afterwards not more than 
 one-fourth of the parasites remained alive, and they were found in the neck, where 
 they are always most numerous. The tobacco and the hellebore had produced the 
 greatest effect, for before the second application of the lotion a midtitude of dead lice 
 were found in the wool, and those that remained were seemingly half dead — they were 
 lying on the surface of the skin almost without motion. The stavesacre had killed a 
 g^eat many, but the insects that remained were as vigorous as ever. The salt had also 
 killed many, but those that remained attached themselves firmly to the skin. — Memoires 
 et Observations, vol. ii., p. 101. 
 
 Mr. Hogg alludes to an occasional consequence of the annoyance of lice. An in- 
 stance of it certainly never came under the observation of the author of this work. 
 " They," (the lice,) " mostly breed about the throat, or under part of the neck, where 
 their ega;s are often to be seen in great numbers, and great care should be taken to 
 smear the hogs particularly well about these places, for if any of them are left there, 
 the animal is in great danger of being bridled. This is occasioned by the animal's 
 bending its neck extremely, in order to claw its throat with its teeth, on which occasions 
 the teeth often fasten in the wool, so that it cannot disengage them, and it soon loses 
 the power of.its neck. I huve known several die in this way, and many more who, if 
 they hid not been relieved, must necessarily have perished.'' — Hogg on Sheep, p. 100. 
 
LICE AND TICKS, 515 
 
 first deposited there, or on any accidental wound. The maggots are scarcely- 
 hatched before they begin to burrow under the skin, and sadly torment the 
 sheep by the severity of their bites. The very commencement of the mis- 
 chief can scarcely fail of being observed by the attentive shepherd. The 
 sheep are evidently uneasy, hanging down tlieir heads, stamping, shaking 
 tlieir tails, running, and biting themselves. Mr. Price says that a looker's 
 dog, when properly trained, the moment he enters a field in which are any 
 sheep struck with the fly singles out the diseased animals. 
 
 The head is a part very much exposed to the attack of these insects. It 
 is comparatively bare of wool, and the flies can more readily get at the 
 skin ; the sheep, in their impatience, bruising and wounding tlieir heads 
 with their hind feet, the flies become doubly numerous and trouble- 
 some, and the sores spread, and sometimes become dangerous. A plaister, 
 composed of a pound of pitch, and two drachms of bees' wax, melted toge- 
 ther, and spread while warm on soft leather, or even on linen cloth, is 
 with much advantage applied to the head when it begins to get sore; some- 
 times it is used as a precautionary measure before the soreness commences. 
 It covers the head, and heals it if sore, and prevents the future attack of 
 the fly. Some persons apply it while warm, without any leather or cloth ; 
 and then scatter a little short wool over it ; and others sew the plaister round 
 the head. 
 
 When the fly attacks other parts, the wool should be carefully parted or 
 cut away, and some spirit of tar freely applied ; this will destroy the mag- 
 gots that are already deposited, and the smell of the tar will prevent the 
 approach of other flies. Mr. Hogg asserts that the coarsest kind of fish 
 oil will always prevent the attack of the fly. *' I happened," says he, " to 
 be assisting at the sorting of a stock of sheep of the Cheviot breed, when 
 sundry of their heads were broken by the flies. The shepherds brought 
 them out of the fold with the intention of smearing the sore parts with tar. 
 I advised them to anoint them with coarse whale oil, such as they mix 
 among the tar, having several times seen sores softened and healed by it. 
 Some of it being near at hand, they consented. The flies were at this time 
 settled upon the fold in such numbers that when we went in among the sheep 
 we could with difficulty see each other, but those anointed with the oil were 
 turned in among the rest, and to our utter astonishment in less than a 
 minute not a fly was to be seen." The wool that is anointed by this oil 
 never quite loses the smell of it until scoured ; therefore, a few drops of it 
 sprinkled on the sheep at the beginning of the season, would probably keep 
 the flies from troubling them during the whole of the summer*. 
 
 SHEEP-SHEARING. 
 
 The proper time for this operation must depend on the climate, the 
 earliness or lateness of particular seasons, and the breed and condition of 
 the sheep. Some sheep will be ready as early as the middle of May, and 
 especially if they have been neglected in the winter months, and little nutri- 
 ment could be spared for the fleece, and it has remained on the back of the 
 owner almost a dead substance. It is then more easily and quickly dis- 
 placed by the growth of the new wool underneath. The sheep may be said 
 to be ready for shearing when the old wool has fairly risen from the skin, and 
 a coat of new wool covers the skin. The extremes of heat and cold areas 
 injurious to the sheep as to other animals, and there should be a complete 
 covering of new wool before the old one is taken away. An early and a 
 
 * Hogg's Shepherd's Guide, p. 110. 
 
 2 N 
 
54Q SHEEP. 
 
 warm spring will make a great deal of difference in this respect. Some 
 time in June will generally be the period selected, depending on the state of 
 the sheep, and which the experienced sheep-master will in a moment per- 
 ceive. It is bad practice, however, to drive it off until the middle or the end of 
 July, under the notion that there will be a longer fibre and consequently a 
 heavier fleece. This will rarely happen ; the old fleece will have separated, 
 and a portion of it fallen off. and the fly will have had longer time to be 
 busy, and will sometimes have done irreparable mischief; while the new 
 fleece will have been stinted in its growth, or part of it will be uselessly 
 removed by the shears. 
 
 Usage, from time immemorial, has determined that the wool shall un- 
 dergo a certain purification on the animal's back before its submitted to the 
 shears ; therefore some running stream or pond — the former, if possible, 
 is selected — into which the sheep are driven one by one, where they 
 are well rubbed and hand-washed, until the dirt is got out of the fleece. 
 They are then suffered to swim ashore, where there is a clean pen, or a 
 clean and dry pasture, or rick-yard to receive them for a few days, or until 
 they have got thoroughly dry *. 
 
 Some have advocated the use of warm water for the washing of the 
 sheep, as removing the danger of the men taking cold; and also preserving 
 the sheep from the same danger, and more effectually cleansing the fleece ; 
 and also as affording, in the water of the first and second washing, a fluid rich 
 in animal soap, and constituting one of the most fertilizing manures that 
 
 * How beautiful is Dyer's account of this I — 
 
 First, however. 
 Drive to the double fold upon the brim 
 Of a clear river, gently drive the flock, 
 And plunge them , one by one, into the flood. 
 Plunged in the flood, not long the struggler sinks 
 With his white flakes that glisten through the tide : 
 The sturdy rustic in the middle wave 
 Awaits to seize him rising ; one arm bears 
 His lifted head above the limpid stream; 
 While the full clammy fleece the other laves 
 Around, laborious, with repeated toil ; 
 And then resigus him to the sunny bank, 
 Where, bleating loud, he shakes his dripping locks. 
 
 Dyer's Fleece, Book I. 
 
 An anonymous but valuable writer in the "Quarterly Journal of Agriculture" gives 
 the following account of washing the lowland sheep — the mountain or heath sheep being 
 generally compelled to swim across a pool of water several times : — " At least three and 
 at most four men will be necessary to stand in the water, so arranged that the first man 
 shall be the lowest down the stream, and the last man shall be the shepherd himself. 
 There should be plenty of hands to keep the sheep near the edge of the water, for the 
 ewes are apt to wander away in search of their lambs, which should be left at the home- 
 stead on this occasion. Everything being thus prepared, the first man at the water's 
 edge should get a sheep brought towards him which he seizes and pulls into the water, 
 and immediately turns over on its back, holding the arm of the fore-leg with the left 
 hand, and grasping a portion of the wool at the side of the head with his right hand. 
 He swings the sheep in the water, turning it over on the one side and the other, while at 
 the same time he pulls it gently backwards and forwards, to and from him, at every suc- 
 cessive turning. In this process the wool waves up and down in the direction of the 
 length of the body, and twirls roiind the body, first in one direction and then in another. 
 He then hands the sheep fo the next washer, who repeats the same operation, and he to 
 the next, till the shepherd gets it, who after feeling the skin with his hand, and judging 
 by the clear state of the water of the cleanly condition of the animal, dips him over the head 
 and turns him gently over on his feet, and assists him up the grassy bank, where he 
 stands dripping and woe begone. At length twirling his wool like a mop, and making 
 the spray fly from him in a shower, he forgets the rough handling he has passed through 
 and begins to crop the green herbage." — Quart. Journ. of Agric, vol. iii., p. 867. 
 
SHEEP SHEARING. 54? 
 
 could be applied. In general, however, the wool is sufficiently cleared by 
 the old system, and the danger to the men and the quadrupeds »s not so 
 great as has been represented. 
 
 About a week is now suffered to elapse in order that the fleece may be- 
 come sufficiently dry, and also tliat the new yolk, which is secreted with 
 wonderful rapidity, may penetrate through it. The weight of the fleece 
 will be somewhat increased, and, what is of much more consequence, anew 
 softness will be communicated to the wool. 
 
 It should be received as a fundamental principle of sheep-shearing, that 
 the more perfectly it is performed the greater will be the succeeding crop 
 of wool. The operation is thus described by the writer in the *' Quarterly 
 Journal :" — " A barn or shed into which plenty of light can be admitted 
 near the shearers should be selected, and a part of the floor covered with a 
 large canvass sheet, on which two shearers can operate. The sheet should 
 be nailed down, and a little straw placed under it to soften it as a cushion. 
 The floor of the barn should be swept out quite clean, and a light broom should 
 be at hand to sweep the sheet when necessary. Everything being arranged a 
 shearer seizes a sheep, and sets it on its rump, and keeps it in this position by 
 resting the back against his own legs. He removes all straws, thorns, burs, 
 &c., that may have adhered to the wool. While thus held, the wool is re- 
 tnoved from the head and neck so far as the shoulders, and also from the 
 belly, the scrotum, and the edge of the thighs. The head of the animal is 
 then bent down sideways, and the shearer, placing a leg on each side of the 
 neck of the sheep, pushes out the opposite ribs by pressing his knees gently 
 against the ribs that are nearest to him. He next shears the wool from the 
 far side with his left hand, from the belly to the middle of the back, and as 
 far down as the loins. The sheep is now turned, and the right hand is em- 
 ployed to shear the wool from the near side. The sheep is then laid flat on 
 its side, and kept down by the shearer with his face towards the rump of the 
 sheep, resting his right knee on the ground in front of the neck, and his 
 right toe being brought to the ground a little behind and below the poll ; 
 the head and neck of the sheep are thus confined by his right leg, while he 
 uses his right hand to shear the wool from the hind quarter. In this way the 
 clips of the shears will appear in concentric rings round the body of the 
 sheep. The dirty portions of wool about the tail are then removed by the 
 shears and kept by themselves ; the outside of the fleece is folded inwards, 
 beginning at the sides, and narrowing the whole fleece into a stripe about 
 two feet wide. This stripe is then rolled firmly up from the tail end towards 
 the neck, the wool of which is stretched out and twisted into a rope, and 
 wound round the fleece to give it a cylindrical shape*." 
 
 Since the alteration in the character and destiny of the short wool, its 
 total exclusion from the fine cloths, and its increased value as a combing 
 wool, the practice of shearing the lambs has fallen very much into disuse, 
 and the fleece, under the name of hogget wool, is suffered to remain until 
 the second shearing time ; it then produces a considerably higher price 
 than the ewes* wool, and constitutes the greater part of the remuneration 
 which the breeder derives from the fleece. 
 
 As soon as the sheep is shorn, the peculiar mark or brand of the owner 
 is placed upon it. It used to be composed of ochre or tar, or other sub- 
 stances which were afterwards very difficult to be removed, and therefore 
 lessened the value of the fleece. A superior material is now used, composed of 
 lamp-black and tallow melted together, a small quantity of tar being super- 
 
 * Quart. Joiini. of Agrc, vol.iii., p. 868. 
 
 2 N 2 
 
548 SHEEP. 
 
 added. This will not be washed away by any storms to which the sheep 
 may be exposed, but will readily yield to strong soap-suds*. 
 
 The ewe is now dismissed to her lamb. There is, however, a great 
 degree of confusion, neither the dams nor their young being able to distin- 
 guish each other so readily as before. This embarrassment seems not to 
 arise so much from the loss of the fleece, which may occasion an alteration 
 in their appearance, as from the defect of that long-recognised smell which 
 had characterized each individual personally, and which is also rendered 
 more doubtful by the strong scent of the tar and the tallow, by which they 
 have been newly marked. The brute creation recognise each other more 
 from the smell than the sight, and in matters of identity and diversity ap- 
 peal much more to their noses than their eyes f. 
 
 To one circumstance more allusion must be made — namely, the practice 
 of shearing the fat sheep early in the spring. There is scarcely a Smithfield 
 cattle show in which, in the dead of winter, two or three sheep, just shorn, 
 — certainly in a very neat and tasteful way, and every excellent point of the 
 animal displayed, — are not exhibited. Some excuse may be made for this, 
 for the sheep are brought to the metropolis in closed carts, and are shown in 
 a place where the winds of heaven cannot visit them too roughly, but what 
 shall be said of a drove of naked sheep going to market in the early part of 
 March — ^the east wind cutting like ice, and their eyes and nostrils nearly 
 closed with mucous ? This is done for the sake of the little additional profit 
 to be derived from the wool. Is that profit really derived.? Has not the 
 unfeeling owner miscalculated the matter ? Let him, or let any thinking or 
 humane man, compare two pens of sheep close by each other. In the one 
 the animals retain their natural covering, and they are full of health and 
 vigour ; the inhabitants of the other hang their heads with cold and disease, an 
 unpleasant rheum is discharged from their nostrils, and the eye of the sheep, 
 that never deceives when the question of health is to be decided, tells tales, 
 far too intelligibly, of pulmonary diseases, and of constitution undermined, 
 and of everything to disgust rather than attract. Has not the unfeeling 
 owner miscalculated the matter ? He will say, perhaps, that the sheep will 
 not travel well in their fleece. In the heat of summer they will not ; but 
 when the winds blow chilly, no system can so surely promote the health of 
 the animal, as that which secures to him the feeling of comfort J. 
 
 SALVING OR SMEARING. 
 
 The question of salvvig or smearing is entirely one of locality. It is not 
 possible to preserve sheep exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather in high 
 and open districts without the application of some substance to the fleece. 
 The grand object to be gained is protection from the wet and storm ; a 
 second is to promote the growth of the wool, and to improve its character. 
 The influence of intense cold would be to stint the growth, and to give a 
 harshness to the quality of the wool. A third object desirable to be accom- 
 plished, is to destroy injurious insects, and to prevent those diseases of the 
 skin, to which sheep in exposed situations are exceedingly liable. The 
 smearing mixtures were therefore composed of substances which seemed 
 most likely to accomplish these purposes. The tar, by matting the wool, 
 rendered it almost impossible for wet to penetrate it. It also destroyed the 
 
 * The Complete Grazier, p. 263. 
 -(See White's instructive and beautiful Natural History of Selborne, p. 365, 
 
 J John Lawrence, a name scoffed at by the ignorant and the brutal, but identified with 
 the cause of humanity, has taken a similar view of the subject. — Lawrence on Cattle, 
 p. 368, . 
 
SALVING UK SMEAKIJNG. 54y 
 
 insects wliich might harbour in the skin, and readily cured many cutaneous 
 disorders. The butter preserved the tar from becoming too tenacious or con- 
 crete, or communicating a certain liarshness to the wool ; and it also promoted 
 the grov/th of it, and either gave it softness or preserved its natural softness. 
 Many tons weight of damaged butter were, and are yearly, sent into the 
 Highlands for tliis purpose. It was, however, found that the tar communicated 
 an indelible stain to the wool, which could never be used for white goods; 
 nor would it take some of the most brilliant colours : therefore the wool on 
 which the salve was employed was deteriorated in value. It was called the 
 laid woo], and was usually from \s. to 2s. per Scotch stone of 24 lbs. lower 
 in price than the white or unsalved wool. 
 
 It was a great object with the sheep breeder to get rid of this stain, by sub- 
 stituting something instead of the tar. Among many experiments, some 
 made by Mr. John Graham, of Newbigging, are deserving attention. He 
 left the tar entirely out of the question, and he used instead of it yellow 
 resin. He melted together 18 lbs. each of butter and hog's lard, 12 lbs. of re- 
 sin, and two Scotch pints, or a gallon, of Gallipoli oil — an oil used in washing 
 or cleaning of wool or cloth, taking away every stain, and leaving the wool 
 perfectly white. This was sufficient for fifty-five sheep, and the cost of the 
 smearing of each sheep was about 4^d He found this wool, when washed, 
 equally valuable with the white wool, and producing a considerably higher 
 price than the laid wool *. 
 
 Future experiments must decide on the value of this and other salving 
 mixtures. They are indispensable, and there can be no doubt that, in pro- 
 cess of time, a method of preventing the stain of the tar will be discovered. 
 
 The use of a small quantity of some oleaginous or greasy application im- 
 mediately after shearing will likewise be gradually acknowledged. The 
 protection which it affords to the almost denuded skin, its substitution for 
 the natural yolk, which is not in its full quantity immediately secreted, 
 and the softness which it will impart to the wool, are circumstances well 
 deserving of attention. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 THE GRAZING AND FATTENING OF SHEEP. 
 
 The system of sheep-feeding varies so much with the breed, the pasture and 
 the winter provision, that it is difficult to lay down any rules that will admit 
 of general application. This difficulty is increased by the very different 
 manner in which farms of the same character are managed according to the 
 caprice of the owner. 
 
 A favourite system with many sheep-farmers is to purchase pregnant 
 ewes in the autumn — to keep them on somewhat inferior food during the 
 winter — to give them better provender as the lambing season approaches, 
 and, after that, to improve their keep still more, in order that the lambs 
 may be ready for the early market, and the ewe herself sufficiently fattened 
 before the end of autumn. Others purchase lambs in August or September ; 
 keep them in inferior store-condition until the spring, and then fatten 
 them as quickly as possible, and clear the whole off the ground before 
 Michaelmas. 
 
 * Price's Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society, vol. ii., pp. 4 and 24-1, 
 
550 SHEEP. 
 
 Others, again, purchase sheep in store-condition at all seasons. Tliey 
 bring them forward with the best food which their farms will aflFord, and 
 sell them as soon as they are ready for the butcher. 
 
 In many parts of the country the sheep have nothing but what the pastures 
 will aflord, except a supply of hay, according to circumstances, during the 
 winter. Considerable management is required here. Sheep suffer mate- 
 rially from being driven backwards and forwards to different parts of the 
 farm. It is always a considerable time before they will quietly settle down in a 
 new pasture, and sometimes they decline considerably in condition by means 
 of the change and their discontent with their new residence. In an en- 
 closed country sheep generally do best when they are separated into rather 
 small parcels ; they feed more quietly, they eat less, and they waste less. 
 When as many sheep are put upon a fair-sized pasture as it will properly 
 keep, they will be cleared off considerably earlier than if they were put in 
 larger numbers on more extensive grounds. Grass land, in small divisions, 
 will keep and fatten many more sheep than when they are of a greater extent. 
 
 There are few circumstances to which the farmer is so inattentive as the 
 nature and quality of the produce of his pasture land whether open or en- 
 closed ; the grasses of which particular animals are fondest, and on which 
 they thrive best ; the kinds of grass which he should have on his meadow 
 lands ; those he should cultivate on his permanent pasture ; and those that 
 should cover his higher ground. He can tell which produces the heaviest 
 crop, but he knows not in which the nutritious principle most prevails, or 
 what period of the spring or summer, or how permanent or transient its 
 best time may be. 
 
 The present Duke of Bedford entitled himself to the best thanks of the 
 agriculturist when he instituted a course of experiments on the time of 
 flowering and seeding, and the produce and nutritive quality of every known 
 kind of British grass. The time of flowering and seeding, and the weight 
 of produce, and, so far as this goes, the comparative value of each of the 
 grasses at this period is a most impurtaut object to ascertain. The propor- 
 tion of nutritive matter is still more important : for although it is the 
 case in the quadruped, as in the human being, that it will seldom happen 
 that two individuals will gain equal weights of flesh from equal quantities of 
 the same kind of food, yet when the experiment is tried on a large scale 
 there will be an evident and a very close connexion between the nutritive 
 character of the food, and the thriving condition of the animals. 
 
 An account of these experiments was published under the superintendence 
 of Mr. Sinclair, the head-gardener of the Duke, but it is now a very scarce 
 and expensive work. Sir Humphry Davy, in his excellent work on Agri- 
 cultural Chemistry, has given a general view of the result of the experi- 
 ments ; and the reader will probably not be displeased at being put in 
 possession of that which relates to the feeding of sheep. The grasses shall 
 be mentioned in the order of their flowering. 
 
 The Sweet-scented Vernal Grass {Anthoxanthum odoraium) is 
 found on almost every kind of soil, and is a true permanent pasture grass 
 for general purposes, and for early appearance ; but it is not liked by 
 sheep, who will scarcely touch it if there are any white clover or meadow 
 foxtail. 
 
 Me\dow Foxtail Grass (Alopca/rvs praiensis). — This flowers about 
 May 20, and the seeds are ripened about June 24. On a clayey loamy soil, 
 at tlie time of flowering, it produces about 20,418 lbs. per acre, every half 
 pound yielding 1^- drachm of nutritive matter. "When the seed is ripe the 
 ]iroduce would weigh 13,000 lbs. only, but yielding 23; drachms of nutriment. 
 
THE GRAZING AND FATTENING OF SHEEP. 551 
 
 The aftermath produces about 8000 lbs., and the proportion of nutritive 
 matter is 2 drachms to the half pound. So that, although there is a greater 
 weight of produce at the early mowing than at the seed time, the real value 
 in nutritive matter is not more than 2 to 3. Sheep are fond of the grass; 
 horses do not dislike it, but oxen do not care for it. 
 
 Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass — (Poa pratejisis) is eaten by sheep, 
 but they prefer most of the fescues. It is an early grass, but it exhausts the 
 soil. 
 
 Short Blue Meadow Grass {Poa cmrulea). — Common in the drier 
 parts of peaty meadows; nutritious, but not sufficiently so to make up for its 
 unproductiveness. Sheep eat it. 
 
 Rough-stalked Meadow Grass (Poa trivialis). — In rich moist soils, 
 and sheltered situations, it is a highly valuable grass ; but on high and ex- 
 posed ground its produce is inconsiderable ; it yearly diminishes, and dies 
 away in four or five years. It is highly nutritive, and sheep are exceedingly 
 fond of it. It flowers about June 13, and the seeds are ripe about July 10. 
 In flowering time its produce per acre is about 7500 lbs. and the proportion of 
 nutritive matter is 2 drachms : at seed time the produce is more than 7800 lbs, 
 and the nutritive matter increased to 2f drachms. Its superior value at seed- 
 time is therefore very striking, and should not be forgotten. Contrary to 
 what is the case with many other grasses, the straws at the time of flowering 
 are weak and tender ; but as they advance towards the period of ripening 
 the seed they become firm and succulent. 
 
 Sheep's Fescue (Fcstuca ovina). — Flowers about June 24, and the 
 seeds ripen about July 10. The produce is comparatively small, and the pro- 
 portion of nutriment is not more than 1^ drachm ; but the sheep are exceed- 
 ingly fond of it. Linnaeus affirms that sheep have no relish for hills and heaths 
 that are destitute of this grass. Gmelin, in his ' Flora Siberica,' says that 
 the Tartars fix their summer residence where this grass is in greatest plenty, 
 on account of its being so wholesome for their sheep. It has a very soft 
 and fine foliage, and therefore may be better adapted to the teeth of the 
 sheep than larger grasses ; or it may be possessed of some peculiar sana- 
 tory power. Sheep are exceedingly fond of it, and they thrive wherever it is 
 found. 
 
 Round- HEADED Cock's Foot Grass {Daclylis gloinerata). — This is 
 an exceedingly productive and nutritive grass; affording in the flowering 
 time 2\, and when the seeds are ripe 3^ drachms of nutritive matter. The 
 leaves of the aftermath are very succulent. It is valuable for permanent 
 pasture. Sheep eat it very readily. 
 
 Welsh Fescue (Feslucu Cambricd), — The sheep are as fond of it as of 
 the common sheep's fescue, while it is more productive and succulent. It 
 is most valuable when the seeds are ripe. 
 
 Narrow-leaved Meadow Grass {Poa arigustifolia). — Flowers at the 
 end of June ; and the seed perfect at the end of July. On account of its early 
 and rapid growth it is very valuable for permanent pasture, and sheep like it. 
 
 Hard Fescue {Festuca duriusci/la). — This grass is most prevalent on 
 light rich soils, but is always found in the best natural pastures, where the 
 soil is retentive. It is one of the best of the finer or dwarf-growing grasses ; 
 and most valuable for the feeding of sheep. It flowers about the very be- 
 ginning of July, and the seeds are ripe towards the latter end of the same 
 month. At the time of flowering it is a'very productive grass, as a short 
 one, yielding nearly a ton per acre, and affording a proportion of 3^ 
 drachms of nutritive matter. At seed time the general weight of the grass 
 is somewhat more, but the nutritive matter amounts to only 1^ drachms. 
 The proj-ortionate value of the grass at the time of flowering is therefore 
 1 to 3. 
 
552 SIIKEP. 
 
 Meadow Fescue Grass {Festuca pratejim). — .It constitutes a very con- 
 siderable portion of tlie herbage of all rich natural pastures. It makes ex- 
 cellent hay, and never forms rank tufis. It is much liked by cattle, but 
 sheep comparatively neglect it. It flowers at the very beginning of July, 
 and the seed is ripe towards the latter end of the month. Its produce at 
 flowering time is nearly three quarters of a ton per acre, and the quantity 
 of nutritive matter is no less than 4^ drachms. When the seed is ripe the 
 produce is nearly a ton, but the quantity of nutritive matter is only 1^ drachms 
 in the same weight of produce ; although not so much in quantity, is three 
 times as valuable at the beginning as at the end of July. 
 
 Rye Grass {Lolium perenne). — Mr. Sinclair says of this grass: — 
 " Sheep eat it, when it is in the earliest stage of its growth, in preference to 
 most others ; but after the seed approaches towards perfection they leave 
 it for almost any other kind. A field in the park at Woburn was laid 
 down in two equal parts, one part with rye grass and white clover, and the 
 other part with cock's foot and red clover. From the spring until midsummer 
 the sheep kept almost constantly on the rye grass, but after that time they 
 left it and adhered with equal constancy to the cock's foot during the re- 
 mainder of the season." This grass is of almost equal value at the flower- 
 ing and seed season — the beginning and latter end of July. It may, how- 
 ever, be objected to it, that it exhausts the soil. 
 
 Crested Dog-tail Grass {Cynosurus cristatus). — Mr. Sinclair says, that 
 the South-down sheep appear to be remarkably fond of this grass, preferring 
 it to most of those that have been described, while, on the contrary, the 
 Welsh sheep comparatively reject it, and browse on almost everything else. 
 The grazier in particular districts may, perhaps, take advantage of this. 
 
 Fertile Meadow Grass {Poafertilis). — In early growth, the propor- 
 tion of nutritive matter, and the nutritive quality of the latter math, this 
 grass will yield to few. It continues to send forth a succession of flowering 
 culms until the frost arrests their growth. It is therefore an excellent 
 meadow grass combined with others. 
 
 Yellow Oat Grass (Avenajlavescens). — Found in dry soils and mea- 
 dows, and readily eaten by sheep. A calcareous manure renders it consider- 
 ably more productive. 
 
 Meadow Cat's-tail Grass — Timothy Grass — (Phleum pratensc). — It 
 flowers in the third week in June, and the seed ripens in the end of July. 
 Of much value, for permanent pasture, mixed with other grasses, on ac- 
 count of its early herbage, its great productiveness, and the superior propor- 
 tion of nutritive matter which it contains. At the seed time, a little before 
 which it should be cut, for if it is cut later the aftermath will be deficient, 
 it contains no less than 5| drachms of nutritive matter. It is most useful 
 for the sheep in the form of hay. 
 
 Bents {Agrostia). — The diff'erent species of bent, although common on 
 almost all poor kinds of pasture, possess no great value. Some of the 
 mountain sheep, however, are fond of them. Mr. Sinclair says that the 
 Welsh sheep will leave all other kinds of pasture in order to graze on the 
 common bent. 
 
 The improved system of husbandry, and the extent to which the 
 early fattening of the sheep is carried, have rendered various kinds of arti- 
 ficial feeding necessary. Almost the last vegetable that was introduced, 
 and the most important, is the Turnip. While it supplies a great quantity 
 of most useful food for the sheep, it increases the fertility of the soil in the 
 least troublesome and expensive way. The kind of turnip cultivated must 
 depend on the soil. The common or white field turnip will be preferred 
 
THE GRAZING AND FATTENING OF SHEEP. 553 
 
 on Hglit and sandy soils — the Swedish for the heavier ones. The Swedish 
 turnips are the densest, and least liable to rot ; they also are tlie most nutri- 
 tive. Half a pound of the Swedish turnip yields 110 grains of nutritive 
 matter ; the same quantity of the garden turnip, which is second in the 
 order of nutrition, contains only 85 grains. The quantity of nutrition sin- 
 gularly varies with the size of the root in different species of the turnip. 
 The larger roots of the Swedes afford a greater proportion of nutriment 
 than the smaller ones. In the other varieties the moderately-sized roots have 
 the greatest quantity of nutritive matter. 
 
 The frequent and the most economical way of using the turnip is to have 
 two different flocks of sheep succeeding to each other — the fattening and 
 the store sheep. The former are first turned on a portion of the field sepa- 
 rated by hurdles ; and the power of selection which they have, and of scoop- 
 ing out the roots that please them best, will twice as rapidly add to their 
 condition than if the turnips had been dug up and carted to them on another 
 pasture. The store sheep will follow, and clear everything away. 
 
 Due caution has been given under the article " Hoove," p. 429, not to 
 suffer the sheep to remain too long at first on this highly nutritious food. 
 The means to be adopted, should the rumen become over distended, have 
 also been there described. 
 
 The turnip crop is liable to very considerable irregularity of produce from 
 various causes, and the farmer is occasionally distressed to find food for his 
 sheep. This has led some to have recourse to the Potatoe, and with 
 very great success. The quantity of nutritive matter in a given weight of the 
 roots is doubled, and sometimes trebled, in the potatoe. In the ox noble 
 235 grains are yielded by every half pound of the root ; the rough red 
 yields 305 grains, and the champion not less than 378 grains. 
 
 The Rye Grass has been already mentioned as an occasional food for 
 sheep. The Eed Clover is another favourite food, the spring leaves of it 
 yielding a very considerable quantity of nutritive matter. The red clover 
 is far more nutritive than the white or Dutch clover. Lucern yields still 
 more, and Burnet yet more nutritive matter. 
 
 The Mangel Wurzel has lately been tried. The weight of crop pro- 
 duced on a suitable soil has caused this root to be ranked among the 
 profitable ones, but like all other nutritious roots, it sadly deteriorates the 
 soil. A writer in the " Farmer's Journal" says, that from his turnip-crop 
 fiiiling in 1820, he fed his ewes with mangel wurzel and hay — 25 lbs. of 
 the former and 5 lbs. of the latter. From the great quantity of milk which 
 the ewes yielded the lambs were in high condition. Some other sheep of 
 his increased on the average 8 lbs. per quarter in five weeks. Each 
 25 lbs. of mangel wurzel, and 5 lbs. of good hay daily *. 
 
 Another writer in the same periodical states, that he fed his ^J^cV- 
 mangel wurzel. Some of them fed varaciously, and in a short tj/^^^ j^ 
 ened, ' ' . i .i • i . . n ■. 
 
 flakes, and leavmor the skm naked, ilethererore recommend^/ ^. ^^ ^^g 
 
 3y any 
 
 ened, and began to lose their wool, a great part of it con^-yg pj-j^y 
 
 , and leaving the skin naked. He therefore recommend^'^^. ^^ ^^g 
 
 a small quantity to the ewes at the time of lambing, i"cre?^° succu- 
 
 lambs increase in size ; for, he very properly adds, " to cr^ ^.i jamb is 
 lent food the greatest possible flow of milk in the ewe/^^ . ... 
 young and not able to draw the whole quantity, is a b^P';^^ ^^, ^^ ^ ^^jj^. 
 Potatoes have, as already observed, occasionally X^" ^[°''*'il them ii 
 ter food, either when the turnip crops failed, or/^®"^*^^ ^ ^^^ ^ y p' ' 
 order that they might last through the winter. A^^ey are given sue 
 
 * Farmer's Journal, December, 1821..^flbid., January, 1822. 
 
654 SHEEP. 
 
 the cribs or troughs ; and when there is convenience for steaming them, 
 few things so rapidly fatten the sheep. 
 
 When describing the management of the Southdown and the Leicester 
 sheep, a sufficient account was given of both the summer and the winter 
 feeding of these breeds, and to this the reader is referred. Peas and barley- 
 meal, and oil-cake, and, most of all, corn in a ground or green state, are 
 had recourse to, as the convenience or the prejudices of the owner suggest. 
 
 The number of sheep and lambs sold in Smithfield and Islington Mar- 
 kets during the year 1836 was 1,336,319 ; the average number in the pre- 
 ceding five years was 1,369,229. This decrease arose from the rapidly in- 
 creasing supply of ready-slaughtered meat by means of the steamers from 
 the whole extent of the northern coast and from Scotland. 
 
 In the first quarter of the year, and until the grass-fattened sheep are out 
 of their wool, the sheep and lambs are supplied from the midland and 
 western counties, from the northern so far as Norfolk, and by the sheep- 
 feeders near London. 
 
 Towards the spring, sheep begin to come from the northern districts, and 
 especially from Northamptonshire and the counties of Leicester and Lin- 
 coln. The Kentish and Kentish half-breeds increase, and the Scotch and 
 Welsh fattened in England. The lambs are from various parts, but parti- 
 cularly from Berkshire, Surrey, and West Sussex. 
 
 As the spring advances the mutton of the northern districts is in its 
 greatest perfection ; yet full half of the sheep and the greater part of the 
 Iambs come from the south and west, and there is a large quantity of 
 slaughtered meat. 
 
 In June the shorn sheep, and especially from Lincoln and Leicester, 
 claim notice, but the Southdowns are also in high condition. The supply 
 from the extreme north is now at its height. 
 
 As the autumn approaches, the Leicesters, the South Downs, the Kents, 
 and the different west country breeds prevail — the Norfolks beginning to 
 increase in number, and lamb to get out of season. The Norfolks become 
 more numerous, and so do the west country sheep, and comparatively few 
 arrive from the north, except much slaughtered meat by means of the coast 
 steamers ; and, towards winter, the Norfolks have decreased, and the supply 
 from the marshes in the neighbourhood of the metropolis is more abundant ; 
 lamb is scarcely seen, but much slaughtered meat arrives from the coast. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 
 
 •^LIST OF THE MEDICINES USED IN THE TREATMENT OF THE 
 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 Ai-couj^ (^Spirit of Wine). — In the sheep as well as in cattle, every 
 inu or tevv. ^,jj every kind of inflammation is apt to take on a typhoid or 
 ma ignant toi.,^ j^j^j therefore we are accustomed, even while we are com- 
 bating inflammajoi^^ to add a stimulant to our purgative. The culicular 
 coat ot the rumen ;nto which the greater part of the medicine too often 
 tincis Its way, renders > necessary to add some stimulant sufficiently to rouse 
 inis stomach to the discharge of it^ contents; therefore ale, gin, tincture of 
 ^ntian, iSfc, are, m smaf. quantities, added to the other ingredients, if the 
 eWdent existence of inflammation or fever does not forbid it. 
 
 AtOES, as a purgative, is ,pry uncertain in the sheep, and sometimes 
 
MEDICINES FOR SHEEP. 555 
 
 dangerous. It has been given in doses of one ounce and a-half without 
 producing the slightest effect. Two ounces have destroyed the sheej), not 
 by superpurgation, buf by direct inflammation. The tincture of aloes, how- 
 ever, is a very useful, stimulating, and healing application to wounds. 
 Two ounces of powdered aloes, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered 
 myrrh, should be macerated in a pint of rectified spirit, diluted with an 
 equal quantity of water. This will be found particularly useful in foot-rot 
 when the caustic has eaten away the fungus, and the chloride of lime has 
 removed the tendency to mortification. 
 
 Alteratives. — The old alterative powder for horses and cattle will be 
 very useful in the cutaneous diseases of sheep. It is composed of iEthiop's 
 mineral, nitre, and sulphur, in the proportions of one, two, and four — about 
 two drachms being the average dose, and to be given daily until the disease 
 is cured. 
 
 Alum is sometimes used as an astringent in the diarrhoea of lambs, but 
 it is far inferior to the "Sheep Cordial." 
 
 Antimony. — One preparation of it alone is in any considerable repute, 
 the chloride, or butyr, in cases of foot-rot, as described under the treatment 
 of that disease. 
 
 Arsenic is used as awash for sheep with scab, as described in the proper 
 place. It is far from being an effectual application, on accoimt of the diffi- 
 culty of getting it fairly to penetrate through the wool; and when it does so 
 penetrate, it becomes to a certain extent poisonous. 
 
 Calamine. — See Zinc. 
 
 Camphor. — Used externally in the form of oil for strains and swellings 
 of the joints. 
 
 Catechu. — An extract from the wood of one of the Acacia trees : an ex- 
 cellent astringent. It is one of the ingredients in the " Sheep's and Calves' 
 Cordial," as described at p. 469. 
 
 Chalk. — A valuable antiacid, and also an ingredient in the " Sheep's Cor- 
 dial." 
 
 Corrosive Sublimate. — See Mercury. 
 
 Digitalis {Fox Glove). — A valuable sedative, and entering into almost 
 every fever medicine. 
 
 Epsom Salts. — The very best purgative that can be administered to 
 sheep, and in fact almost superseding every other. The dose from half an 
 ounce to an ounce. 
 
 Gentian. — The best vegetable tonic, and also superseding every other. 
 Dose, from one to two drachms. 
 
 Ginger. — An excellent stomachic and tonic, and forming an ingredien^ 
 in almost every aperient drink. Dose, from half a drachm to a drachmy^ 
 
 Iodine. — Often used with good effect, in the form of ointment, to^^'' 
 perse indurated tumours, and particularly in the udder. Tlie prejjar^*^" *^' 
 iodine thus used is the hydriodate of potash, in the proportio^of one 
 drachm of the compound to seven drachms of lard. X 
 
 Lead. — The only preparation of lead that is much used in ^ep practice, 
 is the subcarbonate or the common white lead, in ord^to destroy the 
 maggots of the fly. It is superseded by the spirit of tar/ 
 
 Lime. — The chloride of lime has great value as aXl'islnfectant, and is 
 given in small quantities to get rid of the gas in casp<5 of hoove. 
 
 Linseed Oil. — Used occasionally as a j)urgative when the Epsom sahs 
 will not act, or when great intestinal irritation is expected. Dose, irom two 
 to three ounces. 
 
 Mercury. — The mercurial ointment when rubbed down with from fiv« to 
 «cvcn ])arts of lard, a sale and almost certain ciue for the scab. 
 
556 SHEEP. 
 
 Calomel (the protochloride of mercury). — Seldom used in sheep pracr 
 tice. 
 
 Corrosive Sublimate (the bichloride of mercury). — A solution of it is 
 often employed as a wash for scab ; but it is liable to the same objection 
 as the arsenic ; there is no certainty of its penetrating through the wool, 
 and if it does penetrate it is a dangerous application. 
 
 Myrrh. — A valuable addition to the tincture of aloes, as an application 
 to wounds. 
 
 Nitrate of Silver. — An invaluable caustic for wounds inflicted by a 
 mad-dog, or infected by any kind of poison. 
 
 Nitre. — An ingredient in the usual fever medicine. The dose rarely ex- 
 ceeding a drachm. 
 
 Opium. — An ingredient in the " Sheep's and Calves' Cordial." A cholic 
 drink would have little effect without it ; and if opium were omitted in the 
 medicines for diarrhoea and dysentery, every other drug would be given in 
 vain. 
 
 Salt. — The chloride of sodium, or common kitchen salt, has an excellent 
 effect in promoting the condition of the animal, when occasionally sprinkled 
 over its food, or placed witliin its each. It is the basis of every medicine 
 that has yet been produced which really has power over the rot, and in the 
 early stage of that disease it has often completely arrested its fatal progress. 
 
 Sulphur is a very good aperient, in doses of from one to two ounces. 
 It is more valuable, however, as keeping the bowels in a relaxed state when 
 they have been opened by other medicines. Sulphur is the basis of every 
 ointment for the cure of mange, and is useful in the common scab. It enters 
 also into the composition of the best alterative powders. 
 
 Tar is used with butter for salving the sheep in cold and exposed 
 situations. It is also sometimes used for marking sheep, and is a very 
 useful dressing in foot-rot. , 
 
 Spirit of Tar. — A useful application to the feet in foot-rot. It also has 
 great effect when applied to the parts that .have been struck by the fly. It 
 destroys the maggots already formed, and no fly will deposit her eggs where 
 ihi-s liquid has been used. 
 
 Oil and Spirit of Turpentine. — These are often very useful applica- 
 tions to wounds, and especially those of long standing. They also prevent 
 the attack of the fly. Common turpentine is added to milder ointments, in 
 order to make them somewhat stimulating, and giving them a digestive 
 character. 
 
 Zinc. — The carbonate of it is mixed with lard, in the proportion of one 
 drachm to seven, and makes a very excellent emollient and healing oint- 
 ment. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abb, the wool so called, C7 
 Ahom.isum, cut of the, 4'J'2, 424, 424 
 
 , description and functiou of 
 
 the, 438 
 
 , diseases of the, 439 
 
 , bezoais or calculi in the, 439 
 
 Abortion, the symptoms and treatment of, 
 497 
 
 , supposed to be produced by too 
 
 much salt, 497 
 Absorbent system, account of the, 472 
 Abyssinian sheep, description of the, 116 
 Acarus of scab, description of the, 538 
 
 , how produced, 539 
 
 African Company, establishment of the, 
 
 220 
 Afteipains, account of the, 504 
 Age of sheep, the names indicative of the, 2 
 
 , reckoned by the teeth, 23 
 
 , the usual, 6 
 
 , instances of unusual, ib. 
 
 Agrostes, account of the, 552 
 
 Air cells, description of the, 484 
 
 Alcohol, the use of it in sheep medicine, 
 
 554 
 Alfred, an encourager of the woollen ma- 
 nufactory, 195 
 Alnager, first appointment of the, 209 
 Aloes, the use of in sheep medicine, 554 
 Alopecurus pratensis, account of the, 550 
 Alteratives, the use of in sheep medicme, 
 
 555 
 Alum, the use of in sheep medicine, ib, 
 American sheep, account of the, 326 
 Anglesea, account of the sheep of, 273 
 Angola sheep, description of the, 120 
 Antediluvian sheep, history of the, 7 
 Anthoxanthum odoratum, account of the, 
 
 550 
 Antimony, butyr of, an excellent caustic, 
 
 555 
 Antrim, the breed of sheep in, 356 
 Antwerp, former flourishing state of, 217 
 Apoplexy, the cause and treatment of, 392 
 , confounded with inflamma- 
 tion, ib. 
 Aptha, description and treatment of, 413 
 Apulian sheep, description of the, 142 
 Arabian sheep, description of the, 126 
 
 shepherds, their perigrinations, 1 2 
 
 ■ , their numerous flucks,ib. 
 
 , thnir hospitality, 14 
 
 Arcadian sheep, description of the, 140 
 Argali, description of the, 130 
 
 , the North American, 132 
 
 Arlington sheep, description of tie, 135 
 Armagh, the bleed of sheep in, 350 
 Arran, the breed of sheep in, 297 
 Arsenic, the use of in sh.ep medicine, 556 
 
 Arteries, description of the, 476, Man. 3 
 
 of the head, description of the, 482 
 
 , inflammation of the, 477 
 
 Asiatic sheep, account of the, 126 
 Attachment of sheep to each otlier, 374 
 Australia, description of the sheep of, 183, 
 326 
 
 , cuts of the wool of, 1 86 
 
 , sheep of Southern, 189 
 
 Western, ib. 
 
 Ayesh, the universal dish of the Arabs, 14 
 Azores, the sheep of, description of, 169 
 
 Babylonish garments, description of tbe 
 
 ancient, 40 
 Bagshot sheep, description of the, 239 
 Bakewell,Mr., the father of the Dishley or 
 New Leicester sheep, 315 
 
 , the principles on which he 
 
 formed the breed, ib. 
 Balance of trade, the, in 1662, 223 
 
 , the, in 1667, 224 
 
 Ballynasloe fair, account of, 358 
 Hampton sheep, description of the, 253, 
 
 323, 337 
 Banstead sheep, description of the, 239 
 Barbary Company, establishment of Ihe, 
 220 
 
 sheep, description of the, 123 
 
 , inquiry into their ancient 
 
 character, 123 
 Bashan, description of the breed of, 41 
 Bat's wool and hair, microscopic appear- 
 ance of, 88 
 Bear, account of the hair and wool of the, 
 
 95 
 Bearded sheep, description of the, 122 
 Bedford, the Duke of, institutes experi- 
 ments on the grasses, 
 Bedfordshire, description of the sheep of, 
 
 306 
 Bedouin sheep, description of the, 115 
 Belly, the proper form of the, 421 
 Kent grass, account of, 552 
 Berkshire sheep, description of, 241 
 Bezoars in the abomasum, 439 
 Biflex canal, diseases of the, 524 - 
 Bile, nature and use of the, 44^ 
 Bisti iirnage, description of, ?13 
 Blackf.iced sheep, descriptj<m of the. 280 
 
 , coivparison between 
 
 them and the Cheviots, 286 
 
 crossed by the Leicester, 
 
 325 
 
 Blain, descriptiun and treatment of, 412 
 Blaise, Bishop, an historical account of 
 
 him, 106 
 Bleeiling, the proper places for, 483, 
 
 Man. 9 
 
558 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bleeding, the quantify of blood to be ab- 
 stracted in, 484 
 
 Blood, the nature, source, and influence 
 of, 409 
 
 , the quantity of in the sheep, 484 
 
 , the meaning of the term in breed- 
 ing, 494 
 
 . S-, the change of, after respiration, 
 
 Man. 3 
 
 Bohemian sheep, description of the, 139 
 
 Bot in the sinuses of the head, description 
 of the, 364 
 
 , the, not so injurious to the sheep as it 
 
 is imagined to be, 3G8 
 
 Boucharian Tartars, their mode of pre- 
 paring the lamb skins, 53 
 
 Brain, description of the, 361, 372, Man. 4 
 
 , effect of pressure on the, 377 
 
 , abscess in the, 392 
 
 — ■ — , inflammation of, 394 
 
 Braxy, Man. 1 2 
 
 Breach, the wool so called, 67 
 
 Breachy wool, description of, 65, 72 
 
 Brecknockshire sheep, description 
 269 
 
 Breckshuagh, the, account of, Man. 16 
 
 Breed, the original homed, 1 9 
 
 , fat rumped, 20 
 
 , the best, 1 1 
 
 Breeding, the principles of, 493, 520 
 
 Brisket, description of the, 42 1 
 
 Britain, the sheep an aboriginal inhabit- 
 ant of, 193 
 
 of, history of, 192 
 
 , the introduction ot the Merino 
 
 sheep into, 177 
 
 , the trial & abandonment of in, 180 
 
 of, 
 
 British wool, in the early ages of very fine 
 
 quality, 194 
 
 , highly esteemed abroad, 203 
 
 , the immense quantity of it 
 
 formerly exjiorted. 209,210 
 wools, the price of several in 1341, 
 
 208 
 
 the high price of at various 
 
 times, ib. 
 long- woolled sheep the progenitors 
 
 of the Flemish, 214 
 Bronchial tubes, the anatomy and func- 
 tions of the. 488 
 Bronchitis, the nature and treatment of, 
 
 489 
 B»''kinghamshire, description of the sheep 
 
 ot,306 
 Bucklbricl, description of the sheep of, 
 
 253 
 Burni't, as Mie food of sheep, 5')3 
 Burying the t'ead in woollen first ordered, 
 
 224 
 Butter, the manulictory of, 45 
 , the Arab method of making, 45, 
 
 46 
 
 , small quantity of, yielded by the 
 
 ancient sheep, ib. 
 and honey, the mixture of, 47 
 
 C.iicuM, cut of the, 462 
 
 , description and function of tho, 464 
 
 Caermarthenshire sheep, account of the, 
 
 269 
 Caesarian operation, when it should he 
 
 performed, 502 
 
 , accounts of the, 503 
 
 Calamine, the use of, in sheep medicine, 
 
 555 
 Calculi in the abomasura, 439 
 Calomel, the use of, in sheep medicine, 555 
 Cimargue, the sheep of 160 
 Cambridgeshire, account of the sheep of, 
 
 305 
 Camel's milk, the use of, among the 
 
 Arabs, 46 
 Camphor, the use of, in sheep medicine, 
 
 555 
 Canada, description of the sheep in, 135 
 Cape sheep, description of the, 117 
 
 ,quality of the native wool, 118 
 
 , the use made of their skins, ib. 
 
 of Good Hope, the establishment of 
 
 Merinos at, 119 
 Capillaries,the description of their function, 
 
 477 
 Cardiganshire, account of the sheep of, 270 
 Carding, description of the process of, 102, 
 
 104 
 Cariniform cartilage, description of the, 
 
 421 
 Carlow, the breed of sheep in, 353 
 Castration not used in early times, 43 
 
 , the manner and time of, 5 1 1 
 
 , the various methods of, 513, 
 
 Man. 10 
 Cataract, the formation of, 406 
 Catarrh, the symptoms and treatment of, 
 
 488 
 Catechu, its use in sheep medicine, 555 
 Cat's-tail grass, account of the, 552 
 Cattle, the meaning of the scriptural 
 
 term, 9 
 Cavan, description of the breed of sheep 
 
 in, 357 
 Ceylon sheep, description of the, 129 
 Chalk, the use of, in sheep medicine, 555 
 Chalky soil, the injurious effect of it on 
 
 the fleece, 76 
 Cheese, the early manufactory of, 44, 45 
 , Virgil's account of its manufac- 
 ture, 45 
 
 , accoiuit of the Greek, 140 
 
 , the Monfpellier, 50 
 
 , the Rochfort, 51 
 
 , the Sassenage, 50 
 
 ewe milk, the manufactory of in 
 
 Britain, 47, 268 
 Cheshire sheep, account of the, 265 
 Chest, the, ])roper form of, 420 
 
 , contents of the, Man. 2 
 
 Cheviot sheep, description of the, 284 
 
 , cut of I he, 112 
 
 , general description of the 
 
 old ones, 113 
 
 -, comparison be.fweeu them 
 
 and the black-faced, 286 
 , the various crosses of the, 
 
 crossed by the L 
 
INDEX. 
 
 559 
 
 Chinese sheep, description of the, 129 
 
 Choice wool, description of, 67 
 
 Chunah breed of Spanish sheep, descrip- 
 tion of the, 147 
 
 Chyle, account of the, 472 
 
 Chyme, account of the, ib. 
 
 Circulating system, account of the, 144 
 
 Clare, account of the sheep of, 360 
 
 Clatting, when it should be done, 498 
 
 Claveau, ia, description of, 541 
 
 Clavellee, la, des-.-ription of, ib. 
 
 Cloth, account of the manufacture of, 102 
 
 Clothing sheep, an ancient custom, 35 
 
 ^ , the effect of, 75 
 
 • , singularly contradictory 
 
 testimony respecting, 76 
 
 and combing wools, the distinction 
 
 between, 106, 107 
 
 Clover as the food of sheep, ^)53 
 
 Cock's-foot grass, ruund-headed, account 
 of the, 551 
 
 Coenurus, account of the, 379 
 
 Cojbert, M., first projected the introduction 
 of the Merinus into France, 163 
 
 Cold, the great degree of, to which the 
 primitive flocks were exposed, 26 
 
 Colon, cut of the, 462 
 
 , descripticm and function of the, 464 
 
 Colour of the fleece, the original, 16 
 
 , will oc- 
 casionally appear, 19 
 
 wool, importance of the, 77 
 
 , the, circumstances which 
 
 influence it, 78 
 Columella, his introduction of the African 
 
 rams into Spain, 123 
 Combing and clothing wools, distinction 
 between, 106, 107 
 
 , description of the process of, 
 
 103, 104 
 
 , how far it injures the felting 
 
 principle, 107 
 Concretions in the rumen, 432 
 Condition, the folly of getting sheep to too 
 
 high a state of, 392 
 Congo sheep, account of the, 121 
 Constiiiation, the treatment of, 471 
 Consumption, the symptoms and treat- 
 ment of, 490 
 Coquo sheep, description of the, 121 
 Cork sheep, description of the, 360 
 Corn-crowfoot, a case of poisoning by, 432 
 Cornish sheep, account of the, 208, 254, 323 
 Corporations, when first established, 219 
 Corrosive sublimate, the use of, in sheep 
 
 medicme, 556 
 Costiveness in lambs, cause and treatment 
 
 of, 519 
 Cotswold sheep, ancient and modern, de- 
 scription of the, 333 
 
 ■ always produced long woul, 
 
 340 
 
 wool, the price of in 1341, 208 
 
 sent to Don Duarte, 2 1 1 
 
 rams sent to Castile and Arra- 
 
 gon, 212 
 
 sheep, purpose for which they 
 
 were sent to Spain, 146 
 
 Cotting, the system of, known to the 
 
 Jews, 35 
 
 of the wool, description of, 73 
 
 Cotfon manufacture, introduction of the, 
 
 229 
 Crested dog-tail grass, account of the, 552 
 Crimea, the sheep of the, 107 
 Cud, loss of, 434 
 
 duct, description of the, 423, 433 
 
 CuUey, Messrs., the improvers of the long- 
 
 wooUed sheep in Northumberland, 327 
 Cumberland wool, the price of in 1341, 208 
 shire, description of the sheep 
 
 of, 278, 324, 330 
 Curves of the fibre, their connexion with 
 
 felting, 79 
 
 -, different in different 
 
 breeds, 80 
 
 -, connected with fine- 
 -, difference of in differ- 
 
 ent parts of the same fleece, 
 
 -, connexion with the 
 
 and serrations, ac- 
 
 SLrrations, 92 
 
 counting for the felting property, 92 
 Cynosurus cristatus, account of the, 5ri2 
 Cypress sheep, account of the, 141 
 
 Dacttlis glomerata, account of the, 551 
 Danish sheep, description of the, 167 
 Dartmoor sheep, description of the, 25 1 , 3 23 
 Dean forest, the sheep of, 257 
 Deccan sheep, description of the, 128 
 Delamere forest, the sheep of, 265 
 Denbighshire, description of the sheep of, 
 
 276 
 Derbyshire, description of the sheep of, 304 
 
 wool, the price of in 1341, 208 
 
 Devonshire sheep, account of the, 251 
 
 notts, account of the, 253, 337 
 
 wool, the former coarseness of, 
 
 213 
 Diarrhoea in lambs, cause and treatment 
 
 of, 517 
 in sheep, the nature and treat- 
 ment of, 469, Man. 16 
 Digestive organs, description of the, 410, 
 
 Man. I 
 Digitalis, the use of, in sheep medicine, 555 
 Dishley Club, the origin and principles 
 of the, 316 
 
 , the regulations of the,318 
 
 Docking, the time for, 513 
 
 , the mode of operating, 514 
 
 Dog, description of the ancient, 27 
 
 the, loses almost every good quality 
 
 in the East, 27 
 
 , delineation of the hair and wool 
 
 of the, 96 
 Donegal, the breed of sheep in, 3 J7 
 Dorset sheep, account of the, 248, 323 
 early lambs, method of manage- 
 ment, 250 
 
 ewe, cut of the^ 249 
 
 ram, cut of the, 248 
 
 Downrights, the wool so called, 67 
 Downshire, the breed of sheep in, 3 J6 
 
5G0 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dropsy, acute, tlie nature and treatment 
 
 of, 466 
 r- — , chronic, the nature apd treatment 
 
 of, 467 
 Drought, the dreadful, which occasionally 
 
 prevails in the East, 15, 26 
 Dublin, the breed of sheep in, 356 
 Dung, sheep's, the valuable properties of, 
 
 465 
 Dunse, the sheep-fair at, 328 
 Duodenum, cut of the, 462 
 , description and function of the, 
 
 462 
 Durham, the breed of sheep in, 302 
 Dutch sheep, description of the, 176 
 Dyeing, the art of, known under the Nor- 
 man kings, 197 
 
 , the recovery of it, 221 
 
 Dysentery, the nature and treatment of, 
 
 470, Man. 17 
 
 Eagles, the best way of destroying them, 
 
 Man. 35 
 Ears, different forms of the, in the different 
 
 varieties of sheep, 407 
 , calculation of the period of the do- 
 mesticity of shL-ep from them, 142 
 
 , dise;ises of tlie, 408 
 
 , maggots in the, 409 
 
 Earth, the reason of so much being swal- 
 lowed, 2 
 East India Company, establishment of the, 
 
 221 
 Egyptian sheep, description of the, 115 
 Elasticity of wool, the admirable influence 
 
 of it, 77 
 , its difference in different wools, 
 
 ib. 
 Elizabeth, the flourishing state of the 
 
 woollen manufactory under, 219 
 Ellman, Mr., the principal improver of 
 
 the Southdowns, 233 
 Embroideiy, the perfection to which it was 
 
 carried in early times, 40 
 Enteritis, the nature and treatment of, 468 
 Jlpidemics, early ones among sheep, 197, 
 
 205, 223, 491 
 
 in New South Wales, 492 
 
 Epilepsy, the symptoms and treatment of, 
 
 397 
 Epsom salts, the use of, in sheep medi- 
 cine, 555 
 Erysipelas, the nature and treatment of, 
 
 544 
 Essex, account of the sheep in, 312 
 Ethiopian sheep, description of the, 115 
 Ewes, the proper number of, to be allotted 
 
 to a ram, 496 
 , management of, during pregnancy, 
 
 497 
 
 , the affection of, for their younij, 505 
 
 , the age to which they are capable of 
 
 breeding, 510 
 
 , the putting of, to the ram, Man. 33 
 
 Exmoor sheep, account of the, 251, 323, 
 
 337 
 Exportation of British sheep, first account 
 
 of it, 202, 209 
 
 Eye, description of the, 405 
 
 , inflammation ojthe, 403 
 
 lashes, diseases of, ib. 
 
 lids, diseases of, ib. 
 
 , warts on them, ib. 
 
 Fair for sheep at Dunse, Berwickshire, 
 
 3-8 
 
 , St. Ninians, 327 
 
 Fardel -bound, description of, 436 
 Fat-rumped sheep, description of the, 21 
 the, was probably the 
 
 original breed, 20, 24 
 , still the most prevalent 
 
 in Russia and Asia, 20 
 tailed sheep, account of the, 113, 117, 
 
 125 
 Fattening of sheep, the principles of, 549 
 Feathery Wool, description of, 73 
 Fecundity, instances of, 608, 509 
 Feeding, the reason of its being so close 
 
 by the sheep, 3, 410 
 Felting, the early discovery of, 9, 78, 106 
 , the first processes by which it was 
 
 effected, 78 
 
 depends on the curving of the 
 
 fibre, 79 
 
 connected with the serrated edge 
 
 of the wool, 84 
 
 , the serrations must meet in order 
 
 to it, 105 
 
 , the theories of, 82 
 
 accounted for, by the attraction of 
 
 cohesion, 82 
 
 , how connected with moisture, ib. 
 
 '■ — accounted for by the excitement 
 
 of vibrations, 83 
 
 , Luccock's theory of its principle,82 
 
 , Young's theory of its principle, ib. 
 
 , Bakewell's theory of its principle, 
 
 83, 105 
 
 , Flint's theory of its principle, 84 
 
 , Monge's theory of its principle, 84 
 
 , curious account of in the Isle of 
 
 Skye, 79 
 
 , illustration of, in hat making, 81 
 
 -, in the manuiactory 
 
 -, in the shrinking of 
 
 of cloth, 81 
 
 flannels, ib. 
 
 property necessarily injured by the 
 
 combing process, 107, 108 
 Females, their oppressed state among the 
 
 old shepherds, 16 
 , employed in tending and water- 
 ing sheep, 25 
 Fermanagh, the breed of sheep in, 357 
 Fertile meadow grass, account of the, 552 
 Fescue, hard, account of the, 551 
 
 meadow grass, accoimt of the, 552 
 
 , sheep's, account of the, 551 
 
 , Welsh, account of the, ib. 
 
 Festuca cambrica, account of the, ib. 
 
 duriuscula, account of the, ib. 
 
 ovina, account of the, ib. 
 
 pratensis, account of the, 552 
 
 Feroe Islands, account of the sheep of the, 
 1G8 
 
INDEX. 
 
 i6I 
 
 Fetlocks, the diseases of the, and their treat- 
 
 nient, 524 
 Fever, inflammatory, nature and treat- 
 ment of, 470 
 
 , malignant, nature and treatment of, 
 
 480 
 
 , simple, nature and treatment of, 47S 
 
 , typhus, nature and treatment of, 481 
 
 in lambs, caiise and treatment of, 5 1 9 
 
 Fezzau sheep, account of the, 158 
 
 Fibre of wool, the microscopic appearance 
 
 of it, 88 
 Fineness of wool, difference of the, indif- 
 ferent breeds, 66 
 
 ■ — — parts of 
 
 the samy fleece, 66, 80 
 
 ■ , the influence of tem]>era- 
 
 ture on it, 67 
 
 on it, 70 
 
 connected, 72 
 
 , the influence of pasture 
 
 and disposition to fatness 
 
 -, connected with the num- 
 ber of curves, 80 
 Finishing cloth, the process of, 103 
 Fink, Mr., his introduction ef the Merinos 
 
 into Prussia, 172 
 Fleice, the, was usually torn off, 33, 34 
 
 and carcass the, average value of 
 
 in 1315, 205 
 Flemings, the, were early woollen mer- 
 chants and manufacturers, 196, 204 
 Flemish sheep, account of the, 176. 213 
 Flesh, the, not eaten brforethe Flood, 7 . 
 
 , the, long before it was generally 
 
 eaten, 10 
 
 , the, is not even now universally 
 
 eaten, 10 
 
 , the, of the male only eaten in early 
 
 times, 41 
 Flintshire sheep, account of the, 276 
 Flocks, the, exceedingly numerous in 
 
 formi-r times, 13 
 Fluke wg):m. cuts of the, 448 
 
 , an hermaphrodite, 449 
 
 , the great number of its eggs, 
 
 4J9 
 
 • , the eggs of the, received in 
 
 the food, ib. 
 
 , the vast numbers of it, in one 
 
 liver, 449 
 
 rot ? 450 
 
 the, is it the cause or effect of 
 
 , the, occasionally found in the 
 
 livers of healthy sheep, 430 
 P'ly, the, description of its attacks, 544, 
 Man. 23, 28 
 
 , the, treatment of its attack, 545 
 
 , the, prevention of its attack, ib. 
 
 Folding, the advantages and disadvan- 
 tages of, 465 
 Food, the proper, for sheep, Man. 28 
 
 , its course when swallowed, 423 
 
 Fuot of the sheep, description of the, 526 
 
 .the, diseases of, and theirtreatment, 
 
 523 
 rot, supposed to be a disease of an- 
 cient date, 524 
 
 Foot -rot, the early symptoms of, 526 
 
 , the causes of, 627 
 
 , the treatment of, 529, Man. 21 
 
 , the contagiousness of, 530, 533 
 
 , experiments on by Professor 
 
 Gohier, 530 
 , not propagated by aniraalculaB, 
 
 534 
 , the breeds of sheep most sub- 
 ject to it, ib. 
 
 , the prevention of, 535 
 
 Foxes, the best method of destroying them, 
 
 Man. 35 
 Fractures, the treatment of, 522, Man. 8 
 France, the introduction of the Merinos 
 
 into, 163 
 French shtep, account of the, 158 
 
 , number of the, 162 
 
 Frenzy, the cause and treatment of, 394 
 Frontal bunes, the pi culiarity of the, 404 
 Fulling, description of, 1 03 
 Fur. description of the different kinds of, 
 
 93 
 , the distinction of from hair and 
 
 wool, 93, 97 
 
 Gall-bladder, description of the, 444 
 Galway, the breed of sheep in, 358 
 Ganglionic nerves, account of the, 400 
 Garget, description and treatment of, 474, 
 
 514, Man. 21 
 Gentian, its use as a stomachic, 555 
 Ginger, its use as a cordial, 555 
 Ghmiirganshire, the sheep of, 265 
 Glanders, the nature and tieatiueut of 
 
 486 
 Glands, the salivary, 415 
 
 , the sublingual, ib. 
 
 , the parotid, 414 
 
 Glosanthrax, description and treatment 
 
 of, 412 
 Gloucestershire sheep, account of the, 256 
 
 324 
 wool, the price of, in 1314, 
 
 208 
 Goat and sheep, distinction bet ween them, 1 
 Goggles, accoimt of the, 377 
 Golden fleece, account'of the, IS 
 Grasses, account of the different, 550 
 Greek cheese, account of, 140 
 
 sheep, account of the, 121 
 
 Guilds, establishment of the, 197 
 Guinea sheep, account of the, 121 
 Gullet, description of the, 418 
 
 , obstruction of the, 419 
 
 Gums, the muscular ci nstruction of the, 
 
 411 
 Giitta Serena, account of, 407 
 
 Hair, the structure and growth of, 54 
 
 , disputes as to its sididity, 55 
 
 , probably constituted the external 
 
 coat of the first sheep, 58 
 , the external covering of lEOBt Eastern 
 
 sheep, 58 
 
 , no sheep without a proportion of, 58 
 
 , the gradual sulstitution of wool foi 
 
 it, 59. 60 
 
 2 
 
562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hair, rapidly disappearing from the British 
 sheep, 60 
 
 lis pe 
 
 riodical falls, 63 
 
 , history of the microscopic examina- 
 tions of, 86 
 . difference between it and wool and 
 
 fur, 93, 97 
 
 , some decidedly serrated, 97 
 
 Hampshire, description of the sheep of, 
 
 241 
 Hanoverian sheep, description of the, 1 75 
 Head, form of the, 369 
 , the importance of the size and form 
 
 of the, 371 
 , swelled, description of the disease, 
 
 371 
 
 , the wool so called, 67 
 
 Heart, the structure and function of the, 
 
 474, 475, Man. 3 
 
 , description of the bone of the, 475 
 
 , diseases of the, 476 
 
 , of sheep, substances often penetrate 
 
 it. ib. 
 Hebrides, the, sheep of the, 297 
 Herdwick sheep, account of the, 278 
 Herefordshire wool, the price of, in 1341, 
 
 208 
 Hertfordshire sheep, description of the, 306 
 Hogget wool, the question of, 35 
 Holsteiu sheep, account of the, 167 
 Hoove, cause and treatment of, 428 
 Horned and polled sheep, comparison be- 
 tween, 363 
 Horns, growth and form of the, 362 
 Horns, the brutal mode of cutting off the 
 
 Merino, 153 
 
 , the original breed had them, 19 
 
 Hospitality of the Arab shepherds, l4, 41 
 Hottentot, his mode of butchering, 118 
 's, description of their present 
 
 state, 119 
 Hudson's Bay Company, the, established, 
 
 224 
 Humanity of the ancient shepherds, 31 , 35 
 Hungarian sheep, account of the, 174 
 Huntmgdonshire, account of the sheep of, 
 
 305 
 Hydatid in the brain, account of the, 377, 
 
 man. 1 1 
 H) drucephalus, nature and treatment of, 
 
 391 
 
 Iceland sheep, account of the, 168, 364 
 , absurd custom of milking 
 
 them, 50 
 Ignis sacer, description of the, 541 
 Ileum the, cut of, 462 
 , description and function of, 
 
 463 
 Imitation, illustration of the principle of, in 
 
 sheep, 29 
 Importation of wool, 101 
 Improvement of the sheep, the early date 
 
 of, 8 
 
 one recorded, 16 
 17 
 
 -, the first great 
 -, the progress of, 
 
 In and in, the danger of pursuing the 
 
 system too far, 494 
 Inclosures first attempted, 216 
 Indian Ocean, the sheep of the islands of, 
 
 129 
 Inflammation, general remarks on, 478 
 Inflammatory fever, the nature and treat- 
 ment of, 478 
 
 in lambs, 519 
 
 Integument, the structure and functions 
 
 of it, 535 
 Intelligence of the sheep, proofs of the, 
 
 372 
 Intestines of the sheep, cut of the, 462 
 
 , small, diseases of the, 467 
 
 , strangulation of the, ib. 
 
 , inflammation of the, 463 
 
 Iodine, the use of in sheep medicine, 555 
 Ireland, first account of the woollen ma- 
 nufacture there, 201 
 
 , description of the sheep of, 346 
 
 Irish sheep, early mention of, 346 
 , the obstacles to their im- 
 provement, 347 
 , the short-wooUed have not 
 
 established themselves extensively, 349 
 , the long-wooUed is the native 
 
 breed, 349 
 
 highly improved by the Lei- 
 cesters, 350 
 
 , a list of the early improvers 
 
 of, ib. 
 
 shearing, account of, 355 
 
 wool, cut of, 351 
 
 Islay, description of the sheep of, 297 
 
 Jack of Newbury, account of him, 215 
 Jacob, the first recorded improver of the 
 
 sheep, 16 
 .Jamaica sheep, description of the, 59 
 Japanese sheep, description of the, 129 
 Javanese sheep, description of the, ib. 
 Jejunum, cut of the, 462 
 , description and functions of the, 
 
 463 
 Joints, treatment of swellings on them, 522 
 
 wounds of, Man. 8 
 
 Jugular vein, the proper place for bleeding, 
 
 483 
 Jura, account of the sheep of, 297 
 
 Kalmuckian sheep, description of the, 22 
 Kent, description of the Southdowns in, 
 239 
 
 , Weald of, description of, 239 
 
 Kerrj', the breed of sheep in, 351 
 Kildare, the breed of sheep in, 355 
 Kilkenny, the sheep of, and their manage- 
 ment, 353 
 King's County, the breed of sheep in, 355 
 Kirguise sheep, description of the, 21 
 
 Lamb, the supposed delicacy of, in early 
 
 times, 42 
 
 , the general treatment of, Man. 35 
 
 , the importance of keeping it well 
 
 when young, 48 
 s, the proper time for them to fall, 495 
 
INDEX. 
 
 563 
 
 Lamber, the things which he should always 
 have with him, 500 
 
 , when his assistance should be 
 
 rendered, 501 
 
 Lambing, history of the period of, 498,500 
 
 , immediate preparation for, 499 
 
 , the influence of the weather on, 
 
 501 
 
 Lambs, water-bellied ones, 304 
 
 , the proper management of, 505, 
 
 507,510 
 
 , account of the substitute, 507 
 
 , the diseases of, 517 
 
 Lamb-skins, the beautiful method of pre- 
 paring them, 54 
 
 , the immense import of, ib. 
 
 Lancashire sheep, account of the, 277, 
 324 
 
 Larkspurred, description of it, 406 
 
 Laryngitis, the nature and treatment of, 
 488 
 
 Larynx, the anatomy and function of the, 
 487 
 
 Lea, the inventor of the stocking frame, 
 220 
 
 Lead, the use of, in sheep medicine, 555 
 
 Leg, treatment of fracture of the, 522 
 
 Leicester blood, the, mingles with or pre- 
 vails in every long-woolled bred, 99 
 
 sheep, general description of 
 
 110,304 
 
 , cut of the ram, 110 
 
 , the valuable points of, 
 
 110 
 
 -, the introduction of, into 
 
 -, the old, 314 
 
 , the new, history of the 
 
 production and perfection of them, ib. 
 
 the advantages and de- 
 
 France, 165 
 
 fects of, 32 1 
 
 , every long-woolled 1 
 
 crossed and improved by them, 325 
 
 wool, the price of, in 1341, 208 
 
 -, the microscopic appear- 
 
 ance of, 91 
 Leitrim, account of the sheep in, 357 
 Levant Company, establishn.eut of the, 
 
 220 
 Lice, the mode of destroying, 342 
 Lime, the use of the chloride of, in sheep 
 
 medicine, 555 
 Limerick, account of the breed of sheep 
 
 in, 360 
 Lincolnshire wool, cut of, 333 
 sheep, account of the, 277, 
 
 324 
 Linseed oil, the use of, in sheep msdicine, 
 
 555 
 Lip, the hare, reason of, 410 
 
 , hairy covering of the upper, ib. 
 
 Liver, its comparative largeness in the 
 
 sheep, 443 
 
 , infl'dmmation of the. 444 
 
 Loeomotive organs,the diseases of the, 521 
 Lolium perenne, description of the, 552 
 London, the quarters whence the sheep 
 
 slaughtered there are supplied, 554 
 
 Londonderrj', account of the sheep in, 357 
 Long wool, the character and properties 
 
 of, 97 
 , the goods in which it is employ, d. 
 
 its average staple, ib. 
 , the similarity between the differ- 
 
 ent fleeces of it, ib. 
 
 , when first cultivated, 211 
 
 led sheep, the exportation of, for- 
 bidden, 211 
 
 , the early history of, 
 
 313 
 Loom, the Arab, description of the, 39 
 Louth, the breed of sheep in, 356 
 Lucern. as thu food of sheep, 653 
 Lunj^s, the anatomy and iuuction of, 48'J, 
 man, 3 
 
 , acute inflammation of, 489 
 
 , the increased action of, in the 
 
 sheep, 536 
 Lymphatics, their structure and use, 437 
 
 Madagascar sheep, description of the, 116 
 Madness, the symptoms of, 401 
 , the course to be pursued when 
 
 sheep are bitteu, 402 
 Maladie la, de Sologne, description of the, 
 
 480 
 Mai d'arraignee, description of, 515 
 Man, Isle of, the sheep of, 299 
 Mangel-wurzel, as the food of sheep, 553 
 Many-homed sheep, description of them, 
 
 124,141, 169 
 Manyplus, cut of the, 422, 423, 424 
 
 , description of its function, 434 
 
 , its diseases, 435 
 
 Mayo, the breed of sheep in, 357 
 Mayoral, the meaning of the term in 
 
 Spain, 154 
 Meadow cat's-tail grass, accoimt of the, 
 
 552 
 
 fescue grass, account of the, ib. 
 
 fox-tail grass, account of the, 550 
 
 grass, fertile, account of the, 552 
 
 rough-btalked, account of 
 
 the, 551 
 
 ib. 
 
 -, smooth ditto, account of the, 
 -, short blue, account of the, 
 
 Meath, the breed of sheep in, 355 
 
 Medley cloths, first woven, 222 
 
 Merchant adventurers, their first establish- 
 ment, 204 
 
 strangers, their first establish- 
 ment, 203 
 
 Mercury, the preparations of, in sheep 
 practice, 553 
 
 Merionethshire, account of the sheep of, 
 275 
 
 Merino?, their early history, 145 
 
 , the estantes or stationary, 147 
 
 , transhuroautes or migratory, 148 
 
 , comparison between the migratory 
 
 and stationary, 149 
 
 , description of their migrations, 
 
 2 o 2 
 
564 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Merinos, the Lionese, 150 
 ■ , the Sorians, 150 
 
 ; (U'scriptiou of the form of, 148 
 
 , description of the shearing, 153 
 
 , description nf the fleece, 89, 149 
 
 , the sorting of the fleece, I 54 
 
 wool, cuts of the diflTerent, 83, 153 
 
 wool, former price of, 156 
 
 ' , the quautity of it imported, 
 
 157 
 
 , the different breeds of, 156 
 
 , the defects of, 149 
 
 - , the quantity of lambs annually 
 
 destroyed, 152 
 
 , the, imported into Sweden, 137 
 
 France, 158 
 
 , the introduction of into Britain, 
 
 177 
 , the history of their trial and aban- 
 donment, 178 
 ■ still bred by Mr. Bennett, in Wilt- 
 shire, 247 
 
 , their establishment at the Cape 
 
 of Good Hope. 119 
 Mesenteric glands, their structure and use, 
 
 473 
 Microscope, the, applied to the examina- 
 tion of wool, 85 
 Middle-woolled breeds, history of the, 231 
 
 wool, the character and properties 
 
 of, 99 
 
 principally employed forcomb- 
 
 iug, 99 
 
 , goods fur which employed, 
 
 99,100 
 , its rapidly increasing quan- 
 tity and value, 99 
 Middlesex, account of the sheep of, 306 
 Midland long-wooUed sheep, general ma- 
 nagement of the, 341 
 Milk, the qualities of, from different ani- 
 mals, 43 
 — — , the ancient manufacture of, info 
 cheese, 44 
 
 , into 
 
 butter, 45 
 Milking of the ewes, serious objections to, 
 48,49 
 
 , the circumstances 
 
 under which it must be allowed, 50, 268 
 
 , should never take 
 
 place until after the weaning, 49, 26S 
 
 , the old method of, 48 
 
 -, extends the ravages 
 
 of the maggot, 49 
 Moldavian sheep, description of the, 139 
 Monaghan sheep, description of the, 356 
 Money, the diHerent value of at the ancient 
 
 and present, 195, 200 
 Monmouthshire, account of the sheep of, 
 
 257 
 Monstrosities, account of the, 505 
 Monts^omeryshire, account of the sheep of, 
 
 276 
 Montpellier cheese, account of the, 50 
 Moravian sheep, description of the, 139 
 Morfe Common sheep, account of the. 252 
 Morocco sheep, desciiption of tlie, 123 
 
 ^ Motor organic nerves, account of the, 400 
 Mouflun, description of the, 133 
 Mountain sheep farming, description of, 
 
 293 
 Mouth, description of the, 417 
 Music, practised by the ancient shepherds. 
 
 30 
 Musmon, description of the, 133 
 Mutton, its superiority in wholesomeness 
 
 and utility, 11 
 Muzzle, the importance of examinina: it, 
 
 411 
 Mynde sheep, account of the, 262 
 Myrrh, the use of, in sheep medicine, 556 
 
 Names given to sheep according to their 
 
 age, 2 
 Nasal catarrh, nature and treatment of, 485 
 Neck, the proper form of, 417 
 Nerves, description of the, 372, Man. 4 
 Netherlands, t!.e refugees from, improve 
 
 the woollen manufacture, 219 
 New South Wales, cuts of the wool of, 183 
 
 sheep, history of, ib. 
 
 Nitrate of silver, the use of, in sheep prac- 
 tice, 556 
 Nitre, the use of, in sheep practice, ib. 
 Norfolk, account of the sheep of, 326 
 
 wool, cuts of, 31 1 
 
 Northumberland sheep, account of the, 
 
 279, 301,324 
 , history of the settlement 
 
 of the Dishley sheep there, 327 
 Norwegian sheep, account of the, 166 
 Nottinghamshire sheep, account of, 303 
 wool, the price of, m 1341, 
 
 208 
 Noyles, description of, 99, 108 
 Numuds, the Persian, description of the, 
 
 127 
 
 Oat-ghass, yellow, account of the, 532 
 Odes;a, description of the wool of, 137 
 (Esoj)hagean Canal, description of, 42.3, 
 
 433 
 CEsophagus, description of the, 418 
 
 , obstruction of the, 419 
 
 CEstrus ovis, natural history of the, 364 
 Olfactory nerve, description of the, 403 
 Oiiium,the use of, in sheep practice, 556 
 Original breed, was there one, of which all 
 
 others are varieties ? 24 
 Orkney Islands, account of tlie sheep of 
 
 the, 297 
 , the method of tearing off 
 
 tlie fleece in, 33 
 Os Ilyoides, the anatomy and function of 
 
 the, 485 
 Otter si.eep, description of the, 135 
 Oxfordshire, account of the sheep of, 307 
 wool, the price of, in 1341, 
 
 208 
 Ozeni), the nature and treatment of, 485 
 
 Pacific Ocean, the sheep of the islands of, 
 
 ]29 
 Pail, in the upper jaw, de-ciiption of its 
 
 use, 3 
 
INDEX. 
 
 565 
 
 Palate, desciiption of the, 416 
 
 Palsy in the lamb, when first droiipid, 
 
 399 
 
 at weaninj^ times. 400 
 
 Parietal bones, description of the, 370 
 Paris, the supply of, with sheep, 162 
 Parotid glands, description of, 414 
 Parturition, description of the time of, 498 
 
 500, 501 
 Pasterns, the diseases of them, 524 
 Pasture, the influence of, on the fineness of 
 
 wool, 70 
 Patriarchs, description of the ancient, 1 1 
 • , the ancient were all shepherds, 
 
 12 
 Persian sheep, description of the. 23, 126 
 , the singular beauty of the 
 
 fleece of the, 127 
 woollen manufactories, description 
 
 of, ib. 
 Perspiration, how effected by the peculiarity 
 
 of the skin, 535 
 Pharynx, description of the, 417 
 Phleum pratense, account of, as a food for 
 
 sheep, 552 
 }'hthisis, nature and treatment of, 491 
 Physic, why it often does not operate on 
 
 the ruminant, 423 
 Picklock wool, description of, 67 
 Pifdinontese sheep, account of the, 144 
 Pining, nature and trea'ment of, M.nn. 21 
 Plants, the number of those which are 
 
 eaten and refused, 43 1 
 Plint, Mr., his true conception of the cause 
 
 of felting, 84 • 
 Poa Caerulia, account of the, as a food for 
 
 sheep, 551 
 
 Fertilis, account of the, as a food for 
 
 sheep, 552 
 
 Pratensis, account of the, as a food 
 
 sheep, 551 
 
 Trivialis, account of the, as a food 
 
 for sheep, ib. 
 Poisons, history of those to which the sheep 
 
 is exposed, 431 
 Polled sheep, the probable origin of, 19 
 fat-rumped sheep, the probable ori- 
 gin of, 19 
 Po;tland sheep, account of the, 251 
 Portlock sheep, account of the, 256 
 Potatoes, as the food of sheep, 553 
 Pregnancy, the duration of, 493 
 Presentations, account of the true and 
 
 false, 601 
 Price of sheep under the Saxons, 195 
 Henry I. 197 
 
 II. ib. 
 
 Edward I. 'J04 
 
 II. 205 
 
 Henry VII. 212 
 
 VIII. 215 
 
 compared with that of other 
 
 animals, 197 
 Pulse, description of the, 476 
 Pupil, form of the, 405 
 
 QiiKi n's County, the breed of sheep in, 
 355 
 
 Rabbit, delineation of the hair and wool 
 of, 94 
 
 Rabies, the symptoms of, 401 
 
 , the course to be pursued when 
 
 sheep are bitten by a rabid dog, 402 
 
 Radnorshire sheep, account of the, 271 
 
 Ram, description of the good one, 496 
 
 letting, the principles and advantage 
 
 of the system, 317 
 
 , the history and triumph of 
 
 it, ib. 
 
 — — , the great prices obtained for, 
 
 ib. 
 
 Rambouillet, account of the flock of Jle- 
 rinos at, 163 
 
 Rectum, the, cut of, 462 
 
 Redwater, the nature and treatment of, 
 466 
 
 Respiratoiy passages, descriptive of the, 
 485 
 
 system, the functions and dis- 
 eases of, 484 
 
 Reticulum, cut of the, 422, 424 
 
 Rheumatism, the cause and treatment of 
 523 
 
 Ribs, the numler and form of, 420 
 
 Roclifort cheese, accoimt of the, 51 
 
 Romney Marsh sheep, description of the, 
 334 
 
 Roscommon, the breed of sheep in, 357 
 
 Rot, the prevalence of, 445 
 
 , its antiquity, 446 
 
 , symptoms of the, ib. 
 
 , post mortem appearances of, 447 
 
 — — , it is inflammation of the liver, ib. 
 
 , connected with the appearance of 
 
 flukes in the liver, 449 
 
 , the fluke more pnibably the eflfect 
 
 than the cause of it, 450 
 
 , connected With the soil, 451 
 
 , rarely wanting on boggy or poachy 
 
 ground, ib. 
 
 , produced by the decomposition of 
 
 vegetable substances by the united in- 
 fluence of air and moisture, 453 
 
 , floods in summer, why so produc- 
 tive of it, 455 
 
 , the prevention of it depends entirely 
 
 on (iraining, 456 
 
 , the treatment of, 457 
 
 , the tendency to fatten, at ihe com- 
 mencement of, 458 
 
 , the use of common salt in the cure 
 
 of, 459 
 
 , nut infectious, 461 
 
 , how far hereditary, ib. 
 
 , the h story of in Egypt, 460 
 
 of the lights, nature, and treatment 
 
 of, 490. 
 
 Rough-stalked meadow grass, accouut of 
 it, 551. 
 
 Round-headed Cock's foot grass, account 
 of, ib. 
 
 Rubbers, description and treatment of, in 
 sheep, 537 
 
 Rumen, cut of the, 423, 423, 424 
 
 , description of the, 425 
 
 , distension of the, with food, 427 
 
666 INDEX. 
 
 Rumen, incision into the, 427 
 
 , distension of the, by gas, 428 
 
 , concretions in the, 432 
 
 , inflammation of the, ib. 
 
 Rmr.ination, the process of, 426, 433, Man. 
 2 
 
 , now far voluntary, 434 
 
 Russian Company, establishment of the, 
 
 219 
 Rutland wool, the price of, in 13-11, 208 
 Rutlandshire sheep, account of the, 304 
 Rye-grass, description of it, 552 
 Rye-land sheep, excellence of the, 258,324 
 , their crosses with the Me- 
 rinos, 178, 260 
 wool, cuts of the, 258 
 
 Sahara, description of the sheep in, 58 
 Salivary glands, description of the, 415 
 Salt, the use of in sheep-practice, 556 
 , too liberal use of, supposed to pro- 
 duce abortion, 497 
 Salving, the great advantage of, in cer- 
 tain situations, 
 
 , the question of, 548, Man. 31. 
 
 Sassenage cheese, account of them, 50 
 Savoy sheep, account of them, 144 
 Saxony sheep, account of them, 170 
 , introduction of, into Bri- 
 tain, 184 
 
 ■ wool, microscopic appearance of, 
 
 107 
 Scab, different varieties of the, 536 
 
 , symptoms of true scab, 537 
 
 , description of the insect by which 
 
 produced, 538 
 
 , treatment of, 540, Man. 19 
 
 — — , erysipelatous variety of, 541 
 Scotland, description of the sheep of, 279 
 
 , the management of, in various 
 
 parts of, 293 
 Scribbler, description of the, 102 
 Seal, delineation of the hair and wool of 
 
 the, 95 
 Selection, the importance of the principles 
 
 of, 494 
 Serrations on the fibre of wool, the first 
 
 discovery of, 86, 93 
 , the extra- 
 
 ordinary number of, 88 
 ture ascertained, ib. 
 
 their na- 
 
 the 
 
 portance of the discovery of them, 107 
 Sheep, the, was it indigenous to Britain ? 
 
 192 
 , the supposed number of, at differ- 
 ent periods, 225 
 
 , the change gradually effected in 
 
 them, 227 
 
 Act, limiting the number to be 
 
 kept, 215 
 
 dog, excellence of the Spanish, 1 51 
 
 's fescue, account of, 551 
 
 Sheep and goat, distinction between, 1 
 - shearing, the ancient mode of, 33 
 
 , description of, 153, 545, 
 
 Man. 32 
 
 Sheep-shearing, barbarity of the early, 548 
 Shelter, the importance of, Man. 27 
 Shepherds, the first wandering, 9 
 , the command of the ancient 
 
 over his flock, 28, 30, 31, 32 
 
 , the, give names to the sheep, 28 
 
 , the, humanity of, in former 
 
 times, 31,35 
 Shetland Island, account of the sheep of, 
 
 298 
 Short wool, all British wool now excluded, 
 
 100 
 
 , average length of, ib. 
 
 Shoulder, the preference given to, in early 
 
 times, 43 
 
 , treatment of fracture of the, 522 
 
 Shropshire sheep, account of the, 262, 324 
 Sicilian sheep, account of the, 162 
 Sight, the sense of, in the sheep, 404 
 Silesian sheep, account of the, 174 
 Silk manufacture, commencement of, 2 1 2 
 Silver, the nitrate of, the use of, in sheep 
 
 practice, 
 Sinclair, Mr., his work on British grasses, 
 
 550 
 Size, the comparative, of the early and 
 
 present sheep, 215 
 Skeleton of the sheep, cut of the, 109 
 Skin, the peculiar structure and functions 
 
 of it, 52, 535 
 , the, used as clothing by our first 
 
 parents, 7 
 — — , the manner in which it was pre- 
 pared in early times, 8 
 , the value of it, in various countries, 
 
 53 
 of the lamb, methods of preparing, 
 
 ib. 
 Skit, account of the green and white. 518 
 Skull, description of the, 362 
 , fracture of, rarely occurs ; incurable 
 
 when it does, 377 
 Sligo, the breed of sheep in, 357 
 Smearing the sheep, indispensable in ex- 
 posed situations, 291 
 
 , the question of, 548, Man. 31 
 
 Smelling, the sense of, 403 
 Smooth-stalked meadow-grass, account of 
 
 it, 551 
 Softness of the fibre of wool, the great 
 
 importance of, 74 
 . , the cir- 
 
 cumstimces that influence it, 75 
 Soil, the influence of, on the fleece, 76 
 Somersetshire sheep, account of the, 255 
 Sorting of the lambs, importance of the, 
 
 519 
 Soundness of wool, what? 72 
 South American sheep, account of the, I 36 
 Southdown sheep, a detailed account of 
 
 the, 111, 232 
 
 ewe, a cut of the, 112 
 
 ram, a cut of the, 233 
 
 ■ sheep, very much improved by 
 
 Mr. Ellman. ib. 
 
 wool, 90, 236 
 
 s, their crosses with the Meii- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 6G7 
 
 Southern Australia, the sheep of, 1S9 
 Sjiuin, account of the woollen manufactory 
 
 in, 156,201 
 Spanish sheep, early history of, 145 
 ;, attempts at the improve- 
 ment of them, ib. 
 Spanish wool, earliest record of its im- 
 portance, 198 
 
 . late increase of importation 
 
 ^ of, 228 
 
 Spaying, the, time and manne* of per- 
 forming Ihe operation, 515 
 Spinal cord, description of the, 362 
 
 ■ , diseases of, 395 
 
 Spinster, derivation of the term, 195 
 Spirit of wine, use of, in sheep practice, 
 Spleen, description of the, and its functions, 
 441 
 
 , its diseases, 442 
 
 Sprains, the treatment of, 523 
 StafTordshire sheep, account of them, 263, 
 
 324 
 Stells, the advantage and importance of, 
 
 in exposed situations, 291 
 Stocking-frame, invention of the, 220 
 Stomach, description of the cut of, 422 
 Storms, account of some of the dreadful 
 
 ones in the Highlands, 290, Man. 28 
 Strangles, the nature and treatment of, 
 
 486 
 Strangulation of the intestines, nature 
 
 and treatment of, 467 
 Sturdy, account of, 377 
 Submaxillary glands, description of, 415 
 Suffolk, account of the sheep of, 312 
 Sulphur, the use of, in sheep practice, 556 
 Super wool, what it is, 67 
 Surrey, description of the sheep of, 239 
 Sussex, Southdown, description of the 
 
 sheep in, 232 
 Sweetbread, description of the, 443 
 Sweet-scented vernal grass, account of it, 
 
 550 
 Swellings of the joints, cause and treat- 
 ment of, 523 
 Swiss sheep, account of them, 144 
 
 Tapestrt, the early invention of, 39 
 Tar, the use of, in sheep practice, 556 
 Tarentine sheep, account of the, 142, 143 
 Tartarian sheep, description of the, 21, 58, 
 
 130 
 Taurida, the sheep of, 137 
 Teeswater sheep, description of the, 329 
 Teeth, none in the upper jaw, the reason 
 
 of this, 2 
 
 , description of the incisors, 41 1 
 
 ; grinders, 6 
 
 , indicative of the age, 4, Man. 4 
 
 , the occasional 
 
 uncertainty of it, 4 
 , broken, a sheep will not usually 
 
 thrive with, 5 
 
 , causes of their premature decay, 6 
 
 Temperature, the influence of, on the 
 
 fineness of wool, 67, 70 
 Tents, the fleece of the sheep early used in 
 
 the covering of, 9 
 
 Tetanus, the causes, symptoms, and treat- 
 ment of, 396 
 Texel sheep, account of the, 121 
 Thigh, treatment of fracture of the, 522 
 Thrush, description and treatment of, 413 
 Tibet sheep, description of the, 127 
 Ticks, description of, and mode of destroy- 
 ing, 542 
 Tiger, delineation of the hair and wool of, 
 
 96 
 Timothy grass, account of, 552 
 Tipperary, the breed of sheep in, 358 
 Tongue, description of the, 412 
 ■ , its appearance in different dis- 
 eases, ib. 
 Trocar, the advantage of, in hoove, 430 
 Tumours, the treatment of, 473 
 Tunis sheep, account of the, 125 
 Turkey Company, establishment of the, 
 
 220 
 Turnip-feeding, remarks on, 553 
 Turnsick, symptoms of, 378 
 
 , caused by the coenurus, 397 
 
 , supposed means of cure, 383, 
 
 389 
 Turpentine, oil and spirit of, the use of, in 
 
 sheep practice, 556 
 Twin lambs, the difficulty of producing, 
 502 
 
 , question of the advantages 
 
 of, 508 
 
 , the necessity of marking 
 
 them, ib. 
 Typhus fever, nature and treatment of, 
 481 
 
 Uropygium, or fat rump, cause of, 25 
 Van Diemen's Land, history of the co- 
 lony of, 190 
 
 • , cut of the >crool of. 
 
 191 
 Veins, the anatomy and function of, 482 
 Virginian sheep, description of the, 135 
 
 Wales, North, the sheep of, 272, 324 
 
 , South, , 265, 324 
 
 Wallachian sheep, description of the, 138 
 Warwickshire sheep, account of the, 304 
 Water in the head, nature and treatment 
 
 of, 391 
 Waterford, account of the sheep of, 361 
 Watery wool, description of, 73 
 Weaning, the proper time of, 516 
 , care of the sheep at, 516, Man. 
 
 35 
 Weaving, the antiquity of its invention, 
 
 36, 38, 39 
 
 -, performed by the women in 
 
 early times, 39 
 
 Westmorelandshirc, account of the sheep 
 in, 277, 324, 330 
 
 Wexford, the breed of sheep in, 353 
 
 Wicklow,the sheep of, and their manage- 
 ment, ib. 
 
 Wildfire, description of, 541 
 
 Wight, Isle of, account of the sheep cf, 
 243 
 
 Wiltshire, account of the sheep of, 244 
 
4C8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Wiuchester, the establishment of the first 
 
 manufactory there, 194 
 , the short wool probably first 
 
 used there, ib. 
 Windpipe, the anatomy and function of 
 
 the, 487 
 Wolves, the extirpation of, in England, 
 
 196 
 Womb, inflammation of the, 504 
 
 , inversion of the, 503 
 
 Wool, description of its anatomical struc- 
 ture, 54 
 is found on almost every quadruped, 
 
 56 
 and hair mixed form the covering of 
 
 almost everj' quadruped, 57 
 
 gr;idually substituted for hair, 59 
 
 , its periodical fall, 62, 64 
 
 ■ , description of jointed, ib. 
 
 , its periodical fall, and the circum- 
 
 stancts which influence it, 64 
 , the healthy appearance of the fibre, 
 
 41 
 
 , breachy, description of, 65 
 
 , fineness of, 66 
 
 , smallest and greatest diameter of, 66 
 
 , difference of, in different parts of the 
 
 fleece, 66, 67, 68 
 
 , influence of temperature on, 67 
 
 pasture ou, 70 
 
 , the change gradually produced in 
 
 the British, by pasture, 71 
 
 , soundness of, ib. 
 
 , trueness of, ib. 
 
 , the influence of health on, 73 
 
 age on, ib. 
 
 the yolk on, 61, 73 
 
 , how aflfected by keeping, 74 
 
 , the importance of its softness, ib. 
 
 , the efiect of clothing the sheep 75, 
 
 76 
 
 , the elasticity of, considered, 77 
 
 , the colour of, 16, 77 
 
 , importance of, 77 
 
 , its felting property, 78 
 
 , the microscopic appearance of, 85, 
 
 86,87 
 :., the discovery of the serrated edge of, 
 
 86 
 , the extraordinary number of serra- 
 tions, 88 
 
 , the nature of the serrations, ib. 
 
 , the difference between it and fur 
 
 and hair, 97 
 
 , the divisions of it, 97, 106 
 
 , long, the character and properties 
 
 of, 9 7 
 , middle, the character and properties 
 
 of, 93 
 , short, the character and properties 
 
 of, 100 
 '., the quantity of, imported into Eng- 
 land, 101 
 
 Wool, table of the general quantity yielded 
 
 in 1800 and 18'28, 344 
 
 , Australian, cut of, 186 
 
 , of the bat, cut of, 88 
 
 bear, cut of, 95 
 
 Deccan black sheep, cut of, 
 
 128 
 
 dog, cut of, 96 
 
 -, Leicester, cut of the, 91 
 
 -, Merino, common, cut of, 135 
 
 , picklock, cut of, ib. 
 
 -, New South Wales, cut of, 187 
 
 -, ^lac Arthur's, cut of, ib. 
 
 -, Odessa, cut cf, 137 
 
 -, rabbits', cut of, 94 
 
 -, Saxouy, cut of, 89 
 
 -, seal, cut of, 95 
 
 -, Southdown, cut of, 90 
 
 -, picklock, cut of, 236 
 
 , tiger, cut of, 96 
 
 , Van Diemen's Land, cut of, 191 
 
 , Wiltshire, cut of, 246 
 
 growers, African, the trickery of, 125 
 
 of the Deccan sheep, account of, 1 28 
 
 Woollen goods, the first exportation of, 
 
 202, 209 
 , the supposed value of, at 
 
 different periods, 226, 227 
 : , the number of jiersons 
 
 employed in the manufacture of, 226 
 Woollen manufactories, the advantage of 
 
 introducing machinery into them, 226, 
 
 229 
 , how distributed in 
 
 Britain, 231 
 , first account of, in 
 
 Ireland, 201 
 manufacture, proof of its early 
 
 flourishing state, 200 
 
 -, reason of its after 
 
 decline, 200, 202 
 
 - , the revival of it un- 
 
 der Eward III., 205 
 
 ., present state of, 228 
 
 thread, the fineness to which it 
 
 has been drawn, 104 
 Woolstaplers, account of their business, 
 
 67 
 Worcester sheep, account of, 261 
 Worm in the sheep's foot, the old notion 
 
 of, 525 
 Worsted manufactory, account of the, 103, 
 
 209 
 Wounds, treatment of the different, Man. 5 
 
 Yellow oat grass, account of it, 552 
 Yolk, its chemical composition, 61 
 
 utility, 61, 74 
 
 Yorkshire sheep, account of the, 302, 330 
 wool, the price of, in 1341,208 
 
 Zoological character of the sheep, 1 
 Zunu sheep, account of the, 121 
 
 Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford-street. 
 
MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'sS MANUAL. 
 
 PAKT FIRST. 
 
 ANATOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 
 
 All animals which chew the cud have more than one stomach. The 
 sheep has four stomachs. The food, after being- prepared in the mouth, 
 IS carried directly down, by the gullet, to the first stomach, which lies 
 upon the left side. This is the largest, and is generally called the paimch. 
 On thrfinside it has a vast number of blunt-pointed eminences, which give 
 it a general roughness, and extend the surface to several times the size of 
 the paunch itself. The food, after remaining here a certain time, and 
 being mixed and macerated with the fluids contained in the paunch, is 
 forced up again into the mouth in small masses, and is farther prepared 
 for digestion by chewing. This is what is called chewing the cud, or ru- 
 mination. After this operation, the food is again swallowed and sent 
 into the second stomach ; the gullet having an opening common to it and 
 the first, and ending exactly where the two' stomachs meet. There is also 
 a smooth gutter with rising edges, which leads into the second stomach, 
 thence to the third, and then to the fourth. Thus the animal has the 
 power of directing the food into whichever stomach it pleases. 
 
 The second stomach, which is the lesser, is called the hoiuid, or king's 
 hood; and consists of a great number of cells on the internal surface, re- 
 sembling a honeycomb. The food is here farther prepared, and is then 
 pushed forwards into the third stomach, or many plies, so called be- 
 cause the internal surface rises up into a great number of folds, which lie 
 above one another. 
 
 From the third stomach the food passes into the fourth, called the reid, 
 or red, which is the name it has received from its colour. It resembles 
 the human stomach. It is the fourth stomach of the calf, with the milk 
 curdled in it, that is used for making rennet. 
 
 There are other animals which feed on the same siibstances with sheep, 
 that have no such mechanism in their digestive organs. Horses, particu- 
 larly, have only one stomach, in which the grass is macerated, and the 
 nutritious part extracted; the rest is discharged very little altered. From 
 this difference in the structure of the stomachs of these creatures, a rumi- 
 nating animal, or one with four stomachs, will be satisfied with one-third 
 less of food, than another of equal bulk ; and graziers ar-e well acquainted 
 with this fact. The reason is, that rumiiiating animals have many and 
 strong digestive organs, all their food is fully prepared, and almost wholly 
 converted into a nutritious fluid, which is mixed with the blood. But the 
 stomach of ahorse is not adapted to convert so much of the food into such 
 a fluid, so that it requires a much greater quantity. 
 
 The intestines, or guts of sheep, are of considerable Length in propor- 
 tion to the bulk of the body. It is a general remark, that the length and 
 capacity of the intestines are different in different animals, according to 
 the nature of their food. All animals which live on veg^etables have not 
 
 a 
 
2 THE MOUNTAIN SUKPHKlllVS MANUAL. 
 
 only their small guts considerably lono-er, but also tlic large intestines 
 more capacious, than those of such as prey on other animals. The reason 
 of this seems to be, that as animal food is not only much more easily re- 
 duced into the nutritious fluid called chyle, but more prone to putrefaction, 
 a long retention of it might be followed by the worst effects ; therefore, 
 such creatures as subsist on animal food require shorter and less capacious 
 intestinal canals than those which live on vegetables, which, being less 
 capable of being dissolved and converted into a substance proper to form 
 animal matter, require that the animals which feed on them exclusively 
 should be provided with a long and spacious intestinal canal to retard the 
 food in its passage tliat it may be more completely changed. It is not 
 observed that lambs or calves ruminate while they feed on milk alone, 
 which descends immediately into the fourth stomach, without stopping in 
 any of the first three. Chewing the cud does not take place till after the 
 animal lias eaten a considerable quantity, when it lies down, if it. can do 
 so conveniently, and then begins to ruminate, though the operation will 
 also take place when the animal is standing. In the action, a ball is seen 
 to rise quickly from the stomach to the month ; this is chewed very ac- 
 curately, and is then swallowed, when another ball is forced up and 
 chewed, and so on till the whole of the food which the animal has eaten 
 has undergone the operation. 
 
 After the prepared food leaves the stomach, it meets with the bile, which 
 is prepared and secreted by the liver, in a hollow of which the gall-bladder 
 is placed to receive it. The pancreas or sweetbread, and the spleen, are 
 organs also subservient to the process of digestion. As the food con- 
 verted into chyle passes along the guts, it is absorbed by vessels opening 
 into them for that purpose, and carried by them into the blood. The guts 
 have a constant motion, and a muscular power, by which the fluid is 
 carried through all their windings, and they are kept from being entangled 
 by the membrane called the mesentery, or web. After having been de- 
 prived of all its nutritious parts, the ibod becomes reduced into excrement, 
 which is expelled by an effort occasioned by a feeling excited by the matter 
 having been brought to a state rendering it dangerous to be retained. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE CHEST. 
 
 The cavity of the chest, or thorax, as it is named by anatomists, is sepa- 
 rated from the abdomen, or lower part of the belly, by a strong muscle 
 called the diaphragm, which is spread across tlie inside of the body. The 
 chest contains the heart, and large blood-vessels, and the lungs. The 
 structure of the heart in quadrupeds much resembles that of man. It is 
 inclosed in a firm bag called the pericardium, from its surrounding the 
 heart. The shape of the heart is conical, and is placed in a line with the 
 breast-bone. It is divided within into four distinct cavities, which either 
 communicate with one another, or have openings leading from them into 
 the blood-vessels. Two of these cavities, the right and left auricles, are 
 situated at the base of the heart, and receive the blood from ihe veins, and 
 propel it into the cavities called the ventricles, from which the blood is 
 forced into the arteries. The veins collect the blood from all parts of the 
 body, and before they arrive at the heart, they are reduced to two large 
 trunks, and terminate in the right auricle. From the right auricle the 
 blood is thrown by the action of the heart into the right ventricle, and 
 from this it is propelled through the pulmonary artery, which conveys it 
 to the lungs, through which it is circulated, and undergoes important 
 changes produced by breathing. Changed in its qualities, the blood is 
 returned by veins called the pulmonary veins into the left auricle, and 
 
•niE AlOUXTAlN SHEPHKRD^S MANUAL. S 
 
 from that it p-oes into (he left ventricle, from wliicli it is forced into a great 
 artery, named the aorta, which by means of numerous bvanches distribntcs 
 the blood over the whole body. 
 
 There are, therefore, two sets of blood vessels to be found in quadru- 
 peds, the same as in man, the arteries and veins. The veins be<>in at the 
 termination of the arteries, and convey the blood, after it has distributed 
 nourishment to every part of the body, back to the heart, whence it is 
 again distributed after receivin<r from the intestines and lung's a supply of 
 nourishing matter. This is what is called the circiilalion of the blood, 
 and the rapidity with which it goes on varies much in differeiit animals, 
 and in different states of health of the same animal. 
 
 The arteries are distinguished from there/«s by their pulsation ; for the 
 impulse of the motion (beating) of the left ventricle of the heart is com- 
 municated to the large trunks of the arteries. But the motion of the 
 blood is gradually retarded as it passes into the numerous branches 
 towards their terminations ; and before it enters the minute branches of the 
 veins at their small extremities, the pulse ceases. The blood flows in (he 
 arteries from the large to the small extremities; but in the veins it is (he 
 reverse, flowing from the extremities into larger trunks, like small streams 
 into large rivers. The principal trunks of the arteries are contained iii 
 the centre of the body, where they are least exposed to danger, and 
 derive support and defence from the bones along which (hey pass. The 
 largest go to the different organs contained in (lie great cavities of (he 
 body; the next in size, to the muscles and skin; and (he smallest, to the 
 bones. Another singular provision for the safety of (he ar{eries is, (hat 
 they always pass along a joint on the side towards which it bends. Were 
 they to pass on the opposite side, they would be in continual danger of 
 being ruptured by the bending of the joints overstretching them. In a 
 few places the branches become so very minute, as altogether to exclude 
 the red particles of the blood, carrying only a colourless fluid. In a dead 
 animal, the arteries are distinguished from the veins by their whiteness, 
 and the thickness of their casts, those of the veins being much thinner, and 
 of a bluish colour. The arteries are found tor the tnost part empty in a 
 dead animal. 
 
 THE LUNGS. 
 
 With the circulation of the blood, the function of respiration or breathing 
 is immediately and necessarily connected. This function consists in in- 
 haling the air of the atmosphere by means of certain organs, and then 
 expelling it. The organs destined for this office are called ti/iigs, or 
 lights. It has been mentioned, that a vessel called (he pulmonary (or lung) 
 artery arises from the right ventricle of the heart, and distributes tlie 
 blood through the lungs. The obstruction caused by the blood forces the 
 animal to dilate the lungs, by which act the air is admitted, through the 
 mouth and nostrils, by the windpipe and its branches; and the blood ab- 
 sorbing a portion of the air, an uneasy feeling causes an exertion to be 
 made which expels the remainder of the air. For this operation the frame 
 of the chest is furnished with muscles, by the action of \vi;ich, that cavity 
 and the lungs are alternately dilated and contracted. 
 
 The blood by passing thus through the lungs, and absorbing a portion 
 of the air, undergoes changes necessary to life; all animalsdying in places 
 from which the air is excluded. Being changed, the blood is carried by 
 (he pulmonary veins back tg the heart, and, as has been noiiced, is from 
 (hence circulated over the whole body. The blood, when it passes through 
 the arteries, is of a florid red colour ; hut when it returns by the veins, it 
 is of a dark hue. It has this last appearance when it is conveyed into the 
 
 b2 
 
4 TIIK MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 
 
 lungs, from which it issues with its coloiir revived. Hence, it is evident 
 that it receives something from the air in the lungs. When air respired 
 from the hings is chemically exrmined, it is found to have lost that portion 
 which is called oxygen, and sometimes vital air, from its being absorbed by 
 the blood. No animal can live in :iir from which oxygen has been ab- 
 stracted ; and from this arises the danger in keeping animals crowded in 
 close buildings. 
 
 The lungs occupy by far the greatest part of the cavity of the chest, and 
 are divided into different portions named lobes. They are soft, spongy 
 masses, composed chiefly of an infinite number of cells scarcely perceptible 
 to the naked eye, which all freely communicate with each other and with 
 the wind-pipe. Into these cells the air passes during mspiration. 
 
 THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 
 
 The bruin is a soft pulpy substance filling the cavity of the skull. Besides 
 the coverin"" of skin and bone, it has particular membranes surrounding 
 it. It is proportionally smaller in all quadrupeds than in man. It is di- 
 vided into two portions, the outermost being very soft, and of a reddish 
 grey colour, and is called the cortical or barky-looking part ; the other is 
 the medullary portion, which is white, and of a firmer consistence. The 
 brain is supplied with numerous branches of blood-vessels. Its delicate 
 structure cannot be described or known without actual insjjection. There 
 are a variety of parts to be observed in it, to which anatomists have given 
 names ; and many of which have functions, a knowledge of which is in- 
 creasing, and is likely to prove highly beneficial in the management, both 
 of man and of the lower animals. There are four cavities in the brain 
 called ventricles, irregularly shaped, and situated in (he medullary portion. 
 They are deserving of particular notice, as their surfaces are kept con- 
 stantly moist by a fluid, which disease so;r.etimes causes to be collected in 
 too great quantities, and thus forms one species of the disease called sturdy. 
 The nerves pass' into the brain. They have the appearance of white 
 cords, and, like the blood-vessels, are distributed over every part of the 
 body. Many of them are connected with the spinal marrow, which is the 
 nervous mass contained within the back-bone, and is connected with the 
 brain. The nerves and brain form the medium of communication between 
 the external world, and the mind, of which the brain is the peculiar organ. 
 In the same cords are nerves of feeling, and nerves of motion, and those 
 probably of other functions. When a nerve is stimulated, the muscle 
 connected with it is convulsed ; when it is compressed or cut through, the 
 muscle loses all power, or is palsied. The action of some of the muscles 
 depends on the will of the animal, and is called voluntary action ; others 
 are excited by internal power, and the action is then termed involuntary. 
 On the first depends the motions given to various parts of the body, and 
 the power to change position and place ; on the second depends the cir- 
 culation of the blood, respiration, digestion, the motion of the intestines, 
 and other actions necessary to life. 
 
 THE TEETH. 
 
 The age of a sheep may be known by examining the front teeth. They 
 are eight in inimber, and appear during the first year all of small size. In 
 the second year, the two middle ones fall out, and their place is supplied 
 by two new teeth, which are easily distinguished by their being of a larger 
 size. In the third year two other small teeth, one from each side, drop 
 out and are replaced by two l^rge ones, so that there are now Tour large 
 teeth in the middle, and two pointed ones on each side. In the fourth 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 3 
 
 year, the large teeth are six in number, and only two small ones remain, 
 one at each end of the range. In the fifth year, the remaining small eeth 
 are lost, and the whole front teeth are large. In the sixth year, the whole 
 begin to be worn ; and in the seventh, sometimes sooner, some fall out 
 or are broken. 
 
 PART II. 
 SURGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 OF WOUNDS, ETC. 
 
 Wounds of thie fleshy parts not being in general very difficult to cure, it 
 may be proper, though sheep are never much in the way of such injuries, 
 to put it in the power of the shepherd to save the limb or life of a valu- 
 able animal, when any accident happens*. 
 
 The treatment of wounds in brutes differ but little, if at all, from the 
 manner of healing them in the human body. The operations of nature 
 are the same in both ; and from them are derived the principles which 
 direct the management. The cruelties which are practised by ignorant 
 and unskilful persons in applying their nostrums, and knives, and pincers, 
 and cords, and burning irons to poor dumb creatures, call loudly for the 
 intervention of common sense and humanity. 
 
 It is not intended to enter into all the minutiae of possible cases of 
 wounds, and to prescribe a mode of treatment for each. This would re- 
 quire so much space, and so many details, as would tend only to perplex 
 those for whose use this treatise is intended, without being of any material 
 use. All that is proposed, is to direct the shepherd how to act in ordinary 
 cases, in which a reasonable hope of success may be entertained. 
 
 When the fleshy part of a muscle is cut in the direction of its fibres, there 
 is scarcely any separation of the divided parts. But when it is cut across, 
 there is considerable retraction, and the wound, according to the common 
 phrase, gapes. Thus a very deep and severe wound may, externally, 
 appear to be trifling, and one of little consequence may be thought 
 alarming, when no danger is to be appreliended. 
 
 An effusion of blood follows the infliction of a wound in a large or 
 small quantity, according to the ;^ize and number of arteries and veins 
 which may have been injured ; and in the amount of the flow of blood 
 danger is to be estimated. When the blood-vessels are not considerable, 
 and are cut qiiite through, they draw back amongst the muscular fibres, 
 and the flow of blood soon ceases. When the blood has stopped, another 
 fluid oozes out, and this, together with coagulated blood, are the applications 
 which nature makes for the cure, and which, in trifling wounds, generally 
 prove effectual. But in extensive and severe wounds, another process 
 goes on, if not prevented. A few hours after the infliction of the injury, 
 the parts become red, swelled, and hot, and symptoms of fever are per- 
 ceived. All these symptoms increase rapidly ; and if the inflammation 
 goes beyond what is necessary to produce what is culled suppuration, 
 or the formation and discharge of matter, mortification puts an end to 
 the pain and to life. But if suppuration comes on, all the bad symptoms 
 abate. 
 
 The cure of wounds is effected by adhesion, or by suppuration. When 
 the sides of a wound recently inflicted are brought into accurate contact 
 and kept together, they adhere very soon, and the wound heals with little 
 
 * The observations which follow will apply to other animals, and to mau, as Tell as 
 to sheep, and on that account may be the more useful. 
 
6 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 or no trouble. But when a wound has been neglected, and in cases of 
 iaceralion and contusion this method of cure cannot be accomplished, 
 suppuration must then be trusted to, and it must be brought on by every 
 possible means. Poulticing is the most effectual, at the same time 
 keepin"- the torn parts as near as possible to each other ; but there should 
 be no tight bandaging. During the process of suppuration the causes 
 of inflammation are removed, and a supply of new flesh is produced 
 wherever a vacancy has been made. This new flesh sometimes grows in 
 such abundance as to render the removal of part of it necessary. It is, 
 in this case, called fungous, or proud flesh. 
 
 SIMPLE INCISED WOUNDS. 
 
 Those wounds are so called which are made by sharp-cutting instruments, 
 and are usually attended, when considerable, by an effusion of blood. If 
 the effusion of blood be great^ and if, from its florid colour, and flowing 
 by starts, it appears to proceed from an artery, it must be quickly 
 stopped. If there be no means of applying pressure on the course of 
 the artery, between the wound and the heart, the forefinger ought to be 
 introduced into the wound, and when the jet of blood is fell, it may be 
 pressed upon, and thus stopped, until the wound be made large enough to 
 admit of the artery being tied. An instrument, called a tenaculum, which 
 is a sharp-pointed hook, is the most convenient for securing an artery. 
 A double thread being waxed, and an open knot being made upon it, 
 it is put over the instrument. The artery is then laid hold of by the 
 point, and drawn out a little ; the open knot is slipped over it and firmly 
 drawn, and the ends of the thread are allowed to hang from the wound. 
 Veins are secured in the same manner when mere pressure is not sufficient, 
 and a cure is more speedily effected, and also more safely than when 
 sponge or any thing else is stuffed into a wound, or when astringents 
 are applied, for such things prevent adhesion taking place. When 
 bleeding is so profuse as to render immediate applications ineffectual, it 
 may be suffered to proceed till the animal dies, or some more speedv 
 means of terminating its existence may be applied. It is always most 
 profuse when the vessels have been only partially cut. If a small vessel 
 thus partially divided be discovered, the flow of blood may often be 
 stopped by cutting' it quite through. 
 
 Should the situation of a wounded blood-vessel be such as to render 
 tying impracticable, the bleeding may, in many cases, be stopped by 
 pressure applied to the opening of the vessel. A piece of linen rag is to 
 be folded up, to the size of about a quarter of an inch thick, applied to (he 
 orifice, and pressed upon it by one finger. Whenever the blood has ceased 
 to flow, the first thing to be done is to remove any dirt, or any substances 
 that may have got into the wound. If these cannot be got out easily, 
 suppuration must be trusted to for bringing them away. The sides of 
 the wound must be brought together as close as possible ; and if this 
 cannot hn done by sticking plasters and bandages, recourse must be had 
 lo the needle. Various sizes of surgical needles may be kept : they are 
 made curved and flat. A double waxed thread being put through the 
 eye, the point of the needle is to be introduced at some distance from 
 one edge of the wound, and pushed as near to the bottom as possible, 
 and then brought out at the other side. Or if the wound be very deep, 
 two needles may be used, one being introduced at the bottom of the 
 wound, which brings one end of the thread out at one side, and the 
 second needle brings the other end out at the other side. The needles 
 being now taken from the thread, the sides of the wound are to be 
 
THK MOLNTAIN SlIKPllEKD'S MANUAL. 7 
 
 prtpsed tog-elher, and the thread tied so as to retain them. Tlie 
 number of stitches is to be regulated according to the size and shape of ■ 
 llie wound. One for every inch in length is commonly used ; but more 
 must be made if the edges of the wound do not appear in contact. Straps 
 of plaster are then to be applied to support the parts ; a piece of linen, 
 spread with simple ointment, laid over the whole, and a bandage applied, 
 but not too tightly. By this treatment a simple wound, even of great 
 extent, may be soon healed by the first intention, as it is called. The 
 threads, whether tying blood-vessels or supporting the sides of the wound, 
 may be gently pulled after three or four days, when commonly they will 
 come easily away ; but force must not be employed. The first dressing 
 should not be changed for some days, and the straps of plaster should be 
 renewed, if observed to slacken. In managing a wound of any kind, 
 shepherds should be careful in examining it from time to time; and if by 
 inflammation and swelling the dressings and bandages become too tight — 
 a circumstance which frequently happens — they should be removed, and 
 a poultice applied, or the parts may be bathed with warm water, or a 
 woollen rag soaked in warm water may be kept upon them. Dangerous 
 symptoms often occur from very trifling causes in very trifling wounds. 
 But if following these directions be not attended by success, it is not 
 likely that any other treatment will be effectual. It is very surprising 
 what nature alone sometimes effects*. 
 
 PUNCTURED WOUNDS. 
 
 In these the orifice is small in proportion to the depth. Of this kind are 
 wounds made by any pointed instrument, splinters of wood, bites, &c. 
 They are more dangerous than incised wounds, owing to their exciting a 
 greater degree of inflammation, and to the difficulty of getting the sides 
 to adhere uniformly. When the orifice heals before the parts below, very 
 troublesome collections of matter are formed, and corrode the parts. In 
 such cases, poultices are useful. Fomentations with a decoction of cha- 
 momile flowers will also be of much service, and are, perhaps, preferable 
 to poultices. The method of a])plying them, is to dip a piece of woollen 
 cloth into the decoction when hot, then to wring it, and apply it to the 
 parts, dipping the cloth again when the heat has abated. It is sometimes 
 necessary to make an incision, to allow collected matter to escape ; and 
 in many cases a cure is most easily effected by converting a punctured into 
 an incised wound. 
 
 LACERATED AND CONTUSED WOUNDS. 
 
 In such wounds, the parts are torn asunder, or bruised so as to have the 
 texture destroyed. Although in these cases, as well as in punctured 
 wounds, there be less appearance of danger, from the flow of blood being 
 usually less, there is more to be dreaded. The danger of wounds is too 
 commonly estimated by the effusion of blood alone ; and it sometimes 
 happens that, from the most dangerous, there is no effusion whatever. 
 The parts on which the injury has been inflicted, when their texture has 
 been completely destroyed, mortify and fall off, or are reduced into matter 
 and sloughs ; and thus a cure is obtained by suppuration. But inflam- 
 mation often comes on so severely, as to cause a rapid mortification of the 
 
 * If a more intimate acquaintance witli the nature and cure of wounds, than what is 
 here stated affords, be desired, it may be obtained by consulting the elementary works 
 on sm-gery. The prejudices of some persons will not allow them to believe that there is 
 any similarity between the structure of the human frame and that of the inferior animals. 
 Prejudices, however, are fast disappearing before the diffusion of knowledge ; and those 
 who have been accustomed to despise all knowledge but what they gain by their own 
 experience, are beginning to discover this to be a \ery dilatory mode of acquiring it. 
 
g tHE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANtJAt, 
 
 surrounding as well as of the injured parts. When mortification begins 
 in tlie human body, its progress may, in many instances, be arrested by 
 skilful practitioners ; but in the case of an inferior animal, it is, perhaps^, 
 very seldom practicable, or of sufficient importance, to apply the same 
 means. Here, "therefore, it is only necessary to point out how to bring 
 the wounded parts to such a degree of inflammation as wiH induce sup 
 puration. 
 
 When the wound has been cleaned, and freed from all extraneous suV 
 stances, such parts as are almost completely torn or squeezed off should 
 be removed. But if the parts are not much injured, there is a chance of 
 their adhering, if placed as nearly as possible in their natural position. A 
 large, warm, oiled poultice is then to be folded i« a piece of thin linen &r 
 muslin, and laid over the wounded and neighbouring parts, and changed 
 twice a-day. Unless the injury be exceedingly severe, this treatment will 
 most probably bring on the formation of good matter, and any mortified 
 parts will separate. When this has happened, and the inflammation has 
 abated, the wound may be dressed daily with a plaster of hog's-lard. 
 The animal should be suffered to move about as little as possible, arxl 
 food but sparingly given to it. 
 
 WOUNDS OF THE JOINTS. 
 
 These are very difficult to manage. The cure may be attempted by 
 keeping the air from the wound, and bringing the sides into contact by 
 adhesive plaster, and employing poultices. An extensive wound in a 
 joint may be regarded as incurable. 
 
 POISONED WOUNDS. 
 
 Not unfrequently, sheep are bitten by snakes. As the wound inflicted 
 by these creatures is very minute, the injury is never perceived till the 
 poison has entered into the system. Sheep are often observed to become 
 sickly, and to swell ; and the symptoms are attributed to braxy or rot, 
 when, in reality, an adder has done the mischief. When it is suspected 
 that a sheep has been bitten by a snake, a spoonful of rape or olive oil 
 should be given several times a day, or the same quantity of the solution 
 of an ounce of volatile salt in two quarts of water. 
 
 A French journal of 1802 contains the following article : — ' Snakes 
 have increased so much this year on the large commons, that the pro- 
 prietors of sheep have sustained great loss by them. These reptiles, 
 particularly in the spring, suck the milk of the sheep ; and when the 
 wound they inflict is deep, the two teats dry up ; so that the sheep, while 
 they continue to be fruitful, can never afterwards suckle their young ; but 
 when the wound is slight, the wounded teat only dries up. In several 
 of the commons in the department of Laudes, there are flocks, the sheep 
 of which have been sucked in the proportion of four to one. The sucking 
 may be doubted, but the bite of a snake may cause the udder to dry up,' 
 
 SPRAINS. 
 
 The best mode of treating sprains is to immerse the limb in a pail of hot 
 water for half an hour at a time, several times a day. I have known a pretty 
 severe sprain of the foot, and of the wrist, relieved in this way in the course 
 of a single day, when the hot water was applied soon after the accident. 
 
 FRACTURES. 
 
 The mending of a broken bone, though sometimes tedious, is by no means 
 difficult when the parts covering the bone have not been injured. Let the 
 limb be stretched, and the broken ends of the bone placed as nicely toge- 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS" MANUAL. 9 
 
 tiier as posijible, and held in that position till a piece of stiff leather, of 
 thin wood is laid along, so that it may extend an inch or two beyond the 
 contiguous joint. This must be kept in its place by a bandage or roller 
 of flannel an inch and a half broad, and as long as may be necessary. 
 The bandage is to be thus managed : — after having been firmly rolled up 
 from both ends to the middle, the middle part is placed at the lower part 
 of the splint, (so the piece of leather or wood is named,) and gradually 
 undoing the two rolls, the bandage is crossed spirally upwards, carrying 
 it up above the upper end of the splint, making it firm, but not too light, 
 which would impede the circulation of the blood. The splint should be 
 worn during ten days, or a fortnight ; and after it has been removed, the 
 bandage should be continued moderately tight, till the limb has acquired 
 its former strength. When any considerable swelling appears, the bandage 
 should be slackened, and tightened again when the swelling abates. When 
 a bone is broken in more than one place, all the pieces are to be brought 
 into their natural situation, and secured in the same manner. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a fracture is rude, and part of the bone pro- 
 truded through the skin. In such a case, a wound must be made of 
 sufficient length to allow the bone to be replaced ; and it may be proper 
 to remove some of the splintered portions by a saw or nippers. The 
 splint and bandage must then be applied in such a way as to leave the 
 wound accessible, that it may be dressed as often as may be necessary, 
 from the quantity of matter discharged. 
 
 When a bone has been crushed, amputation of the limb is the only 
 means of saving life ; but in the case of an animal that must walk on 
 rough ground in search of food, and which would be spoiled for the 
 market by such an operation, it is best to kill it at once. There is a 
 chance, however, of recovery in laying the limb open, and removing the 
 whole of the injured bone ; for although the ends of a divided bone be at 
 a considerable distance from each other, new bone will fill up the space, 
 provided the limb be kejit steady. 
 
 OPERATION OP BLEEDING. 
 
 This operation is most conveniently performed on a large vein, the 
 branches of which are spread over the face of the sheep. The vein may 
 be distinctly felt passing over the angle of the jaw, about two inches from 
 it, or opposite to the third of the grinding teeth, into the neck. When the 
 operation is to be performed, the sheep is to be held between the legs of 
 the operator, and the croup placed against a wall, to prevent the animal 
 from recoiling ; the left hand is to be placed in such a manner that the 
 fingers come upon the right side of the jaw, so as to press upon the vein 
 a little below where it is intended to be opened. By thus pressing on the 
 vein, the flow of blood to the heart is interrupted, and the opening made 
 by the lancet admits of its flowing out. The opening should be made 
 obliquely across the vein, at the place where it is largest and most dis- 
 tinctly felt through the skin. The point of the lancet should be introduced 
 steadily ; and when the point is lelt to have fairly entered the cavity of the 
 vein, it should be raised a little upwards, and carried a little forward, that 
 it may not go through both sides, and that the wound may be sufficiently 
 large to allow the blood to flow freely. The cut being made obliquely, \s 
 found to answer better than when it is made either directly across, or along 
 the vein. While introducing the instrument, it is of great consequence to 
 keep the vein from rolling under the skin, and escaping from the point; 
 and this is best accomplished by making the incision close to the point of 
 
10 THK MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 the fing^er which presses upon tlie vein. There is a small nerve which 
 runs across the vein, and to avoid cutting- it, which is of importance, the 
 incision may be made as low down as possible. 
 
 In diseases of the head, requirinfr the abstraction of blood, and in 
 inflammations of the eyes, it is most advisable to open the vein of the 
 cheek ; but in diseases of other parts, blood may also be procured from a 
 large vein that runs along the fore leg. This vein passes from the foot, 
 along the back part of the leg, to the ham, and then gues obliquely over 
 to the fore-part of the limb. It is nearest the surface, and sufficiently 
 large a little above the knee, and may be easily opened at that place. The 
 operation may be best performed by securing the other three feet of the 
 animal ; and the operator, by grasping the limb above the place where 
 the vein is to be opened, causes it to swell ; and after it is distinctly fell, 
 makes the incision in the manner recommended for opening the vein of the 
 cheek. The jugular, or vein in the neck, is opened by some ; but this is 
 not recommended. 
 
 CASTRATION. 
 
 The younger the lambs are when cut, the less risk there is of losing any 
 of them. Perhaps the best rule is to cut them as soon as the testicles are 
 accessible. Some shepherds wait till the youngest of the lambs is old 
 enough ; but this renders the operation on the oldest more ticklish. 
 Collecting a large flock of ewes and lambs, and crowding them together, 
 is obviously the worst preparation of the lambs, and materially injures 
 the ewes. Small parcels should be taken up as the lambs become lit. 
 No one should object to this causing more trouble; this is a thing a shep- 
 herd must never regard. Heavy ewes may be easily separated, should 
 inatters have been so ill managed as to have lambs dropping at long 
 intervals. When the ewes and lambs have been collected, instead of pur- 
 suing and catching the lambs in the fold, or fank *, which overheats 
 and greatly agitates them, and materially injures the ewes, they should 
 be allowed to rest for some time ; and then the communication, from the 
 division of the park in which they are to another, should be opened, and 
 the lambs taken as they pass, by persons stationed for the |)urpose. On 
 large farms, a small fold is construL*ed on every division or hirsel, ajid the 
 ewes are first .separated from the lambs, by allowing the former to escape, 
 and the lambs are then handed over to the person who is to cut them. 
 
 Although, as has been already observed, there is less danger when the 
 operation is performed at an early period, it is generally preferred to per- 
 form it on horned sheep at a later period, perhaps when the lambs are 
 about two months old. This causes the horns to grow more full, so as to 
 make the wethers look handsomer. The weather is generally hot at the 
 proper time, and on this account it is advisable to cut the lambs towards 
 evening. 
 
 Difllerent modes of operating have been recommended; but the best is, 
 to grasp the scrotum or bag containing the testicles with the left hand, in 
 such a manner as to press them torward, and render the skin lying over 
 them tight. Two incisions, one over each testicle, are then to be made 
 through the skin at the end of tiie bag, sufficiently large to allow the 
 stones to pass, and they are to be exiraclod in the usual manner. The 
 openings being made in this way, allow any matter which might collect in 
 consequence of inflammation to escape freely. At the same time the tails 
 may be docked by cutting otf about two-thirds, should this not have been 
 
 * Fank is the name piveu in many party oiScoilaud to the bubilivided indosure in'.o 
 which sheep are collected for various purposes. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANLAr.. 11 
 
 found necessary at a previous period on account of what is called pind- 
 i/ig, which is the adherence of the tail over the vent, preventing the pas- 
 sage of the excrement. After the business is over, the ewes and lamb;: 
 should be sutfered to walk quietly to their former g-round, and there should 
 be no hounding- with dogs. The manner in which dogs are made use of, 
 in many cases, is extremely injurious, and especially at this time. Sheep 
 will seldom attempt to break away if judiciously driven ; and dogs should 
 be trained to do their work in a deliberate and leisurely manner. 
 
 It is a matter of surprise, when the delicacy of the organs is considered, 
 how little the lambs suffer by the operation. The l(»sses that are sus- 
 tained in some places, appear to be caused by something unconnected 
 with the operation itself. It often happens that hundreds of lambs die 
 on one farm, wliile none die in the vicinity. Ttiis has been attributed to 
 the soil, or something peculiar in the atmosphere ; but the matter has not 
 yet been so completely investig-ated, as to enable us to know the true 
 cause. All that can be i-ecommended is, that lambs after being cut should 
 not be sent to graze on those places where they have been observed to 
 suffer. Shepherds ought to make careful observations, and to compare 
 the soil of places where lambs die, with that of places where they thrive ; 
 (he respective conditions of the soils should there appear no great differ- 
 ence ; the plants growing on each ; and if the plants do not differ, whe- 
 ther they grow more luxuriantly on one place than on the other. It should 
 also be noticed whether every place unfavourable to lambs has the same 
 aspect, soil, degree of dryness or of humidity, and plants. 
 
 OPERATION FOR STURD\, OR WATER IN THE HEAD. 
 
 The cause of one species of sfwrrf?/ has been already mentioned. The 
 collection of water in the ventricles of the brain is deemed an incurable 
 disease. The other and most common form of the disease arises from the 
 production of what surgeons name Hydatids. In this case the water is 
 contained in cysts or bags, unconnected with the brain, on which it acts 
 fatally by pressure. Very soon after water has begun to collect in either 
 form of the disease, the animal shows evident and decisive symptoms. It 
 frequently starts, looks stupid, giddy, and confused, as if at a loss what to 
 do. It turns round in the same place, as if wishing to go away, but not 
 seeing which way to escape, it retires from the rest of the flock, and sel- 
 dom changes its position. 
 
 Various methods have been proposed for removing the water and 
 relieving the pressure, and most of them, it is said, have succeeded. When 
 the skull is felt in any part to be thin and yielding, the hydatids are 
 found underneath. If in this case the skull be opened and the cysts 
 removed, there is a chance of recovery. The auinml must of course be 
 confined, and the wound carefully attended to. 
 
 PART HI. 
 D I S E A S K S. 
 
 It is proposed to pass over such diseases as are either of infrequent 
 occurrence, or seldom fatal ; and to attend to those chiefly which are 
 attended by risk, or reduce sheep to a bad condition. Much has yet to 
 be loiuned in (his department; and even should (he knowledge of the dis- 
 eases of sheep become more extended and precise, we may still keep in 
 
13 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 mind the old and (rue sayinsr, that prevention is better than cure. Tht 
 grand object for every shepherd is, carefully to observe and consider what 
 may be the cause of disease, and to make such eocperiments in the majiage- 
 me/it of the flock as will enable him to ascertain whether his conjectures 
 as to the causes be correct, and if so, to avoid them as much possible in 
 future. He ought to make himself thoroughly acquainted with every part 
 of the farm, in respect to soil, dryness, moisture, and the plants growing 
 on different parts of it, and to guide his sheep accordingly. There is infi- 
 nitely less trouble in this, and less expense, than in doctoring, and it affords 
 also considerable intellectual exercise and enjoyment, as well as pecuniary 
 profit. 
 
 Perhaps there is no disease to which sheep are liable, to which the 
 preceding observations more strongly apply, than to that most destructive 
 one known under the names of Braxy and the Sickness. It chiefly attacks 
 lambs about the end of autumn and beginning of winter; and is, unhap- 
 ])ily, a disease, the symptoms of which can seldom be observed till all hope 
 of cure must be given up. Under the name of Braxy, seem to be in- 
 chided several varieties of inflammatory affection, and it would appear that 
 general inflammation of the whole body sometimes occurs. Inflammation 
 of the bowels seems to be the most common form. When a sheep is 
 observed to be restless, lying down and rising up frequently, and at inter- 
 vals standing with its head down and its back raised, nd when it appears 
 to move with pain, inflammation may be suspected. The progress of 
 inflammation excitec great pain ; but when mortification comes on the 
 pain ceases ; and thus we may sometimes account for an animal 
 dying suddenly while apparently well. The causes of inflammation may 
 be various. Costiveness from eating hard dry food, drinking cold water 
 while the body is overheated, or being plunged into cold water while in 
 that state, or suddenly chilled by a shower of rain or snow, may bring on 
 this destructive malady. Feeding on strong rank grass is also strongly 
 suspected of inducing braxy, whether that which has been too much saved, 
 or tliat which grows about the tathe where cattle have been grazing. 
 Along with long rank leaves, others that are decayed and rotten or flaccid 
 may be eaten, and together with the too large quantity of such rank food, 
 which young sheep are apt to swallow, contribute to excite fermentation ; 
 and this, from the extrication of air, swells out the intestines, preventing due 
 rumination ; and thus, while the food itself is vitiated and does mischief, 
 the overstretching of the bowels causes inflammation. 
 
 To obviate such causes, it may probably be advisable to smear the hogs 
 a month or six weeks earlier than the rest of the flock. This will operate 
 in two ways. First, it will defend the animal from wet and cold ; and 
 next, the irritation excited on the skin by the smearing stuff, if containing 
 tar or turpentine, contributes to remove any tendency to inflammation 
 from the internal parts. This is a circumstance perfectly understood 
 among medical men, who in ordinary practice apply stimulating matters 
 to the skin for this purpose ; and it is in this way that blisters act. 
 
 As, about the end of autumn, the vegetation of the grasses becomes 
 feeble, and the leaves become soft, and in moist weather rot, it will be of 
 importance to keep the sheep away from the richer pastures, until the 
 decayed leaves become dry. And in order to reduce the pasture to a 
 proper state, it may be useful to allow old sheep to graze upon it for 
 some time previous to the hogs being put on ; and thus the grass will 
 become short anii free from rotten leaves. This will have anothct 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 13 
 
 advantage ; it will prevent the hogs fron\ filling their paunches too rapidly. 
 Tliey should be driven from the succulent pasture, to that which is drier, 
 every night. The value of turnips, alternating with dry, heathy food, is 
 immense, in preventing this destructive disease. Four or five hours on 
 turnips in the twenty-four is quite sufficient. 
 
 It has been observed that this disease appears earlier in the season on 
 lands where the grass has been preserved, and at a later period where it 
 has been regularly depastured. It ceases when winter sets in, hut 
 appears again in the spring. It is most prevalent where the ground is 
 dry, and the heath mixed with fine grass, and especially where fern grows 
 in abundance. Sheep feeding on strong clay land are not apt to be affected ; 
 and the same may be said in respect to mossy soils which carry evergreen 
 phmts. 
 
 It is of much importance to observe this disease, and to record 
 every fact connected with it. The writer of this manual, many years ago, 
 proposed, while lie was convener of the Prize Committee of the Highland 
 Society of Scotland, that premiums should be offered for essays on the dis- 
 eases of sheep. Mr. Stevenson, a very respectable surgeon, sent in some 
 valuable observations he had made; and it is believed his cases being 
 repeated here will be attended by beneficial effects, both in regard to fur- 
 nishing symptoms, and modes of cure. The following are selected. 
 
 Case 1. — In the month of November, the 18th, if I recollect right, 
 1802, a young sheep was brought home by the shepherd, affected with 
 sickness *. The wool was clapped, the eye was languid, red, and watery. 
 There was great heat over the body. The mouth was dry, the breathing 
 tjuick, and somewhat difficult. The pulse beat frequent and strong ; and 
 its limbs seemed scarcely able to support it. 
 
 The tail was cut across in two places, when a considerable quantity of 
 black thick blood flowed from it. As no glauber salts could be had, a 
 handful of salt was given it, dissolved in warm water, from a tea-pot; it 
 was put into the house, and the door shut. In about half an hour it was 
 laid down upon some straw, and appeared very weak. On approaching- 
 it, it rose, but could scarcely walk. The tail was still dropping blood. In 
 two hours after, it was standing, and ran away to the other side of the 
 house when it was approached. The eye was rather more lively, the 
 tail had ceased bleeding, and it walked without any difficulty. In two 
 hours more it was eating some hay that had been given to it, and the salt 
 had purged it very freely. It was kept in the house all night ; and next 
 morning, when led out to the park at the back of the house, it ate a 
 little. The wool was still clapped, but the eye was lively, and the burning 
 heat was gone off the skin. The purging continued all day. It was 
 again put into the house at night. Next morning, when let out, it 
 seemed quite well, — ate very well during the day ; and next day was sent 
 to the flock. It had no relapse. 
 
 Case 2. — On the 7th of December, 1804, another sheep was brought 
 home: the shepherd had seen it affected in the morning, but it was not 
 brought home till after dinner, on account of the distance. When 
 brought home it could not stand, which we attributed to the tying of its 
 feet, for the pinpose of being carried home a distance of nearly four 
 miles, 
 
 * This is the name which Mr. S. uses ; but braxy is the most common name for the 
 disease treated of. 
 
14 THK MOUXTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 
 
 The eye was dull, wool clapped, piilst* cpiick and strong, month dry, 
 breathinfr very quick, and a kind of palpitation at the heart. When the 
 shepherd laid it down from his hack, it made some water, which was red 
 like blood. 
 
 On cutting the tail, two or three drops only of blood, black and thick 
 like tar, followed the incision, which, however, soon stopped. The vein 
 on the inside of the fore-leg was opened, from which also no more than 
 two or three drops came, of the same black and grnmons appearance. 
 The ear was also cut in the inside, but little or no blood came from 
 it. An ounce and a half of glauber salts were given in a pint of 
 warm water, and an old blanket thrown over it. In three-quarters of aa 
 hour, the tail was bleeding very freely, but the other places had stopped. 
 The animal was lain down and could not rise. The pulse was quick, and 
 it was apparently very sick. In the evening, about two hours after, it 
 was much in the same way, only the skin was not quite so hot. 
 
 It got a little meal boiled in water, and the blanket was left on it 
 during the night. On looking at it next morning, it was risen, but 
 scarcely able to wa'k. The tail had bled a considerable quantity, and it 
 would not eat. The wool was clapped to its body, and it still had a very 
 languid appearance, (probably from the blood it had lost.) It got a little 
 more boiled mtal aid water, and the salts had operated. In the aficr- 
 Tioon it was eating a little lioiled hay; and from this time gradually 
 recovered, without any other application. II continued very weak for 
 about eight days, when the wool was risen to its usual appearance, and it 
 was sent to join the flock. 
 
 As the sickness did not appear in the flock, I had no opporlmiity of 
 again trying the practice at that time. 
 
 Case 3. — In the beginning of March, however, 1S04, at which time 
 the weather was very cold, a young sheep or hog was brought home in 
 the afternoon ga'-ping for breath, pulse very quick, eye quite blood-shot, 
 skin remarkably hot ; had been observed not eating in the morning, and 
 seemed even then remarkably languid, but made no motion as if affected 
 with pain. 
 
 On cutting the tail across a few drops of blood, like tar, followed, but 
 stopped immediately ; the ear was cut. the neck-vein was opened, the vein 
 on the fore part of the belly, as was also that on the fore-leg, from none 
 of which above a drop or two came. A dose of salts was given, and it 
 was covered with a blanket. On going to look at it, about an hour after- 
 wards, it was dead. On opening the body, the fourth stomach was found 
 mortified over all its^ipper and fore part, which extended to the place 
 where it joins the bowels, which were all quite red, as were the stomachs 
 in a lesser degree. The internal coat of them all was very loosely 
 attached, and the smell was extremely disagreeable ; there was a reddish 
 or livid appearance over the whole body, which arose partly from the 
 blood not having been drawn from the animal, but more particularly from 
 the previous inSammation that had existed. 'J'lie right auricle of the 
 heart was quite full of the same dark kind of blood that came from the 
 incisions made before death, and the whole flesh was quite soft. 
 
 Casic 4. — On the ]4lh of November, 1803, a young sheep was observed 
 affected with sickness, belonging to a friend, during the time I was on a 
 visit at his house. He had ordered it to be killed, alleging that sickness 
 was uniformly fatal ; but was easily persuaded to try something for its re- 
 lief, as, if it succeeded, it mi£>ht be advantageous in cases of a similar kind. 
 
THE MOUj^^TAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 15 
 
 The appearance of ttie sheep, upon viesvini>- it, was by no means 
 favourable for a trial. The wool was clapped, the eye was red, the pulse 
 strong and full, the skin very hot, breathing laborious, with considerable 
 wheezing, and it was scarcely able to stand. The belly was somewhat 
 swelled, and the month quite parched. 
 
 It was bled as has been described, in the tail, neck, fore-leg and hind- 
 leg, belly, and ear, from which there was a little blood g-ot, of a dark 
 colour. As no glauber salts could be had, a handful of salt was given to 
 it dissolved in a teapot full of warm water, and it was left in a house bv 
 itself. In lialf an hour it was laid down, and we thought it dying. On 
 going to it, it rose, but could not walk. The tail was bleeding pretty ' 
 freely, and the blood flowing from it was rather of a redder colour, the 
 pulse was quicker, but not so strong, and the other wounds had bled a 
 little; the symptoms were not increased, but did not seem better. 
 
 As there happened to be some salt-petre or nitre in the house, we gave it 
 a tea-spoonful of it in another teapot of warm water ; but reserved the half, 
 which was afterwards given, at the interval of an hour, when the heat 
 was rather less, and the skin somewhat moist. At the end of the second 
 liour it had made a considerable quantity of water, and seemed rather 
 more relieved. In two hours more the salt had operated, and the wound 
 still continued dropping. It got a large teapot full of meal and water. 
 Next morning it looked much better, but would not eat. In the after- 
 noon, however, it ate a little boiled hay, which it lived on for two days, 
 when it was put into a park by itself. In two days more it was sent to 
 join the flock. 
 
 Case 5. — In the month of April, 1804, when the weather was unsea- 
 sonably cold, on the I2th, a hog was brought in, affected with sickness. 
 It was observed by the shepherd at mid-day, and was brought home in 
 the afternoon. It was bled in the tail, from which a considerable quantity 
 of blood came ; it got a dose of glauber salts, and had two tea-spoonsful 
 of nitre, dissolved in a quart of boiling water, of which it got a pint 
 every two hours. At bedtime the tail continued bleeding, and seemed 
 rather easier. On looking at it next morning it was stiff, having died in 
 the night. 
 
 On opening the body, the general redness apparent in sheep dying of 
 the sickness, was very observable. The bowels were all affected, but none 
 of them seemed to be the immediate seat of the disease, as no mortifica- 
 tion was apparent in any of them. The flesh of the body was all of a 
 livid hue, and the inflammation seemed to be generally diffused over it. 
 Black clots were found in the right auricle and ventricle of the heart, and 
 the food in the stomachs might have been rubbed between the fingers, like 
 dry sand or chaff. There was also a redness observable in the brain. 
 
 I have had many more opportunities of making experiments upon 
 sheep affected with sickness, a detail of which, after what hath already 
 been said, would be unnecessary. Taking the average, however, of those 
 that have been affected, I have been enabled, by the practice laid down, 
 to save three out of five. The proportion is even greater; but allowiu"- 
 for contingencies, such as their being nearly dead before being brought 
 home, ] have stated this as the proportion : 
 
 Number affected 2 
 
 Died y 
 
 Recovered 16 
 
16 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 nRECKSHUACK. 
 
 This disease is sometimes regarded as the same with Braxy ; but it 
 occurs at a different season, during summer, and early in autumn. It is 
 probably inflammatory, and is brought on by overdriving and consequent 
 overheating, and the impatience of shepherds making too much use of 
 their dogs. 
 
 DIARRHCEA, 
 
 Purging seldj)m proves fatal to sheep. It is sometimes of service to 
 their general health, and ought never to be stopped too soon. But this 
 complaint sometimes proceeds so far as to bring on great debility, if its 
 violence be not checked. When the flux is moderate, change of diet, from 
 soft to dry food, for a few days, may effect a cure. But if the purging be 
 considerable, a quarter of an ounce of prepared chalk may be given in an 
 English pint of cows' milk, a little warmed. The dose may be repealed 
 at the end of two days, if symptoms of amendment have not appeared. 
 If the purging be very violent, and attended by straining, the first dose 
 should be a dram of rhubarb, and after it has operated chalk may be given. 
 When cured, the animal must be gradually accustomed to its pasture, 
 otherwise the tender rich grass may occasion a relapse. 
 
 DYSENTERY. 
 
 This disease, which may be termed a violent diarrhoea, or looseness, is 
 known in different places by the names clin^, brechhuach, and braxy. A 
 sheep affected by it lies down frequently, and rises again at short intervals. 
 It voids faeces very often, almost every time it gets up. It eats little, 
 and does not chew the cud. 
 
 When the disease has advanced a little, the fa?ces become mixed with 
 blood and slime. At a more advanced stage they are black and stinking. 
 
 Dysentery is distinguished from ordinary diarrhoea by the following 
 characters : — 
 
 1st. Diarrhoea attacks chiefly hogs and weak two-year-old sheep ; 
 whereas dysentery is frequent among such as are older. 
 
 2d. Diarrhoea almost always occurs in the spring and ceases about 
 June, when dysentery only commences. 
 
 3d. In diarrhoea there is no fever or pain before the stools, as in 
 dysenterj'. 
 
 4th. In diarrhoea the faeces are loose, but in other respects natural, 
 without any blood or slime ; whereas in dysentery the faeces consist of 
 hard lumps passed occasionally ; the rest being blood and slime. 
 
 5th. There is not that degree of bad smell in the excrement, in diar- 
 rhoea, which takes place in dysentery. 
 
 6th. In dysentery the appetite is totally gone; in diarrhoea it is rather 
 sharper than usual. 
 
 7th. Diarrhoea is not contagious ; dysentery highly so. 
 
 8th. In dysentery, the animal wastes rapidly, but by diarrhoea only a 
 temporary stop is put to its thriving, after which it makes rapid advances 
 to strength, vigour, and proportion. 
 
 9th. Dysentery is commonly fatal, diarrhoea rarely, unless the animal 
 has been previously much debilitated. 
 
 As dysentery is frequently attended by inflammation, bleeding will 
 be proper, and also a purge. Afterwards the following doses should be 
 daily administered, until symptoms of recovery appear, which will be very 
 soon. The day after the bleeding and purging, half an ounce of chalk. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 17 
 
 mixed up in warmed milk. Two hours afterwards, a gill of warm water 
 into which has been put half a table-spoonful of tincture of terra japonica 
 and thirty drops of laudanum. The diet should consist of hay, sprinkled 
 with salt. 
 
 CASES OF DYSENTERV*. 
 
 On the 12th of August, 1800, a sheep was observed by tlie shepherd to 
 be affected with braxy. It was brought home and put into an inclosure 
 at the back of the house ; the wool was not clapped, but the eye was 
 languid, the mouth dry, the skin rough on being felt ; frequent rumbling 
 was heard in the bowels, the pulse felt at the neck was quick. It had 
 frequent stools, which had a slimy appearance, and were mixed with blood, 
 and a few hard balls were observed to come away amongst some of the 
 stools, at each of which it drew up its hind legs, and seemed to suffer pain. 
 As it was m good habit of body, it was bled in one of the veins in the 
 fore leg, and about two ounces of blood, or a dark colour, taken from it. 
 A dose of an ounce of salts was then administered, which in eight hours 
 produced several passages ; and the pain in the towels seemed in some 
 measure to be abated. Next day, five grains of ipecacuanha were given 
 every two hours, for five hours, which still kept up the purging ; and con- 
 siderable sickness was apparent. In two hours after the operation of the 
 ipecacuanha, it began to eat a little, and the skin was somewhat moist. 
 The frequent stools now abated, and there was no more purging, nor was 
 any more blood passed. In six days it was so far recovered, as to be able 
 to join the flock. 
 
 Case 2. — On the 16th of the same month, 1800, a sheep was brought 
 home, in which the disease had continued for several days. The stools 
 were very frequent, slimy, and mixed with blood, having little feculent 
 matter in them ; the wool was clapped ; the mouth and skin dry ; the 
 eyes languid and red; constant rumbling in the belly, and the animal 
 could with difficulty stand. On laying the hand on the belly, it could be 
 felt in some parts, as it were drawn together, and lumps in parts of it. A 
 dose of half a drachm of rhubarb was given to it, which operated in eight 
 hours several times, and brought away a quantity of fieces, more of the 
 naturalappearance, only thin; and next day eight doses of ipecacuanha were 
 given, one every two hours. The purging continued, but not so nutch 
 blood or slime, for two days, at the end of which, four ounces of logwood 
 were taken, upon which was poured a Scots pint of boiling water. When 
 it had stood for twelve hours, a gill, or four ounces of the infusion was 
 given morning and evening, having fifteen drops of laudanum added to 
 each dose. 
 
 In six days the stools had ceased in their frequency, and the feverish 
 ajjpearance was gone off, and the animal had begun to take its food. 
 From this time there was nothing more done to it, and in twelve days from 
 its tirst being brought home, it was returned to the flock. 
 
 Case 3. — In the month of September, 1800, a sheep was brought into the 
 inclosure, from a neighbouring farm, the proprietor of which had before 
 witnessed the successful treatment of the other two cases. The disease 
 had continued twelve days, and the animal was very much exhausted. 
 The wool was clapped, and a very considerable quantity of blood was 
 passed at each stool ; the mouth and skin were dry. It took no food, and 
 the pulse was quick. A dose of salts was given to it, (an ounce,) which 
 * Observed by Mr. Stevenson ; called by him brary. 
 
 C 
 
18 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 operated well. Next day, four doses of ipecacuanha were given of four 
 grains each, which also operated, and by which the purginjr stopped for 
 six hours. There was no appetite, and a number of hardened pieces of 
 faeces were passed, mixed with black blood. The heat of the body con- 
 tinued. Two ounces of logwood were infused in a quart and a half of 
 water, and given in the quantity of a gill three times a day, with the addi- 
 tion of fifteen drops of laudanum. This was continued for four days: 
 during which time, however, the blood still continued to be passed, with 
 an admixture of a substance like the matter of an ulcer, and on the 17th 
 day from the first attack the sheep died. 
 
 On looking into the belly, the bowels had all an inflamed appearance, 
 and a considerable proportion of the lower intestine was ulcerated in the 
 inside ; its coats were thickened, and its outside was of a blackish h-ue. 
 There was a quantity of fetid air in the bowels, which turned a silver 
 probe quite black, as it did also a shilling exposed to it. The flesh was 
 soft and red, but the heart, liver, and brain, were sound ; the kidneys were 
 slightly enlarged and flabby. 
 
 Case 4. — In August, 1800, a sheep was brought home, affected with 
 braxy ; the symptoms were as formerly described ; it seemed much ex- 
 hausted, and had been observed affected for seven days. It got first four 
 grains of ipecacuanha every two hours, three times, which purged it a 
 good deal. It was then placed in a small house, where was a large cast 
 iron boiler, which being filled with water, and the door shut, from the 
 heat of the furnace below, it soon filled the house with steam, in which 
 the sheep continued for the space of three hours, when the fire was taken 
 away, and the sheep remained in the heated house all night. There was 
 a great perspiration over its body, and the wool was quite wet. It was 
 taken out at mid-day, and the infusion of logwood and laudanum given 
 to it three times a day. It seemed a little better, and the stools not so 
 frequent. Wool still clapped. Next night it was shut up, and stoved 
 again, and some flour porridge was given to it, with a little milk. Next 
 day the medicine was continued. The symptoms had abated, but the 
 wool clapped ; it was not again stoved, and the medicines were continued 
 for twelve days before it had quite recovered. 
 
 Case 5. — In this case the treatment was the same as in the first and 
 second cases ; but there was such a degree of debility, that the porridge 
 and astringent medicines were continued for nearly four weeks before the 
 animal was recovered. 
 
 Case 6. — In August, 1800, a sheep was brought in witli braxy, the 
 symptoms very violent. It had a dose of salts, which operated, but it died 
 next day. In this case the bowels were affected considerably higher up, 
 being at the junction of the small and great guts, where mortification had 
 taken place. The lower bowels had a number of round hardened balls in 
 them, and a very disagreeable smell was exhaled. 
 
 I deem it unnecessary to mention any more cases, which all occurred 
 in the same year, as braxy has not appeared since 1800, and I have had 
 no opportunity of making' experiments on it since that time. The prac- 
 tice in that year was very successful, as five were saved out of seven that 
 were brought home, and a fair trial instituted : but, from carelessness, 
 nearly one out of three died before anything was done to them. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 19 
 
 SCAB. 
 
 This infectious, troublesome, and destructive disease is well known. It 
 is probable that more than one disease goes under the name of scab; and 
 that while in one case the skin merely is affected, in others the disease' may 
 be constitutional. It seldom appears among sheep which have been 
 smeared with a salve in which tar is an ingredient; and when it does, it 
 proceeds most probably from contact with a diseased animal, a stone, trees, 
 or jialiiig-, against which scabbed sheep have rubbed themselves, or lying- 
 on a spot where they may have rested. Sheep that have been poorly fecf, 
 and suffered to get into low condition, are most liable to be iiftected; and 
 it is probable that this is one of the chief causes of the disease breakin"- 
 out. 
 
 A sheep is never even slightly affected, but it proceeds to scratch itself, 
 and to rub its sides and buttocks against every thing it meets. As soon 
 as the disease is discovered, it becomes the imperative duly of every shep- 
 herd anxiously to examine every animal in his charge, and remove every 
 one that has the slightest symptoms from the flock. The wool appearing- 
 fretted, or to have started in any part, is almost a sure mark of infection 
 having taken place. An ointment of the following composition should be 
 kept at hand : — 
 
 Corrosive sublimate , , , 8 oz. 
 
 While hellebore in powder . 12 oz. 
 
 Whale, or other oil , , gallons. 
 
 Rosin .... 2 lbs. 
 
 Tallow . . . . 2 lbs. 
 
 The sublimate is to be reduced to a fine powder, and mixed with a 
 portion of oil, and also the hellebore. The rosin, tallow, and remainder 
 of the oil are to be m'elted together, and the other ingredients then added 
 and well mixed. Should the ointment appear too thin, the proportion of 
 oil may be diminished, and that of the tallow increased. 
 
 Ordinary smearing stuffs, or any kind of salve, with the addition of sul- 
 phur, and a small proportion of spirit of tar, has been found effectual. 
 When the disease is not far advanced, an infusion of tobacco, in the pro- 
 portion of a pound to four gallons of water, and as many of urine, is like- 
 wise useful : the young shoots of broom are commonly added for 
 infusion. Before applying any of these remedies, the diseased parts 
 should be brushed with soap and water ; and if the wool is at all in the 
 way, it should be cut off. Attention being paid to the food of the animals, 
 they will soon recover. To ward off' this disease, keeping the flock in 
 good condition by abundance of wholesome food, is the best and surest 
 defence. But occasionally, diseased animals may wander amongst a flock, 
 and on that account, shepherds cannot be too assiduous in driving away 
 strange sheep. Attention should also be paid to the walls of the folds or 
 fanks, in the event of any scabbed sheep having been in them. Washing 
 with lime water is the best precaution*. 
 
 ROT. 
 
 This name is applied to different diseases, and diseases are sometimes 
 believed to be more numerous than they really are, on account of various 
 effects of the same disease being taken for distinct ones. The late Dr. 
 
 * Groat quantities of damaged tobacco are destroyed at the custom-houses. Could 
 the Governiiunt be prevailed on fo boil instead of burning it, and to sell the extract at a 
 moderate price, the revenue would gain considerably, and a great boon would be conferred 
 on store farmers and gardeners. The writer has failed in his njiplicatious to former 
 governments, but has not yet applied to that under Earl Grey. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD S MANUAL, 
 
 Coventry, professor of agriculture in the University of Edinburp;!!, wlio 
 was a man of acute observation, makes the following statement in his 
 introductory discourses. ' Rot is a word which has been employed to 
 express a variety of disorders afflictin": this animal, with no sjnall confusion 
 and detriment. Indeed, in few instances, has senseless indiscrimination 
 done more mischief; for means inept and injurious have been had recourse 
 to, where skilful and timely interference would have had the happiest 
 effects. Sheep are sometimes said to have the rot, when they labour 
 under phthisia pitlmonalis (consumption of the hmgs), which they do hut 
 rarely; or under disorders of the liver, as hepatitis chroiiica, and that 
 state of the same orjran produced, or attended by the faxciolce hepa'icce 
 (fluke worm), hydatides, &c., which affections of the liver are not tinfre- 
 quent. But the most common rot is still another and very distinct dis- 
 order, resembling, in many points, and probably the very same in its nature 
 with scorhiitus (scurvy) in the human species, or that miseranda luex, tliat 
 direful ruin of the general health and constitution which silently super- 
 venes from deficient or depraved aliment ; and from which, as numerous 
 observations testify, every flock, every sufferer, may be recovered by simple 
 means seasonably used ; but against which, m its advanced stage, all 
 remedies prove of no avail. Perhaps, as the last symptoms of debility 
 are very similar, and are most taken notice of by ordinary observers, the 
 different kinds of rot might conveniently enough pass under the names of 
 pulmonic, hepatic, and general rot.' 
 
 Many years have passed since the writer of this manual expressed to 
 Dr. Coventry his entire concurrence in these views. But the difficulty 
 still remains, to enable shepherds to distinguish symptoms, so that proper 
 remedies may be applied, even when they shall be better known than they 
 are at present. The first disease, consumption of the lungs, may be 
 deemed incurable. The .second, liver complaint, whfch is the disease most 
 commonly called Rot, is most likely to yield to purgative medicines, 
 and the application of mercury. And as it is not conceived that this 
 last remedy can be injurious in the case of general rot, the following 
 mode of treatment may, perhaps, be found as effectual as any other. 
 
 As vitiated food is generally and rationally believed to be the cause of 
 rot, especially as it appears to rage most in wet seasons when plants, at 
 other times wholesome, become rank and dangerous ; and as the disease 
 in any of its forms is very rare on dry heathy pastures, the first thing to 
 be done is to remove the whole flock from the places where the disease 
 has appeared, to other, and if possible drier, ground; and to separate 
 the diseased animals, bringing them home to be cured. A handful of 
 Glauber's or common salt, dissolved in a quart of water, may be given to 
 clear the bowels ; and, perhaps, were salt placed so that the whole flock 
 might lick it, the effect might be beneficial. Let a part of each side of 
 the sick animals be perfectly cleared of wool, by using a razor after clip- 
 ping it. On these parts let a portion of common blue mercurial ointmcit, 
 about the size of a hazel-nut, be well rubbed in once or twice \n a day, ac- 
 cording to the urgency of the symptoms, for a week or eight days. The 
 diet should be partly hay sprinkled with salt, with a portion of wholesome, 
 succulent food. jMeasures should also be taken to give due exercise, 
 IMercury, when introduced into the system, acts in removing (ihstnictious, 
 and will |)rohably destroy the fluke worm. It may be proper that the per- 
 son who rubs in the ointment should have his hand covered by a glove, 
 the palm being made of bladder, else part of the mercury will be absorbed 
 by his hand, and create inconvenience. The rubbing may be a li'.tle 
 fatiguing, but if a little oil be used as the skin becomes dry, it will be less 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 21 
 
 so. After eight days, the ohitnicnt may be omitted, and the effects of it, 
 and of change of diet observed for eight days more; and if decided im- 
 provement iu the apparent health is seen, the mercury may be discon- 
 tinued. 
 
 It were to be wished, that the plants growing on those pastures where 
 rot appears most frequently, were examined and compared with those on 
 the pastures where rot does not occur, or is less frequent. Salt is said to 
 cure the rot, and also j)ulting them to feed on salt marshes. The writer 
 has known cattle to become fatally diseased by feeding on grass that had 
 been recently flooded ; and it is quite certain that sheep are always 
 attacked by rot on such grass. 
 
 PINING. 
 
 This disease is not perfectly understood. It was not known in Selkirk- 
 shire until the moles were destroyed, and the moist land drained ; and in 
 that quarter it has now become a formidable enemy. This fact shows 
 (he risk of too hastily forming theories, and putting them in practice 
 without previous study of nature. ' Let well alone/ is a pretty safe 
 maxim. A change of food seems absolutely necessary to the welfare of 
 sheep; and this nature proclaims in the wandering habit of the animal. 
 
 MAGGOTS. 
 
 When on examining an animal that is restless, the tumours under which 
 the maggots are concealed are noticed, they should be freely opened, the 
 vermin picked carefully out, and the sore anointed with smearing salve. 
 
 SORK TEATS. 
 
 Lambs otten perish from their dams refusing them suck. The cause of 
 this is soreness of the teats, or some tumour and inflammation of the 
 udder, in which violent pain is excited by the striking of the lamb. Washing 
 with sugar of lead and water, or spirits, will remove the disorder, if slight; 
 but if there be much inflammation, poultices must be used to bring on sup- 
 puration, and that effected, the tumour must be opened. The Iamb is to 
 be put to another ewe, or fed by hand. 
 
 This formidable disease appears to have originated among certain flocks 
 abroad; and as it has extended to some parts of Britain in rather an 
 alarming degree, where it was before unknown, it is probable that we owe 
 it to the attempts which were made towards the close of the last century, 
 and the beginning of the present, to introduce Merino sheep. All that 
 experience seems yet to have taught us in this country is, that the disease 
 is most inveterate in very dry and in very wet seasons. Sudden change 
 of pasture is also thought to induce it. 
 
 Until regular observations and experiments shall have been made under 
 tlie eye of a medical practitioner, the following history and treatment o." 
 it, as published by Professor Pictet, of Geneva, is the best we have ; 
 and attention to the facts detailed will lead shepherds to be very careful 
 in examining every new addition to their flocks, and every animal that 
 appears in any degree lame. The memoir was translated, and appeared 
 in the ' Philosophical Magazine.' 
 
 MEMOIR ON THE FOOT ROT. 
 
 ' I THINK I .shall render a service to the proprietors of sheep, by calling 
 their attention to a malady, which, to my knowledge, has not been 
 
211 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 
 
 described by the veleriiiaiisls of any country ; and which, to the i)reseiil 
 moment, appears to have been unknown in France. The following- is the 
 occasion upon which I observed it: — 
 
 ' In the month of May, 1804, I received from Piedmont a flock of two 
 hundred sheep, of various mong;reI breeds, of the second and third gene- 
 rations. The animals came to hand in good condition, but some of them 
 were lame. The flock was placed, with a hundred other mongrels, on a 
 low mountain, the pasturage of which is healthy, and of good quality. 
 We did not pay very great attention to the lame sheep, because, in 
 general, upon a journey, they cripple often from fatigue alone, and their 
 lameness goes off after resting a while. I never yet received a lot of 
 Spanish sheep, among which there were not a few lame ones at their 
 arrival ; but this defect was never of long continuance. In the present 
 case, however, the lame animals became worse and worse, and every day 
 others of them began to grow lame, while none of the others grew any 
 better. Not suspecting any contagion, we attributed this affection to the 
 rocky nature of the pasturage, to the frequent journies which the sheep 
 took from a rivulet to go and feed ; and also to the circumstance that the 
 sheep fold was not frequently enough renewed. We took precautions 
 against all these various causes, and yet the malady continued among the 
 sheep. At the end of six weeks every one among them was lame, and 
 some of them were affected in all their four legs. They crawled upon 
 their knees while feeding, and the worst of them fell off very much in 
 their appearance. It now became indispensably necessary to assist this 
 flock by every means in our power. We removed them to the distance of 
 six leagues. Their removal was not effected without great trouble, and 
 was very tedious ; we also had recourse to carriages for conveying the 
 most diseased am.ongst them. But, in spite of all our care, many fell 
 victims to the disease, unable to bear the fatigue. The different individuals 
 of the flock presented all the varieties of the disease, which may be 
 reduced to three principal ones. The animals, in the first stage of the 
 di-sease, were only a little lame, appeared without fever, and preserved 
 their appetite. Upon inspecting the foot, there was only a slight redness 
 discovered at the root of the hoofs, or a slight oozing out of matter round 
 the hoof; sometimes only a slight degree of heat in the lame foot, without 
 any apparent irritation. 
 
 ' The sheep, which had the malady in the second degree, were lame all 
 fours, had a fever, appeared dull, fed slowly, and were often on their 
 knees, if the fore legs were attacked. Upon inspecting the foot, there was 
 an ulceration, as well at the root of the division of the hoofs, as at the 
 junction of the horn to the leg, accompanied by a foetid whitish sanies. 
 
 ' Such animals as were in the third degree of the disease had a con- 
 tinual fever ; they were meagre and sorrowful, rose up with difficulty, 
 and lost their wool. The ulceration of the feet was venomous, and 
 resembled a white gangrene. Purulent collections were formed under 
 the hoof, and made their appearance at the junction of the horn and the 
 skin. Among some sheep the hoof was detached, or entirely destroyed ; 
 and the flesh of the two divisions of the foot was one complete ulcer. 
 In others the hoof had kept on, because the flowing of the purulent 
 matter made its appearance at the sole, and had gnawed and completely 
 destroyed it. In this case the interior of the foot, after turning it up to 
 look at it, offered only a putrid mass filled with worms, contained in the 
 horn of the hoof; the flesh and ligaments appeared completely destroyed, 
 and the bones of the feet were carious ; the smell was cadaverous and 
 insupportable. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 23 
 
 ' We endeavoured at first to classify and separate the animals accordirir 
 to the stage of the disease. The aniiseptic lotions, such as red wine, 
 vinegar, extract of bark, and oak bark, were employed ; as also the fumi- 
 gations of nitric acid, to weaken the putrid tendency, and second the 
 effects of the remedies. I heard, from Piedmont, that the vitriol of 
 copper, in powder, as a dryinjy caustic, was very useful at the commence- 
 ment of the disorder, in checking- its progress. We employed it, without 
 any remarkable success, upon such animals as were only slightly attacked. 
 It is probable that the contagious influence, which we had not yet learned 
 to guard against sufficiently, had destroyed the effect of this remedy. 
 The acetate of lead, or saturnine extract, was employed with more ad- 
 vantage. Antimonial beer was useful in drying the wound, and the 
 lapis infernalis in burning the bad flesh, which was speedily reproduced 
 alter the incisions, which accompanied the complete clearing of the feet. 
 
 ' The treatment of a flock in this miserable situation is extremely per- 
 plexing. Four shepherds, and several assistants, were employed in 
 taking care of the three hundred lame sheep ; and it was an extremely 
 disagreeable business for all of them. The animals were examined every 
 day, one by one ; and such of them as were unable to go to pasture were 
 fed in the sheep-cot, where the forage was carefully spread out for them, 
 because the sick animals had neither strength nor inclination to pull it out 
 of the racks. It was necessary to renew the litter often, and to perfume 
 the sheep-cot several times a-day, a precaution which prevented the smell 
 from becoming insupportable to those who dressed the sores. This was 
 not all ; the lambs had made their appearance before we had overcome 
 the disease : several of the poor sheep miscarried, or produced lambs 
 which were so weakly that they could not live ; others of the lambs died 
 for want of milk, and those which survived took the disease, all which 
 increased our difficulties. The disease raged with all its violence for 
 three months ; and during a whole year many of the animals continued 
 lame. If we calculate the loss of the animals which died of the disease, 
 the loss of the Iambs, and the great expenses attending so tedious a cure, 
 we may be convinced that the scab itself, terrible as it is, is a less trouble- 
 some mslady than the foot rot, when it is contagious and general in a 
 flock. 
 
 ' Before pointing out the method of preventing and curing this evil I 
 shall mention a fact, which will show how far it is contagious, and of how 
 much consequence it is to increase our precautions, in order to get rid of 
 it. The rams, who were upon the mountains at the same time with the 
 diseased flock, took the foot rot. They were separated from the rest of 
 the diseased animals ; and, at the end of four months, after having 
 passed through all the usual operations, they appeared to be cured. They 
 still had tender feet, however, and walked with pain ; but as the hoof was 
 well recovered, and there was no appearance of ulceration upon it, they 
 were driven to the neighbourhood of a Spanish flock. They were placed 
 under a pent-house, separated from the sheepcol by a wall. Some of 
 these rams continued to eat out of tlie racks on their knees, which we 
 attributed to the sole of the foot not being yet consolidated ; but, at the 
 end of fifteen days, we perceived that an oozing out of purulent matter 
 had again commenced at the junction of the horn of the hoof. They 
 were then transported to an infirmary, to be submitted once more to 
 the same treatment. The straw upon which they had lain was not taken 
 away ; and the Spanish flock having afterwards been sent into the pent- 
 house, the foot rot began to show itself among them in about fifteen days. 
 The rigorous measures and precautions followed, and the treatment I am 
 
a THE OUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 
 
 about to recommend, hindered the disease from proceeding any farthet 
 in this flock than the second degree, otherwise I do not believe that a 
 single beast would have escaped. 
 
 PRECAUTIONS AND TREATMENT. 
 
 ' At all times, upon receiving a strange flock, it is advisable to keep them 
 separated, until it is well ascertained that they are not infected with 
 the scab, or any other contagious disorder. The precaution is not less 
 proper in the case of the foot rot ; for although there may be no crippled 
 animal in a flock newly come to hand, yet there may be one among them 
 which had been imperfectly cured during the journey, and in which the 
 disease may break out anew. If there are any actually lame at their 
 arrival, they must be carefully examined. Sometimes it happens that they 
 may chance to be crippled from some other cause than the foot rot. On 
 a journey the clay sometimes gets hard between the hoofs, and thereby 
 lames the animals. A single glance will suffice to see whether this be 
 the cause of the lameness. Sometimes they are lamed in consequence of 
 the gland between the hoofs being swelled. This is cured of itself, or, 
 at worst, by cutting off the gland ; and it is not contagious. At other 
 times the animal is crippled merely from fatigue, for which a little rest is 
 the obvious cure. But if the district from which the sheep came is sus- 
 pected, all diseases of the feet must be examined more cautiously than usual. 
 A heat in the foot is a certain sign of an abscess existing in the hoof, to 
 which an outlet should be given. The animal must then be separated 
 from the rest, and the operation performed which I am about to describe. 
 
 * If the ulceration i.s visible, the place must be cleaned with a rag, and 
 goulard water laid upon the sore, by means of a feather, or the powder of 
 blue vitriol. In order to prevent any dirt, &e. from getting into the 
 wound, the diseased foot should be placed in a little boot, the sole of 
 which is of leather or felt, and the upper part of cloth, in order to fasten 
 it round the leg of the sheep. This precaution is not only favourable to 
 the animal, it also prevents contagion, which seems to be communicated 
 by the ])us, or sanies, which flows from the ulcers upon the litter of the 
 sheep-fold. But where the disease is situated between the division of 
 the hoof, the boot must be large enough to allow the foot to be moved 
 in its natural way, for if the two divisions were locked together, the 
 disease would fester instead of healing. 
 
 ' When the disease is seated within the horn of the hoof, it is attended 
 with great pain, without any visible disease. The animal does not rest 
 upon the diseased leg, yet it has all the appearance of being well. Upon 
 putting the hand upon the hoof it is found to be very hot, which is easily 
 ascertained by comparing it with the sound legs. We must then en- 
 deavour to discover on what side the abscess, or interior ulcer, is. In 
 order to do this, the foot of the animal must be slightly pressed with the 
 thumb all around the junction of the horn, and the skin as well as the 
 sole of the foot. The seat of the abscess may be easily ascertained by 
 the wincing motion of the foot. This is the place which must be cut 
 with a keen-edged knife, so as to occasion the discharge of the matter, 
 and lay the flesh bare. When the wound has bled for some time, a 
 feather, wet with the water of goulard, is laid upon it, and the boot 
 above described put on. 
 
 ' It sometimes happens, that upon pressing the foot with the finger, no 
 place can be fixed upon as being the seat of the disease. This is the 
 case when the abscess is seated below the harde.st and thickest part ol 
 the hoof. In this case it is necessary tu make large incisions, souietimes 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 29 
 
 without any benefit, before finding the disease : and, after waitinfr a day 
 or two, the matter of the ulcer bep^ins to appear, and eats through the 
 horn, in descending to the sole, which then becomes painful at the place 
 where it is necessary to make the. incision. In general, we need not be 
 afraid of cutting into the quick, and bleeding the diseased feet; the horn 
 of the hoof grows again with singular expedition. I have often seen 
 feet which were completely unhoofed ; others, of which part only of the 
 horn was taken away, which healed much sooner than such feet as were 
 scarcely ulcerated. 
 
 ' It would seem that in this disease the juices which administer to the 
 reproduction of the horn, or hoof, exist in greater abundance, in the above 
 places, in disease than in health. When the disease is neglected, and 
 where the sole of the foot has been gnawed off, and the whole toot ulcer- 
 ated, I often found that the sides of the horn had sent out cross slips, 
 from one side of the sole to the other, thereby becoming a sort of boot, on 
 which the animal rested without much pain. Sometimes also the horn, in 
 growing again, assumes uncommon shapes. 
 
 * The dressing must be repeated every day with the greatest regularity. 
 It consists in removing the boot, and cleaning the wound with goulard 
 water. The other feet of the animal must be examined, as well as the 
 diseased one; for the disease often passes from one foot to another, and 
 it is sometimes visible to the eye before the animal is lame in the foot 
 recently attacked. Some drops of goulard water will then prevent the 
 progress of the disease ; when the disease is takeii in time, five or six 
 days are sufficient for the cure. If a good deal of horn has been removed, 
 it will require a longer time, until the horn has grown again, and assumed 
 sufficient consistence for the animal to walk without being crippled. As 
 long as the least matter is perceived, and the wound is not dry and cica- 
 trised, even although the animal be not lariie, it must not be thought 
 cured, for it will carry back the contagion to the flock from which it had been 
 separated. It must not be allowed to pasture with the rest until com- 
 pletely healed ; and even then all its four feet ought to be bathed with 
 vinegar for a few days, at first. Unfortunately, this malady is subject to 
 frequent returns. I have often seen animals, which appeared to be well 
 cured, which walked perfectly well for fifteen days, and then were again 
 seized. Those which have already had it, so far from being less subject 
 to it, are more exposed to it. This liappens from the nature of the treat- 
 ment. The remedies I have prescribed can only check the progress of the 
 disease ; and until we have discovered a purifying specific, we may often 
 see the disease re-appear on the same animal. It is of great importance 
 to be extremely vigilant in placing the animals in the infirmary, and in 
 taking them away in proper time. In the season when the sheep do not 
 leave the fold, the lame ones are not easily discovered, and sometimes not 
 until the disease is of some standing ; so that the disease may have been 
 communicated to many others, before the diseased animal is taken away. 
 If the least degree of infection is supposed to exist, the sheep ought to be 
 walked up and down, every day, in an inclosure, in order to observe if any 
 of them be lame. It is also necessary to remove them from the infirmary 
 as soon as the ulceration disappears, because they may take the disease 
 again from those around them. Fumigations of nitric acid are salutary 
 ibr preventing the smell, and may also hasten the cure of the ulcers. The 
 litter should also be frequently changed; and when removed, it must not 
 be left in a place where the healthy animals are liable to be exposed to it. 
 When these precautions are resorted to, and the care taken which I have 
 described, there will be no danger that the disease will assume any serious 
 appearance. 
 
26- THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 ' Everything pertaining to the knowledge of this disease, which is ab- 
 sohitely new in France, and, I have reason to believe, unknown in Spain, 
 is extremely important to the proprietors of" Merinos, or mongrels. I hope 
 those who are in possession of any new facts, on the subject of the foot 
 rot, will publish them. I obtained from a professional man of Piedmont 
 a succinct memoir concerninf-- this disease. I shall here insert it. 
 
 ' " Sheep, and particularly those with the finest wool, are subject to a 
 contag-ious whitlow, which hinders them from pasturing; and which, on 
 account of the pain and the suppuration which it occasions, gives them a 
 continnal fever, which increases in the evening. They fall off in flesh, 
 and lose their wool, the rams lose their appetite for copulation, the mo- 
 thers lose their milk, the lambs are weak and die of consumption. 
 
 ' " There are three kinds of whitlow, which succeed each other. The 
 first is seated under the epidermis, between the two divisions of the foot ; 
 the animal is seen to halt ; if we lay hold of the foot, it feels hotter than 
 usual, and it has a bad smell. Upon examining the place, an oozing out 
 of matter is discovered. The second species of whitlow is sealed under 
 the horn. In this case the lameness and the heat of the foot are greater, 
 as also the degree of fever. The third species attacks the phalanges, or 
 the bones of the foot, and is caused by inattention to the two former stages 
 of the disease. The cure of this last is vgry troublesome and difficult. 
 The disease arises from long journeys, pasturing in marshy places, fronj 
 allowing the sheep to mix with swine, or from lying in damp folds without 
 litter. 
 
 ' " Preventives. — 1st. Remove, as much as possible, the above causes. 
 2d. Separate the diseased from the healthy animals the instant the infec- 
 tion apjjears 
 
 ' " Cure for the first stage of the complaint. — As soon as the shepherd 
 perceives the disease, he must dry the place affected very carefully with a 
 linen rag, and spread over it vitriol of copper, (blue vitriol) in powder. 
 
 ' " In the second species of whitlow, it is necessary to cut off that part of 
 the horn which is detached from the phalange. We should begin cutting 
 at the point of the horn, and proceed upwards. This operation must be 
 performed by paring, successively, thin slips off the horn ; when the horn 
 is completely removed, and the flesh bare, the receptacle of contagious 
 matter is discovered. Sometimes it has gnawed very deep, and then the 
 nicer must be cleaned to the very bottom, by continuing to cut by little 
 and little. In order to clean the wounds thus laid bare, the foot must be 
 ])Iunged into water, heated to such degree that we can scarcely hold the 
 hand in it. The diseased foot must be plunged and replunged into this 
 hot water several times, letting it remain only a few seconds, at each time, 
 'm the water. It is then dried with a cloth, and a feather, dipped in mu- 
 riatic acid, is drawn over the place. The animal must be kept in a fold, 
 where there is plenty of straw, for twenty-four hours. Next day it may be 
 put out to pasture, where there are no stor.es or thorns. Every night the 
 feet of the animals must be inspected, and if any ulcers are again formed, 
 the treatment must be renewed. They must be always dressed in the 
 evening, because the repose, during the night, greatly contributes to the 
 good effects of the remedies 
 
 ' "The whitlow of the third species is very difficult to cure. The horn 
 must be cut, and the flesh taken off also, and the carious bone must be 
 then scraped, and scared with a red hot iron." 
 
 'The manner of opeiating- with the knife is extremely well described in 
 the above memoir. The analogy between the treamcnt of whitlow in 
 human creatures, and that in animals, shows how efficacious the innner- 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 27 
 
 sioii in hot water is, as recommended by the author ; and the careful 
 cleaning of the ulcers, upon which he insists, is exlremely important. I 
 entreat that intelligent agriculturists may communicate to the public their 
 observations, from time to time, on this disease, and the best method of cure. 
 
 To the distinct account of the foot rot contained in 'he above memoir, 
 nothing- can be added. But the method of cure described by M. Pictet 
 and his friend does not seem to have been either expeditious or radical. 
 Although M. Pictet appears not to approve of the application of blue vitriol, 
 yet there can be little doubt of caustics being useful in the first instance. 
 It is i>robable that the tardiness of the cure was owing to the very slight 
 dressing put over the sore. " It is likely too that the cure would have been 
 hastened by the administration of some cooling medicine internally. The 
 following mode of treatment is suggested to those who may be so unfor- 
 tunate as to discover this disease among their sheep. Let the animal, in 
 the first place, get a dose of glauber salts. The ulcer, having been laid 
 open and cleaned, is to be washed with weak caustic ley of potash or soda, 
 or a weak solution of blue vitriol, and filled with scraped linen, dipped in 
 oil ; or, what is better, goulard cerate. The dressing of cerate is to be 
 continued, every evening, until granulations of flesh appear to be filling 
 up the space formerly occupied by the matter of the ulcer; and if it should 
 be necessary, the washing with caustic ley may be repeated. Common 
 cerate may then be applied ; and should the flesh grow too luxuriantly, a 
 little red precipitate and burnt alum may be dusted upon it. When a 
 wholesome suppurative discharge has taken place, gentle ))ressure may be 
 applied to bring the sides of the sore towards each oti)er, taking care 
 always to give free vent to the matter. The limb should be carefully 
 washed with vinegar and water. This treatment is recommended for 
 most ulcers to which sheep or other animals may be liable, from wounds 
 of the skin having been neglected, or other causes. It would appear that 
 something like foot-rot is induced by an overgrowth of the hoof, and 
 when this happens, the hoof must be pared, and treated in the manner 
 already described. 
 
 Thediifereul kinds of matter which issue from sores are, 
 
 Pus, or the matter of suppuration ; it is thick and yellowish white. 
 
 Sanies is a thin green coloured matter. 
 
 Ichor is reddish, and very acrid. 
 
 Sordes is a gluey kind of matter. * 
 
 The three last have a much more disagreeable smell than the first. 
 
 PART IV. 
 MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 
 
 SHELTER. 
 
 Shelter is the first thing to be attended to in the management of sheep. 
 While every good shepherd is decidedly hostile to their being confined, or 
 to their being forced into shelter, whether they wish for it or not, it cannot 
 be too strongly recommended to all sheep farmers, to put the means of 
 avoiding the severity of stormy weather within the reach of their flocks at 
 all times. Close confinement injures the health of all animals ; and is 
 hurtful in an especial n anner to sheep, which, by nature, are of a roving 
 disposition, and exceedingly fond of liberty. It is certainly a mistaken 
 notion that fine woollcd sheep are more tender, and more liable to be in- 
 jured by cold, than those which cirry coarse fleeces ; and that they must, 
 
28 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 during the greatest part of the year, be kept in cots, as is practised on the 
 continent. The wool of the fine breeds grows in a manner which ren<lers 
 it more effectual in resisting the rigors of winter, than that of the long 
 coarse kinds. 
 
 Merino sheep, which have been reckoned the most delicate, have been 
 found capable of bearing very great degrees of cold, without being injured 
 in the slightest degree. — Cold, therefore, is not by any means an object of 
 dread to the breeder of any kind of sheep, except during the lambing sea- 
 son, when, sudden and severe cold, and chilling rains, are with reason to 
 be feared by every storemaster, as they are fatal to newly dropt lambs of 
 every breed. 
 
 Drifting snow, excessive rain, and great heat, are the enemies which, 
 in our climate, chiefly annoy our flocks. 
 
 DRIFTING SNOW. 
 
 Natural shelter is seldom to be found in a mountainous country, so con- 
 venient as to be proof against sudden storms of snow. Recourse must 
 therefore be had to art. There cannot be a better method of enabling 
 sheep to escape from drifting snow than such inclosures as are mentioned 
 by Mr. Hogg. Circular inclosures, surrounded by an earthern wall, will be 
 fully as effectual as those constructed of stones, and will in most places 
 be more economical, both in the original cost, and subsequent repairs. 
 The spaces inclosed should be on dry ground, and of moderate size ; and 
 the more numerous the better. The base of the walls should be four 
 feet thick, and the top two feet. The height should not be less than 
 six feet. Two or three openings should be left towards the south ; 
 and a drain, so constructed as to take off the wetness of the ground, rain 
 water, and that from melted snow, should be dug round the outside, 
 communicating by holes in the wall with the inside of the inclosure. 
 After having been once or twice driven into these inclosures, or rings, 
 the sheep will of their own accord draw towards them on the approach 
 of snow *. The shepherd will always find his flock assembled in the 
 rings during snow, and he will not often have to risk his life by 
 searching for lost sheep among wreaths. Clumps of Scotch firs have been 
 found of great use on some farms ; and should be planted wherever they 
 can be easily protected when young ; not only for shelter, but for the sake 
 of the thinnings and branches, which are wholesome food for sheep in 
 stormy weather. 
 
 In gentlemen's parks, and on low grounds, where attendance can be 
 constantly afforded, there is less occasion for shelter. Clumps of trees, 
 especially of spruce fir, the foliage of which is closer and more ornamental 
 than that of the Scotch pine, will, however, be found extremely useful. 
 
 RAIN. 
 
 As it is impossible to shelter even small flocks from rain, it i'- a fortunate 
 circumstance that sheep are not very liable tc suffer from it. During 
 summer there is no danger to be apprehended from long continued rain 
 drenching the fleece. But should this happen during winter, weak sheep 
 will most probably suffer greatly. Attention to the health and comfort of 
 sheep at other times, by bringing them to face the severity of winter in a 
 strong habit of body, will be found to be the best method of defending them 
 from rain. Of smearing or salving we shall presently speak. 
 
 HEAT. FLIES. 
 
 In mountainous districts, sheep have it in their power to remove from 
 * Walls are raised in some places in the i'onn of a cross, or of the letter S. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 29 
 
 cjlensand hollows, where the rays of the sun frequently become oppressive. 
 But on low grounds they are too often left exposed, without having access 
 to a shady place, to the scorching heat of summer, and to the torments 
 inflicted by myriads of flies. The shades of trees, cots, and walls, are 
 sufficient to enable sheep to avoid heat ; but their enemies will follow them, 
 and continue their attacks. Some method of keeping off flies should there- 
 fore be adopted ; or, at any rate, of destroying their eggs, which they 
 deposit about the roots of the horns, and other parts of the head, and about 
 the tail. The following ointment, being rubbed about the root of the horns 
 and tail, will be found to be of great use. 
 
 Strong mercurial ointment, . 1 part. 
 
 Rosin, ..... 1 part. 
 
 Hog's lard, . . .3 parts. 
 
 Melt the hog's lard in a convenient vessel, and add the rosin. When these 
 ingredients are well incorporated, add the ointment, and stir the whole 
 well till it becomes cold, to prevent the mercury from sinking. The rosin 
 is intended to gire some degree of adhesiveness to the composition. Tlie 
 smallest particle of mercury is fatal to an insect. A composition for 
 defending the bodies of sheep will be found under the article Shearing. 
 Flies seldom become troublesome till after the time of taking off the fleece. 
 But when sheep appear to be annoyed before that lime, the ointment 
 should be applied without delay to the head and tail, and well rubbed on. 
 The proportion of mercury is too small to have any effect on the animal, 
 but is quite sufficient to make flies change their scene of attack, at any 
 rate to destroy their eggs. Rubbing the head and tail with a composition 
 of one pint of tar and four of train oil, has been found to answer the pur- 
 pose well. 
 
 FOOD. 
 
 Variety, or frequent changes, in the nature of food, tend to derange the 
 nniform action of the bowels, and to bring on diseases which often prove 
 fatal. During summer and winter, sheep are commonly healthy, when 
 they are not absolutely starved. It is chiefly in spring and autumn when 
 they show symptoms of bad health. Sudden changes in the quality of 
 their food are the most probable causes of the general uuhealthiuess ex- 
 perienced at these seasons of the year. Such alterations are not more 
 injurious than quirk transitions from plenty to scarcity, and from scarcity 
 to plenty. When an animal has been highly fed, and accustomed for a 
 length of time to eat regularly, any sudden alteration in its habits soon 
 occasions disease. On the other hand, nothing is more dangerous to an 
 animal which has been starving, than placing it all at once in the midst of 
 plenty. 
 
 Where grass is what is usually called artificial, and consequently as 
 imiform as it is possible for pasture to be, few diseased sheep will ever 
 be found. On meadows and hills, where some parts are moist, and others 
 dry, and where the soil is of different kinds, the quality of the pasture is 
 often found to vary much. Here the only way to avoid risk is to adopt 
 the plan of many skilful shepherds, and to allot different tracts of country 
 to different parts of the flock, and to reserve some districts for shifting ; 
 for a change of food is well known to he of the greatest importance, the 
 plants in one district of a farm being succulent, wliile those on another 
 have ceased to grow ; and this holds on different parts of the same tract 
 of country, and varies with elevation. There can be no difficulty in 
 dividing a farm in such a way, that a proper succession of food may always 
 be provided. Sheep cannot endure frequent removals, but are strongly 
 attached to the place of their nativity. 
 
30 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERDS MANUAL. 
 
 It has been fully ascertained that wet grounds, whert; wutci sometimcR 
 statrnates, are unfit for sheep pasture, insomuch that (he complicnted and 
 fatal disease, called rot, always attacks sheep which feed on them. Wet 
 peaty ground is not so dangerous, nor is there much risk when sheep go 
 on land over which water trickles constantly. But lands which iiave been 
 flooded are sometimes unsafe until they become perfectly dry. In the 
 Highlands of Scotland there are vast ranges of hills, which, even during 
 the driest seasons, are continually moist ; yet they do not appear to be in- 
 jurious to sheep by bringing on the rot. On these the water is in conti- 
 nual motion, and never stagnates. 
 
 The neighbourhood of stinking pools of water, and of grounds on which 
 rank grasses grow during the evaporation of stagnant water, should always 
 be avoided. Sheep are fully as liable to the rot in such situations, as the 
 human species is to ague, and other diseases resembling incipient rot*. 
 
 The greatest difficulty in the management of sheep occurs at the periods 
 when the seasons change. Then it becomes necessary on hill farms, not 
 only to diminish the quantity of food, but to give it of a different quality. 
 On the mountains of Scotland, the vegetation of the grasses and heath 
 usually ceases about the end of October. When sudden frosts come on 
 before the vegetation of the grasses has stopped, the leaves are affected, so 
 that when thaw commences, they become flaccid, and rot. When intro- 
 duced in that state into the stomach of a sheep, or of any other ruminating 
 animal, they are likely to prove injurious. When sheep are forced by a 
 sudden fall of snow to relinquish their ordinary succulent food, the change 
 can hardly fail to huit their health. Their stomachs and bowels, 
 having been accustomed to the gentle action required for digesting 
 succulent food, are not in a condition to manage what is dry. The 
 slow digestion of dry food makes an alteration in the quantity of 
 fluids secreted, and the whole system is apt to be deranged. The 
 grand object of a shepherd, therefore, ought to be to make the change 
 of food as gradual as possible. He must not be tempted by fine open 
 weather to delay accustoming his flock to an alteration in diet. Winter 
 may come on suddenly, and before the shepherd be aware of them, bring 
 difficulties which he may not be able to overcome. When a continuation 
 of fresh grass cannot be afforded, a wise and skilful shepherd will begin, 
 about the end of October, to move his sheep about, taking them sometimes 
 to dry, heathy grounds, and sometimes to places where the pasture re- 
 sembles that destined for winter use. The movements should be continued 
 until the usual time for putting the sheep on their wintering ground. The 
 same caution ought to be observed in spring. During winter the stomachs 
 of the sheep will have acquired a stronger action in digesting dry and 
 hard food. If, in this state, they be suddenly filled with young succulent 
 grass, purging will be brought on, and probably more fatal diseases 
 than diarrhoea will attack the flock. In situations where turnips and 
 hay can be raised in sufficient quantities, many dangers and difTiculties 
 may be avoided by a proper alternation of these as winter food. 
 
 The winter management of a breeding stock, and of a stock for the 
 butcher, are very different things ; and yet we see many people treating 
 both in the same way. While sheep, destined for the knife, are kept 
 constantly folded on turnip fields, it would be folly to risk great ewes in 
 the same manner. In such a situation great ewes are very liable to 
 miscarry, and from being obliged to lie dirty and wet, often become 
 unhealthy. In general, the animals destined to pass the winter on turnips 
 
 * Some interestini:; particulars connected with this subject are to be found in a pam- 
 phlet on the rot, by Dr. Harrison. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 31 
 
 are compelled to cat up every morsel, even unwholesome, dirty, and 
 rotten husks, which they had before left in disg-ust. But as butchers have 
 no objections to take sheep a little rotten, or otherwise diseased, while 
 they are rather disposed to be fat, this, in the opinion of many, may be of 
 no consequence. But such treatment is highly improper for a breeding- 
 stock, as well as folding sheep during the night, without giving- them 
 food. They eat almost as much during: the night as during the day, and 
 seldom go regularly to rest. They lie down to chew the cud, and to rest 
 during the day, as well as the night time. They should not be allowed to 
 be longer on the turnip field than four or five hours, and should then be 
 driven to the hill, or pasture fields, and brought back to the turnips in 
 the morning. 
 
 SMEARINO OR SALVING. 
 
 Shepherds vary in their answers when asked why they smear their sheep. 
 Some say that it is intended to prevent the scab, some to cure it ; others 
 say it is for the purpose of keeping off rain, and some assert that they do 
 it merely to soften the wool. Smearing with a proper composition is 
 certainly useful both to the fleece and the animal which carries it, and 
 answers all the above purposes, and destroys vermin. It has very little 
 effect on coarse fleeces ; but as they are long and do not curl so much 
 as the short sheep's wool, smearing may be useful in defending the 
 animals from rain. It is for this purpose that black-faced hogs are 
 smeared. Some breeds of sheep yield a great deal of oily matter, which 
 keeps the wool always soft. On such sheep, too, a larger quantity of the 
 substance, called yolk, is found than on the coarser breeds. 
 
 Nothing is so hurtful to wool as tar, in so far as the interests of the 
 manufacturer are concerned, and nothing is more apt to injure sheep, as 
 it is of a very irritating nature, when injudiciously employed. It is to be 
 regretted that the interests of the wool-grower and of the manufacturer 
 are not considered the same. The care which attentive shepherds bestow 
 on wool is amply repaid by the health of their sheep, and the price they 
 receive. When used with moderation, tar is a very useful ingredient in 
 the composition for salving. When laid on in a large proportion, it quits 
 the grease with which it was mixed, and accumulates on the sides and 
 bellies of the sheep. Tar is always so full of impurities, that it spoils the 
 colour of the wool, and renders scouring a difficult, tedious, and expensive 
 operation, and after all it leaves a stain. It is, therefore, the interest of 
 the grower to seek for a composition into which tar enters in a small pro- 
 portion, which will have all the effect he desires in smearing ; and from 
 its being more easily washed out than the common composition, will 
 enable the manufacturer to afford a better price for the wool on which it 
 has been laid. 
 
 Of late several compositions have been proposed and extensively tried, 
 in which the spirit of tar has been substituted for tar itself. This has, in 
 some cases, been compiainejl of as too irritating, and there is not a doubt 
 that a too free use of spirit of tar is injurious, and even fatal. Some of 
 the salves, while they prove to be perfectly well adapted to flocks that 
 are clean, have been found ineffectual either in curing or in warding off the 
 scab — a disease which the common salve, made of tar and grease, seems 
 effectually to resist. When a flock is perfectly clean, olive oil has been 
 found to be the best substance for softening the fleece and warding off 
 rain and snow. For clean sheep Taylor's salve is also suitable, though 
 some English staj.lers have condemned it. If a tar salve were made so as 
 to be free from the impurities of the tar, it might probably answer every 
 purpose. The ordinary proportion of one cwt. of grease to a barrel of 
 
32 THK MOUNTAIN SIIRPHKRD'S MANUAL. 
 
 tar mis^ht be increased to one and a half cwt, and when melted toc^ethev 
 the impurities of the tar might be suffered to subside and be separated. 
 In this way the tar might not leave a stain upon the wool when scoured. 
 Olive oil seems to impregnate the wool, or to adhere to it more firmly 
 than any other kind of greasy matter ; and it has been successfully em- 
 ployed by Mr. Sellar of Morvich, a first-rate store farmer in Sutherlandshire, 
 an account of whose management of his farm was published in the 18th 
 Number of this seriet;, 
 
 WASHING. 
 
 In order to put wool into a more marketable condition, it is sometimes 
 washed on the back of the sheep before it is shorn. The animals are 
 made to swim once or twice across a river or pond. This practice does 
 not appear to injure sheep of any kind, although danger might be 
 apprehended from plunging nurse-ewes into cold water. Washing is 
 not so much attended to in Scotland, except in some of the southern 
 parts, as it ought to be. As the fleeces of fine-woolled sheep are not 
 easily penetrated by water, so they take a long time to dry. Washing 
 the wool on their backs may therefore be improper in some cases. 
 
 SHEAUING. 
 
 This usually begins with the month of June. There is no part of their 
 business in which common shepherds appear so slovenly as in this. 
 They usually mangle the fleece, and leave the sheep's backs covered with 
 tufts of wool, to the great loss of their masters. The closer wool is 
 clipped the better; and the way to effect this, and to save time, is to 
 take but a small quantity into the shears. It would appear that some 
 sheep which carry the finest fleeces do not naturally shed their wool 
 annually ; but ordinary sheep do, and ought to be shorn just before the 
 wool begins to separate. Neatness in shearing can only be acquired by 
 practice. The only rules which can be written are, use shears of a moderate 
 size, and take up very little wool between them. Perhaps it would be 
 an improvement that the shears should have blunt points, which may 
 prevent many accidents, and render the operation easy and expeditious, 
 by giving confidence lo the shearer, that he is in no danger of wounding 
 the. sheep. After being shorn, sheep are much exposed to the tormenting 
 attacks of flies and other vermin. They should be carefully examined, 
 and all keds, ticks, &c. picked off. The following unguent should then 
 be well rubbed on every part of the animal, with a currying brush. The 
 roots of the horns may be anointed with the composition mentioned under 
 the article Heat. 
 
 Take of train oil*, . . 4 gallons, imperial, 
 
 of tar, • • i gallon, do. 
 
 oil of turpentine, . . 1 pint, do. 
 Dr. Parry recommends the shearing of fine woolled lambs about the 
 beginning of August, having found that the hog fleeces grow finer, when 
 the lamb fleeces have been removed. This practice promises considerable 
 profit; an argiunent in favour of its adoption, of a very powerful kind. 
 There does not appear to be any danger to be apprehended from the ope- 
 ration at that season of the year ; and the wool will have time to grow to 
 a sufficient length, for defending the animal from cold, rain, aud snow, 
 before winter sets in. The Doctor attended more than any person in 
 Britain to the subject of wool-growing, and has shown very superior judg- 
 
 * Seal oil is cheaper, and will probably be found to answer every purpose ; and perhaps 
 train oil may do alone, though the above ointment is more certain. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHKl'HERD'S MANUAL. 3;{ 
 
 mfent in conducting his experiments. His recommendation goes no fartiier 
 than to fine-woolled Iambs ; but those of other breeds may not probably 
 be hurt, if these do not suffer any injury from the operation. 
 
 At the time of clipping-, and indeed at all other times, when the flock is 
 collected, every individual should be carefully examined ; and any wounds 
 or sores should be cleaned and dressed. The feet should be looked at, 
 and every animal which has swelled, or ulcerated limbs, should be sepa- 
 rated from the flock. These, and all others which seem to be sickly, should 
 be kept at home until cured. Sheep ought to be collected and examined 
 more frequently than at the usual stated times. 
 
 YOLK OF WOOL. 
 
 Until the experiments of that excellent chemist, Vauquelin, were pub- 
 lished, the nature of yolk was unknown. He has found it to be an animal 
 soap ; and has observed that wool which had remained a long time in its 
 own yolk, swelled up, split, and lost its strength ; effects which take place 
 also in too strong soapy water. ' If,' says M. Vauquelin, ' the water of 
 yolk causes wool to swell, and to split in this manner, is it not possible 
 that this accident may often take place on the backs of the animals, espe- 
 cially during damp warm weather, or when they are shut up in folds, the 
 litter of which is not often enough removed ? It may not be impossible 
 also tliat the acridity of yolk may occasion an irritation in their skin, and 
 prove the cause of some of those maladies to which this organ is subject in 
 these animals, and which must occur chiefly during damp warm weather : 
 fortunately at this season they are occasionally exposed to rains which 
 wash them, and carry off" at least a part of this matter. In this respect I 
 am inclined to adopt the opinion of those who think that the washing of 
 sheep, during dry warm weather, may be useful to their health, and to the 
 quality of the wool.' 
 
 Although every respect is due to so good a chemist as M. Vauquelin, he 
 could have formed his opinion of the effect of yolk on the skin of sheep 
 only from analogy. As common soap is often used with success in cleans- 
 ing the skin, and curing cutaneous disorders, analogy would lead us to 
 expect that yolk, being of the same nature, would be beneficial instead of 
 being injurious. And it is observed, that fine woolled sheep are less sub- 
 ject to diseases of the skin, than those which carry coarse fleeces ; the 
 former being weirsupplied with yolk and oil, and the latter having drier 
 wool and little yolk, M. Vauquelin thinks yolk a naturally perspired 
 matter ; but it is more probably a combination of the salt in sweat, with 
 the oil of wool. 
 
 PUTTING RAMS TO EWES. 
 
 The period during which the rams are to go with the ewes must be regu- 
 lated by climate, and the quantity of spring food provided. It is of great 
 importance that lambs should be dropt as early as possible, that they may 
 not only be well nursed, but have time to get stout, and able to provide 
 for themselves before the winter sets in. It is also of advantage to the 
 ewes, that they may get into good condition before the rutting season. 
 
 To secure a full crop of lambs, a proper proportion of tups should be 
 employed, viz. three to one hundred ewes where they are much scattered ; 
 but in inclosures two to a hundred are sufficient. They should be left 
 together only so long, that no lambs may be dropt after the middle of 
 May ; unless in the case of rearing Iambs for the butcher, when matters 
 may be regulated according to circumstances. 
 
 Some people rub the breasts of the rams with some pigment, aiHl 
 
 n 
 
34 THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 remove every ewe which has any mark of it as having been served. This, 
 however, is a practice which may occasion much disappointment, as tups 
 often leap without accomplishing their purpose. Both tups and ewes should 
 be in the best possible condition 
 
 Dr. Parry mentions a mode of putting the ewes to the ram, which he 
 believes to have been invented by Bakewell. At the intended season of 
 copulation, the sexual appetite of the ewes is provoked by a ram with an 
 apron. The ewes which are ready, being thus discovered, are brought iii 
 succession to the proper ram, which is kept in a yard, or small inclosure, 
 and is allowed to serve each only once. In this manner a shearling ram, 
 well fed, may be sufficient for one hundred or more ewes in one sea- 
 son. This method is certainly to be recommended where any one ram is 
 greatly suj)erior to others in make, and other desirable qualities, relatively 
 to a large number of ewes. 
 
 The usual practice on high farms is to collect the ewes, and bring them 
 to the low ground. This harasses the animals, and spoils the winter pas- 
 ture. Yet, if they be altogether left at liberty, an inconvenient number of 
 rams is required. At this period the shepherd must be constant in his 
 attendance ; and if the weather permit, rather keep the ewes on the higher 
 ground, in detached bodies here and there, according to the nature of the 
 ground and condition of the pasture. Each body of ewes should have a 
 proper proportion of rams along with it ; and the shepherd must be care- 
 ful not to allow the rams to leave the ewes to which they are appropriated. 
 This mode of proceeding appears preferable to any other, and a smaller 
 number of rams will sufhce. 
 
 GREAT EWES 
 
 Should be moved about as little as possible ; and kept from wet ground, 
 dirty cots, and from every thing apt to injure their health, or disturb them. 
 They are, when heavy, very liable to get cast and unable to rise, and when 
 the shepherd discovers them in this situation, he should approach them 
 with caution, and lift them gently. When a ewe has miscarried, it will 
 be proper, if the weather be severe, or very cold, to bring her into a cot, 
 and to keep her there till recovered ; but during mild dry weather, she 
 will be as well in the open air. When about to yean, the ewes should be 
 un the smoothest and driest ground, both for their own convenience, and 
 that of their lambs when dropt. Nurse ewes should have the best pasture. 
 
 LAMBS, 
 
 When observed to drop on a place where they cannot easily rise, should 
 be lifted and placed on their feet, but otherwise they may be left to them- 
 selves. They may be docked when a day or two old, which saves much 
 trouble when the disease called pinding attacks them. Docking makes 
 them look very lively, as, while they are at their frisking time of life, their 
 stumps have commonly a set or cock. The tail, which seems to be a use- 
 less and inconvenient appendage, (though some farmers are of a different 
 opinion,) need not be left longer than three inches. But this operation in 
 the males, if pinding does not happen, should be deferred until the time 
 for castration. Ewes which have been docked are not liable to lose their 
 lambs by their being entangled by the tail at birth, an accident which 
 happens much more frequently than shepherds are aware of. 
 
 Lambs that are in health are always lively. Such as do not appear to 
 be inclined to sport with their fellows, should be looked at, and also their 
 dams. Ewes which appear unkind to their lambs should also be examined. 
 In these cases something will in general be found to be wrong. Distoited, 
 or imperfect lambs should be sold, or killed for home consumption. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 35 
 
 When a lamb dies, it should be slowly dragged home, and ihe ewe will 
 follow, when she may be put into a house where a twin lainb from another 
 ewe may be given her ; as soon as she has permitted it to suck, they may 
 be sent out. 
 
 WEANING LMklBS. 
 
 LAiMBS should be allowed to suck during three months and a half, after 
 which they may be taken up, and kept for a fortniglit or three weeks at a 
 distance from their dams ; far enough from them to prevent their bleating 
 being heard. In general, sale lambs are not taken up (ill they are re- 
 moved by the purchaser, and are taken away at once. Some wean their 
 lambs about the middle of July, deeming it of importance to accustom 
 them to a change of food before the season arrives when braxy is likely 
 to prevail. One seldom fails when advice is taken from nature ; and 
 therefore it may be time enough to remove the lambs early in August. 
 
 Many are in the habit of milking their ewes after the lambs are taken 
 up. It may be proper to take the milk from tlum once or twice at the 
 interval of two days ; but it is a bad practice to milk them for a length of 
 time, as this hinders their getting into good condition before the rutting 
 season. 
 
 VERMIN ON LAMBS. 
 
 In the event that lambs become troubled by vermin before smearing time, 
 the following directions of Dr. Parry will be found useful. The hippo- 
 bosca ovina, or tick, is extremely injurious to slieep, by making the animal 
 bite and rub itself, so as not only to hurt the fleece, but to break the skin ; 
 in consequence of which the fly is apt to fix on the wool near the wounded 
 j)art, and there deposit its eggs. This troublesome animal may be, in a 
 great measure, destroyed by a solution of white arsenic in powder, made 
 in boiling water, in the proportion of an ounce to a gallon, and poured, 
 when cold, on the back of the sheep, and letting it diffuse itself down llie 
 skin on each side : in this method, however, several of the ticks escape by 
 crawling to the extremities of the filaments. It will be still better to wash 
 the lambs in the autumn, whether shorn or not, in a tub of a similar mix- 
 ture. For this purpose, three pounds of the same arsenic in powder may 
 be dissolved in six gallons of boiling water, and the solution mixed with 
 forty gallons of cold water. The whole being then well stirred with a 
 stick, the lambs may be plunged into it, great care being taken that they 
 do not dip their heads, or taste the water. The liquor must be squeezed 
 out of their fleeces back into the vessel, in order that it may not be wasted. 
 It is scarcely needful to point out the poisonous quality of this liquid, and 
 how impurtaut it is to keep the vessel locked up, and after the operations 
 are performed, to clean it well ; or, rather never to use it for any other pur- 
 pose ; and to throw the liquid which remains where not the smallest 
 quantity of it can be drank by any creature whose life we value. Infusion 
 of tobacco is equally effective, but not so economical. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF FOXES AND BIRDS OF PREY. 
 
 Notwithstanding the very great losses which are annually experienced 
 from the ravagts of foxes, and of eagles and other birds, little ingenuity 
 has been exerted to devise means of destroying them It would be better 
 for sheep-farmers to have fox-catchers than fox-hunters ; and with very 
 little trouble every one of their shepherds m;iy be made much more 
 useful in destroying these animals than the ordinary fox-hunters, and that 
 witliout interfering with their attendance on the flocks — nothing more is 
 
36 THK MOUNTAIN SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 
 
 reijuired than to put the means into their power, and to hold out some 
 reward proportioned to their success. 
 
 Various pit-falls mijjht be contrived for taking foxes ; but poison and 
 stamps are the most effectual instruments of destruction when properly 
 employed, both for foxes and birds of prey. Of the different poisons 
 used for killing- vermin, arsenic, nux vomica, and corrosive sublimate are 
 the most powerful. Whoever chooses to adopt the following method of 
 using them will not probably have any cause for seeking a better one. 
 
 Take the carcase of a sheep that may have died, and having removed 
 the skin, fasten it to the ground in some open place, with the back 
 uppermost. Make cross and deep incisicms into the fleshy parts, so that 
 the squares made by the cuts do not exceed an inch and a liylf. 
 Separate each piece nearly from the bone, but not altogether. Tlien 
 make one or two punctures with a penknife, an inch and a half deep into 
 each piece, and fill them nearly full of a mixture of equal parts of cor- 
 rosive sublimate and arsenic, or with nux vomica, previously made into a 
 paste with honey, or sugar, or treacle. Put all the squares into their 
 natural position, and leave the place. 
 
 When a fox, or an eagle, or a parcel of ravens, or crows, attack the 
 carcase, they will not find much difficulty in tearing off the flesh ; and in 
 the hurry of competition for the largest share, they will gobble up the 
 poisoned pieces entire, and soon die. When a carcase is poisoned without 
 cutting it as here directed, the poison is apt to be lost while the animals 
 are employed in tearing off the flesh. By fastening the carcase to the 
 ground, the pieces of flesh will come easily off. 
 
 Should the shepherd be anxious to catch the animals, let him fasten a 
 good strong fish-hook of a moderate size in each piece of flesh, which 
 must, in this case, be entirely separated from the bone, and need not be 
 poisoned. By fastening the hooks to the ribs of the carcase by means of 
 strong wire, both foxes and eagles may be caught. The common pike 
 hooks will answer very well, but a nnich smaller size will do for birds. 
 Dogs must be kept out of the way ; but if any strange cur should be 
 prowling about in search of a lamb, or a leg of mutton, and stumble upon 
 the baits, he will meet the fate he deserves. It will be proper to select 
 for the baits places where sheep do not feed, such as bare moss, or gravel, 
 or some banks at the sides of streams. 
 
 If there be opportunity for instructing shepherds in the use of stamps, 
 and if each has five or six of them, and a premium be offered, they will 
 clear a district of vermin in no long time ; and in proportion to the de- 
 struction of vermin, game, moles, and mice will multiply ; and it is known 
 that where these abound, foxes kill no sheep. Fox-hunters are a perfect 
 nuisance, and literally oppress store-farmers, in many districts, with the 
 maintenance of themselves and dogs, and they do not clear the country of 
 vermin. It appears as if, in some cases, the profession of a f(jx-hunter 
 were adopted to cover that of a poacher. Shepherds have had long 
 enough experience to justify the trial of some new plan. The writer 
 strongly recommends the formation of associations of landlords and 
 tenants, for tlie express purpose of encouraging the use of stamps and 
 poison.