C[rAP - HI. GOATS. 101 



showing how generally any marked deviation of structure is 

 accompanied by other deviations, that the first ram and his 

 immediate offspring were of small size, with large heads, lono- 

 necks, narrow chests, and long flanks; but these blemishes 

 were removed by judicious crosses and selection. The lono- 

 smooth wool was also correlated with smooth horns; and as 

 horns and hair are homologous structures, we can understand 

 the meaning of this correlation. If the Mauchamp and ancon 

 breeds had originated a century or two ago, we should have 

 had no record of their birth; and many a naturalist would 

 no doubt have insisted, especially in the case of the Mauchamp 

 race, that they had each descended from, or been crossed with, 

 some unknown aboriginal form. 



GrOATS. 



From the recent researches of M. Brandt, most naturalists now 

 believe that all our goats are descended from the Capra cegagrus 

 of the mountains of Asia, possibly mingled with the allied 

 Indian species C. Fcileoneri of India. 96 In Switzerland, during 

 the early Stone period, the domestic goat was commoner than the 

 sheep; and this very ancient race differed in no respect from that 

 now common in Switzerland. 97 At the present time, the many 

 races found in several parts of the world differ greatly from each 

 other ; nevertheless, as far as they have been tried, 98 they are 

 all quite fertile when crossed. So numerous are the breeds, 

 that Mr. G. Clark 99 has described eight distinct kinds imported 

 into the one island of Mauritius. The ears of one kind were 

 enormously developed, being, as measured by Mr. Clark, no 

 less than 19 inches in length and 4| inches in breadth. ' As 

 with cattle, the mammae of those breeds which are regularly 

 milked become greatly developed; and, as Mr. Clark remarks, 

 "it is not rare to see their teats touching the ground.'' 

 The following cases are worth notice as presenting unusual 



M Isidore Geoffrey St. Hilaire, < Hist. the Asiatic markhor. 

 JNat. Generale, torn. ni. p. 87 Mr V r.-u,-™ 1Tl ,,„ 



lias arrived at a similar conclusion, but 402 ' 



he thinks that certain Eastern races m. Annals and Mag, of Nat. History,' 



may perhaps be m part descended from vol. ii. (2nd series), 1848 ; p. 363. 



