158 On the WtU Goat of the Alps. 



method in my opinion is not very certain, fince the wild goat 

 of I'Aigle, when I faw it in the mouth of Oftober 1784, had 

 four tranfverfal ridges, and two large and extenfive knots, 

 which were to form ridges. According to the calculation of 

 the hunters, therefore, this animal ought to have been four or 

 five years of age, and vet it is certain that it was only two 

 years and a half. Hence, it is not by the horns that the a<re 

 of the wild goats can be determined with certainly, but by 

 means of the teeth, as is done in regard to flieep. 



It appears that the v. ild goat lives to a very great age, but 

 not fo long as might be fuppofed from the report of the hunt- 

 ers; for, according to them, it grows to the age of fourteen or 

 fifteen; and as it is known that all animals live feven times 

 the period of their growth, it would thence follow, that the 

 wild goat might attain to the age of ninety-eight or one 

 hundred and live years. We fliall loon fee that this calcula- 

 tion is very much exaggerated. 



From what I have already fiiid, it is evident that the hunt- 

 ers are miftakcn when they fay that the wild goat grows to 

 the age of fourteen or fifteen : what has led them into an 

 error is the number of tranfverfal ridges, which is always 

 greater than the number of years, and eonfcquently has 

 made the animal appear older than it really was. 



Another method, therefore, muft be employed to deter- 

 mine the period of their growth. The wild goat is not ca- 

 pable of producing its fpecies before the age of two years, or 

 two years and a half: if that of I'Aigle produced at the age 

 of two years, this ought, perhaps, to be afcribed to the more 

 abundant nourifliment with which it was fupplied in its ftate 

 of fervitude, which haftened prematurely its procreative fa- 

 culties. -And, as it is known that quadrupeds cannot en- 

 gender before the time when they have nearly attained tQ 

 their full growth, we may prefume, with fome fort of founda- 

 tion, that the wild goat grows to the age of four years, and 

 perhaps more. This will give 38 or 30 years for the dura- 

 tion of its life, which, in my opinion, is much more natural 

 than that affigned by the hunters. 



The horns increafe in length ahnoft during the whole life 

 of the animal, but in fizc it grows only till the age of 15 ot 

 16 vcars. The largeft have 20 or 30 tranfverfal ridges. 



The female wild goat, called vulgarly ctagne, is a third 

 Icfs than the male: it is alfo thinner, and Itfs flcfliy. Its. 

 horns have very little relation to thofe of the male wild goat j 

 they are like thofe of the common goat, and are very Iniall : 

 I have feen fome at Chamonix which were only eighl inches 

 in length. They have no anterior face; and, like thofe of 



the 



