Horns compressed, and lunated.

O. Aries, Desm. Mammal, p. 488. Flem. Brit. An. p. 25. Sheep, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 27. Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. II. p. 385.

Description

Varying much in size and colour : with or without horns : wool coarse or fine, long or short, according to the breed, sometimes approaching the quality of hair: tail short, or reaching below the knees.

Probably not originally indigenous. Primitive stock supposed to be the Argali* (Ovis Ammon, Gmel)., which is found in a wild state in the mountainous parts of Asia. Period of gestation about five months. Produces one or two at a birth, rarely more. The two middle incisors fall at the end of the first year, and are replaced by others; the next in succession at about the age of two and a half: by the end of the third year, or soon after, all have been renewed, and the individual is said to be full-mouthed.