SUS SCROFA. 131 



=42 or 44 ; the lower incisors directed obliquely for- 

 wards, the upper incisors conical ; the canines powerful, 

 reaching beyond the mouth ; the grinders are simple, the 

 anterior ones small and narrow, the hinder ones oblong, 

 with the crowns tubercled ; snout elongated, cartilaginous, 

 truncated at the extremity ; eyes small, pupil round ; ears 

 long, pointed ; feet with four toes, the two centre ones 

 large, and resting on the ground ; two others smaller, not 

 reaching to the ground, all four hoofed. 



Sus scrofa. 



Sus scrofa, Desm. Mamrn. Sp. 615; Jenyns, Man. Brit, Vert. 

 The Wild Boar. 



Description. — The canines or tusks powerful, triangular ; 

 the head elongated ; the neck short ; body thick and mus- 

 cular ; mouth large, with the upper lip pushed up by the 

 tusks; the body covered with long, stiff, bristly hairs, 

 intermixed at the roots with soft woolly fur, the longest 

 hairs are on the back ; the general colour dusky grey. 

 The young has the body marked with longitudinal stripes 

 of a rufous colour. The female (Sow) is smaller than the 

 male, and with smaller tusks. 



Goes with young rather more than four months, pro- 

 ducing from three to nine at a birth. Feeds chiefly on 

 roots and nuts, but also on young animals. Tliis species 

 is without doubt the original from which oui' domestic 

 breeds are derived. 



Formerly abundant in the woods in England. Existed 

 about London in the time of Henry the Second, if not 

 later. Inhabits the temperate regions of Europe and 

 Asia ; does not occur north of the Baltic Sea. In France 

 it is common in the woodland districts of many depart- 

 ments, as well as in Corsica. In Spain it inhabits Cas- 

 tille, Estremadura, and the Sierra Morena. Is found in 



