198 MAMMALIA. 



CaprA; Lin. 



The horns of the Goats are directed upwards and backwards ; the 

 chin generally furnished with a long beard, and the chanfrin almost 

 always concave. 



C. segragtis^ Gm.; Cuv. Menag. du Mus. 8vo, II, 177. (The 

 jEgagrus or Wild Goat.) Appears to be the stock of all the 

 varieties of our Domestic Goat. It is distinguished by its 

 horns, trenchant in front, very large in the male ; short, or 

 altogether wanting in the female, which is also sometimes the 

 case in the two species of Ibex. It lives in herds on the moun- 

 tains of Persia, (where it is known by the name of paseng,) and 

 perhaps on those of other countries, even in the Alps. The 

 oriental bezoar is a concretion found in its intestines. 



The Goats, and our domestic species (Capra hircus, L.) vary 

 infinitely in size, colour, and in the length and fineness of the 

 hair ; in the size of the horns, and even in their number. The 

 Angora Goats in Cappadocia have the longest and most silky 

 hair. Those of Thibet are renowned for the admirably fine wool 

 which grows among their hair, with which the celebrated 

 Cachemires are manufactured. There is a race in upper Egypt 

 with short hair, convex chanfrin, and projecting lower jaw, 

 which possibly is hybrid. The Goats of Guinea, called Mam- 

 brines and TFhida, are very small, the horns inclining back- 

 wards. All these animals are stout, capricious, and fond of 

 wandering ; sensible of their mountain origin, they prefer dry 

 and wild places, feeding on coarse grass and shoots of young 

 trees. They do much injury to the forests. The Kid only is 

 eaten, but their milk is useful in several diseases. The female 

 can produce at seven months^ her period of gestation is five, and 

 she generally has two kids at a birth. 



a Ibex, L.J Buff. XII, pi. xiiij Schreb. CCLXXXI. (The 

 Ibex.) Large horns, square in front, marked with transverse 

 and prominent knots. It inhabits the most elevated sum- 

 mits of the highest ranges of mountains in the whole of the 

 eastern continent. 



C. cmicasica, Guldenst,, Act. Petrop. 1779, II, pi. xvi, xvii ; 

 Schr. CCLXXXI, B. (The Caucasian Ibex.) Distinguished 

 by its large triangular horns, obtuse, but not square in front, 

 and knotty like those of the preceding. The two species mix 

 with the Domestic Goat.(l) 



(1) Add the Bouquetin d'Eihiopie, F. Cuv. Mammif. The Jfrican Maned Ibex, 

 Tackhaitse, S. Daniels, Afric Scenery, pi. xxiv. 



