'IK, A TREATISE ON PIT,!; 141 



OF THE GOAT. C. 1. Qnadrupedia. O. VI., Pecora G., Capraof Lin. Horns, concave, 

 inclined upwards, straight and rough : teeth, fore, eight ; lower, shorter, more acute; canine, 

 none. The great Swedish Naturalist enumerates eleven species of Goats. 



Buffon considers the Ibex, the Chamois and the domestic Goat, as one species. (See 

 Nat. Hist., v. 3, p. 218.) 



Milne Edwards (who follows Cuvier) places the Goat in the order of " Ruminants," in 

 the division of "R. with horns," in the tribe of "hollow horns," and the genus of "Capra;" 

 and points out two wild species, the " yEgagre" and the "Bouquetin." He is of opinion, 

 that the domestic Goat is a descendant of these two wild species. The three races of 

 Goats most esteemed, are the Goats of Thibet, (also called the Cashmere Goat.) the 

 Angora and the Kirguis. 



Goats must have been domesticated at a very early period ; for, in the Song of Solomon, 

 written 1014 years B. C., mention is familiarly made of "feeding the kids before the shep- 

 herd's tents; but, as most things are judged of by comparison, the Goat has ever been 

 regarded with less respect, because he is supposed to be inferior to the Sheep ; as the 

 humble Ass is treated with contempt when compared with the noble Horse. It is possible 

 that religious impressions may have, unwittingly, kept alive this feeling, owing to the 

 purity always attributed to the Lamb, and the wicked being compared with the Goat. 



" And the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon th'e Throne of His 

 Glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them, one from another, as a, sheplierd divide/h 

 his sheep from the goats ; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the yoals on the left," &c., &e. (Matt. 25: 21.) 



Nevertheless there are, as we shall perceive in the sequel, some races of Goats whose 

 fleece is quite as valuable as that of the Sheep ; and we shall, notwithstanding the severe 

 sentence, figuratively, denounced by the Apostle upon the poor Goat, of "curses and ever- 

 lasting fire," venture to commend this animal to the especial attention of the American 

 agriculturists. 



OF THE GOAT OF THIBET. Thibet, in Asia, extends from the source of the Indus to 

 the borders of China, and from Hindoostan to the Desert of Gobi a distance of 1,500 

 miles. The capital is Lassa. Thibet is mountainous, and intersected by very large 

 rivers; the climate is cold, the soil sterile, and vegetation scanty. The principal wealth of 

 the inhabitants consists of cattle, among which is the Goat, which furnishes the fine fleece 

 from which are manufactured the valuable shawls of Cashmere. 



Cashmere is a province of India, belonging to Hindoostan, and this fine fleece of Thibet 

 is taken there and manufactured into shawls, whence the animal is sometimes, but very 

 improperly, called "the Cashmere Goat." They are said to employ in this manufacture 

 16,000 looms, and that 80,000 shawls are annually produced. 



OF THE ANGORA GOAT. Natolia (or Anatolia) is a province of Asiatic Turkey, extend- 

 ing from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and from Caramaniato the Archipelago and 

 the Sea of Marmora. In this province are raised another fine breed of Goats, called the 

 "Angora," from the city where the wool is manufactured into shawls, which are said to 



