Let us compare our sheep with the muflon, from whom they spring. This last, large and swift as a stag, armed with defensive horns and hoofs, and covered with a rough hair, dreads neither the inclemency of the sky, nor the voracity of the wolf. He not only escapes his enemies by his swiftness, but can even stand against them by the strength of his body, and the solidity of the weapons with which his head and feet are furnished. What a difference from our sheep, who scarcely have any power to subsist in flocks, and who cannot defend themselves even by numbers; who are unable to withstand the rigors of our winters without shelter, and who would all perish if it were not for the care and protection of man? In the hottest climates of Africa and Asia, the muflon, who is the common father of all the races of sheep, seems to have suffered less degeneration than in any other country; for, though reduced to a domestic state, he has preserved his stature and his hair, and has only suffered a loss in the size of his weapons. The sheep of Senegal and India are the largest of all domestic sheep, and those whose nature has experienced the least degradation. The sheep of Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Armenia, &c. have undergone greater changes; they are, relatively speaking, with regard to the human species, improved in some respects, and vitiated in others; but improvement and degeneration are the same thing with regard to Nature, as they both imply an alteration from the original formation. Their coarse hair is changed into fine wool; their tail, loaded with a lump of fat, has become so large and inconvenient a bulk, that the animal drags it along with pain and difficulty; and while thus charged with superfluous matter, and adorned with a beautiful fleece, their strength, agility, and weapons are diminished; for these broad and long-tailed sheep are scarcely half the size of the muflon; they cannot fly from danger, nor make resistance against an enemy; and are in continual need of the care and assistance of man to preserve and multiply their species. The degeneration of the original species is still greater in our climates. Of all the qualities belonging to the muflon, our ewes and rams retain nothing but a small portion of vivacity, and even that yields to the voice of the shepherd. Timidity, weakness, resignation, and stupidity, are the only sorrowful remains of their degraded nature. If we would restore their strength and size, our Flanders sheep should be united with the muflon, and be no longer suffered to propagate with the inferior species; and if we would devote this species to the more useful purposes of affording good meat and fine wool, we must imitate some of our neighbours in propagating the Barbary race of sheep, which, being transported into Spain and England, has been attended with such great success. Strength and magnitude are the masculine attributes; plumpness and beauty of the skin are feminine qualities.