362 Miscellaneous. 



it is also often observable that two kids produced at the same birth 

 exhibit this remarkable difference. These goats are less prolific than 

 the smaller breeds, seldom producing more than two at a birth, and 

 going longer between their bearing than the others. There is as 

 remarkable a difference in their udders as in their ears. Some have 

 immense teats, and yield a great quantity of milk, while others are 

 very deficient. This breed is, I am told, highly esteemed in India, 

 and they fetch a higher price at Calcutta than any otiiers ; but they 

 are here remarkably obnoxious to pulmonary disorders, and I have 

 seen so many instances of this, that I am never disposed to purchase 

 them. They are generally covered with a rather coarse hair, of 

 moderate length, but very long in the thighs and breech. Black 

 is the prevailing colour, and it is very common to see the ears covered 

 with small white specks. The neck of this breed is usually carried 

 at a greater angle with the body than in the other kinds : in some 

 specimens this gives them an appearance approaching that of the 

 lama. I have seen males of this kind 3 feet high at the shoulder, 

 and females as much as 2 ft. 9 in. Many goats are brought hither 

 from Muscat. They are a very pretty breed, of moderate size, with 

 long hair hanging down from each side nearly to the knees. They 

 have very pretty little heads, and the horns are very fine, and form a 

 pretty curve backwards, spreading so little that they sometimes require 

 to be cut to prevent them from hurting the cheeks, when they have 

 grown so long as to turn forward, which occurs at 5 or 6 years of 

 age. These are generally excellent milkers, but are very obnoxious 

 to pulmonary disorders, connected with which is a very singular fact, 

 which I can vouch for from at least a dozen cases that have occurred 

 in my own flock. Goats in general, but this breed most especially, 

 are subject to be infested with a louse of a dark red colour, having 

 six legs. If these insects are very numerous, it is an infallible sign 

 that the lungs are diseased ; and they increase with the progress of 

 the disorder, till at last they are in such numbers, that in the 

 hollow of the flanks and behind the shoulders you cannot put a pin's 

 head between them. They may be destroyed with tobacco or mer- 

 cury ; but in a few days the beast will be as much infested with them 

 as before, and cannot be kept free. No matter how healthy the creature 

 may appear ; if there are many of these lice on it, you may be per- 

 fectly sure that the lungs are not sound. Another variety much like 

 this in form, but of rather smaller size and with remarkably close 

 hair, is brought from the upper part of the Persian Gulf. They are 

 the prettiest goats I know, having remarkably small heads with full 

 eyes, and horns like the last-mentioned in point of fineness, but 

 much less curved. They are a very healthy breed, and much dis- 

 posed to carry flesh. The teats of this race are, as far as I have 

 seen, invariably pointed at the end and very full at the top, and their 

 udders are particularly thin and soft. I have never seen a male of 

 this breed, but there is a very singular feature in the males of the 

 last-mentioned kind : the testicles are so separated in the scrotum 

 as to have much the appearance of teats, and I <mce saw a person at 

 a sale give a high price for one, under the idea that it was a female, 

 with a fine show of milk. This peculiarity is more or less observable 



