110 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [13:3— Mar., 1917 



prone to show ill temper and butt, a character that they have 

 retained from their wild progenitors doubtlessly ; but Mr. Fred 

 Smith tells us that this is but empty bravado on the part of old 

 Billy: "If his beard be seized he at once loses all courage, and 

 begins to bleat in a very pitiful way." The goat is said to be a 

 much more intelligent animal than the sheep and many interesting 

 stories are told to prove this. 



The native nursery of the goat may be said to be Asia. The 

 wild goat of Persia which occurs from Crete to the desert hills 

 of Cutch is the progenitor of most of our domesticated breeds. 

 Today Europe could hardly do without the goat. This animal 

 figures largely in the live stock of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, 

 and Scandinavia. We can better understand this when we note 

 that in little Corsica alone, as many as 90,000 goats are made to 

 serve man. 



The goat gives birth to two kids in April, and when young these 

 little animals are pretty and truly interesting in their frisking play. 

 The older animals are expert in getting a living from exceedingly 

 scanty fare; they are browsers, and will eat bush, leaf, and ill 

 tasting herbs with great complacency, and their climbing habits 

 stand them in good stead, for they can reach a morsel of green 

 herbage in this fashion that is physically beyond the mouths of 

 most other browsing quadrupeds. It would be interesting to 

 know how far back in the history of the goat the climbing habit 

 was developed. Geologically, the goat has been traced back 

 to the Pliacene : probably there he was as good a climber as he is 

 today. 



The goat is made use of in different countries according to the 

 taste of the inhabitants. In some regions its flesh is much 

 relished, especially the kids furnish good meat; the older goats 

 become musky and inedible.. Again, it is the milk that is valued 

 and in Italy and Switzerland a cheese is made from goats' milk 

 that natives of those countries are exceedingly fond of. It 

 might be mentioned that the milk of this animal is peculiar to 

 the taste and is not relished until one has acquired a liking for it. 

 Skins of goats are used in many countries extensively for making 

 morocco, gloves andm any other articles. Mohair is also obtained 

 from certain goats and this is valuable and much in demand. 

 There are two famed breeds of Mohair goats : one, the Cashmere, 

 which has long, straight, silky hair and has a winter under-coat 



