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Home Nature-Study Course. 



Give us a chance and we will keep clean 



Facts for Teachers. — That the hog has become synonymous with filth is the 

 result of the influence of man upon this animal, for of all animals the pig is naturally 

 the neatest, always keeping !ts bed clean and often in the most discouraging 

 circumstances of ill-kept pens. The pig is sparsely clothed with bristles and 

 hairs, which yield it no protection from the attacks of flies and other insects. 

 Thus it is that the pig in order to rid itself of these pests has learned to wallow 

 in the mud. And as the pig does not perspire freely the mud baths seem to keep 

 the body cool during the hot weather. The wild hogs of India make for them- 

 selves grass huts thatched above and with doors at the sides, which shows that 

 the pig, if allowed to care for itself, understands well the art of nest building. 



One of the most interesting things about a pig is its nose. This is a fleshy disc 

 with nostrils in it and is a most sensitive organ of feeling; it can select grain from 

 chaff, and yet is so strong that it can root up the ground in search for food. 

 The expressive word " root " was evidently coined to describe the act of the pig 

 when digging for roots. The pig's nose is almost as remarkable as the elephant's 

 trunk; the pig's sense of smell is very keen, and it will follow a track almost as 

 well as will a dog. More than once has a pig been trained as a pointer in hunt- 

 ing birds, a fact which shows the keener sense of smell and keener intelligence 

 in this capacity than in dogs. French pigs are taught to hunt for truffles, fungi 

 that grow on tree roots a long way below the surface of the ground. The pig's 

 sense of smell is keen enough to detect their presence. 



The pig has a " full set " of teeth, having six incisors, two canines and seven 

 grinding teeth on each jaw, although in some cases there are only four incisors 

 on the upper jaw. A strange thing about a pig's teeth is the action of the upper 

 canines or tushes which curve upward instead of downward; the lower canines 

 come up against them and are thus sharpened. The females have no such develop- 



