SHEEP.
I shall treat this subject briefly. Most authors look at our domestic sheep as descended from several distinct species. Mr. Blyth, who has carefully attended to the subject, believes that fourteen wild species now exist, but “that not one of them can be identified as the progenitor of any one of the interminable domestic races.” M. Gervais thinks that there are six species of Ovis,[73] but that our domestic sheep form a distinct genus, now completely extinct. A German naturalist[74] believes that our sheep descend from ten aboriginally distinct species, of which only one is still living in a wild state! Another ingenious observer,[75] though not a naturalist, with a bold defiance of everything known on geographical distribution, infers that the sheep of Great Britain alone are the descendants of eleven endemic British forms! Under such a hopeless state of doubt it would be useless for my purpose to give a detailed account of the several breeds; but a few remarks may be added.
Sheep have been domesticated from a very ancient period. Rütimeyer[76] found in the Swiss lake-dwellings the remains of a small breed, with thin tall legs, and horns like those of a goat, thus differing somewhat from any kind now known. Almost every country has its own peculiar breed; and many countries have several breeds differing greatly from each other. One of the most strongly marked races is an Eastern one with a long tail, including, according to Pallas, twenty vertebræ, and so loaded with fat that it is sometimes placed on a truck, which is dragged about by the living animal. These sheep, though ranked by Fitzinger as a distinct aboriginal form, bear in their drooping ears the stamp of long domestication. This is likewise the case with those sheep which have two great masses of fat on the rump, with the tail in a rudimentary condition. The Angola variety of the long-tailed race has curious masses of fat on the back of the head and beneath the jaws.[77] Mr. Hodgson in an admirable paper[78] on the sheep of the Himalaya infers from the distribution of the several races, “that this caudal augmentation in most of its phases is an instance of degeneracy in these pre-eminently Alpine animals.” The horns present an endless diversity in character; being not rarely absent, especially in the female sex, or, on the other hand, amounting to four or even eight in number. The horns, when numerous, arise from a crest on the frontal bone, which is elevated in a peculiar manner. It is remarkable that multiplicity of horns “is generally accompanied by great length and coarseness of the fleece.”[79] This correlation, however, is far from being general; for instance, I am informed by Mr. D. Forbes, that the Spanish sheep in Chile resemble, in fleece and in all other characters, their parent merino-race, except that instead of a pair they generally bear four horns. The existence of a pair of mammæ is a generic character in the genus Ovis as well as in several allied forms; nevertheless, as Mr. Hodgson has remarked, “this character is not absolutely constant even among the true and proper sheep: for I have more than once met with Càgias (a sub-Himalayan domestic race) possessed of four teats.”[80] This case is the more remarkable as, when any part or organ is present in reduced number in comparison with the same part in allied groups, it usually is subject to little variation. The presence of interdigital pits has likewise been considered as a generic distinction in sheep; but Isidore Geoffroy[81] has shown that these pits or pouches are absent in some breeds.
In sheep there is a strong tendency for characters, which have apparently been acquired under domestication, to become attached either exclusively to the male sex, or to be more highly developed in this than in the other sex. Thus in many breeds the horns are deficient in the ewe, though this likewise occurs occasionally with the female of the wild musmon. In the rams of the Wallachian breed, “the horns spring almost perpendicularly from the frontal bone, and then take a beautiful spiral form; in the ewes they protrude nearly at right angles from the head, and then become twisted in a singular manner.”[82] Mr. Hodgson states that the extraordinarily arched nose or chaffron, which is so highly developed in several foreign breeds, is characteristic of the ram alone, and apparently is the result of domestication.[83] I hear from Mr. Blyth that the accumulation of fat in the fat-tailed sheep of the plains of India is greater in the male than in the female; and Fitzinger[84] remarks that the mane in the African maned race is far more developed in the ram than in the ewe.
Different races of sheep, like cattle, present constitutional differences. Thus the improved breeds arrive at maturity at an early age, as has been well shown by Mr. Simonds through their early average period of dentition. The several races have become adapted to different kinds of pasture and climate: for instance, no one can rear Leicester sheep on mountainous regions, where Cheviots flourish. As Youatt has remarked, “In all the different districts of Great Britain 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, pasturage, and the locality on which they graze; they seem to have been formed for it and by it.”[85] Marshall relates[86] that a flock of heavy Lincolnshire and light Norfolk sheep which had been bred together in a large sheep-walk, part of which was low, rich, and moist, and another part high and dry, with benty grass, when turned out, regularly separated from each other; the heavy sheep drawing off to the rich soil, and the lighter sheep to their own soil; so that “whilst there was plenty of grass the two breeds kept themselves as distinct as rooks and pigeons.” Numerous sheep from various parts of the world have been brought during a long course of years to the Zoological Gardens of London; but as Youatt, who attended the animals as a veterinary surgeon, remarks, “few or none die of the rot, but they are phthisical; not one of them from a torrid climate lasts out the second year, and when they die their lungs are tuberculated.”[87] There is very good evidence that English breeds of sheep will not succeed in France.[88] Even in certain parts of England it has been found impossible to keep certain breeds of sheep; thus on a farm on the banks of the Ouse, the Leicester sheep were so rapidly destroyed by pleuritis[89] that the owner could not keep them; the coarser-skinned sheep never being affected.
The period of gestation was formerly thought to be of so unalterable a character, that a supposed difference of this kind between the wolf and the dog was esteemed a sure sign of specific distinction; but we have seen that the period is shorter in the improved breeds of the pig, and in the larger breeds of the ox, than in other breeds of these two animals. And now we know, on the excellent authority of Hermann von Nathusius,[90] that Merino and Southdown sheep, when both have long been kept under exactly the same conditions, differ in their average period of gestation, as is seen in the following Table:—
| Merinos | 150·3 days. |
| Southdowns | 144·2 days. |
| Half-bred Merinos and Southdowns | 146·3 days. |
| 3/4 blood of Southdown | 145·5 days. |
| 7/8 blood of Southdown | 144·2 days. |
In this graduated difference in cross-bred animals having different proportions of Southdown blood, we see how strictly the two periods of gestation have been transmitted. Nathusius remarks that, as Southdowns grow with remarkable rapidity after birth, it is not surprising that their foetal development should have been shortened. It is of course possible that the difference in these two breeds may be due to their descent from distinct parent-species; but as the early maturity of the Southdowns has long been carefully attended to by breeders, the difference is more probably the result of such attention. Lastly, the fecundity of the several breeds differs much; some generally producing twins or even triplets at a birth, of which fact the curious Shangai sheep (with their truncated and rudimentary ears, and great Roman noses), lately exhibited in the Zoological Gardens, offer a remarkable instance.
Sheep are perhaps more readily affected by the direct action of the conditions of life to which they have been exposed than almost any other domestic animal. According to Pallas, and more recently according to Erman, the fat-tailed Kirghisian sheep, when bred for a few generations in Russia, degenerate, and the mass of fat dwindles away, “the scanty and bitter herbage of the steppes seems so essential to their development.” Pallas makes an analogous statement with respect to one of the Crimean breeds. Burnes states that the Karakool breed, which produces a fine, curled, black, and valuable fleece, when removed from its own canton near Bokhara to Persia or to other quarters, loses its peculiar fleece.[91] In all such cases, however, it may be that a change of any kind in the conditions of life causes variability and consequent loss of character, and not that certain conditions are necessary for the development of certain characters.
Great heat, however, seems to act directly on the fleece: several accounts have been published of the change which sheep imported from Europe undergo in the West Indies. Dr. Nicholson of Antigua informs me that, after the third generation, the wool disappears from the whole body, except over the loins; and the animal then appears like a goat with a dirty door-mat on its back. A similar change is said to take place on the west coast of Africa.[92] On the other hand, many wool-bearing sheep live on the hot plains of India. Roulin asserts that in the lower and heated valleys of the Cordillera, if the lambs are sheared as soon as the wool has grown to a certain thickness, all goes on afterwards as usual; but if not sheared, the wool detaches itself in flakes, and short shining hair like that on a goat is produced ever afterwards. This curious result seems merely to be an exaggerated tendency natural to the Merino breed, for as a great authority, namely, Lord Somerville, remarks, “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 has been clipped from it: as the cold weather advances, the fleeces recover their soft quality.” As in sheep of all breeds the fleece naturally consists of longer and coarser hair covering shorter and softer wool, the change which it often undergoes in hot climates is probably merely a case of unequal development; for even with those sheep which like goats are covered with hair, a small quantity of underlying wool may always be found.[93] In the wild mountain-sheep (0vis montana) of North America there is an analogous annual change of coat; “the wool begins to drop out in early spring, leaving in its place a coat of hair resembling that of the elk, a change of pelage quite different in character from the ordinary thickening of the coat or hair, common to all furred animals in winter,—for instance, in the horse, the cow, etc., which shed their winter coat in the spring.”[94]
A slight difference in climate or pasture sometimes slightly affects the fleece, as has been observed even in different districts in England, and is well shown by the great softness of the wool brought from Southern Australia. But it should be observed, as Youatt repeatedly insists, that the tendency to change may generally be counteracted by careful selection. M. Lasterye, after discussing this subject, sums up as follows: “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, furnishes an additional support of this my unalterable principle, that fine-woolled sheep may be kept wherever industrious men and intelligent breeders exist.”
That methodical selection has effected great changes in several breeds of sheep no one who knows anything on the subject, entertains a doubt. The case of the Southdowns, as improved by Ellman, offers perhaps the most striking instance. Unconscious or occasional selection has likewise slowly produced a great effect, as we shall see in the chapters on Selection. That crossing has largely modified some breeds, no one who will study what has been written on this subject—for instance, Mr. Spooner’s paper—will dispute; but to produce uniformity in a crossed breed, careful selection and “rigorous weeding,” as this author expresses it, are indispensable.[95]
In some few instances new breeds have suddenly originated; thus, in 1791, a ram-lamb was born in Massachusetts, having short crooked legs and a long back, like a turnspit-dog. From this one lamb the otter or ancon semi-monstrous breed was raised; as these sheep could not leap over the fences, it was thought that they would be valuable; but they have been supplanted by merinos, and thus exterminated. The sheep are remarkable from transmitting their character so truly that Colonel Humphreys[96] never heard of “but one questionable case” of an ancon ram and ewe not producing ancon offspring. When they are crossed with other breeds the offspring, with rare exceptions, instead of being intermediate in character, perfectly resemble either parent; even one of twins has resembled one parent and the second the other. Lastly, “the ancons have been observed to keep together, separating themselves from the rest of the flock when put into enclosures with other sheep.”
A more interesting case has been recorded in the Report of the Juries for the Great Exhibition (1851), namely, the production of a merino ram-lamb on the Mauchamp farm, in 1828, which was remarkable for its long, smooth, straight, and silky wool. By the year 1833 M. Graux had raised rams enough to serve his whole flock, and after a few more years he was able to sell stock of his new breed. So peculiar and valuable is the wool, that it sells at 25 per cent above the best merino wool: even the fleeces of half-bred animals are valuable, and are known in France as the “Mauchamp-merino.” It is interesting, as showing how generally any marked deviation of structure is accompanied by other deviations, that the first ram and his immediate offspring were of small size, with large heads, long necks, narrow chests, and long flanks; but these blemishes were removed by judicious crosses and selection. The long smooth wool was also correlated with smooth horns; and as horns and hair are homologous structures, we can understand the meaning of this correlation. If the Mauchamp and ancon breeds had originated a century or two ago, we should have had no record of their birth; and many a naturalist would no doubt have insisted, especially in the case of the Mauchamp race, that they had each descended from, or been crossed with, some unknown aboriginal form.
GOATS.
From the recent researches of M. Brandt, most naturalists now believe that all our goats are descended from the Capra ægagrus of the mountains of Asia, possibly mingled with the allied Indian species C. falconeri of India.[97] In Switzerland, during the neolithic period, the domestic goat was commoner than the sheep; and this very ancient race differed in no respect from that now common in Switzerland.[98] At the present time, the many races found in several parts of the world differ greatly from each other; nevertheless, as far as they have been tried,[99] they are all quite fertile when crossed. So numerous are the breeds, that Mr. G. Clark[100] has described eight distinct kinds imported into the one island of Mauritius. The ears of one kind were enormously developed, being, as measured by Mr. Clark, no less than 19 inches in length and 4-3/4 inches in breadth. As with cattle, the mammæ of those breeds which are regularly milked become greatly developed; and, as Mr. Clark remarks, “it is not rare to see their teats touching the ground.” The following cases are worth notice as presenting unusual points of variation. According to Godron,[101] the mammæ differ greatly in shape in different breeds, being elongated in the common goat, hemispherical in the Angora race, and bilobed and divergent in the goats of Syria and Nubia. According to this same author, the males of certain breeds have lost their usual offensive odour. In one of the Indian breeds the males and females have horns of widely-different shapes;[102] and in some breeds the females are destitute of horns.[103] M. Ramu of Nancy informs me that many of the goats there bear on the upper part of the throat a pair of hairy appendages, 70 mm. in length and about 10 mm. in diameter, which in external appearance resemble those above described on the jaws of pigs. The presence of inter-digital pits or glands on all four feet has been thought to characterise the genus Ovis, and their absence to be characteristic of the genus Capra; but Mr. Hodgson has found that they exist in the front feet of the majority of Himalayan goats.[104] Mr. Hodgson measured the intestines in two goats of the Dúgú race, and he found that the proportional length of the great and small intestines differed considerably. In one of these goats the cæcum was thirteen inches, and in the other no less than thirty-six inches in length!
REFERENCES
[1] Hermann von Nathusius ‘Die Racen des Schweines,’ Berlin, 1860; and ‘Vorstudien für Geschichte,’ etc., ‘Schweineschädel,’ Berlin, 1864. Rütimeyer, ‘Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten,’ Basel, 1861.
[2] Nathusius, ‘Die Racen des Schweines,’ Berlin, 1860. An excellent appendix is given with references to published and trustworthy drawings of the breeds of each country.
[3] For Europe see Bechstein, ‘Naturgesch. Deutschlands,’ 1801, B. i., s. 505. Several accounts have been published on the fertility of the offspring from wild and tame swine. See Burdach’s ‘Physiology,’ and Godron ‘De l’Espèce,’ tom. i. p. 370. For Africa, ‘Bull. de la Soc. d’Acclimat.’ tom. iv. p. 389. For India, see Nathusius, ‘Schweineschädel,’ s. 148.
[4] Sir W. Elliot, Catalogue of Mammalia, ‘Madras Journal of Lit. and Science,’ vol. x. p. 219.
[5] ‘Pfahlbauten,’ s. 163 et passim.
[6] See J. W. Schütz’ interesting essay, ‘Zur Kenntniss des Torfschweins,’ 1868. This author believes that the Torfschwein is descended from a distinct species, the S. sennariensis of Central Africa.
[7] Stan. Julien quoted by de Blainville, ‘Ostéographie,’ p. 163.
[8] Richardson, ‘Pigs, their Origin,’ etc., p. 26.
[9] ‘Die Racen des Schweines’ s. 47, 64.
[10] ‘Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,’ 1861, p. 263.
[11] Sclater, in ‘Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,’ Feb. 26, 1861.
[12] ‘Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,’ 1862, p. 13. The skull has since been described much more fully by Professor Lucae in a very interesting essay, ‘Der Schädel des Maskenschweines,’ 1870. He confirms the conclusion of von Nathusius on the relationship of this kind of pig.
[13] ‘Journal of Voyages and Travels from 1821 to 1829,’ vol. i. p. 300.
[14] Rev. G. Low ‘Fauna Orcadensis,’ p. 10. See also Dr. Hibbert’s account of the pig of the Shetland Islands.
[15] ‘Die Racen des Schweines’ s. 70.
[16] These woodcuts are copied from engravings given in Mr. S. Sidney’s excellent edition of ‘The Pig,’ by Youatt, 1860. See pp. 1, 16, 19.
[17] ‘Schweineschädel’ s. 74, 135.
[18] Nathusius, ‘Die Racen des Schweines,’ s. 71.
[19] ‘Die Racen des Schweines,’ s. 47. ‘Schweineschädel’ s. 104. Compare, also, the figures of the old Irish and the improved Irish breeds in Richardson on ‘The Pig,’ 1847.
[20] Quoted by Isid. Geoffroy, ‘Hist. Nat. Gén.,’ tom. iii. p. 441.
[21] S. Sidney, ‘The Pig,’ p. 61.
[22] ‘Schweineschädel,’ s. 2, 20.
[23] ‘Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,’ 1837, p. 23. I have not given the caudal vertebræ, as Mr. Eyton says some might possibly have been lost. I have added together the dorsal and lumbar vertebræ, owing to Prof. Owen’s remarks (‘Journal Linn. Soc.,’ vol. ii. p. 28) on the difference between dorsal and lumbar vertebræ depending only on the development of the ribs. Nevertheless the difference in the number of the ribs in pigs deserves notice. M. Sanson gives the number of lumbar vertebræ in various pigs; ‘Comptes Rendus,’ lxiii. p. 843.
[24] ‘Edinburgh New Philosoph. Journal,’ April, 1863. See also De Blainville’s ‘Ostéographie,’ p. 128, for various authorities on this subject.
[25] Eudes-Deslongchamps, ‘Mémoires de la Soc. Linn. de Normandie,’ vol. vii., 1842, p. 41. Richardson, ‘Pigs, their Origin, etc.,’ 1847, p. 30. Nathusius, ‘Die Racen des Schweines,’ 1863, s. 54.
[26] D. Johnson’s ‘Sketches of Indian Field Sports,’ p. 272. Mr. Crawfurd informs me that the same fact holds good with the wild pigs of the Malay peninsula.
[27] For Turkish pigs see Desmarest, ‘Mammalogie,’ 1820, p. 391. For those of Westphalia see Richardson’s ‘Pigs, their Origin, etc.,’ 1847, p. 41.
[28] With respect to the several foregoing and following statements on feral pigs, see Roulin, in ‘Mém. présentés par divers Savans a l’Acad.,’ etc., Paris, tom. vi. 1835, p. 326. It should be observed that his account does not apply to truly feral pigs; but to pigs long introduced into the country and living in a half-wild state. For the truly feral pigs of Jamaica, see Gosse’s ‘Sojourn in Jamaica,’ 1851, p. 386; and Col. Hamilton Smith, in ‘Nat. Library,’ vol. ix. p. 93. With respect to Africa see Livingstone’s ‘Expedition to the Zambesi,’ 1865, p. 153. The most precise statement with respect to the tusks of the West Indian feral boars is by P. Labat (quoted by Roulin); but this author attributes the state of these pigs to descent from a domestic stock which he saw in Spain. Admiral Sulivan, R.N., had ample opportunities of observing the wild pigs on Eagle Islet in the Falklands; and he informs me that they resembled wild boars with bristly ridged backs and large tusks. The pigs which have run wild in the province of Buenos Ayres (Rengger ‘Säugethiere,’ s. 331) have not reverted to the wild type. De Blainville (‘Ostéographie,’ p. 132) refers to two skulls of domestic pigs sent from Patagonia by Al. d’Orbigny, and he states that they have the occipital elevation of the wild European boar, but that the head altogether is “plus courte et plus ramassée.” He refers, also, to the skin of a feral pig from North America, and says “il ressemble tout à fait à un petit sanglier, mais il est presque tout noir, et peut-être un peu plus ramassé dans ses formes.”
[29] Gosse’s ‘Jamaica,’ p. 386, with a quotation from Williamson’s ‘Oriental Field Sports.’ Also Col. Hamilton Smith, in ‘Naturalist Library,’ vol. ix. p. 94.
[30] S. Sidney’s edition of ‘Youatt on the Pig,’ 1860, pp. 7, 26, 27, 29, 30.
[31] ‘Schweineschädel’ s. 140.
[32] ‘Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten,’ 1861, s. 109, 149, 222. See also Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in ‘Mém. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat.,’ tom. x. p. 172; and his son Isidore in ‘Hist. Nat. Gen.’ tom. iii. p. 69. Vasey, in his ‘Delineations of the Ox Tribe,’ 1851, p. 127, says the zebu has four, and common ox five, sacral vertebræ. Mr. Hodgson found the ribs either thirteen or fourteen in number; see a note in ‘Indian Field,’ 1858, p. 62.
[33] ‘The Indian Field,’ 1858, p. 74, where Mr. Blyth gives his authorities with respect to the feral humped cattle. Pickering, also, in his ‘Races of Man,’ 1850, p. 274, notices the peculiar grunt-like character of the voice of the humped cattle.
[34] Mr. H. E. Marquand, in ‘The Times,’ June 23rd, 1856.
[35] Vasey, ‘Delineations of the Ox-Tribe,’ p. 124. Brace’s ‘Hungary,’ 1851, p. 94. The Hungarian cattle descend, according to Rütimeyer ‘Zahmen Europ. Rindes,’ 1866, s. 13 from Bos primigenius.
[36] Moll and Gayot, ‘La Connaissance Gén. du Bœuf,’ Paris, 1860. Fig. 82 is that of the Podolian breed.
[37] A translation appeared in three parts in the ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,’ 2nd series, vol. iv., 1849.
[38] See also Rütimeyer’s ‘Beiträge pal. Gesch. der Wiederkäuer Basel,’ 1865, s. 54.
[39] Pictet ‘Paléontologie,’ tom. i. p. 365 (2nd edit.). With respect to B. trochoceros, see Rütimeyer ‘Zahmen Europ. Rindes,’ 1866, s. 26.
[40] W. Boyd Dawkins on the British Fossil Oxen, ‘Journal of the Geolog. Soc.,’ Aug. 1867, p. 182. Also ‘Proc. Phil. Soc. of Manchester,’ Nov. 14th, 1871, and ‘Cave Hunting,’ 1875, p. 27, 138.
[41] ‘British Pleistocene Mammalia,’ by W. B. Dawkins and W. A. Sandford, 1866, p. 15.
[42] W. R. Wilde, ‘An Essay on the Animal Remains, etc. Royal Irish Academy,’ 1860, p. 29. Also ‘Proc. of R. Irish Academy,’ 1858, p. 48.
[43] ‘Lecture: Royal Institution of G. Britain,’ May 2nd, 1856, p. 4. ‘British Fossil Mammals,’ p. 513.
[44] Nilsson, in ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,’ 1849, vol. iv. p. 354.
[45] See W. R. Wilde, ut supra; and Mr. Blyth, in ‘Proc. Irish Academy,’ March 5th, 1864.
[46] Laing’s ‘Tour in Norway,’ p. 110.
[47] Isid. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, ‘Hist. Nat. Gén.,’ tom. iii. 96.
[48] Idem, tom. iii. pp. 82, 91.
[49] ‘Quadrupèdes du Paraguay,’ tom. ii. p. 360.
[50] Walther ‘Das Rindvieh,’ 1817, s. 30.
[51] I am much indebted to the present Earl of Tankerville for information about his wild cattle; and for the skull which was sent to Prof. Rütimeyer. The fullest account of the Chillingham cattle is given by Mr. Hindmarsh, together with a letter by the late Lord Tankerville, in ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,’ vol. ii., 1839, p. 274. See Bewick, ‘Quadrupeds,’ 2nd edit., 1791, p. 35, note. With respect to those of the Duke of Queensberry, see Pennant’s ‘Tour in Scotland,’ p. 109. For those of Chartley, see Low’s ‘Domesticated Animals of Britain,’ 1845, p. 238. For those of Gisburne, see Bewick ‘Quadrupeds,’ and ‘Encyclop. of Rural Sports,’ p. 101.
[52] Boethius was born in 1470; ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,’ vol. ii., 1839, p. 281; and vol. iv., 1849, p. 424.
[53] n’Youatt on Cattle,’ 1834, p. 48: See also p. 242, on short-horn cattle. Bell, in his ‘British Quadrupeds,’ p. 423, states that, after long attending to the subject, he has found that white cattle invariably have coloured ears.ote
[54] Azara, ‘Quadrupèdes du Paraguay,’ tom. ii. p. 361. Azara quotes Buffon for the feral cattle of Africa. For Texas see ‘Times,’ Feb. 18th, 1846.
[55] Anson’s Voyage. See Kerr and Porter’s ‘Collection,’ vol. xii. p. 103.
[56] See also Mr. Mackinnon’s pamphlet on the Falkland Islands, p. 24.
[57] ‘The Age of the Ox, Sheep, Pig,’ etc., by Prof. James Simonds, published by order of the Royal Agricult. Soc.
[58] ‘Ann. Agricult. France,’ April, 1837, as quoted in ‘The Veterinary,’ vol. xii. p. 725. I quote Tessier’s observations from ‘Youatt on Cattle,’ p. 527.
[59] ‘The Veterinary,’ vol. viii. p. 681 and vol. x. p. 268. Low’s ‘Domest. Animals, etc.’ p. 297.
[60] Mr. Ogleby in ‘Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,’ 1836, p. 138, and 1840, p. 4. Quatrefages quotes Philippi (‘Revue des Cours Scientifiques,’ Feb. 12, 1688, p. 657), that the cattle of Piacentino have thirteen dorsal vertebræ and ribs in the place of the ordinary number of twelve.
[61] Leguat’s Voyage, quoted by Vasey in his ‘Delineations of the Ox-tribe,’ p. 132.
[62] ‘Travels in South Africa,’ pp. 317, 336.
[63] ‘Mem. de l’Institut présent. par divers Savans,’ tom. vi., 1835, p. 333. For Brazil, see ‘Comptes Rendus,’ June 15, 1846. See Azara ‘Quadrupèdes du Paraguay,’ tom. ii. pp. 359, 361.
[64] ‘Schweineschädel,’ 1864, s. 104. Nathusius states that the form of skull characteristic in the niata cattle occasionally appears in European cattle; but he is mistaken, as we shall hereafter see, in supposing that these cattle do not form a distinct race. Prof. Wyman, of Cambridge, United States, informs me that the common cod-fish presents a similar monstrosity, called by the fishermen “bull-dog cod.” Prof. Wyman also concluded, after making numerous inquiries in La Plata, that the niata cattle transmit their peculiarities or form a race.
[65] ‘Ueber Art des zahmen Europ. Rindes,’ 1866, s. 28.
[66] ‘Descriptive Cat. of Ost. Collect. of College of Surgeons,’ 1853, p. 624. Vasey in his ‘Delineations of the Ox-tribe’ has given a figure of this skull; and I sent a photograph of it to Prof. Rütimeyer.
[67] Loudon’s ‘Magazine of Nat. Hist.,’ vol. i. 1829, p. 113. Separate figures are given of the animal, its hoofs, eye, and dewlap.
[68] Low, ‘Domesticated Animals of the British Isles,’ p. 264.
[69] ‘Mém. de l’Institut présent. Par divers Savans,’ tom. vi., 1835, p. 332.
[70] Idem, pp. 304, 368, etc.
[71] ‘Youatt on Cattle,’ p. 193. A full account of this bull is taken from Marshall.
[72] ‘Youatt on Cattle,’ p. 116. Lord Spencer has written on this same subject.
[73] Blyth, on the genus Ovis, in ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. History,’ vol. vii., 1841, p. 261. With respect to the parentage of the breeds see Mr. Blyth’s excellent articles in ‘Land and Water,’ 1867, pp. 134, 156. Gervais, ‘Hist. Nat. des Mammifères,’ 1855, tom. ii. p. 191.
[74] Dr. L. Fitzinger, ‘Ueber die Racen des Zahmen Schafes,’ 1860, s. 86.
[75] J. Anderson, ‘Recreations in Agriculture and Natural History,’ vol. ii. p. 264.
[76] ‘Pfahlbauten’ s. 127, 193.
[77] ‘Youatt on Sheep,’ p. 120.
[78] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal,’ vol.xvi. pp. 1007, 1016.
[79] ‘Youatt on Sheep,’ pp. 142-169.
[80] ‘Journal Asiat. Soc. of Bengal,’ vol. xvi., 1847, p. 1015.
[81] ‘Hist. Nat. Gén.,’ tom. iii. p. 435.
[82] ‘Youatt on Sheep,’ p. 138.
[83] ‘Journal Asiat. Soc. of Bengal,’ vol. xvi., 1847, pp. 1015, 1016.
[84] ‘Racen des Zahmen Schafes,’ s. 77.
[85] ‘Rural Economy of Norfolk,’ vol. ii. p. 136.
[86] ‘Youatt on Sheep,’ p. 312. On same subject, see excellent remarks in ‘Gardener’s Chronicle,’ 1858, p. 868. For experiments in crossing Cheviot sheep with Leicesters see Youatt, p. 325.
[87] ‘Youatt on Sheep,’ note, p. 491.
[88] M. Malingié-Nouel, ‘Journal R. Agricult. Soc.,’ vol. xiv. 1853, p. 214. Translated and therefore approved by a great authority, Mr. Pusey.
[89] ‘The Veterinary,’ vol. x. p. 217.
[90] A translation of his paper is given in ‘Bull. Soc. Imp. d’Acclimat.,’ tom. ix., 1862, p. 723.
[91] Erman’s ‘Travels in Siberia,’ (Eng. trans.) vol. i. p. 228. For Pallas on the fat-tailed sheep I quote from Anderson’s account of the ‘Sheep of Russia,’ 1794, p. 34. With respect to the Crimean sheep see Pallas’ ‘Travels’ (Eng. trans.) vol. ii. p. 454. For the Karakool sheep see Burnes’ ‘Travels in Bokhara,’ vol. iii. p. 151.
[92] See Report of the Directors of the Sierra Leone Company, as quoted in White’s ‘Gradation of Man,’ p. 95. With respect to the change which sheep undergo in the West Indies see also Dr. Davy, in ‘Edin. New. Phil. Journal,’ Jan. 1852. For the statement made by Roulin, see ‘Mém. de l’Institut présent. par divers Savans,’ tom. vi., 1835, p. 347.
[93] ‘Youatt on Sheep,’ p. 69, where Lord Somerville is quoted. See p. 117 on the presence of wool under the hair. With respect to the fleeces of Australian sheep, p. 185. On selection counteracting any tendency to change, see pp. 70, 117, 120, 168.
[94] Audubon and Bachman, ‘The Quadrupeds of North America,’ 1846, vol. v. p. 365.
[95] ‘Journal of R. Agricult. Soc. of England,’ vol. xx., part ii., W. C. Spooner on cross-Breeding.
[96] ‘Philosoph. Transactions,’ London, 1813, p. 88.
[97] Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire, ‘Hist. Nat. Générale,’ tom. iii. p. 87. Mr. Blyth, (‘Land and Water,’ 1867, p. 37) has arrived at a similar conclusion, but he thinks that certain Eastern races may perhaps be in part descended from the Asiatic markhor.
[98] Rütimeyer ‘Pfahlbauten,’ s. 127.
[99] Godron ‘De l’Espèce,’ tom. i. p. 402.
[100] ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. History,’ vol ii. (2nd series), 1848, p. 363.
[101] ‘De l’Espèce,’ tom. i. p. 406. Mr. Clark also refers to differences in the shape of the mammæ. Godron states that in the Nubian race the scrotum is divided into two lobes; and Mr. Clark gives a ludicrous proof of this fact, for he saw in the Mauritius a male goat of the Muscat breed purchased at a high price for a female in full milk. These differences in the scrotum are probably not due to descent from distinct species: for Mr. Clark states that this part varies much in form.
[102] Mr. Clark, ‘Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,’ vol. ii. (2nd series), 1848, p. 361.
[103] Desmarest, ‘Encyclop. Méthod. Mammalogie,’ p. 480.
[104] ‘Journal of Asiatic Soc. of Bengal,’ vol. xvi., 1847, pp. 1020, 1025.