ly affects the
fleece, as has been observed even in different districts in England, and as
is well shown by the great softness of the wool brought from Southern
Australia. But it should be observed, as Youatt repeatedly insists, that
the tendency to change may generally be counteracted by careful selection.
M. Lasterye, after discussing this subject, sums up as follows: "The
preservation of the Merino race in its utmost purity at the Cape of Good
Hope, in the marshes of Holland, and under the rigorous climate of Sweden,
furnishes an additional support of this my unalterable principle, that
fine-woolled sheep may be kept wherever industrious men and intelligent
breeders exist."

That methodical selection has effected great changes in several {100}
breeds of sheep no one, who knows anything on the subject, entertains a
doubt. The case of the Southdowns, as improved by Ellman, offers perhaps
the most striking instance. Unconscious or occasional selection has
likewise slowly produced a great effect, as we shall see in the chapters on
Selection. That crossing has largely modified some breeds, no one who will
study what has been written on this subject--for instance, Mr. Spooner's
paper--will dispute; but to produce uniformity, in a crossed breed, careful
selection and "rigorous weeding," as this author expresses it, are
indispensable.[237]

In some few instances new breeds have suddenly originated; thus, in 1791, a
ram-lamb was born in Massachusetts, having short crooked legs and a long
back, like a turnspit-dog. From this one lamb the _otter_ or _ancon_
semi-monstrous breed was raised; as these sheep could not leap over the
fences, it was thought that they would be valuable; but they have been
supplanted by merinos, and thus exterminated. These sheep are remarkable
from transmitting their character so truly that Colonel Humphreys[238]
never heard of "but one questionable case" of an ancon ram and ewe not
producing ancon offspring. When they are crossed with other breeds the
offspring, with rare exceptions, instead of being intermediate in
character, perfectly resemble either parent; and this has occurred even in
the case of twins. Lastly, "the ancons have been observed to keep together,
separating themselves from the rest of the flock when put into enclosures
with other sheep."

A more interesting case has been recorded in the Report of the Juries for
the Great Exhibition (1851), namely, the production of a merino ram-lam