THE SWINE— SWINE PROPER. 



543 



markings are very becoming to them, and the play- 

 ful, mischievous disposition of youth presents a 

 perfect contrast to the laziness and fierceness of the 

 animal in old age. The sow advances gravely, the 

 pigs run back and forth, squealing and grunting, dis- 

 persing and then collecting again, stopping, per- 



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THE BERKSHIRE HOG. This is a favorite English breed of domestic Swine, dis- 

 tinguished by a stout body, pointed, erect ears, comparatively short limbs and early maturity 

 of growth. [Sus scrofa.) 



petrating some clumsy little joke, surrounding the 

 mother and stopping her to suckle, and again mer- 

 rily trotting on. So it goes all night: and even by 

 day the restless brood can scarcely bear the restraint 

 of the lair, continually moving to and fro. The age 

 a Wild Boar may attain is estimated at twenty or 

 thirty years. A tame Hog never becomes 

 so old; lack of exercise and dearth of 

 suitable food shorten its life. The wild 

 Swine are probably subject to few diseases. 

 In central Europe their principal foes are 

 the Wolf and Lynx and probably also the 

 sly Fox, which catches at least an occa- 

 sional little pig. In more southern regions 

 the larger members of the Cat tribe, espe- 

 cially the Tiger, pursue this choice game 

 extensively. The greatest foe of the ani- 

 mal, however, is Man. 

 The Boar a Favor- The chase of the Wild Boar 

 ite Game An- has ever been held to be a 

 imal. gallant, manly sport; at 



present, however, it has become more of >*«V 

 a farce — a travesty on the old hunts — than 

 an equal struggle between hunter and ani- 

 mal. In olden times matters were cer- 

 tainly seriously different, especially when 

 the only arms in common use were the 

 bow and the spear. 



A Wild Boar defends itself against Dogs 

 with unyielding rage. In former times 

 people used in hunting Wild Hogs only 

 the so-called Boar-hounds, strong, fleet 

 and courageous animals, which were kept 

 in a half-savage state and used only in Boar hunts. 

 One breed of Dogs was used to follow the trail of 

 the quarry and the other kind fought it. Before 

 they would be able to seize the Boar and hold it 

 fast by the ears, many a Dog had his body ripped 



open or sustained some other injury. When once 

 seized by the ears the Boar would be held until 

 the hunters came up and dispatched it. 



The flesh of "the Wild Boars is justly much es- 

 teemed, for it has not only the taste of pork but a 

 genuine gamy flavor besides. The skin is also util- 

 ized and the bristles are in great request. 

 But however great the profit may be, it 

 can never outweigh the damage the ani- 

 mal inflicts on the agricultural districts 

 it may infest. 



Origin of the Com- Not only the European 

 mon Domestic Wild Boar, but also sev- 

 Ho 9- eral of its Indian, Ma- 



ayan and eastern Asiatic relatives seem 

 to' have been reduced to the domestic 

 state from the earliest ages. In Julien's 

 opinion domestic Pigs were bred in the 

 Celestial Empire about 4,900 years be- 

 fore Christ; Rutimeyer's investigations 

 of the lake dwellings show two different 

 breeds of the useful domestic animal in 

 Switzerland. "The ancient Egyptians," 

 says Dumichen, "kept the Hog as a 

 domestic animal. The monumental in- 

 scriptions mention it and it is pictured 

 singly and in herds. Yet it seems to 

 have been kept for the sole purpose of 

 being offered as a sacrifice on certain 

 feasts of the year." It is frequently 

 mentioned in the Bible; the Odyssey 

 speaks of it as of a universally known 

 and generally cared for animal. 

 Innumerable breeds have arisen and become ex- 

 tinct since those times and even now, as a result 

 of the requirements of necessity or fashion, or by 

 chance, new breeds originate and older ones die out. 

 Fitzinger and Von Nathusius assume that all breeds 

 now living may be traced back to two different 



THE HARRISSON HOG. A variety of domestic Swine with point 



pendent ears, short legs, and tapering muzzle. It becomes excessively fat and is valuable 

 for pork purposes. (Sus scrofa.) 



forms or species: the European Wild Boar and one 

 south Asiatic species {Sus cristatus). This, however, 

 does not preclude the fact that other Indo-Malay- 

 Chinese species have also taken part in the evolution 

 of the domestic species. Great as the difference be- 



