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Show 468 MR. DANFORD ON THE WILD GOAT OF ASIA MINOR. [June 1, nant, Hist. Quad. vol. i. p. 59) the mountaineers of the Caucasus have never observed it to mix or couple with the common goats; and in that part of Asia Minor which we visited we neither saw nor heard of such crosses, all the tame goats being very dissimilar in appearance to the wild species. Having, however, heard of a man who had a tame iEgagrus a year old, I sent for him ; but he refused to part with it for even what must have been to him a large sum, saying that he wished to try and breed from it. This shows that even in a country where they abound to such an extent that hunters number their slain by hundreds, interbreeding is by no means common. Dr. Brandt, who considers the iEgagrus " exclusively and incontestably the source of the domestic goat" (though he afterwards adds, not of all the breeds) (Teh. Asie Min. vol. ii. p. 687), adduces in favour of his opinion the strong argument that the skulls of the wild and tame males are almost identical, and there is absolutely no difference between those of the females." He also considers that the fact of the iEgagrus inhabiting those regions which are supposed to have been the earliest centres of civilization, is an additional proof. Though, from m y very limited knowledge of the Goat family, I am not myself capable of forming useful opinions on this vexed subject, I may say that while considering the iEgagrus to be the principal stock of the western breeds, there are certain points of difference, such as the presence of a beard among the tame females, and the very common tendency to a flattened and spiral form in the horns in both sexes, which induce me to think that the iEgagrus is not the sole source from which they spring, but that they have some .connexion with such species as the Pyrenean, Caucasian, and Alpine Ibexes. Instances of interbreeding between the Alpine Ibex and the tame Goat have been recorded; and although there does not seem to have been any record of such a race having been perpetuated, yet the fact of the Goats procured from the Alps and figured by Cuvier, and which were themselves hybrids, having hite*b:ed (though, it is true, the young did not live) seems to show that such a descent might be possible. With regard to the form of the horns, though I do not pretend to say that those of the semi-wdd Goats may not in some instances closely resemble the iEgagrus, yet, in all horns of this class which I have been able to examine, an inclination to a spiral form and an outward directing of the points have always been exhibited, and not a reversion to the true iEgagrus-type. They do, however, sometimes attain almost as large a size; for a pair from Wales 41 inches long is mentioned by Pennant (Hist. Quad. vol. i. p. 60), and there is an account in the ' Field' (Feb. 20, 1869) of two semi-wild goats shot by Lord Kennedy near Haverford West, in Wales, one of which had horns 36£ inches long, 39 inches across, and 7\ in girth; while those of the other, whose head more resembled the iEgagrus, were 34| long, 13| across, and 7\ in girth. In conclusion, I would observe that the study of the original sources from which the Goat as well as others of our domestic animals have been derived seems to be one of great interest, and at the same time of still greater difficulty, and will require from any one who may attempt it much clear insight and patient investigation. |