rected backwards and returned to the front in a spiral form; had not
the goats, generally speaking, a long beard, and the sheep none, and had
not the goats a concave or flat forehead, and the sheep mostly a convex
one, we should not be able to separate them; and even these
characters--if not well defined--are not very conspicuous, unless to a
practised, or careful observer.

The Chamois, which is classed by many among goats, in some degree
approaches the antelopes. Its horns shoot straight up, and then at the
tips turn suddenly back, like a fish hook; it frequents all the mountain
chains of Europe and western Asia; in summer climbing to the highest
summits, and displaying the most daring agility. In the winter it comes
down just below the regions of perpetual snow, for the sake of
nourishment. Its smell, sight, and hearing, are very acute, and it will
detect the approach of a hunter at the distance of half a league. When
frightened, it bounds from rock to rock, making a strange hissing sound;
dashes itself across the most fearful chasms, and throws itself down
precipices of thirty feet. It feeds on herbs and flowers, and the young
shoots of shrubs; seldom drinks, and is extremely fond of salt. As some
of the rocks of the Alps contain saltpeter, the chamois has worn holes
in them by constant licking.

As with other domesticated animals, there are many disputes as to the
original country of Goats; but most naturalists seem inclined to think
that the first stock was placed in Persia; but it is a question involved
in much obscurity. In very far-off times, when superstition and medicine
went hand in hand, and charms were deemed more efficacious than drugs, a
hard substance found in the intestines of goats, was greatly valued as a
cure for most disorders. It was called the bezoar stone, and was a
concretion chiefly of resinous bile and magnesia, and the rest inert
vegetable matter. It was sold for ten times its weight in gold, and was
said to come from some unknown animal, to increase the mystery belonging
to it. Bezoars are now found in oxen, sheep, horses, porcupines, and
even the human subject, slightly varying in their construction, and are
often balls of hair, which has been licked off the animal's own coat.

The Angora and Cappadocian Goats are famed for their long, silky hair,
which yields beautiful manufactures; but they are far surpassed by the
goats of Thibet, the under wool of which is combed off, and made into
t