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COMMON GOAT. 
of the males. The horns of the males are com- 
monly three feet in length, and often eight pounds 
in weight. 
This ibex displays amazing agility ; it often 
leaps headlong down precipices, and escapes un- 
injured, by falling on its horns. The moment it 
reaches the ground, it springs up upon its legs, 
and bounds nimbly away. 
The lower mountains of Caucasus and Taurus, 
the hills of Laar and Khorazan in Persia, the 
island of Crete, and the Alps in Europe, are all 
habitations of this animal. 
Common goat. 
The common domestic goat, believed by some 
naturalists to be nearest allied to the ibex, and by 
others represented as a descendant of the Caucasan 
ibex, is distinguished by horns which incline 
gently backwards as they rise from their bases, 
increasing the curve towards the upper extremity. 
The male is honoured with a beard. The finest 
bucks have pendent ears, thick thighs, black 
thick soft hair, a long bushy beard, a short fleshy 
neck, and a light head. The best she-goats have 
large bodies, thick thighs, long capacious udders, 
and soft bushy hair ; and walk with a light lively 
step. 
The character of the goat is much less amiable 
than that of the sheep. Viciousness, subtlety, 
and lechery, are the predominant qualities of this 
animal. Even in bis ordinary motions he betrays 
the caprice of his character. He walks, runs, 
leaps, retires, approaches, in the most irregular 
manner imaginable. Our domestic goat, like the 
ibex, is amazingly swift and agile. He mounts 
the most rugged mountains, and fearlessly ap- 
proaches the steepest precipices ; and though he 
