452 ZOOLOGY. 



to those of the goats and sheep. These remains are found in the middle 

 tertiary beds in Europe and Asia, and what is still more remarkable is to 

 find them in the caverns of Brazil, where the genus does not exist in our 

 days. 



The genus Leptotherium is completely extinct, and lived in Brazil during 

 the epoch of the diluvium. Two species are known already ; the structure 

 of their skeleton is slender and. graceful like that of the deer to which they 

 come nearest, and from which they, however, differ as well as from all 

 other ruminants. 



The genus Rupicapra has the form of the common goat ; both sexes 

 are provided with horns, straight, suddenly bent backwards like a hook. 

 The limbs are strong. Behind the horns are two glandular openings. The 

 hairs are long ; of the under-wool there is but a little. R. tragus, the chamois 

 {pi. 109, fig. 3), inl^bits the highest mountains of Europe. The swiftness 

 of its course among rocks and precipices is wonderful ; it is seen in small 

 herds in the middle region. The number of individuals, however, is 

 decreasing every year, for, although they are difficult to hunt, the inha- 

 bitants expose themselves to the greatest dangers for the sake of kilhng 

 some of them. 



The genus Catoblepas contains but one species, the gnou or gnu, a very 

 singular being, which, at first glance, seems to be a monster composed of parts 

 of different animals. It has the body and croup of a small horse, covered 

 with brown hairs ; the tail is furnished with long white hairs, like that of 

 the horse, and on the neck a straight mane, the hairs of which are white at 

 the base and black at the tip. The horns are approximated and enlarged 

 at the base like those of the Cape buffalo ; they descend outwardly, and 

 turn up at the point ; its snout is large, flat, and surrounded by a circle of 

 projecting hairs ; under the throat and dewlap is another black mane ; the 

 feet have all the lightness of the stag's. Horns exist in both sexe^ This 

 animal inhabits the mountains north of the Cape of Good Hope, where it is 

 rather rare. The ancients appear to have had some knowledge of it. 



The genus Capra (the goats) is provided in both sexes with horns 

 directed upwards and backwards ; the chin generally furnished with a long 

 beard. The wild goat {C. cegagrus) appears to be the stock of all our 

 domesticated varieties of goats. It lives in herds in the mountains of 

 Persia, and perhaps in those of other countries, even in the Swiss Alps. 

 The oriental bezoar is a concretion found in its intestines. The domesti- 

 cated species of goat which has been introduced into America, C. hircus or 

 cegagrus (j)!. 107, fig. 10), varies infinitely in size, color, and in the length 

 and fineness of the hairs ; in the size of th^porns, and even in their 

 number. The Angora goats have the longest and most silky hair. Those 

 of Thibet are renowned for the admirable fine wool which grows among 

 their hair, and out of which the celebrated Cashmere shawls are manufac- 

 tured. All these animals are stout, capricious, and fond of wandering. 

 Sensible of their mountain origin, they prefer dry and wild places, feeding 

 on coarse grass and shoots of young trees. They do much injury to the 

 forests. The kid only is eaten, but their milk is useful and applied medi- 

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