THE GOAT AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 
529 
mony. He was cultivated by the Hindoos from the remotest 
times, figured in the sculptured monuments of the Egyptians, in 
their representations of mystic emblems, religious rites, and rural 
labors. The writers of Greece and Rome proudly referred to 
the goat as yielding food and raiment for the comfort and sns- 
tenance of manhind. And because in onr day he has been 
ridiculed and contemned, we refer to his ancient honors. “ He 
was dedicated to Jupiter Conservator, and sacrificed to Apollo, 
Diana, Bacchus, and the Paphian Venus, and his skin was the 
segis of the Goddess of Wisdom and Arms. His form was one 
of the attributes of Pan and the Satyrs, indicating the procrea¬ 
tive power and rustic plenty.” 
The goat is one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. 
As one of the evidences of superlative vitality, the goat has 
the senses of sight, smell, and hearing in exquisite perfection. 
And as an evidence of his hardihood and vigorous health, he 
resists with impunity the extremes of heat and cold. “ The 
female in the wild state, when abont to give birth to her vonno- 
seeks some lonely place where she may be safe from snrprise, 
usually near some rivulet or spring, proceeding from the gla¬ 
ciers and monntains of snow snrronnding her. The kids, when 
born, are covered with a short gray fnr of hair and wool ; their 
limbs are stont, and their bodies light and buoyant, and in a 
few hours they are able to follow the dam, who vigilantly 
guards them from the attacks of eagles and other beasts of 
prey.” 
So far as history informs us the goat was domesticated by 
the Eybians and the nations stretching along the southern 
shores of the Mediterranean inland to the mountains of Atlas. 
He was cultivated by the Dacians, Sarmatians and the nations 
along the Euxine and the wilds of Scythia. The Gauls, Celts, 
Cambro-Britons, the people of North Britain mountains and 
Ireland cultivated the goat to a greater extent than the sheep. 
So likewise did the Scandinavian, the German, and Teu¬ 
tonic nations, as well also the tribes of the boundless regions of 
Eastern Asia and those of Africa. Neither the goat, the ox, nor 
