Page:Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (IA journalofacademy01acaduoft).pdf/20

10 whole is white; the horns appear to have stood on the top of the head, somewhat in the manner of those of a goat, or of those on the figure of Shaw's Pigmy Antelope, Gen. Zool. vol. ii. plate 188, and vignette on the titlepage. But one horn is now attached to the skin, and that measure's three inches and three quarters in length, on the fore part; it is slightly recurved, cylindrical and acuminated, its base is somewhat tumid, and, with its lower half, is scabrous, its upper part smooth, obsoletely striated, and of a black colour.

A cut of this horn, of the size of nature, accompanies this account, by which figure it will be evident to the naturalist, that the above described sheep is a distinct species. It is true that the animal was young, and we have no positive evidence that when full-grown or old the horns do not increase in size, so as to resemble those of some well-known species or varieties of the genus. One of Lewis and Clark's men informed them that he had seen the animal in the Black Hills, and that the horns were lunated like those of a domestic sheep. The Indians asserted that the horns were erect and pointed. The latter account is more probable, as it has been remarked by travellers, that, in describing those natural productions with which they are conversant, our Indians seldom deviate from the truth.