740 ~ Hornless Ruminants. i [Ag q 
_ Goats.—Goats, which have been domesticated from the earliest f 
times, occur hornless in both sexes. | Jardine’s description is, 
“ Horns common to both sexes; rarely wanting in the i. 
in domesticated races occasionally absent in both.” Describing £ 
several species of “common goat,” he says, “ As among the 
sheep, we have also a breed, white, and without horns, and here 
the distinction of the two forms is’ very close indeed, ant 
scarcely to be distinguished, except by the hairy fleece and it- 
dication of a beard.” He also describes and figures “two mom 
grotesque-looking goats, which have been generally placed 3 
varieties of the domestic breeds, and are represented on the next 
plate, taken also from the figures of Fred. Cuvier. They are the 
Nepaul goat and the goat of Upper Egypt. These two animals | 
would almost seem not to be varieties, but distinct species 
though, perhaps, there is not so much difference as w€ see 1 
some of the races of dogs; and this is one of those points if 
natural history which is extremely difficult to prove, eve 3i 
the most extensive menageries and most favorable situations 
The most marked character in the black figure, the N 
goat, is its high and slender figure. The arched form of e ; 
nose, occasioned by the convexity of the nasal bones; and tů tf 
long and pendulous ears, generally of a white color, OF m p 
than the tint of the body. The other figure on the plate, 
goat of Upper Egypt, is generally of a brown color, E 
high, and somewhat of the form of the Nepaul goat. ker , 
longer and more shaggy, the bones of the nose very much ae 
and the appearance of the chin and face, with the exh 
the teeth, putting one in mind of the pugs among dor 
ears are also ample and pendent; from the neck there is frequ" 
hanging two fleshy tubercles, an accessory which is alsa a 
times seen in some breeds of sheep. In the female, the age 
always very pendent, sometimes almost touching the ae 
wi 
Professor Low: says of the domestic goats, “ Sometime 
horns disappear in one or both sexes; and in certain ane 
1 Domesticated Animals of Britain. 
