I9I7- ScHARFF. — On the Irish Pig. i8i 



mation of their skulls and limbs, after a certain number 

 of generations. Thus it becomes apparent that the problem 

 of determining whether the old domesticated greyhound pig 

 has originated in Ireland from a truly wild ancestor or from 

 a feral stock which was originally domesticated is very 

 difficult to solve, in spite of the fact that we possess a 

 number of very ancient skulls. 



Let us now attempt to trace the relationship of the 

 ancient Irish domesticated pig to the breeds of other 

 countries with a view to tracing its origin. If we compare 

 the skull of the Dunshaughlin crannog pig with that 

 found in the Swiss lake-dwellings it will be noticed that 

 the two exhibit a striking resemblance, and evidently 

 belonged to the same breed. Professor Riitimeyer^ named 

 this ancient swiss pig " Torfschwein " (turf -pig). He was 

 in doubt whether he had to deal with a wild or a domesticated 

 form as the indications of domestication were so slightly 

 pronounced, and applied to it the Latin name Sus palustris. 

 Many more remains of this interesting pig have been 

 unearthed in other Sw^iss lake-dwellings since the days of 

 Riitimeyer, and great strides have been made within recent 

 years in the identification and classification of all objects 

 discovered in these ancient hut sites. It is now possible 

 to affirm that while some of these dwellings and the objects 

 found near them belonged to the Bronze or Iron Age others 

 were much older, being either Neolithic or Palaeolithic. 

 As far as the pig remains are concerned they tend to show 

 the pig has undergone certain noticeable changes, as we 

 should expect, during the long ages that elapsed between 

 the Stone Ages and the Iron Age. Through the courtesy of 

 Professor Studer of Berne I have had the advantage of 

 examining one of the most perfect of the Swiss skulls found 

 at Lattrigen in a Neolithic deposit and comparing it with 

 the ancient Irish crannog pig skulls. 



In the size of the two skulls there is a remarkable agree- 

 ment. Both the Lattrigen and Dunshaughlin skulls possess 



^ Riitimeyer, L., " Neue Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Torfschweins 

 Verhandl. dev NaturfoYsch. Gesellsch. Basel, 1865. 



A 3 



