1G2 THE ANGORA GOAT. 
will do admirably on scrubby, wet, or wooded coun- 
tries unsuitable for sheep. The time of gestation of 
the soat differs from that of the sheep, by being about 
two weeks shorter. 
The cross between the goat and the Merino sheep has 
been tried, and the progeny was not unfertile, though 
it reproduces with difficulty. Professor Cretzschmar, a 
learned naturalist residing near Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
experimented upon twelve Merino ewes, and a Cashmere 
buck, with the hope of establishing a breed of animals 
intermediate between the two. It was not until the 
third season that the experiment succeeded, and the 
progeny so closely resembled the Merino that little 
difference could be noticed in their external characters. 
My authority does not state the final result of this 
interesting experiment. 
Amongst all the very numerous breeds of goats the 
variety called the Angora goat (Capra Angorensis) 
stands pre-eminent. It is so-called from the place 
where this beautiful breed is found. Angora, the 
ancient Ancyra, is a town of Natolia, in Asia Minor, 
and lies about the fortieth parallel of north latitude. 
It is estimated to have about 40,000 inhabitants. 
Ancyra was one of the earliest Christian churches, 
and is noted in Scripture as a place where Paul 
preached to the Galatians. Early in the fifteenth cen- 
tury, Bajazet was here defeated and taken prisoner by 
Tamerlane, the famous Tartar conqueror, but after- 
wards the place fell into the hands -of the Turks, who 
still retain it in their possession. 
Angora has long been celebrated for its breed of 
goats, which yields the valuable mohair of commerce, 
and which exists only in a tract of country extending 
