1C) THE GOAT. 



Of the Goats of Europe, the most varied and beautiful are 

 those which inhabit the countries of the Mediterranean. 

 They have generally horns, long flowing beards, and hair of 

 divers colours, from inilk-white to black. Those of Greece 

 and the Islands of the Archipelago have been in esteem from 

 early times. The writers of Greece refer to the Achaian, as 

 a breed greatly valued The Romans cultivated the Goats 

 largely, and their rustic writers give us numerous details 

 regarding the modes of rearing and treating them. In 

 modern Italy, Goats are very numerous, especially in Cala- 

 bria and the mountainous countries. They abound likewise 

 in Spain and Portugal, where they are cultivated chiefly for 

 their milk, and the flesh of the kids. The Goats there are 

 to be seen driven into the cities in the morning, and milked 

 at the doors of the houses. In France, there are consider- 

 able numbers of Goats, but of no peculiar beauty of race. A 

 strong prejudice exists against them on account of the injury 

 they cause to the vines and forests. The district in France 

 most celebrated for Goats is the Canton of Mont d'Or, where, 

 in a space not exceeding two leagues at its largest diameter, 

 upwards of eleven thousand are kept, chiefly for the supply 

 of the city of Lyons with cheese. In the northern countries 

 of Europe, Goats are in considerable numbers ; but for the 

 most part they are inferior in size and beauty to those of the 

 countries of the Mediterranean. In the heathy mountains 

 they become of small size, and are covered with a shaggy 

 coat of long brown hair. Sometimes they have escaped from 

 servitude, and become as wild and difficult to be approached 

 as the Deer of the same countries. 



The Goat, though obeying the law to which all the domesti- 

 cated animals are subject, and presenting itself under a great 

 variety of aspect, retains many of the characters and habits 

 which distinguish it in the state of liberty. It is lively, 

 ardent, robust, capable of enduring the most intense cold, and 

 seemingly little incommoded by the extremes of heat. It is 

 wild, irregular, and erratic in its movements. It is bold in 



