We tend to use the word chamois, pronounced shammy, for any soft leather rag used for cleaning and polishing  At one time, the best of these skins came from a daring acrobat known as the chamois  But nowadays, this frisky fellow is rare and hard to catch  Nowadays, we treat and soften the skins of ordinary sheep and goats  These chamois do a good polishing fob, even though they do riot come from the genuine chamois 

The chamois makes his home among the Alpine peaks at the very tip‑top of Europe, Here the face of the earth is a vertical series of ups and downs and everyone copes with the slopes  Even in this area of natural mountaineers the chamois is considered a worthy catch and the hunter who brings him in proudly wears a tassel of chamois hairs in his hat  For the acrobatic chamois is one of the world’s tip‑top mountaineers 

His family is Bovidaa, which makes him kin to the sheep, the goat, the graceful antelope and all the cattle  But what a difference between him and the stodgy cattle, the gentle sheep and even the frisky goat  He belongs to a special branch of the family which took to aerial acrobatics  among the mountain peaks high above the timberline, higher even than most human mountaineers choose to go 

The agile chamois has a cousin in the New World’s the sad‑faced, snow  white Rocky Mountain goat  These cousins era goat‑antelopes, neither goats nor antelopes but having some features of both, They have a cousin who prances through the tall crags of the Apennines and another who makes his lofty home among the tall towers of the Carpathians,

The chamois needs no trail, no foot path, for he leaps with agile grace from crag to crag  To him, a 20 foot jump across yawning chasm is nothing special 

He usually lands with all four feat on a space not much bigger than a saucer, The sight of a hunter sends him prancing away like a yo‑yo and if he is with friends they scatter in all directions 

In appearance, the frisky chamois looks somewhat like a slender goat  He stands about a yard tall at shoulder level and tips the scales at 65 pounds  Mrs  Chamois is a little smaller and 20 pounds lighter than her husband  Both change their coats with the seasons  In summer, when they live high in the snowy peaks, they are pale, golden blond  In winter, when they come down near the timberline, they become brunet, with coats of dark, warm brown 

Both Mr, and Mrs  Chamois wear crowns on their proud heads  There is a pair of alert, slender ears standing straight up from the forehead  Between the ears is a pair of sturdy horns which point straight up and curve back near the tips  But the most important feature is the amazing feat which are specially built to make the famous acrobatics possible 

The chamois feet are small, dainty hooves with the soles scooped out in cup‑shaped hollows  These hollows give the sprightly animal gripping power as ha leaps from crag to crag, He loves to land on the tip of a tall peak with all feet on a space not much bigger than a manta hand, From his pinnacle, he proudly surveys the ups and downs of his tip‑top