It does not admit of a doubt, but that all animals which are now
actually domestic were formerly wild. Those whose history has already
been given, afford a sufficient proof of it; for there are still wild
horses, asses, and bulls. Can man, who has conquered so many millions
of individuals, boast of having subdued an entire species? As they were
all created without his participation, is it not reasonable to believe
that Nature enabled them to exist and multiply without his aid? If
we consider, nevertheless, the weakness and stupidity of the sheep,
and reflect, that this animal, without defence, cannot find safety in
flight; that he has for his enemies all devouring animals, which seem
to seek him in preference, and to devour him by choice; that formerly
this species produced but few; and that the life of each individual
is but short; we shall be tempted to think, that from the beginning
sheep were confided to the care of man; that they had occasion for his
protection to subsist, and of his care to multiply; especially as there
never were any wild sheep found in the deserts. In all places where man
does not rule, the lion, tiger, and wolf reign by force and cruelty;
and these animals of blood and carnage, live longer, and multiply
faster than sheep. In short, if we were to abandon the flocks, which
we have rendered so numerous, they would soon be destroyed and their
species entirely annihilated by the voracity of its numberless enemies.
It appears, therefore, that it is only by the help and care of man
sheep have been preserved and that they could not have continued to
subsist for themselves. The female is absolutely without resource, and
without defence. The ram has but feeble arms; his courage is nothing
but a petulance useless to himself, inconvenient to others, and which
is destroyed by castration. The wedder is still more fearful than ewes.
It is through fear that sheep gather so often in troops; the smallest
noise to which they are unaccustomed, makes them get close together;
and this fear is attended with the greatest stupidity, for they know
not how to fly the danger, nor do they even seem to feel the hazard
and inconvenience of their situation. They continue obstinately fixed
wherever they are, and for neither rain nor snow will they stir. To
oblige them to change their route, or situation, they must have a chief
who is instructed to walk first, and whom they will follow step by
step. This chief, however, would remain without motion if he were not
driven off by the shepherd, or the dog which guards them, who, in fact,
watches over their safety, defends, directs, separates, assembles, and
in short, communicates to them every motion that is necessary for their
safety.
Of all quadrupeds then sheep are the most insensible, and have the
least resources from instinct. Goats, which in many things resemble
them, have much more sagacity. They know how to conduct themselves, and
to avoid danger, and are easily familiarized to new objects; the sheep
neither knows how to fly from danger, nor to face it: let their wants
be ever so great, they never come to man for assistance so willingly
as the goat, and which in animals appears to be the last degree of
timidity or insensibility, the female will suffer her lamb to be taken
away without shewing any signs of anger, or trying to defend it, nor by
the smallest difference in her bleating, expresses the smallest degree
of sorrow[G].
[G] The veracity of this charge of indifference, will be doubted by all
who have passed over the fertile plains of England, while these fleecy
flocks were grazing in the spring, since, insensible indeed must be
that breast, which has not felt the tender responses of the bleating
ewe, and her distant lamb.
But this animal, so contemptible in itself, so wanting in sentiment
and interior qualities, is to man the most useful of all animals. Of
itself it at the same time furnishes us with food and clothing; without
reckoning the particular advantages we have from the milk, the fat, the
skin, the bowels, the bones, and even the dung. This animal seems to
evince that nature has given it nothing but what is for the advantage
and convenience of man.
Love, which in all animals is the most general and lively sensation,
seems to be the only one which gives any vivacity to the ram. When
he feels any such emotions, he becomes petulant, fights, and will
sometimes attack even his own shepherd. The ewe, however, even at those
times, does not appear more animated; and has only instinct sufficient
not to refuse the approaches of the male, to chuse her food and to
know her own lamb. Instinct is more certain as it is more mechanical.
The young lamb, among a numerous flock, will search and find out its
mother, and will seize its teat, without ever being mistaken. It is
also said, that sheep are sensible to the pleasures of musick; that
they brouze with more assiduity, are better in health, and fatten
sooner when they hear the shepherd's pipe; but it appears more probable
that music serves to amuse the shepherd, and that it is to this
solitary, idle life, that we owe the origin of the art.
These animals, whose understandings are so simple, are also of a
very weak constitution. They cannot walk long; travelling weakens
and exhausts them; and when they run, they pant and are soon out of
breath. The great heat of the sun, is as disagreeable to them, as too
much moisture, cold, or snow. They are subject to many disorders, the
greatest part of which are contagious. Superabundance of fat sometimes
kills them, and always prevents the ewes from having young. They suffer
a great deal in breeding, have frequent abortions and require more care
than any other domestic animal.[H]
[H] There appears in the text a degree of unusual asperity against this
harmless animal, and all its imperfections seem pictured in glaring
colours, but in this, as well as in several other particulars, some
exaggeration is adopted, since scarce any domestic animal, at the
time of bringing forth, requires less assistance than the ewe does in
general.
When the ewe is near her time, she should be taken from the rest of the
flock, and watched in order to be near to help her in delivery. The
lamb frequently presents itself cross-ways, or by the feet; and, in
this case, the mother's life is in danger if she is not assisted. As
soon as she is delivered, the lamb should be lifted on its feet, and
the milk drawn out of the mother's teats; this first milk being bad
would do much hurt to the lamb, and therefore it is necessary to stay
till the teats are filled again, before it is suffered to suck. The
lamb is kept warm, and shut up for two or three days with the mother,
that it may learn to know her. For a few days, in order to re-establish
the strength of the ewe, she should be fed with hay, barley wetted,
or bran mixed with a little salt. The water she drinks should be
luke-warm, with some wheat or bean flour, or millet put into it. In
four or five days she may again be used, by degrees, to her common
manner of living, and may be put amongst the others, only observing not
to take her too far, lest it should overheat her milk. Some time after,
when the lamb begins to have strength, and to skip about, it may, with
safety, be suffered to follow its mother into the fields.
It is usual to send those lambs which appear weak to the butcher,
and to preserve those which are the largest, are most vigorous, and
have the thickest fleece; the first lambs are scarcely ever so good
as those of the following litters. If those lambs are wanted to be
reared which are brought forth in October, November December, January,
or February, they are kept in the stable, and only let out to suck
mornings and evenings, until the beginning of April. Some time before
letting them out they should daily have a little grass, for the purpose
of accustoming them by degrees to their new nourishment. They may be
weaned as early as a month old, but it is better to let them suck for
six weeks or two months. Lambs which are all white, and without spots,
are always preferred because white wool always produces the best price.
Lambs should not be castrated before they are five or six months old
at the earliest, and then the operation should be performed when the
weather is moderate, either in spring or autumn: it is done two ways,
either by incision, or by destroying the vessels, which terminate in
them, by a tight ligature. Castration makes lambs sick and melancholy,
and to prevent the disgust which generally succeeds, they should have
bran given them mixed with a little salt for two or three days.
At a year old, rams, ewes, and wedders, lose the two fore teeth of the
under jaw; they have no incisive ones in the upper; six months after
the two neighbouring teeth fall out also; at three years of age they
are all replaced, are then tolerably even and pretty white, but as
the animal increases in years they become uneven and black. The age
of the ram is also known by his horns; they appear the first year,
and sometimes at his birth, and a ring is added to them every year
after as long as he lives. In general the ewes have no horns, but in
their places two bony prominences; nor withstanding there are some
which have two and even four horns. These ewes are like the others;
their horns are five or six inches long, but less twisted than those
of the ram, and when they have four, the two anterior are shorter than
the other two. The ram is capable of generating at eighteen months,
and the ewe to produce at a year old; but it is better not to couple
them before the ram is three and the ewe two; as before that period
the young will be feeble and weak, which indeed is generally the case
with their first productions. One ram is sufficient to attend 25 or
30 ewes; he should be chosen from the strongest and handsomest of his
species; he should have horns, for there are some rams in our climate
which are without, but they are less vigorous, and less proper for
propagation[I]. A good and handsome ram should have a large thick head,
a wide forehead, large black eyes, broad nose, big ears, thick neck,
long high body, large loins and crupper, and a long tail. The best rams
are the white ones, well covered with wool on the belly, the tail, the
head, the ears, and quite up to the eyes. Ewes which have wool in the
greatest abundance, most bushy, whitest, and most silky, are the best
for propagation; especially if they are large, have thick necks, and
walk nimbly. It has also been remarked, that those which are rather
lean than fat are the most successful breeders.
[I] This does not always hold good, since the Lincoln sheep are without
horns, and are at the same time as fine and as large as any in England.
The ewes are commonly in season from the beginning of November to
the end of April; but they conceive at any time if supplied with
stimulating food, such as salted water, and bread made of hemp-seed.
The ewes are allowed to go with the ram two or three times, after which
they are separated from him; he invariably attaches himself to the
oldest ewes, and despises the young ones. During the coupling season
great care must be taken not to expose the ewes to rains or storms, for
moisture prevents conception, and a clap of thunder often produces an
abortion. A day or two after copulation they may return to their usual
mode of living, for if the salted water, hempen bread, and other hot
foods are continued, it will prevent their produce. They carry their
young five months, and drop them at the beginning of the sixth. They
commonly bring forth but one lamb, though they sometimes have two:
in warm climates they produce twice a year, but in France, and those
which are colder, never more than once. The ram is admitted to the
ewes about the end of July, or beginning of August, for the purpose
of having lambs in January; in September, October, and November, he
is given to a greater number, from which we have plenty of lambs in
February, March, and April; there are also quantities in May, June,
July, August, and September; and it is only in October, November, and
December, that they are scarce. The ewes have milk for six or seven
months; it is tolerable nourishment for children and country people,
and makes very good cheese, especially when mixed with cows' milk. The
time for milking the ewes is just before they go into the fields, or
immediately after their return. In summer they may be milked twice a
day, and once in winter.
Ewes fatten when they are with young, because they then eat more than
at any other time. As they often hurt themselves they have frequent
abortions, sometimes become barren, and often bring forth monsters;
nevertheless, if they are well taken care of, they will produce through
life; that is for ten or twelve years, though they commonly begin to
grow old and useless by the time they are seven or eight. The ram lives
till he is twelve or fourteen years old, but is unfit for propagation,
after he is eight. He should then be castrated, and fattened with the
old ewes. The flesh of the ram is always ill-tasted, that of the ewe
insipid, while that of the wedder is the most succulent and best of our
common meat.
Those who wish to form a flock with a view to profit, buy ewes and
wedders from the age of eighteen months to two years, an hundred of
which may be put under the care of one shepherd, and if he is careful
and assisted by a good dog, he will lose but few. When he conducts them
to the field he should always go first, accustom them to the sound of
his voice, to follow him without going aside among the corn, vines, and
cultivated lands, where they do considerable damage. Hills, or plains
above hills, afford them the best and most agreeable pasture, and they
should never be suffered to brouze in low and marshy grounds. In winter
they should be fed in the stable on bran, turnips, hay, straw, lucerne,
saintfoine, leaves of ash, elm, &c. and unless the weather is very bad
they should be allowed to go out every day for the sake of exercise.
In the cold season they should not be taken to the fields before ten
o'clock in the morning, and remain for four or five hours; they should
then be made to drink, and about three o'clock in the afternoon be
reconducted home. In spring and autumn, on the contrary, they should
be taken out as soon as the sun has dissipated the moisture and hoar
frost, and not taken back again till near sun-set. It is sufficient
in these two seasons if they drink once a day, and that just before
they return to the stable, where there must always be forage for them,
though in a smaller quantity than during winter. It is in summer alone
that they ought to find all their food in the fields, where they should
then be conducted twice a day, and taken twice to drink; they should
be led out in the morning while the dew is on the ground, allowed to
feed four or five hours, and after drinking led back to the fold, or
some shady place. About three or four o'clock in the afternoon, when
the excessive heat begins to diminish, they may be again taken into
the fields and allowed to stay until the night comes on; and were it
not for the danger of the wolf, it would be better to leave them out
all night as they do in England, which would make them more vigorous
and healthy. As violent heat greatly incommodes them, and the rays of
the sun will give them the vertigo, they should always be kept, when
brouzing, with their heads from the sun, so that their bodies may form
a kind of shade. And it is also very necessary, to preserve their
wool, that they should not be suffered to feed among thorns, briars, or
bristles.
In dry and high grounds, where wild thyme and other odoriferous plants
abound, the flesh of the sheep is of a much better quality than when
fed on low plains and humid valleys; unless near the sea coast, where
all the herbage having imbibed a degree of saltness, it renders the
mutton superior to that fed on any other pasture; it gives also a
pleasing flavour to the milk, and adds to its quantity. Nothing is more
pleasing to the taste of these animals than salt, nor is there any
thing more salutary for them when given in moderation; in some places
they put a bag of salt, or salt-stone, into the sheep-fold, the which
they will all lick by turns.
Every year those grown of a proper age to fatten should be picked out
of the flock, as they require a different treatment. If in summer, they
should be taken to the field before sun-rise that they may feed on the
grass while the dew remains upon it. Nothing contributes more to fatten
sheep than water taken in great quantities, and nothing retards it more
than the heat of the sun; for which reason they should be taken into
the shade by nine o'clock in the morning before the violent heat comes
on, and a little salt should be given them to excite their appetite
for water. About four o'clock in the afternoon they should be led out
again to fresh and moist pastures. This care pursued for two or three
months is sufficient to make them fleshy and fat; but this fat, which
originates from the great quantities of water drank by the animal, is
only a kind of pursy swelling, and would soon occasion the rot; it is
therefore necessary to kill them immediately when they acquire this
false fat: even their flesh, instead of having become firm and juicy,
is frequently the more flat and insipid. If we would have good mutton,
besides feeding them in the dew and giving them plenty of water, it is
necessary they should have more succulent food than grass. In winter,
nay in all seasons, they may be fattened by keeping them in stables
and feeding them with the flour of barley, oats, wheat, beans, &c.
mixed with salt to make them drink more frequently. But whatever mode
is followed, it should be done quickly, and the sheep should be killed
immediately, for they cannot be fattened twice, and almost all die with
diseases of the liver.
We frequently find worms in the livers of animals; a description of
those found in sheep and oxen is contained in the Journal des Savans
of 1668, and in the German Ephimerides. It was thought that these worms
were peculiar to animals who chew the cud, but M. Dauberton discovered
some in the liver of an ass, and it is probable they might be found in
those of many other animals. It has also been said that butterflies are
sometimes found in the livers of sheep; and in confirmation of this M.
Rouillé favoured me with a letter of M. Gachet de Beaufort, containing
the following observations: "It has long been remarked, that our Alpine
wedders frequently lose their flesh on a sudden; that their eyes turn
white and gummy, that their blood becomes serous, having scarcely any
red globules, their tongues parched, and their noses stuffed with a
yellow purulent mucus. It is true this does not affect the appetite of
the animal, but makes him extremely weak and terminates in his death.
From repeated dissections it has been discovered, that animals so
affected have always butterflies in their livers, which butterflies are
white, and furnished with wings; their heads are nearly oval, hairy,
and about the size of those of the silk-worm fly. Above seventy which
I squeezed out of the two holes convinced me of the truth of this
fact." From this description of M. Beaufort I cannot admit myself as
positively convinced of their being butterflies, because they have so
near a resemblance to the common worms found in the livers of sheep,
which are flat, broad, and of so singular a figure, as to appear at
first rather leaves than worms.
It is customary for sheep to be shorn every year; and in warm countries
where they apprehend no danger from leaving the animal quite bare,
they do not shear the wool, but tear it off, and those frequently find
a sufficiency to have two crops in a year. In France, and in colder
climates, the fleece is shorn only once a year, and then a part of
the wool is permitted to remain by way of preserving the animal from
the intemperance of the weather. This operation is performed in the
month of May, after the sheep have been well washed to render the wool
as clean as possible. The month of April is too cold, and if delayed
to July, there would not be sufficient time for the wool to grow to
preserve them from the cold of the following winter. The wool of the
wedder is generally better, and in greater abundance than that of the
ewe or ram; that on the neck and top of the back, is much superior to
that on the thighs, belly, tail, &c. and that taken from the bodies
of the dead, or diseased animals, is by much the worst. White wool is
preferable to grey, brown, or black, because in dying it will take any
colour, and that which is smooth and sleek is better than the curled;
it is even said, that sheep whose wool is curled are not so good as the
others. Folding sheep is of great advantage to the land, and when it
is wished to improve any by this means, the ground must be inclosed,
and the flock shut in every night during the summer; the dung, urine,
and heat of the animals, will soon enrich the most exhausted, cold, and
infertile grounds. An hundred sheep in one summer will fertilize eight
acres of land for six years.
The ancients have remarked that all animals which chew the cud have
suet, but this is only true with the sheep and goat, and that of the
sheep is more abundant, whiter, drier, and better than that of any
other. Suet differs materially from fat or grease, as the latter
remains soft, but the former hardens in cooling. The suet amasses in
the greatest quantities about the kidneys, and there is always more
about the left than the right; there is also a great deal in the
epiploon, and about the intestines, but that is not near so firm and
good as that of the kidneys, tail, and other parts of the body. Sheep
have no other fat than suet, and this matter is so predominant in their
bodies, that their flesh is covered with it; even their blood contains
a considerable quantity, and their semen is so loaded with it, as to
have a different appearance from that of any other animal. That of man,
the dog, horse, ass, and probably of all animals which have not suet,
liquefies by cold, and becomes more and more fluid from the moment it
comes out of the body; but that of the ram, goat, and perhaps of all
animals which have suet, hardens, and loses all its fluidity with its
heat. I discovered these differences when examining their different
liquors with the microscope. That of the ram fixes a few moments after
it is out of the body, and in order to discover the living organic
molecules, of which it contains great numbers, heat must be applied to
keep it in a state of fluidity.
The flavour of the flesh, the fineness of the wool, the quantity of
the suet, and even the size of the sheep, differ greatly in different
countries. At Berri, in France, they abound; those of the environs of
Beauvoise, and some other parts of Normandy, are the fattest, and have
the greatest quantity of suet. They are very good in Burgundy; but the
best are those which are fed upon the downs in our maritime provinces.
The wool of Italy, Spain, and England is finer than the wool of France.
In Poitou, Provence, in the environs of Bayonne, and several other
parts of France, there is some sheep which appear to be of a foreign
race; they are larger, stronger, and have a greater quantity of wool
than those of the common breed. They are also more prolific, generally
producing two lambs at a time. The rams of this breed engender with the
common ewes and produce an intermediate race. In Italy and Spain there
is a great variety in their races of sheep, but they should all be
regarded as forming one species with our common sheep, which though so
numerous does not extend beyond Europe. Those animals with large broad
tails, so common in Asia and Africa, and which travellers have given
the name of Barbary sheep, appear to be of different species from our
common sheep, as well as from the pacos and lama of America.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 24. _Wallachian Ram._]
[Illustration: FIG. 25. _Wallachian Ram._]
White wool being most esteemed, those lambs which are black or
spotted are commonly led to slaughter. There are some places however
where almost all the sheep are black; and white rams and ewes will
frequently produce spotted lambs. In France there are only white,
black, and spotted; in Spain there is a reddish kind, and in Scotland
there are some of a yellow colour; but these varieties in colour are
more accidental than the difference and variety of the breed, which
notwithstanding only happens from the influence of climate and the
difference of nourishment.