Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/65

 GOAT 57 ad the horns are large in proportion to the size of the animal. The general color is gray- ish brown alwve, with a dark dorsal line and blackish tail ; the colors are paler in the female. Another wild species is the Jemlah goat (G. Jemlahica, H. Smith), with depressed, knobby, Domestic Goat (Capi-a hircus). wrinkled horns, a solid, heavy skull, and ro- bust limbs; the hair on the neck and back is abundant, long, and loose, and on the sides of the head very coarse ; the tail is very short ; the color is a dirty whitish fawn. It inhabits the district of Jemlah, in the elevated mountain chain of central Asia. The C. cossus and C. imberbis (De Blainville) are believed to be do- mesticated varieties of this species. The jha- ral of Hodgson is by Gray referred to the same species as the last, forming the genus hemitra- gus (Hodg.); they have four mammae. The domestic goat (C. hircus, Linn.) resembles the C. cegagrus more than any other wild species. The common goat of the mountainous coun- tries of Europe much resembles the aegagrus, and has in some places become so wild as to be difficult of approach ; the ears are small and upright; the size of the body is smaller, the hair coarser, the horns more vertical and turn- ing outward, and the colors more varied. The Persian goat resembles a small segagrus ; the hair is long and coarse. The "Welsh breed is large, generally white, with long fine hair, and with vertical horns about 3 ft. long. There are small hornless breeds of goats in South America, the West Indies, and the Pacific isl- ands, supposed to have originated from Africa. The Angora has long soft hair, mostly white, long ears, upright yellowish horns, and a sheep- like look. The famous Cashmere (properly Thibet) breed have long, straight, silky hair, large pendent ears, and slender legs. The Ne- paul goat is black, of a high and slender figure, with an arched form of nose, and long, hanging, whitish ears. The goat of upper Egypt is of a brownish color and high stature, with long shaggy hair, arched nose, ample pendent ears, and the upper jaw so much shorter than the under that the lower incisors and chin are ex- posed. Goat skins were probably among the first materials used for clothing among the northern nations. The milk of the goat is used for making cheese, and is prescribed as a medicine in debilitated constitutions and pul- monary diseases. In the malarious regions of Asia cow's milk is regarded as a predis- posing cause of bilious fevers and diseases of the liver, and goat's milk is therefore sub- stituted. The flesh of the kid is esteemed as food ; from the skin are made fine gloves, va- rious garments, and the real Morocco leather ; from the hair of one variety are manufactured the costly fabrics of Cashmere. (See CASH- MEEE.) The Rocky mountain goat is referred to the genus capra by Desmoulins, Harlan, Sun- devall, Eichardson, Bachman, and Van der Hoeven ; but recent examinations go to show that in all its essential features and affinities it is an antelope, and belongs to the genus aplo- cerus (H. Smith). It resembles the goat and merino sheep in its figure and size ; the horns are small, conical, smooth, nearly erect, and jet black. The outer hair is long, straight, and white, as fine and soft as that of the Cashmere goat ; the chin is bearded ; the external fleece hangs down all over the body and upper part of the legs ; the under hairs are soft and silky like wool. It inhabits the highest and most inaccessible peaks of the Rocky mountains between the parallels of 40 and 65 N., and is most abundant in Washington territory ; it is very difficult to procure ; the mountain sheep Eocky Mountain Goat (Aplocerus montanup). (ovis montana, Cuv.), or big-horn, has been often mistaken for it by travellers. The goats are rarely found fossil, and belong nearly^to the same epoch of creation as man, forming probably the first step by their domestication in his progress toward civilization. The goat