194 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



a prey to suffering, death, and putrefaction. 

 We might understand such cruelt}' in some 

 poor creature trying to earn a lix'ing, but it 

 ought ne\'er to enter the minds of educated 

 men, or at least those who regard themselves 

 as such. \\'e must, however, add that tlie 

 chamois living on the highest, wildest, and 

 most inaccessible rocks has often sold his life 

 dear at the cost of that of many a hunter. 



existing at the period of the lake villages of 

 Switzerland were precisely the same as those 

 of to-day, which proves that until now man 

 has not thought it worth while to improve this 

 animal .Species. There is little or no difference 

 between the exteriors of the Norwegian, Swiss, 

 Spanish, and Grecian goats. Everj'where we 

 find them with or without horns, and with long 

 or short hair, striped with many discordant 



Belgian Go..\ts with Horns 



The chamois mates successfully with the 

 domestic goat, and is easily tamed; but its pas- 

 sion for climbing never dies, and its progeny 

 inherit it. 



IV. The Domestic Go.\t 



Up to the present time little pains have 

 been taken to divide the tamed goats into 

 species, but of late persons are beginning 

 more and more to distinguish and improve the 

 different breeds. It is a fact that the goats 



colors — yellow, red, white, reddish brown, 

 gray, and black. Goats of a single color are 

 rarely found, unless they have come through 

 the hands of breeders who have bred them 

 with that idea in view. 



The S7VISS goat of tJic Sanien is the chief 

 species of central Europe. It comes from 

 the valleys of the Sarnen and the Simmen, 

 and is characterized by its color, which is 

 wholly white, by the absence of horns, and 

 especially by its great production of milk. 



