THE Goat, next to the cow and the sheep, has been always reckoned, especially in ancient and patriarchal times, the most useful domestic animal. Its milk is sweet, nourishing, and medicinal, and better adapted for persons of weak digestion than that of the cow, as it is not so apt to curdle on the stomach. The female has generally two young ones at a time, which are called kids. This animal is admirably adapted for living in wild places; it delights in climbing precipices, and is often seen reposing in peaceful security on rocks overhanging the sea. Nature indeed has in some measure fitted it for traversing these eminences; the hoof being hollow underneath, with sharp edges, so that it can walk as securely on the ridge of a house as on the level ground. The flesh of the goat is seldom eaten; but that of the kid is esteemed a very delicate food, and is frequently eaten on the Continent. In the East, the long soft hair of the goat is used in making the beautiful Cashmere shawls; and from the skin is manufactured morocco leather. The skin of the kid is well known for its use in making gloves. [Illustration: THE IBEX, OR BOQUETIN, (_Capra Ibex_,)] IS a Wild Goat, which inhabits the Pyrenean mountains, the Alps, and the highest mountains of Greece. He is of an admirable swiftness; his head is armed with two long, knotted horns, inclining backwards; his hair is rough, and of a deep brown colour. The male only has a beard, and the female is less than the male. This animal skips from rock to rock, and often, when pursued, leaps down enormous precipices, and is said to bend his head between his fore legs while springing, so as to break his fall, by alighting partly on his horns. The Ibex has been known to turn on the incautious huntsman, and tumble him down the precipice, unless he has time to lie down, and let the animal pass over him. [Illustration: THE ANTELOPE. (_Antilope cervicapra._)] THESE beautiful inhabitants of the temperate regions of Africa, and southern Asia, possess swiftness and elegance of shape in an eminent degree. They are timid, inoffensive, and gregarious. The males have horns like those of the goat, and never shed them; they are smooth, long, twisted spirally, and annulated. The general colour of the hair is brown, and, in some species, a beautiful yellow. The eyes are exceedingly bright, and have often been compared to those of a beautiful nymph by Persian and other poets. Enjoying perfect liberty, they range in herds through the deserts of Arabia, and bound from rock to rock with wonderful agility. Their long and slender legs are peculiarly suited to their habits and manners of life, and are, in some of the species, so slender and brittle as to snap with a very trifling blow. The Arabs, taking advantage of this circumstance, catch them by throwing sticks at them, by which their legs are broken. [Illustration: THE GAZELLE. (_Antilope Dorcas._)]