Continental Milch Goats. 53 



applied to the " Westphalian goat " referred to by Dett- 

 weiler, the " Hinterwald " described by Huber, the 

 " Saxony " goat, and the " Wiesenthal " mentioned by 

 Petersen. We may therefore justly conclude that there 

 is no distinct breed of goat in Germany, where Swiss 

 breeds and crosses between these and the common goat 

 are mostly kept. 



The Maltese Goat. 



The goat in Malta is an animal of considerable import- 

 ance, for not only is it the chief source of milk, but 

 it acts the part of the milkman in towns and cities, 

 carrying its own commodity from house to house, even up 

 stairs on different floors, and being milked before the door 

 of the customer, who thus gets his supply pure and un- 

 adulterated. The taste of goats' milk on that island, how- 

 ever, differs from that obtained from most of the goats in 

 England, as there it has a decidedly strong and what we 

 should call " goaty " flavour, due, no doubt, to the stale 

 milk which is constantly left in the little cans used for 

 milking the goats decomposing with the heat, and also 

 possibly to odd scraps that the animal picks up in the 

 streets, for the goat in Malta is a dirty feeder. 



The Maltese goat is a comparatively small breed, 

 standing about 26in. or 2;in. high at the shoulder. It 

 carries a coat of long, straight hair on the body, but on the 

 head and neck the hair is often short and smooth. As with 

 most breeds, the colour varies considerably from white or 

 grey to black, whilst some are spotted. Those I have 

 kept or seen have been generally either greyish-white or 

 reddish-brown. This breed is regarded as practically horn- 

 less, but it is not absolutely so, as a few of those in Malta 

 are horned. The ears vary somewhat in regard to their 

 position. Some are carried horizontally, whilst o,thers are 

 what we should call semi-pendulous, and a few completely 



