THE WILD GOAT 



32s 



and the male is odorous. The true Goats are almost exclusively 

 Palaearctic in range. They show the limited distribution of the 

 Sheep, a distribution which follows from their mountain-loving 

 habits. 



Thus we have the Spanish Ibex (C. pyrenaica), limited to 

 the Pyrenees and other mountain ranges of the peninsula; 



Fig. 175. — Sinaitic Ibex. Capra smaitica. 



C. ibex, the Steinbok of the Alps and the Tyrol ; the Markhoor, 

 C. falconeri, of certain mountain ranges of Afghanistan ; the 

 Caucasian, Sinaitic, and Cretan Ibexes, and the Thar. 



Capra aegagrus, the Persian Wild Goat, ranges from the 

 Caucasus to Sind. It is this animal which produces the true 

 " bezoar stone." The substance in question is a secretion appar- 

 ently found in the stomach. It is still, according to Mr. Blan- 

 ford, regarded as an antidote to poison in Persia. Buffon called 

 this Goat the " Pasan," which is evidently a corruption of the 

 word bezoar. When the substance was in repute as a medicine 

 of the " alexipharmic " kind, the supply naturally came up to 

 the demand. Thus the bezoar stones of the Lama in South 

 America gained repute, and there were " Oriental bezoar, cow 



