ON THE WILD GOATS OF GREECE 397 



which were on the island a few years ago. It is true Professor 

 Knotek speaks of "cross-bred goats,'' but he may, after all, 

 only have seen this one, possibly several times. 



Dr Lorenz Liburnau accepts the other theory, but he says : 

 " If circumstances make it probable that the goats of Joura 

 owe their origin principally, perhaps solely, to domestic goats 

 run wild, it must be honestly admitted that this is by no means 

 proved with certainty, nor is it capable of such proof." He 

 goes on to say that the opposite theory — i.e., that the Joura 

 goat is a good species — can only be proved by the discovery 

 of the remains of goats dating from the pre-human period, 

 and absolutely identical with the goats of Joura. To me it 

 appears that there is another possible proof which he has 

 overlooked, and that lies in the wild goats of Samothrace. 



According to Danford, P.Z.S., 1875, p. 459, these goats are 

 C. cegagrus ; but Dr Kruper told Herr Reiser in Athens 

 that on the contrary many specimens, both alive and dead, 

 have reached Athens, and are absolutely identical with the 

 wild goats of Joura. This is a point which I hope to 

 elucidate personally at an early date ; and if it proves, as I 

 believe it will, that Dr Kruper is correct, can we really be 

 seriously asked to believe that in two islands a considerable 

 distance apart, mere feral goats have set up a distinct and 

 exactly similar type resembling C. cegagrus except in skull 

 and horn-formation ? 



When Dr Reichenow first brought the wild goat of Joura 

 to the knowledge of naturalists he gave it the name of Capra 

 dorcas. This name, however, had long before been given by 

 Linnaeus to the Dorcas Gazelle. It was, however, never 

 questioned, as it was generally considered that the Joura 

 goat was a cross-bred animal. I trust I have satisfied the 

 reader that this is not the case, and that this animal is, if not 

 a species by itself, at least a local variety, for which I have 

 ventured to suggest, in a paper recently read at the Zoological 

 Society, the name of Caiwa cegagrus var. Gerontiensis, or 

 if the trinomial system, which seems destined to come into 

 general use, be adopted, Capra cegagrus Gerontiensis. 



