132 SHAKESPEARE'S [GOAT. 



ing the leaves of tamarisk lose their gall. The rhodo- 

 dendron is poison to Goats, and yet the same helpeth a 

 man against the venom of serpents. Also they avoid 

 cummin, for it maketh them mad, or bringeth upon them 

 lethargies, and such like infirmities. He avoideth also the 

 spittle of man, for it is hurtful to him, and yet he eateth 

 many venomous herbs and groweth fat thereby. The Goats 

 of Cephalonia drink not every day like other Goats, but 

 only once or twice in six months. And wheras all other 

 kind of cattle, when they are sick, consume and pule away by 

 little and little, only Goats perish suddenly, insomuch as all 

 that are sick are unrecoverable ; and the other of the stock 

 must be instantly let blood and separated before the infec- 

 tion overspread all. The female Goat easeth the pain of 

 her eyes by pricking them upon a bullrush, and the male 

 Goat by pricking them upon a thorn. The females never 

 wink in their sleep, being herein like the roe-bucks. There 

 are certain birds called [Goatsuckers] because of their suck- 

 ing of Goats, and when these have sucked a Goat, she 

 presently falleth blind. Young wild Goats gather meat 

 and bring it to their mothers in their age, and likewise 

 they run to the rivers or watering-places, and with their 

 mouths suck up water, which they bring to quench the 

 thirst of their parents ; and whereas their bodies are rough 

 and ugly to look upon, the young ones lick them over with 

 their tongues, making them smooth and neat. The horns, 

 [of the wild Goats] serve them [the shepherds] instead of 

 buckets to draw water out of the running streams ; they 

 are so great, that no man is able to drink them off at one 

 draught. The wild Goats of Egypt are said never to be 

 hurt by scorpions. 



Topsell, "Four-footed Beasts," pp. 181-94. 



IF Goat's blood be taken warm, with vinegar and the 

 juice of hay and the like be boiled with glass, it makes the 

 glass soft like paste, and it may be thrown against a wall, 

 and will not break, and if the aforesaid be poured into a 

 vase, and the face anointed with it, strange and horrible 

 things will appear, and the man will think that he must 

 die. 



dlbertus Magnus, " Of the Virtues of Animals." 



