ORDER RUMINANTIA. 305 



Ibex to the more obtuse Caucasian ; then the sharper nodose 

 and rugged striae of the Abyssinian passing to the trans- 

 versely striated yet undulating sharp edge of iEgagrus; 

 from whence the smoother edge of the Alpine iEgragri are 

 immediately allied to the common domestic. Among the 

 varieties reared in Bengal, it is, however, common to ob- 

 serve, that the fine breeds originating in the northern pro- 

 vinces, perish when removed towards the south, though 

 still above the Ghauts, and far from the sea. Great altera- 

 tions in the typical forms must, indeed, be admitted, where 

 many ages, climates, and species of food, and above all the 

 weight of domesticity, has acted so unremittingly, as in this 

 case, and accordingly we find some breeds tall and robust, 

 like the wild, others small. There are races whose bodies 

 are supported on very short legs, some with long, others 

 with short hair, the horns of various sizes and curves, or 

 even totally absent, and the concave chafiron changed into 

 an arch ; the nose depressed, and the chin prolonged: do- 

 mesticity has also changed the ears, naturally small and 

 neat, into long and pendulous, to an enormous dispropor- 

 tion, and the colours from the gray and brown, are varied 

 to black, white, spotted, and pied, in every imaginable 

 variety. 



The Domestic Goat (C. Hircus) may be mentioned 

 under its principal varieties, taking for principle that those 

 most resembling the wild species are nearest their original 

 type. These have small upright ears, differing, in general, 

 little from the iEgagrus ; the male is, however, smaller, 

 more coarsely clad, with horns more vertical, and the ends 

 turning outwards ; their colours pass from blackish-brown 

 to sandy, black and white. Further removes from the nor- 

 mal characters have horns more or less diversified, a smooth 

 coat, with white, brown, and reddish colours ; then large 

 and pendulous ears, with various hair, and common to 

 all the varieties are small glands hanging beneath the 



