Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/862

 836 SHEEP predominates over the hair, the horns vary or disappear, the ears and tail lengthen, and other characters undergo great modifications. Though the sheep is externally sufficiently dis- tinct from the goat (capra) in general appear- ance, covering, and horns, the generic differ- ences are not so evident when the whole series of these animals is examined; they run into each other so closely that some naturalists have included them in a single genus. The sheep differs from the goat chiefly in the form of the horns, absence of beard, and presence of an opening on the anterior part of each foot be- tween the hoofs, whence issues a sebaceous se- cretion ; the males are not so odorous as in the goat. Sheep are gregarious, timid, defenceless, and more dependent on man's care than the goat ; they inhabit the mountainous regions of temperate climates, and climb rocks and preci- pices with facility and speed. Some natural- ists count four or five distinct species, one of which is found native in each continent ; there are few parts of the globe except the polar regions where some breed of the sheep is not found ; they thrive remarkably in tem- perate Australia, producing fine fleeces ; in the tropics the wool degenerates into hair. In the skeleton the parietal bone is in the form of a flattened band, encircling the cranium be- tween the orbital wings of the sphenoid, and is narrower than in the goats ; f rentals large and broad ; aquamous portion of temporals small, and the tympanic bnllte large, termina- ting anteriorly by a sharp styloid process ; nasals long and convex, forming a single V- shaped bone ; ascending portion of intermaxil- laries at a very oblique angle, and the incisive openings very large and elongated ; infraorbi- tal opening on a line with the second premo- lar ; lachrymals large, articulating with the na- sals ; malar bones broad, thick, and much pro- longed on the cheek ; palate bones largely de- veloped, deeply notched posteriorly. Accord- ing to Cuvier there are 46 vertebrae, of which 7 are cervical, 13 dorsal, 6 lumbar, 4 sacral, and 16 caudal. The intestinal canal is very long and simple, the small intestines very much convoluted, and the large of nearly the same size, the whole 28 times as long as the body ; the stomach compound ; hepatic duct enor- mously large ; brain elongated, narrowed in front ; organ of smell highly developed. (For other anatomical details, see RUMINAXTIA.) The dental formula is : incisors $, canines none, molars gi| ; they begin to change their teeth in the first year, and have all their permanent teeth at three years, except the outer two in- cisors; the last, according to Owen, in the lower jaw, represent canines, as shown by the analogy of the camels, their lateness of devel- opment and peculiarity of form; this holds true in all the cavicornia or hollow-horned ru- minants. Sheep formed the principal wealth of the Hebrew patriarchs, and the term pecus (cattle) of the Latins, whence was derived pe- cunia, wealth, was applied especially to them ; ! they came into N. and W. Europe long after the goat, and there is no evidence of their cross- ing the Rhine or upper Danube until about the I they then existed in 8. Europe. In old times they were bred chiefly for their skins and milk, the last being abundant, agreeable, and high- ly nutritious. Now they are valued most for their wool, flesh, and fat; their flocks well managed carry fertility wherever they go, the droppings being richer than any other manure except that of fowls ; they are even employed as beasts of burden in the mountains of India ; the skins with the wool on are used in some countries for garments, and in the form of leather for gloves, book covers, and for various other purposes ; the wool has the property of felting on account of the imbricated scaly sur- face of the fibres. The Corsican musimon or moufflon (0. musimon, Pall.), placed by Bona- parte in the genus capra on account of the absence of interdigital glandular openings, and the type of the genus caprovit from its resem- blance to a goat, grows as large as a small fallow deer, and has very large horns ; it in- habits the mountains of Corsica, Sardinia, the southern part of Spain, European Turkey, and the eastern Mediterranean islands, where how- ever it is comparatively little known. The head is long, with compressed muzzle, swollen forehead, and large, erect, and sharp ears ; the horns of the male are long and triangular, com- prising more than half a circle, their bases occupying almost all the forehead and separa- ted only by a small space ; they grow gradual- ly smaller to the obtuse tip, with transverse wrinkles and raised rings; the body is large and muscular, the tail with 12 vertebra, turned down and bare on the under side; the legs long and muscular, and the hoofs short ; there is an appearance of a moderate dewlap. The general color is yellowish, with a chestnut tinge, deepest on the neck ; head ash-gray ; muzzle, space about eyes, interior of ears, ab- domen, inside of thighs, edges of tail and end of legs, white ; horns ochrey brown ; the un- der wool is ashy or rusty white, and the hair is darker and thicker in winter; the females are without horns, or have very small ones. The average size is about 4 ft. in length and 32 in. in height; there is sometimes a tuft under the chin, and other marks also indicate it to be intermediate between sheep and goats. They are seen in flocks of 100 or more, headed by an old male; they breed with the domestic races, and have been themselves domesticated. The Asiatic argali (0. Ammon, Cuv.), very similar to the moufflon in general form, is large and powerful, the male standing 8 ft. high at the shoulders and weighing 200 Ibs. ; the horns 4 ft. in their curve, with a weight of 80 Ibs. The fur is short, fulvous gray in winter, with a ferruginous or buff dorsal stripe, and a light brown anal disk; it is more rufous in sum- mer. It inhabits the highest mountain ranges of Asia, the Caucasus, and the plains of Sibe-
 * time of the fall of the Roman empire, though