Chap. 76.] GOATS. 339 



fair breed, when the legs are short, and the belly is covered 

 with wool ; when this part is bare, they used to be called 

 apicse, and were looked upon as worthless. 70 The tail of the 

 Syrian sheep is a cubit in length, 71 and it is upon that part 

 that most of the wool is found. It is considered too early to 

 castrate lambs before they are five months old. 



(49.) There is in Spain, and more especially in Corsica, a 

 peculiar kind of animal called the musmon, 72 not very unlike a 

 sheep, but with a fleece which more resembles the hair of the 

 goat than the wool of the sheep. The ancients gave the name 

 of umbri 73 to the breed between this animal and the sheep. 

 The head of the sheep is the weakest part of all, on which 

 account it is obliged, when it feeds, to turn away from the 

 sun. 74 The animals which are covered with wool are the most 

 stupid of all. 75 When they are afraid to enter any place, if 

 one is only dragged into it by the horns, all the rest will 

 follow. The longest duration of their life is ten years ; but in 

 ^Ethiopia it is thirteen. Goats live in that country eleven 

 years, but in othe^r parts of the world mostly eight years only. 

 Both of these animals require to be covered not more than four 

 times to ensure conception. 



CHAP. 76. (50.) GOATS AND THEIK PEOPAGATION. 



The goat occasionally brings forth as many as four at a 

 birth ; but this is rarely the case. 76 It is pregnant five months, 



70 Pliny probably took this from Varro, B. ii. c. 2. This term is derived 

 from TTHKW, " to shear," with the negative prefix. B. 



71 The word " cubitales " alone is used, which might be supposed to 

 refer only to the length of the tail ; but Hardouin conceives that it must 

 also apply to the breadth, and refers to Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 

 28. and others, in proof of the great size which the tails of the Syrian 

 sheep attain, and which would not be indicated by merely saying that they 

 are a cubit long ; this being little more than the ordinary length in other 

 countries. B. 



72 According to Hardouin, this term, or some word nearly resembling it, 

 was applied to mules or mongrels, as well as to individual animals of di- 

 minutive size or less perfect form. B. Called " moufflon " by the French. 



73 The term " umbri" appears to have been applied to a mongrel or less 

 perfect animal ; like " musmon," it is of uncertain derivation. B. 



74 So also Varro, uU supra, and Columella, B. vii. c. 3. B. See also 

 B. xviii. c. 76. 



75 This remark, and the others in the remainder of this Chapter, appear 

 to be taken from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 3. B. 



76 We have an account of the generation of the goat in Aristotle, Hist. 



z 2 



