3 ;(3 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE GOAT.* 



" THE opinions of naturalists," says Mr. Bell, " have been much divided respecting the original stock ot 

 our domestic goat, 'some referring it to the j'Kyijrns, and others to the Ibex. Buffon appears to have 

 adopted the latter opinion ; but most modern zoologists who have paid much attention to the question, 

 and who have brought to the consideration of it all the helps which recent discoveries in philosophical 

 zoology have furnished, have leaned to .the belief that the JEgagna, or wild goat of the mountains of 

 Caucasus, and of Persia, is the true original stock." Alluding to difficulties still arising on this subject, 

 Mr. Bell afterwards adds : " Surrounded by these doubts, and without the power of satisfactorily 

 solving them, it is better, perhaps, to leave the question to be decided by future experiments, should 

 the opportunity ever occur of determining the results of future interbreeding between the Ibe;i; Ihe 

 sEgagrus, and the common Goat, particularly with reference to the mutual fertility of the offspring." 



According to Buffon, the goat is superior to the sheep, both in sentiment and dexterity : he is 

 stronger, lighter, and more agile than the ram ; he is sprightly, capricious, and given to wander ; and 

 it is with difficulty he can be confined to a flock. He loves to retire into solitude, to climb steep and 

 rugged places, to stand, even to sleep, on the points of rocks, and the edges of the most frightful 

 precipices. He is robust and easily nourished, for he eats almost every herb. Hasselquist states that 

 he partakes of 449 plants, and refuses 12G. Though he seems to feel the effects of severe cold, he is 

 not afraid of rain or storms, or too great a degree of heat ; he cheerfully exposes himself to the sun, 

 and, without inconvenience, sleeps under its most ardent rays. But he is inconstant in his passions, 

 and irregular in his actions. He walks, stops short, runs, leaps, approaches, retires, shows and conceals 

 himself, or flies off, as if he were actuated by mere caprice, and without any other cause than what 

 arises from an eccentric vivacity of temper. The suppleness of his organs, and the strength and 

 nervousness of his frame, are hardly sufficient to support the petulance and rapidity of his natural 

 movements. 



The skin of a goat, particularly of a kid, which takes a dye better than most others, is of great 

 value to the glove-maker. The horns are useful for knife-handles. The suet is used in the making of 

 candles. The flesh of the kid is good. Pennant says : " The haunches of the goat are frequently 

 salted and dried, and supply all the uses of bacon : this is called in Wales Cock yr wden, or hung 

 venison. The meat of a castrated goat of six or seven years old, which is called hyfr, is reckoned the 

 best, being generally very sweet and fat. This makes an excellent pasty, goes under the name of rock 

 venison, and is little inferior to that of the deer." The medical properties of goat's milk and whev 

 have been highly extolled, and the cheese is much valued in some mountainous countries. 



The first wig noticed in this country was worn by Henry VIII.'s fool, Saxon ; and as the actor 

 often assumed it, Hamlet says, " It offends me to the soul to hear a robustious, periwig-pated fellow tear 

 a passion to tatters." In. the reign of Charles L, long hair had become fashionable at Court, and as all 

 were not furnished with flowing locks, art was called in to supply the deficiencies of nature. Thus 

 perukes were introduced, arranged to flow over each shoulder and down the back, and so excessive did 

 they become in size, that ten heads would not have furnished sufficient hair for one of them. The wig 

 of Louis XIV. of France was so large, that lie was said to rob the heads of his subjects to cover his 

 own ; and so great was the demand for hair in England, that, in 1700, a young country girl received 

 sixty pounds for her head of hair ; and the gray locks of an old woman, after death, sold for fifty pounds. 



At this time the hair of the common domestic goat was in high request, and the whitest wigs were 

 made of it. The best hair for this purpose was selected from that which grew on the haunches, where 

 it is longest and thickest. In Pennant's time, a good skin, well haired, was sold for a guinea, though 

 a skin of bad hue, and so yellow as to baffle the barber's skill to bleach, did not fetch above eighteen 

 pence, or two shillings. We do not know the cost of the huge cauliflower wig of the great Grecian, Dr. 

 Parr, which was always conveyed, when duly powdered, in a special box, to the house where he was to 

 be received at dinner ; but we are acquainted with the fact that the charge for one of these head- 



* jp-'ctot xfcopor, the male ; tpfpos, young male kid ; 3i'>a<r><i, young female before its first winter, of tjie Greeks. Souc, male ; 

 Chcvre, female; Clievrenu, kid, of the French. Bock, male; Gelsz, female; BocMein, kid, of the Germans. Bwcli, male; Gafr t 

 female; M'jnn, kid, of the Ancient Britons. 



