The ancients have remarked that all animals which chew the cud have suet, but this is only true with the sheep and goat, and that of the sheep is more abundant, whiter, drier, and better than that of any other. Suet differs materially from fat or grease, as the latter remains soft, but the former hardens in cooling. The suet amasses in the greatest quantities about the kidneys, and there is always more about the left than the right; there is also a great deal in the epiploon, and about the intestines, but that is not near so firm and good as that of the kidneys, tail, and other parts of the body. Sheep have no other fat than suet, and this matter is so predominant in their bodies, that their flesh is covered with it; even their blood contains a considerable quantity, and their semen is so loaded with it, as to have a different appearance from that of any other animal. That of man, the dog, horse, ass, and probably of all animals which have not suet, liquefies by cold, and becomes more and more fluid from the moment it comes out of the body; but that of the ram, goat, and perhaps of all animals which have suet, hardens, and loses all its fluidity with its heat. I discovered these differences when examining their different liquors with the microscope. That of the ram fixes a few moments after it is out of the body, and in order to discover the living organic molecules, of which it contains great numbers, heat must be applied to keep it in a state of fluidity.
The flavour of the flesh, the fineness of the wool, the quantity of the suet, and even the size of the sheep, differ greatly in different countries. At Berri, in France, they abound; those of the environs of Beauvoise, and some other parts of Normandy, are the fattest, and have the greatest quantity of suet. They are very good in Burgundy; but the best are those which are fed upon the downs in our maritime provinces. The wool of Italy, Spain, and England is finer than the wool of France. In Poitou, Provence, in the environs of Bayonne, and several other parts of France, there is some sheep which appear to be of a foreign race; they are larger, stronger, and have a greater quantity of wool than those of the common breed. They are also more prolific, generally producing two lambs at a time. The rams of this breed engender with the common ewes and produce an intermediate race. In Italy and Spain there is a great variety in their races of sheep, but they should all be regarded as forming one species with our common sheep, which though so numerous does not extend beyond Europe. Those animals with large broad tails, so common in Asia and Africa, and which travellers have given the name of Barbary sheep, appear to be of different species from our common sheep, as well as from the pacos and lama of America.