Sheep
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Sheep. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the common name of the ! genus Ovis, belonging to the Cavicornia, or hollow-horned ruminant family. Naturalists are by no means agreed as to what was the original breed of this invaluable animal. Of the several varieties of wild sheep which have by naturalists been considered entitled to the distinction of being the parent stock, may be mentioned: (1) the Musmon (O. musmon), still found wild in the mountains of the larger islands of the Mediterranean and European Turkey; (2) the Argali (0. ammon), or wild Asiatic sheep, which are the tenants of the highest mountains of Central Asia, and the elevated, inhospitable plains of its N. portions; (3) the Rocky Mountain sheep (O. montana), which is found on the mountains of North America; (4) the bearded sheep of Africa (O. tragelopleus), found on the high lands of Egypt and in Barbary. The leading fact in the geographical history of this genus is that it occurs both in the New and the Old World, whereas the goat tribe are naturally unknown in America. It is usually regarded by naturalists as being not only specifically, but generically, distinguished from the goat tribe; but some authorities, on the other hand, are inclined to believe that the founded chiefly on generic separation is characters which have arisen from the A B. Blanford Sheep. A. Markhor. influential power of man. In a state of nature, the sheep is scarcely less active or energetic than the goat. The main characteristics of the four unsubdued races of sheep mentioned above are as follows: The Musmon measures about three feet and a half in length, and its height, at the highest part of the back, is about two feet six inches. The neck is large, the body thick, muscular, and of a rounded form. The horns of the male are nearly two feet long. The body is protected by a short, fine, graycolored wool, of which the filaments are spirally twisted, and by a stiffish silky hair, sufficient to conceal the wool beneath. It is gregarious in a state of nature, and seldom descends from the highly-elevated portions of the mountains on which it dwells. The general opinion of naturalists is that it is from this species the domestic breeds have been obtained. The bearded sheep of Africa has the hair on the lower part pa of the cheeks and upper jaws extremely long, so that it forms a double or divided beard. The hairs on the sides and body are short, of the neck somewhat those on the top longer, and rather erect. The whole B C WILD SHEEP C. Barbary Sheep. under-parts of the neck and shoulders are covered by coarse hair. The Argali, or wild sheep of Asia, measures about three feet in height at the shoulder, and five feet in length. His horns are nearly four feet long, long, and placed on the summit of the head, so as to cover the occiput. They nearly touch each other in front, bending backward and laterally, and then forward and outward. The female is of smaller size, and her horns are nearly straight. The Ovis montana, or Rocky Mountain sheep of the United States, is larger than the largest varieties of domestic breeds. The horns of the male are of great dimensions. The hair in this species resembles that of a deer. The many varieties of sheep which tenant Great Britain and Ireland may be conveniently divided into two classes; the first consisting of sheep without horns, and the second of sheep with horns. Of the first class are, the New Leicester sheep, the characteristics of which are fineness and fullness of form, an early maturity and propensity to fatten; the wool, not so long as in some breeds, but considerably finer. The Cotswold sheep, which have been long celebrated for the fineness of their wool, and which have been gradually improved by crossing with the Leicester sheep. Their mutton is finegrained and full-sized. The Dartmoor sheep, which have white faces and legs, some with and some without horns, small in the head and neck, and generally small-boned, carcass narrow and flatsided. The Southdown sheep have short wool, close and curled. The flesh is highly esteemed. The Romney-Marsh sheep have long but coarse wool, much internal fat, and much hardihood, and require no artificial food during the hardest winter but a little hay. The Cheviot sheep are a peculiar breed, which are kept on the extensive range of the Cheviot hills. They have the face and legs generally white, and the body long; their wool is short, thick, and fine; they possess very considerable fattening qualities, and can endure much hardship both from starvation and cold. Of the horned sheep, the chief varieties are: The Dorset sheep. They are a good folding sheep, and their mutton is well flavored, but their principal distinction and value is the forwardness of the ewes, who take the ram at a much earlier period of the year than any other species, and thus supply the market with lamb at the time when it fetches the highest price. The Shetland sheep small and handsome; hornless, hardy, feeding on even sea-weed, and with soft and cottony wool. The Hebridean sheep the smallest of its kind, even when is fat weighing only 20 pounds. The most important breed of sheep regards the texture of the wool is the Merino (O. hispanica). The wool is fine, long, soft, twisted, in silky spiral ringlets, and naturally so oily that the fleece looks dingy and unclean from the dust outside, but is perfectly white underneath. They readily form cross breeds, called demimerinos, which have been brought to great perfection in France, whence, as well as from Spain, they have been imported into the United States. Of the other remarkable varieties of the genus Ovis in different parts of the world, we may mention the fat-tailed sheep, common in Tartary, Arabia, Persia, and Egypt, the tail of which is so loaded with fat that it alone frequently weighs 20 pounds. The many-horned sheep of Iceland, and the most northern part of the Russian dominions, has three, four, or five horns, sometimes placed with great regularity, and sometimes differing in proportion and situation. The Cretan sheep, chiefly found in the island of Crete, are kept in many parts of Europe on account of the strangeness of the appearance of its horns, which are remarkably large, long, and spiral; the fat-rumped tailless sheep are met with in all the deserts of Tartary; the African or Guinea sheep, a native of all the tropical climates, both of Africa and the East. Different names are given to the sheep, according to its sex and age. The male is called a ram or tup. After weaning, he is said to be a hog, hogget, or hoggerel, a lamb-hog, or tup hog or teg; and if castrated, a wetherhog. After shearing, he is called a shearhog, or shearing, or dimmort, or tup. After the second shearing, he is a twoshear ram; and so on. The female is a ewe or gimmer-lamb till weaned, and then a gimmer, or ewe-hog, or teg. After being shorn, she is a shearing-ewe or gimmen, or theave, or double-toothed ewe; and after that a two-, or three-, or fourshear ewe or theave. The age of the sheep is reckoned, not from the period of their being dropped, but from the first shearing. The total number of sheep in the United States on Jan. 1, 1920, was 48,615,000. Black sheep is a figurative term to denote a person who is, as it were, outlawed from society, by reason of his misdeeds or moral obliquities.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a well known domestic animal. Scientifically speaking, a genus of cudchewing quadrupeds. The ancestor of the domestic sheep is not known. All wild sheep have short tails, while the domestic sheep has a tail that reaches to the ground, unless shortened by the shepherd. Sheep are allied closely to goats. They have, however, spiral horns and the chin is destitute of a beard. As all wild sheep are natives of elevated or mountainous regions, it is probable that domestic sheep originated in the mountains of Asia. The most celebrated breed is the Spanish merino, noted for fine wool and hardiness. The English types, the Cheviot, the Leicester, the Southdown, and the black-faced breeds, have long, comparatively coarse, straight wool and are noted rather for mutton. The first sheep were brought to the new world by Columbus in 1493. Spanish explorers introduced sheep into Florida in 1565. The Spanish missions brought sheep to Mexico and the southwestern part of the United States at an early date. When these missions in California were disestablished and the property confiscated by the Mexican government in 1834, there were large flocks amounting to over a million head. An excellent account of sheep raising in this section may be read in Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona. The English introduced sheep into Virginia in 1609. They were so harassed by wolves, however, that forty years later the number did not exceed 3,000. The Dutch brought sheep to New Amsterdam in 1625. The Swedes of New Jersey and Delaware had flocks of sheep when they passed under English rule. The first sheep were introduced into New England about 1624. The sheep of Florida and the far southwest were of the merino type. Those of the Atlantic seaboard, as far south as Georgia, came from England. The question of long, coarse-wooled mutton sheep, versus fine-wooled merinos is still open. Breeders at the present time are trying to develop fine wool on mutton bodies. Sheep raising is a profitable branch of industry. The sheep lives on the roughest kind of forage and is a very moderate eater. The fleece yields an annual income. Mutton is a wholesome food. If we except hogs, no other kind of live stock brings in so immediate a return. A flock of sheep multiplies rapidly with corresponding increase in value. The male sheep is known as a ram, the female as a ewe, the young as a lamb. The wool of a single sheep is a fleece. An oil found on the wool is known as eke. The ewes may be expected to have lambs when a year old. So many ewes produce twins that with fair care a flock of ewes may be expected to double in number the first year. In brushy countries a flock of sheep will do more clearing than a force of men. There are, however, drawbacks. Young lambs are exceedingly tender, and must be cared for well, at least for a week or two. Sheep are such climbers that it is difficult to restrain them in pastures. Wolves commit frightful ravages. Dogs destroy large numbers of sheep annually. It is said that a dog addicted to sheep killing cannot be cured of the habit. Sheep raisers declare that dogs kill more sheep annually than the whole tribe of dogs is worth. On the sheep ranges of the plains, the coyote, or prairie wolf, is the shepherd's wiliest foe. He soon learns to avoid poison. A great deal of antagonism exists between the sheep and cattle raisers. No greater insult can be offered a cowboy than to call him a sheep herder. Sheep bite so close to the ground as to destroy the grass on large areas. The greatest profits are made, no doubt, in the West where sheep pasture on buffalo grass without winter shelter or feeding. Bands of shearers begin work in the far southwest and travel northward with the season. They charge five cents a head for shearing. The business of bringing sheep from the plains eastward and fattening them for market on wheat screenings and other grains, has grown to large proportions. The following statistics are gleaned from the United States agricultural report for 1909: Total number of sheep 56,423,769 Average value per head $3.43 Total value $192,632,000 Number of fleeces 40,311,548 Pounds of wool 270,138,000 Average value per pound, cents 161/2 Average weight of fleece in pounds 6.70 It is estimated that 41,000,000 additional pounds of wool were pulled from pelts. American factories import, in addition, about one-half as much wool as we raise. It is estimated (1909) that there are 100,000,000 sheep in Australia, 90,000,000 in Argentina, 70,000,000 in Russia, 70,000,000 in North America , and 20,000,000 in New Zealand . Gustav, the Russian mutton king, pastures 1,750,000 sheep in Siberia. The United States produces about one-ninth of the world's mutton and wool. The English wool and mutton market is supplied largely from Australasia and Argentina. Frozen carcasses of mutton are shipped to London and other British cities in refrigerated ships. Wool is carried from these countries to London for one-half cent a pound. The world's statistics of wool for 1906 may serve as an index of the sheep industry. In that year wool was produced as follows: Pounds. Australasia 552,000,000 Argentina 370,000,000 Russia, including Poland and Siberia 320,000,000 United States 298,000,000 Great Britain and Ireland 133,000,000 Spain 52,000,000 South Africa 100,000,000 France, including Algeria 120,000,000 Turkey in Europe and Asia 100,000,000 Uruguay 66,000,000 Germany 25,000,000 China 42,000,000 Italy 21,000,000 Sweden and Norway 8,000,000 Mexico 10,000,000 Canada 12,000,000 Other countries bring the wool production of the year up to the incredible total of 2,605,000,000 pounds. As to what becomes of so much wool, we have only to remember that Great Britain alone has nearly 50,000,000 spindles engaged in spinning wool and cotton. The greater part of the world's production of wool finds its way into clothing. Mohammedans are forbidden to eat swine's flesh. Mutton, therefore, is a favorite food with them. In Persia, Tartary, Syria, and Morocco they have developed breeds of sheep remarkable for accumulations of fat. Pouches of fat descend from the rump to such an extent as to obscure the tail. It is said, we do not know on what authority, that in this way the tail of the Syrian sheep attains a weight of from thirty to sixty pounds. In fattening choice specimens a pair of wheels is provided for the support of the tail. See Tick ; Foot Rot ; Spinning ; Shoddy ; Goat ; Clothing ; Felting; Fleece Argali, Asia. Sheep