24 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



ties of our domestic goats, is distinguished by 

 its horns, edged in front, very large in the male; 

 short, and occasionally none, in the female, 

 which is sometimes the case in the two species 

 of Ibex. It inhabits the mountains of Persia 

 gregariously, where it is known under the name 

 of Paseng, and perhaps also the mountains of 

 many other countries, even the Alps. The 

 oriental bezoar is a concretion found in its in- 

 testines. 

 The Goat and the domestic species (Capra Hircus) 

 vary infinitely in size, colour, the length and fine- 

 ness of the fur, size and number of horns. The 

 Angora Goats in Cappadocia have the longest and 

 most silky fur. The goats of Guinea, called Mam- 

 brines, and Whida, are very small, and have the 

 horns reclining backwards. All these animals are 

 robust, capricious, wandering, feeling their mountain- 

 ous origin, preferring dry and wild places, and living 

 on coarse grass „ and the shoots of young trees. 

 They are very injurious to the forests. Scarcely 

 any but the kids are eaten, but their milk is useful 

 in many diseases. The female can produce at 

 seven months, her gestation is five months, and she 

 generally has two at a birth. The male can propa- 

 gate at a year old ; one will suffice for more than 

 one hundred females ; he is old at five or six years. 



The Bouquetin, or Ibex {Capra Ibex, L.), Buff. XII. pi. xin.' 

 Has large horns, square in front, and marked 



