GOATS.

From the recent researches of M. Brandt, most naturalists now believe that
all our goats are descended from the Capra aegagrus of the mountains of
Asia, possibly mingled with the allied Indian species C. falconeri of
India. (3/97. Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire 'Hist. Nat. Generale' tome 3
page 87. Mr. Blyth 'Land and Water' 1867 page 37 has arrived at a similar
conclusion, but he thinks that certain Eastern races may perhaps be in part
descended from the Asiatic markhor.) In Switzerland, during the neolithic
period, the domestic goat was commoner than the sheep; and this very
ancient race differed in no respect from that now common in Switzerland.
(3/98. Rutimeyer 'Pfahlbauten' s. 127.) At the present time, the many races
found in several parts of the world differ greatly from each other;
nevertheless, as far as they have been tried (3/99. Godron 'De l'Espece'
tome 1 page 402.) they are all quite fertile when crossed. So numerous are
the breeds, that Mr. G. Clark (3/100. 'Annals and Mag. of Nat History' 2nd
series volume 2 1848 page 363.) has described eight distinct kinds imported
into the one island of Mauritius. The ears of one kind were enormously
developed, being, as measured by Mr. Clark, no less than 19 inches in
length and 4 3/4 inches in breadth. As with cattle, the mammae of those
breeds which are regularly milked become greatly developed; and, as Mr.
Clark remarks, "it is not rare to see their teats touching the ground." The
following cases are worth notice as presenting unusual points of variation.
According to Godron (3/101. 'De l'Espece' tome 1 page 406. Mr. Clark also
refers to differences in the shape of the mammae. Godron states that in the
Nubian race the scrotum is divided into two lobes; and Mr. Clark gives a
ludicrous proof of this fact, for he saw in the Mauritius a male goat of
the Muscat breed purchased at a high price for a female in full milk. These
differences in the scrotum are probably not due to descent from distinct