HISTORY OF THE GOAT. 43 



productions of the Joorns of Europe are superior, yet in 

 durability the very best of them fall short of the genuine 

 productions of India, if made of the unmixed covering of 

 the shawl goat of Himalaya. 



Goats in all the varieties of their species, are understood 

 to be remarkably healthy and wholsome animals. Among 

 their native rocks they browse upon vegetables much to 

 hard for almost any other of the ruminating animals ; and it 

 is understood that scarcely any plant, be it what it may, is 

 deleterious to a goat' It is also said, that they are not only 

 proof against the poison of reptiles, but that they feed with 

 impunity upon those possessing the most deadly venom. 

 This last is not very clearly made out, though it is by no 

 means unlikely ; because there are proverbs respecting it 

 in some languages. Thus for instance, in the highlands of 

 Scotland, there is an old proverbial expression for gratui- 

 tous malignity, which states that is " like a goat eating the 

 serpent." 



As goats are more vigorous in their motions, and proba- 

 bly more energetic in their ^naracter than any other rumi- 

 nant animals, the flesh of the full grown ones, especially 

 the males, is more tough, and it has a peculiar flavor which 

 many persons do not relish. Its color is remarkable for 

 depth, indicating that there is more blood in a goat than in 

 almost any other animal ; and it is remarkable as a physio- 

 logical fact, that this general distribution of blood, and 

 consequent redness of appearance in the muscles of animals, 

 is always in proportion to the degree of energy with which 

 these muscles are exerted, or capable of being exerted. 

 When prepared as hams the flesh of male goats, though 

 exceedingly hard and peculiar in its flavor, is much relish- 

 ed by some persons ; and to any one who wishes to ' make 

 a day' in climbing the rocks in a goat's country, there are 

 few pocket companions more worthy of being recommended 

 than some slices near the knuckle-end of a goat's ham At 



