causes, must have been great to accomplish so complete a physical
alteration as the primitive Argali must have undergone before the
Musmon, or Mouflon of Corsica, the _immediate_ progenitor of all our
European breeds, assumed his present appearance. The Argali is about a
fifth larger in size than the ordinary English sheep, and being a native
of a tropical clime, his fleece is of hair instead of wool, and of a
warm reddish brown, approaching to yellow; a thick mane of darker hair,
about seven inches long, commences from two long tufts at the angle of
the jaws, and, running _under_ the throat and neck, descends down the
chest, dividing, at the fore fork, into two parts, one running down the
front of each leg, as low as the shank. The horns, unlike the character
of the order generally, have a quadrangular base, and, sweeping inwards,
terminate in a sharp point. The tail, about seven inches long, ends in a
tuft of stiff hairs. From this remarkable muffler-looking beard, the
French have given the species the name of _Mouflon à manchettes_. From
the primitive stock _eleven_ varieties have been reared in this country,
of the domesticated sheep, each supposed by their advocates to possess
some one or more special qualities. These eleven, embracing the Shetland
or Orkney; the Dun-woolled; Black-faced, or heath-bred; the Moorland, or
Devonshire; the Cheviot; the Horned, of Norfolk the Ryeland; South-Down;
the Merino; the Old Leicester, and the Teeswater, or New Leicester, have
of late years been epitomized; and, for all useful and practical
purposes, reduced to the following four orders:--