468 MR. DANFORD ON THE WILD GOAT OF ASIA MINOR. [June l, 
nant, Hist. Quad. vol. i. p. 59) the mountaineers of the Caucasus 
have never observed it to mix or couple with the common goats ; 
and in that part of Asia Minor which we visited we neither saw nor 
heard of such crosses, all the tame goats being very dissimilar in 
appearance to the wild species. Having, however, heard of a man 
who had a tame AXgagrus a year old, I sent for him; but he refused 
to part with it for even what must have been to him a large sum, 
saying that he wished to try and breed from it. This shows that 
even in a country where they abound to such an extent that hunters 
number their’slain by hundreds, interbreeding is by no means com- 
mon. Dr. Brandt, who considers the Mgagrus “ exclusively and 
incontestably the source of the domestic goat’ (though he afterwards 
adds, not of all the breeds) (Ich. Asie Min. vol. ii. p. 687), adduces 
in favour of his opinion the strong argument that the skulls of the 
wild and tame males are almost identical, and there is absolutely no 
difference between those of the females. He also considers that the 
fact of the Augagrus inhabiting those regions which are supposed to 
have been the earliest centres of civilization, is an additional proof. 
Though, from my very limited knowledge of the Goat family, I am 
not myself capable of forming useful opinions on this vexed subject, I 
may say that while considering the Aigagrus to be the principal stock 
of the western breeds, there are certain points of difference, such as 
the presence of a beard among the tame females, and the very common 
tendency to a flattened and spiral form in the horns in both sexes, 
which induce me to think that the Mgagrus is not the sole source 
from which they spring, but that they have some connexion with 
such species as the Pyrenean, Caucasian, and Alpine Ibexes. In- 
stances of interbreeding between the Alpine lbex and the tame Goat 
have been recorded; and although there does not seem to have been 
any record of such a race having been perpetuated, yet the fact of 
the Goats procured from the Alps and figured by Cuvier, and which 
were themselves hybrids, having inte: bred (though, it is true, the young 
did not live) seems to show that such a descent might be possible. 
With regard to the form of the horns, though I do not pretend to 
say that those of the semi-w‘ld Goats may not in some instances 
closely resemble the Aigagrus, yet, in all horns of this class which I 
have been able to examine, an inclination to a spiral form and an 
outward directing of the points have always been exhibited, and not 
a reversion to the true Agagrus-type. They do, however, sometimes 
attain almost as large a size; for a pair from Wales 41 inches long 
is mentioned by Pennant (Hist. Quad. vol. i. p. 60), and there is an 
account in the ‘ Field’ (Feb. 20, 1869) of two semi-wild goats shot 
by Lord Kennedy near Haverford West, in Wales, one of which had 
horns 363 inches long, 39 inches across, and 7? in girth; while 
those of the other, whose head more resembled the Augagrus, were 
34? long, 134 across, and 7} in girth. 
In conclusion, I would observe that the study of the original sources 
from which the Goat as well as others of our domestic animals have 
been derived seems to be one of great interest, and at the same time 
of still greater difficulty, and will require from any one who may 
attempt it much clear insight and patient investigation. 
