2^54 On the Wild Goat of the Alps. 



ture that it never can be tamed. If he allnties to the old 

 wild goats, he is right ; but the inftances above mentioned 

 prove that, if the wild goat be caught young, it is fufceptible 

 of education : and this opinion is coniirmed by that of Bclon, 

 *vho fays, that in the illand oF Crete this animal is tamed 

 when voung. 



When one of thefe animald lias been killed, it is left on 

 the fpot till it becomes cold. The entrails are then taken 

 out, and the blood is put into the ftomach. In confequence 

 of this method it never acquires a bad fniell, which lakes 

 place when this precaution is neglected. Large wild goats, 

 without the entrails, weigh ]8o or 200 pounds, of i8 ounces. 

 The female from 70 to 80 and 90 pounds. The flefh of this 

 animal is excellent ; it has the taite of mutton, but is more 

 fuccuient. 



The Ikin can be drelTeJ exceedingly well : it becomes very 

 pliable, and reCcuiblcs that of the goat. It is employed for 

 manufadluring fiianiov leather. Various fmall articles are 

 made of the horns, Inch as cups and goblets. The blood is 

 employed in falfe pleurifics; Inu, as its pro)x:rties arc owing 

 to the plants on which the animal feeds, that of the common 

 goat and ram, when fed in the faiiic manner, has the fame 

 tiTicacy *. 



The fale of thefe goats is liable to many variations: it de- 

 pends on the weight of the beaft, and the eagernefs of the 

 purchafer. Formerly they were cheaper, becaiifc more com- 

 mon. At prefent ihev are ibid I'omctimes for lour louis- 

 d'ors. The chamois alfo is fold for one louis-d'or. The 

 wild coat is fond of fait : it licks the rocks which contain 

 Epfotn or Glauber's fait, and the waters which hold it in fo- 

 luticn. It feeds chiefly on the wild plants that grow on the 

 higher Alps, fuch as iilky wormwood, aUenuJia glacial'is\ 

 bul in winter it eats the lichens and young Ihoots of the 

 trees. Like that of Siberia t, it prefers thole places which 

 abound with the dwarf birch, the Alpine willow, the iha- 

 liaruin, falfafras, rofe-wort, rhodlola, the wiliow-herb, epi- 

 lol'ium. Sec. 



Thele animals are much fcarcer than they were formerly j 

 they are ft)und at prrfcnt only in fome mountains of Savoy 

 and the Valais, whereas formerly they were difpcrfed through- 

 out all the higher parts of Swiflerland :J:. But this is not 



aftonifliing> 



* Hift. Nat. par Bi'.ff ", vol. xii. p. 164. 



+ bpicil. Zool. fasf. >:i. p. .,9. 



+ iMy friend M U*ir:cnli^cl>, firft pnftor of the chvirch of St. Efprit 

 at B. me, who has travtlkd over antl dtfcribcd the mountains of Swiffcr- 

 land with the eyes of an eniii:hte«ed n:ituralift ii.d the l^iirit of a good oh- 



lervtr. 



