1G0 THE ANGORA GOAT. 
The differences between some species of sheep and 
goats are less than might be supposed, and naturalists 
find some difficulty in clearly defining these distinctions. 
To ordinary observers perhaps the most marked 
characters which distinguish the goat are, the peculiar 
odour of the male, the beard, and the boldness, caprice, 
and curiosity of the animal, in complete contrast with 
the timidity, staidness, and incurious character of the 
sheep. Their mode of fighting is also quite different. 
The goat raises itself on its hind legs, and lets the 
weight of its body fall on its adversary, while the sheep 
runs a tilt, adding the force of its momentum to its 
weight, On this question Youatt remarks that the 
differences between them are chiefly these : "Many sheep 
are without horns. The horns of sheep have a spiral 
direction, while those of the goat have a direction 
upwards and backwards. The forehead of the sheep is 
convex, and that of the goat concave. The sheep has, 
except in one wild variety, nothing resembling a beard, 
but the goat is bearded, while the goat in his highest 
state of improvement, and when he is made to produce 
wool of a fineness unequalled by sheep, as in the 
Cashmere breed, is mainly, and always externally, 
covered with hair; the hair on the sheep may, by 
domestication, be reduced to a few kemps (coarse hairs), 
or got rid of altogether ; and finally, the pelt or skin of 
the goat has a thickness very far exceeding that of the 
sheep." 
The goat loves to browse on the sides of rugged hills, 
and can leap with ease and safety from rock to rock 
amongst the most dangerous precipices, with a courage 
which is surprising. In some parts of Russia a few 
goats are kept with each flock of sheep, to lead them 
