256 
MAMMALIA. 
balanced, or, poising themselves, spring to other peaks in their 
vicinity. Their sense of smell is so acnte that they often wind 
the hunter long before he can perceive them. If the sportsman 
pursues them to the edge of a precipice, where there is neither a 
crag or a ridge of rock within their reach, they have been known 
to spring into the abyss, and even to escape uninjured, when such 
a descent would have caused certain destruction to any other 
animal. The Ibex, when very hard pressed, will sometimes turn 
round and charge the hunter. 
The Paseng, Caucasian Ibex ( Hircus ccgagrus, Gray), is dis- 
tinguished from the Common Ibex by its horns, which are sharp 
in front. It inhabits the mountains of Asia, from the Caucasus 
to the Himalaya. We more particular^ pay attention to this 
species, as the race from which our Domestic Goats are descended. 
The Domestic Goat has been frequently called the poor man’s 
Cow, and not inappropriately, for those who cannot purchase a 
Cow may be able to buy a Goat ; and, although abstemious in the 
extreme, they yield an abundance of excellent milk. If from any 
cause a mother cannot suckle her child, no milk is so good to 
replace its natural sustenance as that of the Goat, which will 
even readily allow itself to be sucked, and generally becomes 
tenderly attached to its nursling. 
With these good qualities are, however, to be found several 
defects ; for the Goat is untractable, vagrant, and capricious. 
Two principal species of this Puminant are kept in France — the 
Common Goat and the Syrian Goat. 
The Common Goat ( Capra hircus) (Fig. 89) is the most widely 
spread and the most hardy of all the species. Its colour varies, 
and is either all white, black and white, or grey and brown of 
different shades, with white spots. There is a sub-variety of this 
species without horns. When properly attended to, the Goat 
gives, in exchange for the little food it eats, two kids a year, 
an abundant supply of milk, and a plentiful and valuable growth 
of hair, which can be shorn once a year. 
The Syrian Goat, or Goat with pendulous ears, is more fre- 
quently without horns than the former species. It thrives best 
in climates of a moderate temperature, as it is less hardy and more 
sensitive to cold than the Common Goat. 
There are two varieties of Goat in the East — that of Thibet or 
Cashmere, and that of Angora. 
