HISTORY OF THE GOAT. 



47 



trees, so as to be proof riot only against the weather, but in 

 a great measure against the weapons of their enemies. 

 This species of garment is very frequently alluded to by 

 the ancient poets and historians. 



The war tunics of 'Cimbri, which, in their wars with 

 Marius, are represented as being such strong defences, were 

 of this material ; and the Roman auxiliaries had winter 

 dresses of the same, in Britain, and all the other colder 

 provinces of the empire. Even when weaving from spun 

 thread took the place of the more ancient matting, it is 

 highly probable that the long hair of the goat was used in 

 preference to the shorter wool of the sheep. We have 

 further evidence of the early domestication of the goat, in 

 the fact that all Celtic tribes, which are justly regarded as 

 the most ancient races of many parts of Europe, bred and 

 cultivated goats long before the introduction of sheep. In 

 the Highlands of Scotland and in Wales, the goat was the 

 original domestic animal ; and in both countries there are 

 many districts called by the name of Goiter, which is Celtic 

 for goat, and many families have the same surname, 

 whereas no name of the sheep is used except in cases 

 where the use of it is comparatively modern. All these 

 circumstances render the history of the goat a highly inter- 

 esting one ; but it is long, and the details are hardly fitted 

 for a work like the present, though a volume of great 

 interest might be written or. the domestic history of the 

 goat. 



Goats as a genus are distinguished from antelopes by 

 the bony nucleus, or core of the horns, being, in part at 

 least, cellular, and the cells communicating with the frontal 

 sinuses of the cranium. The horns are more or less angu- 

 lar, or ridged, with transverse knots and wrinkles. Their 

 usual position is upwards and backwards ; they are found 

 on both sexes ; but on the female they are much smaller in 

 size, and more smooth in their surfaces than in the males. 



