CAPRA. 



man without difficulty, is won by kind- 

 ness, and capable of attachment. Con- 

 finement is ill suited to his excursive 

 tendencies, and he is fond of retiring 

 into solitude, and ranging- on the cliffs of 

 the most rugged and barren mountains. 

 He will not only climb and stand on the 

 loftiest craggs, but sleep also on the 

 verge of the most steep and terrific pre- 

 cipices. He is capable of enduring both 

 cold aod heat, and the most ardent rays 

 of the sun produce in him no vertigo or 

 sickness of any description ; the violence 

 of storms causes him little or no inconve- 

 niencies, but he suffers somewhat from 

 very rigorous cold. His organs are ex- 

 tremely supple, and his frame is robust 

 and nervous. Almost all herbs are used 

 by him for food, and few are noxious to 

 him. His favourite nourishment, how- 

 ever, is derived from the tender branches 

 and bark of trees and shrubs, from lichens 

 and hemlock. He is sprightly, roaming 

 and lascivious in the extreme ; inconstant 

 and capricious in his temper; and the vi- 

 vacity of his feelings is exhibited in a 

 perpetual succession of rapid, abrupt, 

 and sportive movements. He prefers 

 barren heats to luxuriant pastures, 

 avoids moist and marshy places, and 

 never flourishes but in mountainous, or 

 at least elevated situations. The female 

 will allow itself to be sucked by the 

 young of various other animals, and a 

 foal which has lost its mother has been 

 seen thus nourished by a goat, which, in 

 order to facilitate the process, was placed 

 on a barrel. The attachment between 

 the nurse and foal appeared strong and 

 natural. The milk of the goat, contain- 

 ing few oily particles, is much valued in 

 medicine, and being easily curdled, is 

 formed into cheese of high estimation. 

 The celebrated Parmesan cheese is made 

 of it. 



The goats of Wales are generally 

 white, and are both stronger and larger 

 than those of other hilly countries. Their 

 flesh is much used by the inhabitants, 

 and often dried and salted, and substitut- 

 ed for bacon. The skins of kids are 

 much valued for gloves, and were for- 

 merly employed in furniture, when paint- 

 ed with rich colours, of which they are 

 particularly capable,and embellished with 

 ornamental flowers and works of silver 

 and gold. 



The extremely unpleasant odour at- 

 tending these animals is supposed to be 

 beneficial, and horses appear so much 

 refreshed by it, that a goat is on this ac- 

 count often kept in the stables of the 

 yreat. Of the many varieties of this 



species, that of Angora is the most cu- 

 rious. It is principally valued for its 

 long and exquisitely fine hair, which it 

 loses by a change of pasture from the 

 immediate vicinity of Angora, and which 

 the owners are incessantly assiduous in 

 washing and combing, and otherwise 

 promoting its growth and cleanliness. 

 It is formed into camlets of the finest 

 texture. 



The Syrian goat is remarkable for its 

 pendulous ears, and is common in va- 

 rious parts of the East : the animals of 

 this variety are driven in flocks through 

 the Oriental towns every morning and 

 evening, and each house-keeper sees 

 drawn from them, before her door, as 

 much milk as she is in want of. See 

 Mammalia, Plate VI. fig. 6. 



The Chamois goat inhabits the most 

 elevated mountains of Europe, and feeds 

 on shrubs, roots and herbs : its chase is 

 extremely laborious and danger/cms : its 

 sight and smell are both exquisite : it is 

 particularly shy : its swiftness is also very 

 great, and it makes its way with speed 

 over the most pointed rocks, can mount 

 or descend precipices with facility, and 

 hang on steeps nearly perpendicular. 

 Plate VI. fig- 5. 



C. Ibex, or the Ibex goat of Pennant. 

 This is considerably larger than the lust 

 species : its blood was formerly deemed 

 a specific in the materia medica for va- 

 rious diseases : its strength and feeling 

 are extraordinary : it is found in the Car- 

 pathian and Pyrennean mountains, in the 

 Rhoetian Alps, in Crete, and in Tartary. 

 When hardly pressed, it will throw itself 

 from a vast height with little or no injury, 

 contriving always to fall on its horns. 

 Plate IV. fig. 4. 



C. Caucasica, the Caucasan goat, in- 

 habits the most rugged rocks of mount 

 Caucasus, and is, perhaps, superior in 

 vigour and agility to all that have been 

 mentioned. A bezoar is sometimes found 

 in the stomach of this animal, as. well 

 as in that of several others quadrupeds. 

 Monardes states that he saw one of these 

 creatures leap from a high tower, and 

 having reached the ground upon his 

 horns, immediately, without any wound, 

 dislocation, or contusion, rise on his feet. 



CAPRARIA, in botany, goat-weed, a 

 genus of the Didynamia Angiospermia 

 class and order. Natural order of Per- 

 sonatse. Scrophularix, Jussieu: Essen- 

 tial character : calyx five-parted ; corol 

 bell-form, five-cleft, acute ; capsules bi- 

 valve, bilocular, many seeded. There are 

 seven species, of which C. biflora, shrub- 

 by goat-weed, or sweet-weed, is a shrub. 



