THE GOAT. 203 



of true woo]. In fact, the silky fleece of the 

 Angora goat reminds one of the soft locl-:s which 

 grow on the head and beneath the coarser hair 

 of the Skye terrier, whose aptitude for work 

 among gorse and brambles is proverbial. Man 

 finds that this special adaptation of the goat's 

 natural coverinQ- to bear friction amono- rocks 

 and thorns is an extremely useful one when 

 he uses the wool for his own purposes. Some 

 of the very toughest woven fabrics we have 

 (such as that now largely used for umbrellas) 

 are made of Q-oat's hair. For lonof ages the 

 Cashmere goat has been shorn to make the 

 beautiful materials woven by natives of that 

 country. The history of the introduction oi 

 mohair (which is a wool of the Angora goat) 

 is one of the well-known romances of the his- 

 tory of commerce. It is now used in enormous 

 quantities in the manufacture of soft wear-re- 

 sisting fabrics. Not only is the hair of the goat 

 more fitted for standing wear and tear than that 

 of the sheep, but one also finds that its skin 

 is tougher, and therefore more useful to man. 

 When properly prepared it can be rendered ex- 

 ceedingly soft without its strength being in any 

 way diminished. Hence its great value tor the 



