COMMON GOAT, 
267 
appears thus rashly to expose himself to certain 
danger, yet such is his address in running, climb- 
ing, leaping, and balancing his body in difficult 
situations, that he scarce ever meets with any unfor- 
tunate accident. The plants which the goat pre- 
fers for food are chiefly such as are despised by the 
sheep, the cow, the horse, and most other domes- 
tic animals ; and indeed grow in situations where 
few other animals can approach them. Hemlock, 
euphorbium, and several mosses, are absolutely 
delicacies to the goat. He devours, with great 
avidity, the bark, leaves, and branches of most 
trees. 
The she-goat goes live months with young, and 
brings commonly one or two, but sometimes even 
three or four at a birth. The kids are usually 
produced between the end of February and the be- 
ginning of May. 
■Though' fond of the summits of bleak and lofty 
mountains, the goat is but ill qualified to bear 
extreme cold. In France, goats are sheltered 
under roofs in winter, as well as black cattle, and 
fed with branches of trees, gathered for the pur- 
pose in autumn, and with cabbages, turnips, and 
other similar plants. But heat, however intense, 
is scarce ever injurious to the health of goats ; 
they bask in the rays of the sun, without feeling 
themselves scorched, or in any other way disagree- 
ably affected. 
The domestic goat is well known through Eu- 
rope, and even in the other regions of the globe. 
Considerable numbers are kept in the mountainous 
parts of Wales. The Welch goats are greatly 
superior in size to any of the breeds cultivated in 
other mountainous countries, and commonly of 
a white colour. In Caernarvonshire, they are 
generally suffered to run wild on the rocks, in 
both winter and summer. If we may judge from 
