C03IM0N GOATI. 371 



cold. The inconstancy of his dispositTon is marked 

 by the irregularity of his actions. He walks, 

 stops short, runs, leaps, approaches or retires, 

 shews or conceals himself, or flies olf, as if actu- 

 ated hy mere caprice, and without any other 

 cause than what arises from an excentric vivacity 

 of temper. The suppleness of his organs, and the 

 strength and nervousness of his frame, are hardly 

 sufficient to support the petulance and rapidity of 

 his natural movements. 



When pastured along with sheep, Goats al- 

 ways take the lead of the flock. They love to 

 feed separately on the tops of hills, and prefer the 

 most elevated and rugged parts of mountains. 

 They find sufficient nourishment in heathy, har- 

 ren, and uncultivated grounds. They do infinite 

 mischief when permitted to go among corn, vines, 

 copses, or young plantations ; for they eat with 

 avidity the tender bark and young shoots of trees, 

 which generally proves fatal to then growth. 

 They carefully avoid moist ground, marshy mea^ 

 dows, and rich pastures. They are seldom reared 

 in plain countries, where they never thrive, and 

 where ^heir flesh is always bad." 



The Count de Buffon adds, that tlicir milk 

 is more wholesome, and better than that of the 

 Sheep : that it is used as a medicine, curdles 

 easily, and makes very good cheese ; that, as it 

 contains only a few oily particles, the cream 

 should never be separated from it, and that the 

 females allow themselves to be sucked by infants, 



