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It is not only interesting, but exceedingly useful practically, to know as much as possible of the origin and general history of the domestic animals which have--during, we know not how many centuries--been brought under the dominion of mankind, and have gradually been domesticated, changed by this culture, and made subservient to the profit of the farmer and the uncountable advantage of mankind.
There are several different races of the original wild sheep, and as it is certain that some of these original races have become the progenitors of our domestic sheep it is interesting to study the peculiarities of these races, and so learn as much as may be of the true origin of our modern sheep.
This is by no means as ancient as might be supposed. Unlike the horse or the ox whose origin may be traced back through the early ages of the history of the world, long before mankind came into existence, our sheep seems to have been almost co-existent with the first appearance of man, and may quite possibly have been the survival of the domestication, and improvement thereby, of one of the original breeds of the wild sheep.
Of these there are several, but there is no evidence in support of the belief that any one in particular has been so domesticated and changed by special breeding, except in regard to two of the ancient wild races referred to. These are the Argali of Southern and Central Asia, and the Musmon of Southern Europe.
[Illustration: "Baby Lord." Bred by Reynolds & Daved, Kansas. Sheared 52 lbs., 13 mos. growth. Heaviest on record.]
It is quite probable that both of these original races have
For the first record of sheep we have is of this fine wooled variety, which was most carefully cultivated by the ancient Romans who made the fine and costly garments, even the imperial robes dyed in the costly Tyrian purple, of the wool of the ancient Merino of Spain, which is the progenitor of the Merino of the present time.
The illustration of the Musmon, given here, will go to show that this belief is well founded and that all our modern breeds have descended from this first parent, which still exists in the islands of Crete and Cyprus, and the mountains of Greece, as well as in Corsica and Sardinia. It formerly abounded in Spain, and it is from these very localities that the ancient inhabitants of Rome procured their choicest fleeces.
It is also on record by some of the ancient Roman writers, and by that ancient naturalist Pliny, that the Musmon was used to cross on the ancient sheep, bred by the Romans for the sake of its fleece, and that the produce of the cross was fertile. But however it may have been, this we know on
[Illustration: Argali of Asia]
the authority of the most ancient records, that of the history of mankind given in the Scriptures, viz: that while the first man, or we may think the first distinct race of men, were cultivators of the ground, the second were keepers of sheep. In fact the sheep unquestionably was the first domesticated animal, and not so much for its flesh, although we soon find tha tthis was a choice article of food, but for its fleece. In fact we find in the most ancient remains of the earliest human races, that wool was used for clothing, first by the use of the skins of the sheep, and in time that it was spun and woven into cloth. And during all the earliest history of mankind to the present, we find that the sheep has been accounted, at least, an equal part of the wealth of mankind with all other animals or possessions. Moreover we are forced to conclude, as the result of a study of history, that the ancient shepherds who were wanderers, alternately inhabiting
the mountains and the plains, following their flocks wherever they strayed, and taking possession of the best lands they met with by force of their numbers and good fighting qualities, derived doubtless from their early youful combats with the savage beasts of prey from whose attacks they successfully protected their flocks. And the Merino has been, and still is, from that long bygone time, a wandering sheep; thriving by change of pasture, if only from one small field to another; for this change, slight as it is, seems to satisfy its desire for fresh fields and pastures new.
At that early age the flock supplied the owners with food and raiment, and nothing more was wanted to fully fill all the needs of the early races of mankind. Thus the first men became shepherds, by the mere force of circumstances; and it is interesting to note that our own shepherds of the West are following in the footsteps of the ancient patriarchs, and still perpetuating the habits and industries of the earliest people of the human race. And if this is so it seems to be an unavoidable result of the necessary relation of the sheep to the human race, that the flock, under whatever conditions both may exist, must always be a profitable possession of mankind, in spite of all the mistakes made by politicians and political economists, and under whatever changes in our civilization may occur in the dim future. And that old saying of one of the oldest writers on practical farm economy, quoted at the title page, will remain true, as an encouragement for the shepherd, as long as the human race may survive.
While it might be interesting to follow out this subject of the natural history of the sheep, and give some account of the many varieties now existing, we propose to confine this work to its practical puprose entirely, leaving those who may feel interested beyond this limit to study the subject in the works of the special naturalists.
But it is worthy of note to the intelligent shepherd, as closely related to his industry and the improvement of his flocks, that all the different breeds of sheep now existing must have sprung from this single source, and have been produced by the art of the breeders who have given their attention to the improvement of the natural flock.
This improvement, however, is by no means a modern thing. It was in full progress at the time of the patriarch Jacob, who by a trick, as it may be termed, worthy of the most experienced breeder of modern times, got from his father-in-law the best of the lambs for his share of the flocks which he tended under a sort of contract, quite common now-a-days, that is, for a share of the produce. How long before that ancient time the modern rules of breeding were then in practice we have no means of knowing, but it may be well believed that this art of improvement had been long in vogue, and was the basis of the high condition of the flocks at that time.
The high condition of intelligence among the leaders of society even in the days of Moses, and the cosideration given to the flocks as property, together with the large numbers of sheep owned by noted individuals as a mere matter of course, all goes to show that the art of the shepherd was even in those early times very highly cultivated and most highly considered. In fact, as the sheep was one of the most important sources of wealth, we may be sure the flocks were cultivated as carefully as the high degree of intelligence then would lead us to think. And this common knowledge of course became a matter of history, repeated and handed down by the ancient writers for even our information.
And the arts of improving sheep by the best breeding, as then practiced, may be taken as a guide for us at this time. Here is what Virgil--that accomplished Roman farmer and breeder--says in the third book of his Georgics: "There will be always those in every flock whose forms you will wish to change, therefore always repair them, and choose out from the flock the best offspring yearly. Then after the birth, the care is transferred to the lambs, and they brand them with the marks and the names of the race, which they may wish to keep for breed for preserving the flock. And if wool be your care, select white flocks, with soft fleeces. And if, although the ram himself be white, reject hime which has a black tongue under his moist palate; lest he may stain the fleeces of the lambs with black spots, and look about for another in the full field."
Nor were the ancient shepherds at all behind the most enthusiastic of the modern ones in paying enormous
prices for the desired animals chosen for the improvement of their sheep. For a shepherd of the time of the Roman Caesar Tiberius is recorded as giving a sum equivalent to five hundred dollars for a ram of a noted breed, chosen from one of the most noted flocks in the world at that time.
And in more modern times we find that the kings and emperors thought a present of a fine ram and a bunch of
[Illustration: African Sheep.]
ewes from their high bred flocks, a worthy present to be made or received. It was in this way that some of the first of the Cotswold breed were brought into England as a gift from the Spanish emperor to the English king several centuries ago. Indeed we may thank the kings of England very cordially for their enterprise in cultivating the breeding sheep from the finest, by procuring the specimens from every possible source, and by the strictest laws protecting the native flocks from deterioration.
Moreover we may take a hint and lesson from this period of the history of the British sheep. For not only were the sheep protected in the strictest manner, but so was the trade in wool. Every art of the economist was invoked for the protection of the woolen manufacture in England. It was a felony, punishable by death, to export a sheep, and the introduction of foreign woolen goods was entirely forbidden. At the same time every skilled artisan who was
expert in manufacturing woolen goods found a cordial welcome in England. In addition to the severest and most strictly enforced laws for the protection of the wool product and manufacture, the immigration of foreign experts in the woolen manufacture was encouraged until at last, after centuries of such protective culture, England monopolized the woolen manufacturing business of the world. It is one of the sad examples of unwise liberality on the part of some of our statesmen that these lessons, taken from such a conspicuous example of history, should be disregarded and--as most truly said by the ancient writer quoted on the title page--"the most profitable animal a man can have" should be sacrificed to the mistaken policy of admitting free of import duty the products of countries whose trade has been built up and brought to a full growth by the most severely protective laws known in the history of the world. Surely it would seem that we should follow this most striking example of the building up of trade to a condition of self-support by centuries of favorable legislative protection. This is a matter the American shepherd should study well for his guidance.
None of our domestic animals can be managed successfully without an accurate knowledge of its anatomy, and of the special functions of its parts. The anatomy or physical structure of any animal controls its constitution, that is to say, its subjection to good or evil results in its living and general management; for while this word in its full sense means the formation and general disposition of any organized thing, in the common sense, as applied to animals, it means as well the principles or general laws by which its successful existence is secured; its susceptibility to good or evil by the conditions of its existence or management; its ability to resist misfortunes, and its prosperity under the skillful management of its intelligent keeper. The constitution of the domestic sheep in this regard is especially one to be well studied by the shepherd, for the due preservation against these accidents and common occurrences by which it suffers in agreater degree than any other of our domestic animals.
The sheep belongs to that large family of quadrupeds
Its family is known as Ovis, and is peculiar on account of having no tear pits, but instead a number of small follicles or bags from which is secreted an oily matter by which the movements of the eye in its socket and also of the eyelids are facilitated.
The organs of nutrition are the most important part of the structure of the animal.
The mouth and teeth. The mouth extends from the lips to the gullet, which is the entrance to the alimentary canal. The sheep, like the ox, has a set of deciduous or milk teeth, which in course of time are shed and replaced by a new and permanent set. It has no canine teeth, otherwise known as dog teeth. There is a considerable space of the jaw that is destitue of teeth, that is, between the front or incisor teeth and the molars or grinders. There are thirty-two teeth in all, the same number as in the ox tribe. In the lower jaw there are eight incisors or cutting teeth. It is curious that this is the precise number existing in mankind, but the whole number is placed on the lower jaw of the sheep, and in man they are divided between the upper and lower jaws. The sheep has twenty-four grinders or back teeth, which is four more than mankind possess; but the whole number of teeth int eh sheep is the same as in man.
The number and condition of the sheep's teeth are an easy indication of its age. There are twenty deciduous teeth, the first of which appear before or soon after birth. These consist of the two central incisors, and three of the molars or double teeth. The whole of the incisors appear at the age of two or three weeks. The first molars appear before or soon after birth, three on each side. The last two incisors, one on each side, appear at six to nine months after birth. This completes the set of front teeth. The complete set of molars do not appear until the sheep is in its fifth year, when the last one appears. The following table will be a guide to the process of dentition.
The figures here given show the appearance of the middle pair of the front teeth at the age of 1 1/2 years, at which age the English courts have decided that the lamb becomes a sheep.
Table of Dentition of the Sheep.
Eruption. ... Replacement.
Front Teeth or Incisors.
Before or soon after birth ... 1 1/2 years
The same ... 2 1/2 years
14 days ... 3 1/2 years
2 to 3 weeks ... 4 1/2 years
Molar or Double Teeth
Before or a few days after birth ... 1 1/2 years
The same ... 2 1/2 years
The same ... 3 1/2 years
6 to 9 months. 1 1/2 years. 4 to 5 years.
[Illustration: The Teeth of the Sheep.]
After the fifth year a sheep is known as to its age by the full mouth, and as the age increases by the wearing of the teeth. But this is not altogether a sure guide, for a flock pasturing on a poor pasture or sandy soil will so quickly wear down its cutting teeth that they will appear to be so blunt as to indicate a much greater age. This is to be taken into account, and the general appearance, as will be described hereafter, in other respects must all be taken into account. This, however is not of much account practically, for except it be some favorite and prolific ewe, it is rarely that a sheep is kept so long that its age is any reason for despising it. It is well, however, that the shepherd and especially purchasers of sheep should be able to ascertain the age up to the point of maturity. The author has kept some ewes until the age of thirteen years, having twins every year after the second, and never found any indication of inablility to feed as well as a young sheep. What the full age of a
sheep may be has never been accurately determined by any authoritative evidence, but it is very probable that if well cared for a sheep may be kept with profit until twenty years old, and the mutton even then may be as tender and good or better than a four year old sheep that has been ill cared for.
The lips of the sheep are so peculiar as to deserve mention. They are extremely mobile, thin, and take an active part in the gathering of the food. The upper lip does not show any muffle, which is the broad patch seen in the ox, and which is furnished with active excretory apparatus, seen at times by the conspicuous drops of perspiration exuded by it in warm weather. This is absent in the sheep, and the upper lip is thin and divided by a fissure so that each half of the lip may be moved independently of the other.
The teeth are really a part of the digestive system as they grind the food along with the secretion of the glands of the mouth, and which are known as the salivary glands. These are placed within the lips, under the tongue, and along the jaws. They secrete a peculiar fluid which has the effect of changing the starch of the food into sugar, as well as aiding the digestion of it in the stomach. In all the ruminants these glands are large and exude a copious amount of saliva, especially during the act of rumination, by which the food, having been coarsely ground at the first, is macerated in the first stomach and then regurgitated to the mouth where it is further ground at pleasure and then passes on to the second and third stomachs where it is again ground and macerated between the folds of the manyplies, after which it goes to the true digestive stomach, the fourth compartment, and having been digested there it is finally disposed of in the intestines.
The changes which the food of all the ruminating animals undergoes are mostly all accomplished after it has been swallowed, and has been subjected to the action of the first and second stomachs. After this preparation the food is formed by a peculiar moulding apparatus into long pellets, which are forced back into the mouth and are there subjected to the solvent influence of the saliva, copiously secreted
by the glands of the mouth. This is the act of rumination. It is during this process that the saliva is mostly secreted, for very little of it is concerned in the first chewing of the food. But the flow of it during mastication in the ruminating process is very copious, and so much so as to form with the finely ground food a mere semi-liquid, thus aiding in the solution of the nutritive matter contained in the food. It has been thought that this curious process has been designed especially for this class of animals, inoffensive, mild and meek and unarmed, and seemingly intended by nature as food for the ravenous, carnivorous, blood-thirsty beasts of prey. It has thus been provided with some means of escaping extermination, by its habits of
[Illustration: The Sheep's Stomach. a.-Gullet; b.-Rumen; c.-Reticulum; d.-Omasum; e.-Abomasum; f.-Duodenum. Fig. 2 shows the interior of the stomach.]
secretiveness, feeding at night, or at short intervals during the days, in which it is able to swallow its hastily gathered food, and retiring to its coverts there at leisure and in safety completing its process of remastication and performing the needed functions of nutrition.
A correct knowledge of the stomach is therefore not only interesting to the shepherd, but useful in the management of a flock. For it is the case that most of the mishaps and ordinary diseases of the sheep are originated in the digestive processes, which not being duly performed lead to a general disturbance of the system, by which a majority of the ailments of the sheep are caused.
Taking a general view of this organ we find it to be
a capacious sack to which are attached minor compartments lying between it and the duodenum or first part of the bowels, three in number, thus making a quadruple bag, as it were, through the parts of which the food passes, and in each of which a distinct process of digestion is performed. The food passing down the gullet (a) from the mouth, enters the rumen or paunch (b) where it remains for a time until, at leisure, it is forced back to the mouth by a peculiar movement of the gullet. This is composed of rings surrounded by an elastic membrane, and which are very easily dilated to a considerable extent. The gullet, also called the esophagus, passes through the entrance of the rumen where it is connected with the second compartment as well as with the third, by a canal, or gutter, known as the esophageal canal. This connects with the rumen by a slit or opening which is closed except when it is pressed open by the force of the passing food, or by some function of its connective parts. This opening is easily forced, doubtless by the will of the animal, and as the canal is filled with the contents of the rumen it closes, holding a cud or mass of the food; this then is forced to the mouth by a successive contraction of the elastic rings, in precisely the same manner, but in a contrary direction to that by which the food is first swallowed. The cud then being remasticated and diluted copiously with the saliva, is again swallowed; and by reason of its soft and semi-liquid consistency it passes over this opening in the groove and goes into the third compartment, passing the orifice of the second stomach on its way. The second stomach is called the reticulum or honeycomb.
The third stomach is called the omasum, commonly the manyplies, on account of the large number of leaves lining it. These leaves with their attachments to the walls of the omasum are shown at figure 2. The food is ground and macerated between these leaves until it becomes sufficiently disintegrated to be acted upon by the gastric juice of the fourth stomach, known as the abomasum, which is the true digestive organ.
To repeat concisely this function of the stomach, we may say that the rumen is a sac in which the food taken during the short and rapid feeding time is kept in reserve, and whence it is carried back to the mouth for the process ofrumination, after having been more or less softened by the warmth and moisture of the rumen.
The second stomach, the reticulum, participates in the functions of the rumen to which it is mostly a convenient appendage. But it always contains a large quantity of liquid and doubtless plays the part of a reservoir much as in the camel, well known to carry a considerable extra store of water for immediate use as it may be required.
The esophageal canal carries into the third stomach or omasum, past the opening of the reticulum, the matter swallowed after rumination, or even any finely ground or soft semi-liquid food swallowed the first time, and which has not solidity and consistence sufficient to force open the slit or opening in the canal.
The omasum completes the final disintegration of the food by a process of rubbing or trituration between its leaves.
The abomasum is a true stomach, in which the gastric juice is secreted, and which finally dissolves the nutrimentary substance of the food, and renders it fit for the absorption of it by the villi of the intestines.
The intestines is a long tube doubled upon itself a great many times, through which the digested food passes and gives up its nutritive matter to be absorbed and carried into the blood. The internal coat of this folded tube is covered by a multitude of minute absorbent vessels called the villi. It is a network of blood vessels and so-called lacteals, resembling the close pile of velvet.
The villi absorb the nutritious matter of the now completely digested food and pass it on, as it were, to the great portal vein by which the dissolved aliment of the animal, fitted by complete digestion for the enrichment of the blood, is carried to the heart, and enters the right ventricle, from which it is passed on to the lungs where it is brought into contact with the air breathed by the animal, absorbing oxygen from it, and then becoming perfect blood. The blood then, after this exposure to the oxygen of the air, is forced into the left ventricle, and from this forced by the contraction of the enormously strong muscular action of the
heart through the arteries by which it is poured into the system of capillaries. These pervade every part of the body, internally and externally, and are so closely distributed that no part of the system can be punctured by the
[Illustration: The Intestines and Mesentary. 1. The duodenum. 2. The jejunum. 3. The ileum. 4. The coecum, being the anterior prolongation of the colon, or first large intestine. The ileum opens into this (on the back side as presented in the cut), about 12 inches from its extremity, the opening defended by a valve. 5. The large anterior portion of the colon, retaining its size, (about three times that of the smaller intestines) for about two feet. 6.6. The colon tending toward the center. 7.7. The returning convolutions of the colon. 8. The rectum or straight gut, communicating with the anus. 9.9. The mesentary, or that portion of the peritoneum which retains the intestines in their places. 10. The portion of the mesentary supporting the colon, &c. The united length of these intestines is upward of sixty feet.]
finest needle without wounding some of them. From these the blood having performed its function goes back to the lungs where it is purified by the action of the air breathed and then to the heart to be again circulated.
This brief description of the nutrition of an animal goes to show the amazing delicacy of the vital processes, and considering that the liver, the pancreas, and the spleen, are all charged with accessory functions in this system of nutrition, it is no matter for surprise that in the alimentation of an animal we have one of the most profoundly delicate series of operations, the safe performance of which is one of the greatest wonders of nature. And yet it goes on operating constantly--as the pulse of an animal beats--forty-eight times in a minute, every beat carrying to the center of life a sufficient supply of aliment by which the whole system is supported, and renewed in fact, completely in time, by this addition to the system of an adequate quantity and kind of nutriment.
This brief but wholly inadequate review of the method by which food is made to support life goes, however, to show what care, attention, and good judgment are necessary for the welfare of a flock, too often fed without thought of the delicacy of the vital organs; and the importance of keeping these in a healthful working condition is that the first qualification needed to insure the successful management of a flock is a due acquaintance with the vital functions of a sheep and a most careful study of the methods required to maintain health by a rigid adherence to the safe and healthful alimentation of it.
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