THE IBEX. 177 
GOATS AND SHEEP. 
CLOSELY allied to each other, the Goats and SHEEP can be easily 
separated by a short examination. In the Goats, which will first come under 
consideration, the horns are erect, decidedly compressed, curved backwards 
and outwards, and are supplied with a ridge or heel of horny substance in 
front. The males generally possess a thickly-bearded chin, and are all notable 
for a powerful and very rank odour which is not present in the male sheep. 
Of the genus Capra, which includes several species, the IBEX, or STEIN- 
BOCK, is a familiar and excellent example. 
IBEX.—(Capra [bex.) 
This animal, an inhabitant of the Alps, is remarkable for thé exceeding 
development of the horns, which are sometimes more than three feet in 
length, and of such extraordinary dimensions that they appear to a casual 
observer to be peculiarly unsuitable for an animal that traverses the craggy 
regions of Alpine precipices. . i. ee 
To hunt the Ibex successfully is as hard a matter as hunting the chamois, 
for the [bex is to the full as wary and active an animal, and is sometimes 
“oN 
