From this the Duke of Devonshire's and Lord de Tabley's sheep appear identical—white spotted with black; two straight or slightly-curved upright horns, and two smaller horns bent back round the ears and pointed under them to the front; wool scant and inferior; known to have been at Tabley two hundred years.

Sir H. Dryden's sheep, with similar markings, but probably with only one pair of horns, twisted spirally as in the merino; wool of fair quantity and quality; in the neighbourhood of Canons Ashby over sixty years.

In the zoological collection at the Royal Park, Melbourne, some fifteen years ago, I saw a ewe having short dark shining red hair, having drooping ears and no horns, also a larger sheep with long brick-coloured wool, which I supposed to be a son of the ewe by a white-woolled ram; probably Chinese.

In England, the late celebrated novelist, Mayne Reid, had a flock which he describes as black with white face and white tip to the tail, without horns, which he called Jacob's sheep. He got the originals from a travelling mob, and had no knowledge where they were bred. He tried one season to show as a curiosity at the Royal Agricultural Show, but was not allowed, as “they were not a known breed.” Afterwards he, being indignant at their rejection, wrote a letter to the Times about them. A supposed portrait of one was given in the Live-stock Journal, but it was coloured in black and white patches. They were said to breed true.

“Shetland Sheep.—At the last Royal Agricultural Show was a pen of five miniature ewes of jet-black colour, which were a great attraction to the visitors.”—Live-stock Journal.

Darwin, in “Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” speaks of a famous breed of black sheep at Karakool, Turkistan, with a valuable fleece of lustrous black wool. The wool was said to deteriorate when the animals were removed elsewhere.^*

Dr. Randal, in “American Sheep Husbandry,” in describing the early attempts to introduce the merino sheep from Spain to America, says, “The several small lots first imported were allowed to die out, not being fancied at that time; but the very first, which with difficulty were obtained through the influence of the American Ambassador to Spain, when they arrived in 1803, were all black.” I think five or seven were the number landed. This was either a swindle in picking a few black sheep from a white flock, or indicated a black merino flock existing at that time.

It is very remarkable that, writers, in trying to trace the origin of the merino sheep, always imagine them to be of

English origin, for they are prevented from looking to North Africa owing to the heat of the climate causing sheep in that country to have a covering of hair; otherwise it would be supposed the Moors introduced them from Barbary.

On the other hand, these spotted sheep; the Herdwicks, on the Cumberland fells, with curled horns; the Cheviots, on the Border Hills, a polled race; and the sheep of the Shetlands, of very diminutive size, are all supposed to come from Spain, the popular tradition being that they are survivors from the wreck of the Spanish Armada, in the time of Queen Elizabeth. That crews from one or more of these vessels escaped to the Shetlands there seems to be good evidence; also, that these shipwrecked people taught the natives, with whom they intermarried, a particular secret in the art of weaving and dyeing woollen goods, which I believe is a speciality to this day.

Quoting from the “Technical Educator:” “Beautiful black lamd-skins are imported from the Crimea, and still more rich and glossy, with a short fur, from Astracan.”

Most people are under the belief that flocks of sheep are necessarily white, but no doubt, if the matter were properly investigated, a number of pure breeds of coloured sheep would be found inhabiting out-of-the-way places.

Youatt says, “There is reason to believe that sheep in their early domesticated condition were brown or dingy black: during the classical period the sheep of Spain are described by several ancient authors as being black, red, or tawny.”

Darwin remarks, “In the Tarentino the inhabitants keep black sheep alone, because the Hypericum crispum abounds there, and this plant does not injure the black sheep, but kills the white ones in about a fortnight's time.”

“A so-called Spanish ram, which had two small black spots on the sides, when mated with seven Southdown ewes, produced thirteen lambs all perfectly black.”—Mr. Wilmot, “Quarterly Review,” 1849.

“The Rev. W. Darwin Fox believes that this ram belonged to a breed which he has himself kept, and which is always spotted black and white, and he finds that Leicester sheep crossed by rams of this breed always produced black lambs. He has recrossed these crossed sheep with pure white Leicesters during three successive generations, but always with the same result. Mr. Fox was told by the friend from whom the spotted breed was procured, that he likewise had gone on for six or seven generations crossing with white sheep, but still black lambs were invariably produced.”—“Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication.”

Returning to the spotted sheep: On breeding the Tabley and Canons Ashby sheep together, a change in the character of the horns is mentioned, but the colour of the wool seems