Chap. 77.] THE HOG. 343 



victims until they have two teeth.''® It has been supposed, 

 that when a pig has lost one eye, it wiU not live long ;^ other- 

 wise, these animals generally live up to fifteen, or sometimes 

 twenty years. Theysometimes become mad; besides which, they 

 are liable to other diseases, especially to quinsy^ and to scro- 

 fula.- It is an indication that the hog is diseased, when blood 

 is found at the root of a bristle pulled from its back, and when it 

 holds its head on one side while walking. When the female 

 becomes too fat, she has a deficiency of milk ; the fi.rst litter is 

 always the least numerous. Animals of this kind delight in 

 rolling in the mud.^ The tail is curled, and it has also been 

 remarked, that those are a more acceptable offering to the gods, 

 whose tail is turned to the right than those which have it 

 turned to the left. They may be fattened in sixty days, and 

 more especially if they have been kept without food for three 

 days before fattening. The swine is by far the most brutish 

 of all the animals, and it has been said, and not unaptly, that 

 life has been given them in place of salt.^ And yet it has been 

 known, that these animals, when carried away by thieves, 

 have recognized the voice of their keeper ; and when a vessel 

 has been under water through the inclination of one of its 

 sides, they have had the sense to go over to the other side. 

 The leader of the herd will even learn to go to market, and to 



98 The term " bidens," employed by Pliny, although it literally means 

 "having two teeth," has been referred to the age of the animal, as indicated 

 rather by the respective size of the teeth than by their number. It has 

 been supposed to designate an animal of two years old, when the canine 

 teeth of the lower jaw had become prominent.— B 



99 This is also referred to by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. xi. c. 18, but is 

 without foundation.— B. 



1 Aristotle, ubi supra, B. viii. c. 26. It is mentioned as a frequent 

 occurrence by Plautus, Trinum. A. ii. s. 4, 1. 139.— B. 



2 Columella, B. vii. c. 10, gives directions for the treatment of hogs 

 affected with scrofula. The name of the disease has been supposed to be 

 derived from the fi-equency of its occurrence in this animal, anciently called 

 " scrofa." 



3 It may appear unnecessary to refer to authorities on this subject, which 

 is a matter of daily observation ; it has, however, been stated by some 

 naturalists, that the hog, in its wild state, does not exhibit any of the 

 filthy propensities so generally observed in it when domesticated.— B. 



^ This saying is found in Varro, B. ii, c. 4; it is referred to by Cicero, De 

 Xat. Deor. B.'ii. c. 64, and ascribed to Chrysippus ; " ne putisceret, ani- 

 mara ipsara pro sale datam." — B. *' That they are only of use for their 

 flesh, which is kept from putridity by their Hfe, which acts as salt." 



