24 The 'Book of the Goat. 



and a comparison with the features most prevalent 

 at the present time, I believe the following description 

 to be correct : Head neat and tapering, with moderate 

 beard ; frontal-bone prominent, horns set far apart, rising 

 slightly at first with an inclination to the rear, and then 

 branching outward ; ears rather large, erect more or less, 

 but often taking a horizontal position and pointing for- 

 wards. Body long and square-shaped, with a fairly close 

 coat. In the male, a grand specimen of which is shown in 

 the illustration of " Monster " (page 302), a prize-winner 

 in his day, the hair is -longer, particularly at the neck, 

 chest, and thighs, where it is thick and stiff. A fine, soft, 

 woolly undergrowth is often observable between the hair. 

 The colour ranges from black to white, but is more often 

 light or dark fawn, with a darker line along the back, and 

 black on the legs. The illustration of an English she-goat 

 (Fig. i) represents one in my possession in 1872, which 

 may be taken as a type of her kind, the artist having faith- 

 fully depicted her in every point but the head, which is 

 shown rather too thick and with a mouth too coarse. 



Irish and Welsh Coats. 



The varieties of Ireland and Wales, and especially the 

 latter, present more the form of the mountain goat, for it 

 may be noticed in many countries that the goat of the 

 hills differs somewhat from that of the plains. In Ireland 

 the opportunities for a mixing of breeds by foreign 

 importations have been much less favourable, and doubtless 

 in the more remote parts the type met with to-day is the 

 same as fhat which has existed there for centuries. 



The Irish goat is quite different from the English ; the 

 hair is long and shaggy, generally a reddish black and 

 white or yellowish grey and white. The head, instead 

 of being short and tapering, is long and ugly, the muzzle 

 being coarse and heavy, with a considerable amount of 



