exception, the most useful to man as a food, and the most necessary to
his health and comfort; for it not only supplies him with the lightest
and most nutritious of meats, but, in the absence of the cow, its udder
yields him milk, cream, and a sound though inferior cheese; while from
its fat he obtains light, and from its fleece broadcloth, kerseymere,
blankets, gloves, and hose. Its bones when burnt make an animal
charcoal--ivory black--to polish his boots, and when powdered, a manure
for the cultivation of his wheat; the skin, either split or whole, is
made into a mat for his carriage, a housing for his horse, or a lining
for his hat, and many other useful purposes besides, being extensively
employed in the manufacture of parchment; and finally, when oppressed by
care and sorrow, the harmonious strains that carry such soothing
contentment to the heart, are elicited from the musical strings,
prepared almost exclusively from the intestines of the sheep.