GOATS. 295 



One was found with a fore-leg caught over his horn, 

 and so was easily secured, for he could not, of course, 

 run, and had probably got himself into that attitude 

 when fighting. They have a shaggy head, long hair 

 or mane upon the chest, a long white tail, and wild red 

 eyes. They utter fearful snorts, and kick and leap 

 about in the most grotesque and fantastic manner. If 

 a red handkerchief be held before them, it produces the 

 most violent excitement. 



GOATS. 



THIS three last genera of which I shall treat are all 

 Ruminantia, and are distinguished by their horns, 

 which are divided into cells, and which cells commu- 

 nicate with the skull. The two first, Goats and Sheep, 

 so closely resemble each other, that in many instances 

 the one appears to be a mere variety of the other. If 

 we look at the Merino breed, with its closely-curled, 

 soft, white wool, and then turn to a grave-looking goat, 

 with its long beard and hair, we shall not be conscious 

 of their resemblance ; but if we place a sheep that has 

 long resided or been born in a tropical country by 

 the side of the goat, we shall scarcely be able to dis- 

 tinguish one from the other. The wool gradually un- 

 curls, lengthens, and becomes harsh and glossy ; and 

 were not the goats' horns directed upward and then 

 inclined backwards, those of the sheep direct back- 

 wards and returned to the front in a spiral form ; had 

 not the goats, generally speaking, a long beard, and 

 the sheep none ; and had not the goats a concave or 

 flat forehead, and the sheep mostly a convex one, wo 



