CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 9. RUMINANTIA. 



515 



Celtic tribes of Europe bred goats long before they bad cattle. The goat was the first domestic 

 animal of Wales and tbe Highlands of Scotland. 



But admitting this historical renown of the goat in connection with man, what was the source 

 of the domestic breed, and are the diversified domestic breeds of Europe, Asia, and Africa all of 

 one descent ? Cuvier, and other eminent naturalists, regard the Paseng, the Hircus cegagrus, as 

 the original stock of all the domestic breeds, and for this there seems good reason, as it has been 

 found readily to breed with them; but still there are high authorities of a different opinion. 



Leaving these questions, which, perhaps, can never be satisfactorily determined, we shall con- 

 tent ourselves with a brief notice of some of the more remarkable breeds. Throughout Europe 

 and America the common variety prevails ; in Asia there are several of very peculiar character- 

 istics. The Angora Goat,* which is reared to a great extent in the vicinity of the city which 

 iiives it name, is noted for its fleece of soft, fine hair, resembling wool, and which is largely man- 

 ufactured into various stuffs, 



THE SYH1AN GOAT. 



The Syrian Goats are remarkable for their long, pendant ears, and fine, long hair, used for 

 the manufacture of various fabrics. This is probably the variety spoken of in the Bible, and of 

 the hair of which the Curtains for the Tabernacle were made. It is found not only in Syria, 

 but in Arabia and Egypt, and is taught to perform a variety of feats of dexterity, among which 

 is that of standing with its four feet upon a number of cylindrical blocks like dice-boxes, placed 

 endwise one upon another to the height of several feet. 



The most celebrated variety, however, is the Cashmere Goat, which produces the fine wool of 

 which the famous Cashmere shawls are made. They are spread throughout Thibet and the ad- 

 jacent countries, where they are bred with great care. They are covered with long, fine, silky 

 hair, under which, in the winter, there is a vest of the most delicate grayish wool. It is this 

 which is wrought into the fabrics in question. Only about three ounces are annually produced by 

 a single goat ; the price of this, even in Thibet, is about a dollar and a quarter a pound. Several 

 of these animals have been introduced into France and England; in both these countries a num- 

 ber have been successfully bred. Some have also been brought to the United States, and the 

 attempt to breed them here has, we are informed, made encouraging progress. 



* Angora is a city of 15,000 inhabitants in Asia Minor, to the northeast of Smyrna. Stuffs and yarn are here 

 largely manufactured of the hair or wool of the Angora Goat. Of this 13,000,000 pounds are annually exported. 



