128 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

of many parts of Europe, bred and cultivated goats long
before the introduction of sheep. In the Highlands of
Scotland and Wales, the goat was the original domestic
animal; and in both countries there are many districts
called by the name of Gower, which is Celtic for goat; and
many families have the same surname. All these circum-
stances render the history of the goat a highly interesting
one*,”

Ovis.—The Sheep. (Plate IX. Asiatic Sheep.)

The sheep differs so slightly in anatomical structure from
the goat, that both are united in one genus by some natu-
ralists. The principal differences consist in the sheep having
no beard, and in the horns being directed backward in the
first place, and then more or less spirally forward. “It is
generally imagined that the primitive stock may be traced
to the wild sheep of Sardinia and Corsica, the mouffon, or
to the argalt of Asia, though some naturalists suppose these
animals to be the descendants of those that have escaped
the dominion of man; however this may be, it is certain
that the coat of these wild sheep possesses the essential
character of wool, though consisting of coarse and long
hair; that is, from its peculiar scaly surface, it is capable

* British Cyclopedia.