average stock of 32,000,000, belongs to the class already indicated
under the ox,--the _Mammalia_; to the order of _Rumenantia_, or
cud-chewing animal; to the tribe of _Capridae_, or horned quadrupeds;
and the genus _Ovis_, or the "sheep." The sheep may be either with or
without horns; when present, however, they have always this peculiarity,
that they spring from a triangular base, are spiral in form, and
lateral, at the side of the head, in situation. The fleece of the sheep
is of two sorts, either short and harsh, or soft and woolly; the wool
always preponderating in an exact ratio to the care, attention, and
amount of domestication bestowed on the animal. The generic
peculiarities of the sheep are the triangular and spiral form of the
horns, always larger in the male when present, but absent in the most
cultivated species; having sinuses at the base of all the toes of the
four feet, with two rudimentary hoofs on the fore legs, two inguinal
teats to the udder, with a short tail in the wild breed, but of varying
length in the domesticated; have no incisor teeth in the upper jaw, but
in their place a hard elastic cushion along the margin of the gum, on
which the animal nips and breaks the herbage on which it feeds; in the
lower jaw there are eight incisor teeth and six molars on each side of
both jaws, making in all 32 teeth. The fleece consists of two coats, one
to keep the animal warm, the other to carry off the water without
wetting the skin. The first is of wool, the weight and fineness of which
depend on the quality of the pasture and the care bestowed on the flock;
the other of hair, that pierces the wool and overlaps it, and is in
excess in exact proportion to the badness of the keep and inattention
with which the animal is treated.