MAMMALfA. 44] 



proportionally greater and more complicated ; the canines resemble most 

 those of the peccaries ; the skull, by its form, is intermediate between the 

 damans and the hogs. It exhibits very large orbits, a character chiefly 

 prominent among the timid rodents. Its size is supposed to have been 

 about the same as that of the daman, which is among the smallest of the 

 pachyderms. The only two s])ecies known belong to the eocene period, 

 and to the British isles. 



The genus Microchoe.rus shows a general resemblance Avith Hyracothe- 

 rium in the structure of its teeth, but differs from it by the form of the 

 posterior molars, and by the absence of a free space between the incisors 

 and the two first niolars. The genus is not yet sufficiently characterized. 

 The only species known attained to the size of the European hedgehog. 



The genus Hyops is another American form, discovered in the same 

 localit}' with Plat^^gonus ; that is, in the lead region of Illinois. It has been 

 rather announced to the scientific world than described. It bears very' 

 close affinities with the peccaries, and is on that account interesting, as pec- 

 caries of our days are confined on the same continent to more southern 

 localities. 



The genus Dicotyle (the peccaries) is characterized by the upper canines 

 directed straight upwards, and projecting very little out of the mouth. The 

 hind feet are deprived of external toes ; the tail is absent, and on the 

 back a gla.ndular opening is observed, from which a fetid secretion is 

 exuded. The metatarsal and metacarpal bones of their two greater toes are 

 soldered together like those of the ruminants, to which they seem also 

 related in possessing a stomach divided into several sacs. This genus is 

 peculiar to the American continent, from Arkansas to Brazil, more abun 

 dant as we proceed from the north of that limit towards the south. D. tor- 

 quatus (the patira) or Mexican hog is the one met with in North America., 

 as far north as Red River (Arkansas). Another (D. albirostris or labiatus), 

 from Guiana, is represented on pi. lll,ßg. 3. The peccaries seem to have 

 been more abundant in South America during the tertiary epoch than in' 

 our days, as five species are said to have left their remains in the caverns' 

 of Brazil. 



The genus Sus (the hogs) has twenty-four or twenty-eight molars or 

 grinding teeth, of which the posterior are oblong with tuberculous crowns,' 

 and the anterior more or less compressed, and six incisors in each jaw. 

 Each foot of the hog consists of two large middle toes armed with strong' 

 hoofs, and two much shorter lateral ones that hardly reach the ground. 

 The incisors vary in number; the canines project from the mouth and 

 curve upwards ; the snout terminates by a sort of truncated button fitted 

 for turning up the earth. The wild hog, Sus scropha (j)!. lll,ßg. 6), is 

 the parent stock of our domestic hog, Stis domesticus {pi. Ill, ßg. 5), and 

 its varieties. The color is generally black ; the ears are straight. It is 

 found all over the surface of the globe ; its flesh is eaten by all except hy 

 Jews and Mahomedans. The eight following varieties are the most pro- 

 minent ones. 1. The Hungarian race (Wallach ia, Bosnia, and Moldavia), 

 with very large ears and woolly bristles, greyish black, or yellowish red. 



645 



