The Goat as a Foster-Mother. 251 



dilemma it occurred to him to obtain a goat newly kidded, 

 and to try and train the animal to suckle the infant after 

 the fashion of the she-wolf in the story of Romulus and 

 Remus. The experiment was successful, and the goat 

 took readily to the child, running to it whenever it cried 

 as if it were its own ' kid.' This went on until in due 

 course, and in order to maintain the supply of milk, the 

 goat had a fresh lot of kids, and here the strangest part 

 of the anecdote has to be told. This extraordinary animal 

 showed not the slightest affection for its new progeny, 

 but entirely neglected them in its desire to supply nourish- 

 ment to the child." When the tale was related to me, 

 the child had nearly attained womanhood, being then 

 in her seventeenth year, and the wonderful goat, I 

 was informed, still lived. 



