ORIGIN AND TRANSFER OF DOMESTIC QUADRUPEDS. 89 
course, it owes the horse, the ass, the ox, the sheep, the goat, 
and the swine, as does also Australia, to European colonization. 
Modern Europe has, thus far, not accomplished much in the 
way of importation of new animals, though some interesting 
essays have been made. The reindeer was successfully intro- 
duced into Iceland about a century ago, while similar attempts 
failed, about the same time, in Scotland. The Cashmere or 
Thibet goat was brought to France a generation since, and 
succeeds well. The same or an allied species and the Asiatic 
buffalo were carried to South Carolina about the year 1850, 
and the former, at least, is thought likely to prove of perma- 
nent value in the United States.* The yak, or Tartary ox, 
seems to thrive in France, and it is hoped that success will 
attend the present efforts to introduce the South American 
alpaca into Europe.t 
instances of the extinction of a domestic quadruped, and the extreme im- 
probability of such an event gives some countenance to the theory of the 
identity of the domestic ox with, and its descent from, the urus. 
* The goat introduced into South Carolina was brought from the district of 
Angora, in Asia Minor, which has long been celebrated for flocks of this valu- 
able animal. It is calculated that more than a million of these goats are 
raised in that district, and it is commonly believed that the Angora goat and its 
wool degenerate when transported. Probably this is only an invention of 
the shepherds to prevent rivals from attempting to interfere with so profitable 
amonopoly. But if the popular prejudice has any foundation, the degene- 
racy is doubtless to be attributed to ignorance of the special treatment which 
long experience has taught the Angora shepherds, and the consequent neglect 
of such precautions as are necessary to the proper care of the animal. 
Throughout nearly the whole territory of the United States the success of the 
Angora goat is perfect, and it would undoubtedly thrive equally well in Italy, 
though it is very doubtful whether in either country the value of its fleece 
would compensate the damage it would do to the woods. 
+ The reproductive powers of animals, as well as of plants, seem to be some- 
times stimulated in an extraordinary way by transfer to a foreign clime. The 
common warren rabbit introduced by the early colonists into the island of 
Madeira multiplied to such a degree as to threaten the extirpation of vegeta- 
tion, and in Australia the same quadruped has become so numerous as to be 
a very serious evil. The colonists are obliged to employ professional rabbit- 
hunters, and one planter has enclosed his grounds by four miles of solid wall, 
at an expense of $6,000, to protect his crops against these ravagers.— Revue 
des Livux et Foréts, 1870, p. 38. 
