382 THEWILDOOAT, &c. 



light upon this u >jecl ; and fhall not regret my 

 labour, if what I now wite mould contribute 

 to remove error, and ,to extend the views of 

 thole who incline to itudy Nature. But to return 

 to our fubject. 



The goats are fubjecl: tovertigos : This difeafe 

 is likewife common to the wild and chamois 

 goats*, as well as the inclination to climb up- 

 on rocks, and the habit of perpetually licking 

 ftones f, efpecially thofe which are impregnated 

 with nitre or fait. In the Alps, we find rocks 

 hollowed with the tongues of the chamois. 

 They are generally compofed of tender and cal- 

 cinable ftones, in which there is always a cer- 

 tain quantity o^ nitre. Thefe conformities in 

 natural difpontions and manners appear to be 



infallible 



* In the mountains of Switzerland, the chamois or wild 



goats are very frequent. The natives inform us, that thefe 



animals are fubjevH; to vertigos ; and that, when attacked with 

 this difeafe, they fometimes come down to the meadows, and 

 mix with the horfes and cows, when they are taken with eafe ; 

 Extrait d:i voyage de Jean-Jacques Scbeuchzer ; Nouvelles de la Re- 

 publiqur des Lett res, p. 182. 



f Conveniunt faepe circa petras quafdam arenofas, et are- 

 nam inde lingunt. Qui Alpes incolunt Helvetii hos lo- 

 cos fua lingua Fultzen tanqnam falarios appellant ; Gcfner, hiji. 



qua I p 292. What is lingular, in the Alps there are feve- 



ral rocks which have been hollowed by the conftant licking of 

 the chamois goats. This licking is not occafioned, as has been 

 alledged, by fait contained in thefe ftones, which is very rarely 

 the cafe; for the rocks are porous, and compofed of grains 

 of fand, which are eafdy detached ; and they are fwallowed 

 by the animals with great avidity ; Extrait de Scheuchzer, ihil 

 f. 18,-. 



