In these ruminating animals the permanent bone-cones on the forehead are covered with a black horny coating, which is not shed during the whole life of their owners, and in which, as they continue to grow until adult life at least, the tips are the oldest parts. The females in some species have horns like their mates, but smaller, as in the Ox and Eland; while in others--the Koodoo and the Sing-Sing Antelope, for example--the males alone are horned. The most aberrant members of this group are the Giraffe, the Cabrit, and the Musk, which will be considered after the less peculiar genera have been discussed. These include the Oxen, Bush-Bucks, Antelopes, Koodoos, Goats, Sheep, &c., which will be referred to more in detail. [Illustration: MERINO SHEEP.] THE SHEEP AND GOATS.[1] Between the bearded Goat and the beardless Sheep there exist intermediate species, which so completely fill up the gaps that it is almost impossible to separate the two into different genera. With triangular, curved, and transversely-ridged horns in both sexes, a characteristic general appearance, and feet formed for mountain climbing, the species present differences which are recognised with facility. With reference to the domestic Sheep, it is the opinion of most naturalists that it has descended from several distinct species. “Abel was a keeper of Sheep,” is a Biblical statement from which the immense antiquity of a domestic breed may be inferred, whose origin cannot be better studied than by a comparison of the different forms found wild in Asia, the head-quarters of the genus. That no Sheep existed in Australia when that continent was first discovered is a well-known fact. “Endowed by nature,” as Mr. Spooner, in his work on the Sheep aptly puts it, “with a peaceable and patient disposition, and a constitution capable of enduring the extremes of temperature, adapting itself readily to different climates, thriving on a variety of pastures, economising nutriment where pasturage is scarce, and advantageously availing itself of opportunities where food is abundant,” it is not to be wondered at that the animal has become the companion of man from the earliest times. The fleece of the wild species of Sheep is composed of hair with wool at its roots, in the same way that in the Duck there is a covering of feathers and down. In the domesticated species the hair, by selection, has been reduced to a minimum, so that the wool forms the only coat. In the southern parts of Western Asia many of the Sheep have a curious tendency to the deposition of fat on the tail rather than under the skin of the body generally, and this may occur to such an extent that the thus loaded caudal appendage may contain a large part of the entire weight of the body. The Astracan breed, of small size, has a fine spiral black and white wool, sometimes entirely black, which is obtained from the lamb when the finest furs are required.