325 



Suborder V. SETIFERA. 



The nose truncated, with a bouy button on the crest over 

 the nostrils, used for grubbing up roots. The toes in tri- 

 angular hoofs in pairs ; front pair large, posterior pair not 

 reaching the ground ; the outer one sometimes wanting. 

 Cutting-teeth in each jaw normal, subequal; canines of male 

 recui'ved. 



Sus, Lin)!. ; Cuvier. 



Setifera, IlUrjer, Prodr. 1811. 



Siiidre, Bunap. Prodi: Syst. Mastol. 



Paclivdermata fissipeda, Latr. Pei/. Anim. p. 596, 1830. 



Seti;^vra, Fih. Sitz. Akad. Wiss. 1804. 



I'achydemia paridigitata, Cuvier, Oss. Foss. ; Bunneister, 1840. 



Uugulata isodactyla sen artiodactyla, Otven, Odont. 



The distribution of Swiue into species and the species into genera 

 and families is attended with considerable difficulty ; this probably 

 arises from three pccuHarities of the group : — 



1. That most of the wild or presumed wikl species are easily re- 

 duced to a domestic or semidoraestic condition. 



2. That the domestic breeds return to their wild condition, even 

 in countries situated far away from their native habitats, and that, 

 under favourable circumstances, the newly enfranchised animals are 

 able to hold their own against the native and colonial cultivators. 



3. That the domestic, and possibly the wild species have a great 

 facility in breeding together, having fertile offspring. 



There are veiy few countries that have, or are presumed to have, 

 a native race of Pigs, where some of the kinds are not kept in a more 

 or less domestic state. This is even the case where the animal is 

 regarded with disgust and never eaten as food, except by the lowest 

 class of the inhabitants, as in India. 



" "Wild Hogs abound in the Dukhun, and the male attains to a 

 verj- great size. I am not satisfied that there is any specific differ- 

 ence between the European and Asiatic Wild Hogs. Every village 

 abounds in hogs. The Village Hog is of the same colour as the wild 

 animal, mostly a rustj- black, and the only variations are slate-black 

 or slate-brown ; but it is not above two-thirds of the size of the 

 latter. Tail never curled or spirally t^visted. They dispute with 

 the Pariah dogs the possession of the oftal matter thrown out of the 

 houses, and are the public scavengers." — Sj/l-es, P. Z. >S. 1831, p. 11. 



" The Indian Wild Hog differs considerably from the German ; 

 the head of the former is longer and more pointed, and the plane of 

 the forehead straight, while it is concave in the Eiu'opean ; the ears 

 of the former are small and j)ointed, of the latter larger and not so 

 erect. The Indian is altogether a more active-looking animal. The 

 German has a stronger and heavier appearance. The same (Uffer- 

 euces are perceptible in the domesticated individuals of the two 

 countries."' — Sifhes, I. c. p. 30. 



In some of the islands of the Pacific the woods are stocked with 



