142 MAMMALIA. 



Thr Wild Gont, nr ^J^-jafjnt.s iC. ^runf/ms; Gni.)— Appears to lie the stock of all our domestic breod.^. and is dis- 

 tiuyiiislied by il6 anteriorly sharp liorns, very large in tbe male, short and sometimes wantin^Mii the female ; 



_ winch is also sometimes the case with the different 



Ibexes. It inhabits the mountains of Persia in 

 troops, where it is known by the appellation pashig, 

 and perhaps those of several other countries, even 

 tbe Alps. The oriental bczoay is a concretion found 

 in its intestines. 



Domestic Goats {C. Mrcas, Lin.), vary exceed- 

 ingly in size, colour, and the length and texture of 

 their coat; also in the mac:nitudc, and even the 

 number of their horns. Those of Angora and 

 Cappadocia have the lonji^est and most silky hair. 

 The Thibet Goats are celebrated for the admirably 

 fine wool which .throws amon;:; their hair, of which 

 the Cashmere stuffs are fabricated. There is a race 

 in Upper Ei^ypt witb short hair, convex chanfrin, 

 and projecting lower jaw, which probably is hybriil. 

 The Goats of Guinea, tenned mambrines 3.nd Jnida, 

 arc very small, \\ith liorns inclinint^ backwards. All of tliem are robust, capricious, wanderina; animals, that 

 betray their mountain ori;,nn by aitecting^ dr^' and wild situations, where they feed on coarse herbage and the 

 shoots of bushes. They do much injury in forests. The kid only is eaten, but their milk is useful in several 

 diseases. The female can produce at seven months, and g-oes with youn;^ five months; she g-enerally yeans two 

 kids. The male engenders at a year old, and one suffices for more than a hundred females : in five or six years 

 he becomes aged. 



The Ibex (C. //jc.r, Lin.).— [nimensehdrus, square in front, and marked with prominent transverse knots. It 

 inhabits the most elevated summits of lofty mountain cliains, throughout the whole ancient Continent. The 

 Caucasian Ibex (C. caucas'ica), has great triangular horns, obtuse but not square in front, and notched as in the 

 preceding. Both species propagate with the Domestic Goat. Tlte African Rlaned Ibex (C. tethiopica) is another. 

 [These various animals with enormous horns are said to precipitate themselves fearlessly down precipices, always 

 falling on the horns, the elasticity of which secures them from injury. Those who ha\e observed the force with 

 wJiich domestic Bams butt at each other, mutually sti'iking the forcliead, will feel less surpi'ise at the Ibexes 

 \Mthstanding the shock of a fall.] 



The Sheep {Oris-, Lin.) — 



ILivc horns directed baekward, and then inclining spirally more or less forward ; tlicir clianfrin is 

 generally convex, and tliey have no beard. Tbey so little merit to be gencrically separated from tbe 

 Gnats, that the two produce by intermixture a fertile off^^pring. As in the Goats, there are several 

 \vjl(l races or species, closely allied together. 



The Argali, or Wild Sheep of Siberia {Ov. ammon, Lin.), — the male of which has very large horns, triangular at 

 base, the angles rounded, flattened in front, and transversely striated ; those of the female are falchion-shaped and 

 cnnipressed. Its hair, in summer, is short and greyish-fulvous ; in winter close, stiff, and reddish-grey, with some 

 \\hite orwhitish upoTi the muzzle, throat, and under-]iarts. There is always, as in the Stag, a yellowish space 

 around the tail, which latter is very short. This animal inhabits the mountains of all Asia, and attains the stature 

 of a Fallow Deer. [A smaller and distinct species inhabits the Himmalaya mountains, >^hich Is termed the 

 Burrhal: there are specimens in the Museums of the Linn3?an and Zoological Societies, London.] 



Tbe Corsican Moutflon {Ov. mushnon. Pal.) — appears to differ only in its inferior size, and in the deficiency or 

 smallness of the horns in the female sex. It is said to be also found in Crete. There are bome varieties wholly 

 or partially black, and others more or less white. 



It is probable that the American Moufllon {Ov. mmilnna) is a species of Argali, wbirli may ha\e crossed the sea 

 on the ice. Its horns are very .stout, and more perfectly spiral than those of the Asiatic Ai'gali. 



Tlie African Moutfion {Ov. irafjclephu.f, Cuv.) has soft reddish hair, with a long mane lianging under the neck, 

 and another at each ankle ; the tail short : it appears to be a distinct species, and inluibits the rocky regions of 

 Barbary ; M. Geoffroy observed it in Egypt. 



From the ]\Io«fIlon or Argali, it is believed ihat the innumerable breeds of our wonlly dnniestic Sheep have been 

 derived ; animals which, tVie Dog alone excepted, have split into a gnater nnmlier nf \ aru-ricN than an-\" other. 

 [One remarkable fart, liowcvi^r, at variance with this supposition, and wliirh \\i_' li;i\(.' never \rt fiiuiuL to be 

 noticed, is, that all the wild races ha\'e exceedingly short tails, whereas the domestic breeds ha\'e generally, if 

 not always when unmutilated, tails that reach nearly to the ground. It is easier to conceive the loss of this 

 appendage in certain donjestic breeds, than its acquirement or extension, and the latter theory is borne out 

 by no analogy]. 



AVe have some in Europe \vith fine or common wool ; large and small ; with big or liUle horns, ^vanting in the 

 female, or in both sexes, &c. The most interesting varieties are the Spanish or Merino, which has a fine curly 

 fleece, with large spiral horns in the male, now beginning to be diffused through Euroi)e, and the English, which 

 has loiig and line wool. The most common variety in southern Russia has a very long tail. Those of India and 



