GOA. POWDER (also called Araroba, crysarobia, pondu, dr Goa), a drug imported in the form of a yellowish powder, which on exposure to the air becomes darker, and which has been brought into notice by. Dr. Fayrer, of Calcutta, and others, as a remedy for ring-worm. It derives its name from the Portuguese colony of Goa, where it appears to have been introduced about the year 1852. 'In 1875, it was shown by Dr. Lima that the substance had been exported from Bahia to Portugal, where it found its way to the Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia. The tree which yields it belongs to the genus Andrea, of the natural order.Legurainosce, and has been named A. Araroba. It is met with in great abundance in certain forests in the province of Bahia, preferring low and humid spots. The tree is from 80 to 100 ft. high, and is furnished with imparippinate leaves, the leaflets of which are oblong, about 1,1- in. long, and in. broad, and some what truncate at the apex. The flowers are papilionaceous, of purple color, and arranged in panicles. The Goa powder, or araroba, is contained in the trunk, filling crevices iu the heartwood. To obtain it, the oldest trees are selected as containing the larger quantity, and after being cut down are sawn transversely into logs, which are then split longitudinally, and the araroba chipped or scraped off with the axe. During this process the workmen feel a bitter taste in the mouth; and great care has to be taken to prevent injury from the irritating action of the powder on the eyes. In this state, i.e„ mixed with fragments of wood, the Goa powder is exported. It is used in the form of an ointment made by rubbing together 40 grains of the powder, 10 drops of acetic acid, and an ounce of lard. This is smeared over the eruptior once a day for several days. A tincture is sometimes used, applied with a brush, and over this 'a little lard may be rubbed. It is probable, however, that a properly diluted solution of carbolic acid, a remedy which has been used in conjunction with araroba, or Goa powder, is a more effective and agreeable remedy.
GOAT,'Capra, a genus of ruminant quadrupeds of the family caprido3 (q.v.), so closely allied to the sheep that it is not easy exactly to define the distinction. although the common domestic goat and sheep are of widely different appearance. One of the most marked of the distinguishino. characters is, that the horns of goats are directed upwards, backwards, and outwards, whilst those of sheep are more or less spirally twisted. Another character is the beard on the thin of the male goats, which is want ing in the sheep; but these characters are not perfectly constant. Perhaps a more constant character is the straight line of the face in goats, as compared with the arched line in sheep. The tail of goats is also much shorter than that of sheep. A curious but con
stant mark of distinction is the want of a small pit, producing a fatty secretion between the toes, in goats, which exists in sheep, and is peculiar to them. And another constant mark is the strong smell of male goats, particularly during the rutting season, which is wanting in sheep. Equally constant are the differences of temper and manners, goats being in a high degree curious and confident, and the very term capricious referring to their exhibition of the quality which it denotes. Ia both goats and sheep, both sexes are usually furnished with horns, the want of which is a variation apparently caused by domestication, and is most frequent in females., The horns and beard of female goats are always smaller than those of the male. Some goats have horns 3 ft. long.
Goats are found wild only in mountainous countries; they all exhibit s great aptitude for scrambling among rocks and bushes, are extremely sure-footed on narrow ledges and pinnacles, and display great strength and agility in leaping. They also prefer as food the leaves and small branches of-shrubs, and the strongly aromatic herbs which abound in mountainous situations to the herbage of the richest pastures. The Greeks and Romans sacrificed the goat to Bacchus as an enemy of the vine. It is difficult in this genus to determine what are species and what are varieties. The COMMON or DOMESTIC GOAT (C. hirCUS) has existed as a domestic animal from the earliest ages; it is frequently mentioned in the books of Moses, and formed a large portion of the flocks of the patriarchs. It adapts itself to almost all climates, and thrives under the care of man in the hottest parts of India and Africa, and with the protection only of a shed from the severity df winter, in the northern districts of Scandinavia. Amidst such diversity of circumstances, considerable diversity of breeds might be expected, and accordingly, besides the variety common in Britain, there are time Syrian goat, the Angora (q.v.) goat, the Cashmere (q.v.) goat, all remarkable for the greater length and fineness of their hair; a beautiful dwarf variety from west Africa called the Guinea goat, and many others. Some of these, as the Syrian goat, have large pendant ears. 'In nothing does variation seem more readily to result from the influence of climate and other stances, than in the quantity and quality of the hair, and in the relative abundance of the two kinds of it, both of which arc well exhibited in the common goat, the long soft hair, and the softer woolly hair beneath it. But in many other respects, also, tho domestic goat is subject to variation, more than perhaps any other domestic quadruped except the dog.