the Sheep, in zoology, a genus of the mammalia class, and of the order of pecora; the characters of which are these: The horns are concave, turned backwards, and full of wrinkles; there are eight fore-teeth in the under-jaw, and no dog-teeth. The species are,
1. Aries, or ram and ewe, the horns of which are shaped like a half-moon, and compressed.
The sheep, unquestionably a mild and gentle creature, is also represented by Buffon as the most stupid, defenceless, and timid of all quadrupeds; insomuch that, without the assistance of man, it could never, he thinks, have subsisted or continued its species in a wild state.
"The female is absolutely devoid of every art and of every mean of defence. The arms of the ram are feeble and awkward. His courage is only a kind of petulance, which is useless to himself, inconvenient to his neighbours, and is totally destroyed by castration. The wedder is still more timid than the sheep. It is fear alone that makes sheep so frequently assemble in troops: upon the smallest unusual noise, they run close together; and these alarms are always accompanied with the greatest stupidity. They know not how to fly from danger, and seem not even to be conscious of the hazard and inconvenience of their situation. Wherever they are, there they remain obstinately fixed; and neither rain nor snow can make them quit their station. To force them to move or to change their route, they must be provided with a chief, who is learned to begin the march: the motions of this chief are followed, step by step, by the rest of the flock. But the chief himself would also continue immoveable, if he were not pushed off by the shepherd, or by his dog, an animal which perpetually watches over their safety, which defends, directs, separates, assembles, and, in a word, communicates to them every movement necessary to their preservation.
"Of all quadrupeds, therefore, sheep are the most stupid, and derive the smallest resources from instinct. The goat, who so greatly resembles the sheep in other respects, is endowed with much more sagacity. He knows how to conduct himself on every emergency: he avoids danger with dexterity, and is easily reconciled to new objects. But the sheep knows neither how to fly nor to attack: however imminent her danger, she comes not to man for assistance so willingly as the goat; and, to complete the picture of timidity and want of sentiment, she allows her lamb to be carried off, without attempting to defend it, or showing any marks of resentment. Her grief is not even expressed by any cry different from that of ordinary bleating."
But the annotator upon this article, in the Edinburgh translation of Buffon, denies the above to be the natural character of the animal. "All tame animals," he observes, "lose a portion of that sagacity, dexterity, and courage, which they are obliged to employ against their enemies in a wild state; because they have been long accustomed to rely upon the protection of man. Sheep, when enslaved by men, tremble at the voice of the shepherd or his dog. But, on those extensive mountains where they are allowed to range without control, and where they seldom depend on the aid of the shepherd, they assume a very different mode of behaviour. In this situation, a ram or a wedder boldly attacks a single dog, and often comes off victorious. But when the danger is of a more alarming nature, like man, they trust not to the prowess of individuals, but have recourse to the collected strength of the whole flock. On such occasions, they draw up into one compact body; they place the young and the females in the centre; and the strongest males take the foremost ranks, keeping close by each other's sides. Thus an armed front is presented on all quarters, and cannot be attacked without the greatest hazard of destruction. In this manner they wait, with firmness and intrepidity, the approach of the enemy. Nor does their courage fail them in the moment of attack. For, if the aggressor advances within a few yards of the line, the ram darts upon him with such impetuosity, as lays him dead at their feet, unless he saves himself by flight. Against the attacks of single dogs, or foxes, they are, when in this situation, perfectly secure. Besides, a ram, regardless of danger, often engages a bull, and never fails to conquer him; for the bull, by lowering his head, without being sensible of his defenceless condition, receives between his horns the stroke of the ram, which usually brings him to the ground.
"In the selection of food, few animals discover greater sagacity than the sheep; nor does any domestic animal show more dexterity and cunning in its attempts to elude the vigilance of the shepherd, and to steal such delicacies as are agreeable to its palate. When perfectly tamed, and rendered domestic, the sportive gambols and troublesome tricks of the animal, are too well known to require any description."
As to the accusations contained in the latter part of the character above quoted; every person, it is observed, who has attended to those animals, at least in this country, must know that they are not altogether just.
Individuals in a state of subjection, seem to have no idea of resisting the attacks of an enemy. But they soon learn that their protection lies in the shepherd or his dog; for, when it becomes necessary, in Britain, to watch the flocks, in order to prevent assaults from foxes or dogs, upon the first alarm the whole flock run with violence to the place where the watchmen are stationed; so that, when they chance to sleep, they are often hurt by the sheep trampling upon them. On other occasions, they never choose to make a very close approach either to men or dogs; but the sense of immediate danger makes them forget their usual timidity, and their sagacity teaches them where their safety lies.
When the female is robbed of her lamb, she bleats in a manner that strongly marks the anguish she feels. In the eagerness of her search, her eye-balls seem to start from their sockets; and her irregular and distracted motions, joined to the violence and constancy of her bleatings, are evident indications of the most pungent grief.
But whatever may be its manners or its mental qualities, this animal is of the most extensive utility to man. We are clothed by its fleece. The flesh is a delicate and wholesome food. The skin, dressed, forms different parts of our apparel; and is used for covers of books. The entrails, properly prepared and twisted, serve for strings for various musical instruments. The bones calcined (like other bones in general), form materials for tests for the refiner. The milk is thicker than that of cows, and consequently yields a greater quantity of butter and cheese; and in some places is so rich, that it will not produce the cheese without a mixture of water to make it part from the whey. The dung is a remarkably rich manure; infomuch that the feeding of sheep is become too useful a branch of husbandry for the farmer to neglect. Nature, in short, has given this animal nothing that does not redound to our benefit.
The ram is capable of generation at the age of 18 months; and the ewe can be impregnated when a year old. One ram is sufficient for 40 or 40 ewes. He ought to be large and well proportioned; his head should be thick and strong, his front wide, his eyes black, his nose flat, his neck thick, his body long and tall, his testicles mussy, and his tail long. White is the best colour for a ram. The ewes whose wool is most plentiful, bushy, long, soft, and white, are most proper for breeders, especially when at the same time they are of a large size, have a thick neck, and move nimbly.
In this climate ewes fed in good pastures admit the ram in July or August; but September or October are the months when the greatest part of our ewes, if left to nature, take the ram. They go with young about five months, and generally bring forth but one at a time, though frequently two: in warm climates, they may bring forth twice in a year; but in Britain, France, and most parts of Europe, only once. They give milk plentifully for seven or eight months. They live from 10 to 12 years: they are capable of bringing forth as long as they live, when properly managed; but are generally old and useless at the age of seven or eight years. The ram, who lives 12 or 14 years, becomes unfit for propagating when eight years old.
When the male lambs are not intended to be kept for propagation, but fattened for food, they ought to be castrated at the age of five or six months. This operation is performed two ways: in the one, an incision is made, and the testicles taken out; in the other, a ligature is tied tight round the scrotum, above the testicles, which soon destroys the vessels which nourish them. After castration they are called wethers.
The ram, ewe, and wether, when one year old, lose the two foreteeth of the under jaw; six months afterwards, they lose the two foreteeth next to these; and at the age of three years, the teeth are all replaced. The age of a ram may likewise be discovered by their horns, which always appear the first year, and frequently as soon as they are brought forth. These horns uniformly acquire an additional ring every year, as long as the creature lives. The ewes commonly have no horns, but a kind of long protuberances in place of them: however, some of them have two, and some four horns.
In Spain, and the southern parts of Europe, the flocks are kept in shades or stables during the night; but in Britain, where there is now no danger from wolves, they are allowed to remain without, both night and day; which makes the animals more healthy, and their flesh a more wholesome food. Dry and mountainous grounds, where thyme and sheep's fescue grass abound, are the best for the pasturing sheep.
The sheep is subject to many diseases: some arise from insects which deposit their eggs in different parts of the animal; others are caused by their being kept in wet pastures; for as the sheep requires but little drink, it is naturally fond of a dry soil. The dropsy, vertigo, (the pendro of the Welsh), the phthisis, jaundice, and worms in the liver, annually make great havoc among our flocks: for the first disease, the shepherd finds a remedy by turning the infected into fields of broom; which plant has been also found to be very efficacious in the same disorder among the human species.—The sheep is also infected by different sorts of insects: like the horse, it has its peculiar cestus or gadfly, which deposits its eggs above the nose in the frontal sinuses; when these turn into maggots, they become excessive painful, and cause those violent agitations that we so often see the animal in. The French shepherds make a common practice of easing the sheep, by trepanning and taking out the maggot; this practice is sometimes used by the English shepherds, but not always with the same success. Besides these insects, the sheep is troubled with a kind of tick and louse, which magpies and starlings contribute to ease it of, by lighting on its back, and picking the insects off.
2. The guineafowl, or Guinea sheep, has pendulous ears, lax hairy dew lips, and a prominence on the hind part of the head. The wool is short, like that of a goat. It is a native of Guinea.
3. The strepiferos, or Cretan sheep, has straight crinated horns, twisted in a spiral manner. It is a native of Mount Iola.