58© The Hiftory of ANIMALS. 
male and female have them: they are ftraight to very near the top, where they are 
bent back in the fhape of a hook, and are fharp at the ends ; they are of a very dark 
brown, nearly approaching to black, and are annulated on the under part, and longi-^ 
tudinally ftriated on the upper ; they are hollow, and the cavity is filled up by a bony 
matter growing from the {kulk 
The neck is moderately long and {lender; the bread full, broad, and well formed ; the 
body is not very bulky : the legs are fender and long ; the whole body is covered with 
a deep fur, waved, and fomewhat curled at the inner part of the ears; the forehead, 
the throat, and the belly are white : the upper part of the head, over the eyes, has on 
each fide an oblong fpot of yellow : the whole body befide is of a blackifh colour* 
not bright and gloffy, but obfcure; the tail is blacker than the red, and it is black 
on both tides, not white underneath, as in many animals of this genus. 
• 
This is a native of many of the warm climates, and has been defcribed by mod 
of the writers on animals. They call it Rupicapra ; the French, Chamoife ; and the 
Germans, Gempe, or Gems. The hooked form of the tips of the horns, in this ipe- 
cies, has given occafion to the error of fuppoiing it hangs by them to the rocks, and 
to many other tales equally abfurd and ridiculous. 
Capra cornubus nodofis in dorfum reclinatis . 
The Cap ra , with nodofe horns bending towards the bach . 
This is a very beautiful animal, but in nothing fo fingular as in the length of it’s 
horns: the head is fmall, and beautifully formed; the eyes are large and bright; the 
ears are patulous; the nofe is obtufe, and the noftrils wide: the horns are of a fur- 
prifing length, they hang backward, and often extend confiderably beyond ,the rump, 
being more than equal to the neck and hody in length : they are of a blackifh colour* 
and annulated on the furface. 
The body is not fo large, in proportion to the height, as in the common goat, but 
more refembles the deer-kind ; the legs are alfo perfe&ly like thofe of the deer, ftraight, 
{lender, and elegant; the hoofs are blackifh : the whole body is of a dark dufky co¬ 
lour, and the male has a very long and buthy black beard. 
This is frequent in many parts of Europe ; it lives in mountainous places, and, not- 
withftanding the incumbrance of that vaft length of horns, it runs and leaps with a 
furprifmg force and rapidity. Mod; of the writers on quadrupeds have defcribed it. 
They call it the Ibex and Rupicapra; the Germans, Steinbock. 
Capra cornubus teretibus dimidiato arcuatis , annulatis. 
The Capra , with the horns cylindric i and half way arched\ 
m 
Many of the goat-kind approach to the deer in fhape, but none fo much as this; it 
is a very beautiful creature : the head is fmall, oblong, and obtufe; the eyes are large; 
the ears are patulous, .and the noftrils wide: the horns are of an extreamly fingular 
figure ; they are not of any great length ; they ftand in an ere<ft pofition, but are not 
ftraight, for toward the middle they are turned or bent outwards, and from thence to 
the top they bend inwards, fo that they in fome degree reprefent the lyre of the an- 
tients: they are of a coal-black colour, and feen ornamented with a fpiral twift, but 
the lines are in reality circular: the neck is {lender, and elegantly turned, and is 
longer than in the generality of the goat-kind : the body is rounded, and not very 
thick, but the breaft is broad and beautiful; the legs are very {lender, and the hoofs 
divided in the manner of thofe of the goat, and black. 
This is a native of Africa, and is a very fwift and bold animal; it will attack al- 
moft any thing in it’s defence. Moil of the writers on animals have named it. They 
call it Capricerva, Dorcas Lybica, and Strepficoros Plinii. We have it fometimes kept 
in parks, but it is apt to be miichievous, 
Capra 
