THE DOMESTIC HOG. 79 



kept in the country. The Abyssinians and the Copts 

 of Egypt, as well as the Mohammedans, reject the flesh 

 of the hog. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, 

 though the office of swineherd appears to have been 

 held in contem[)t, the flesh of the hog was in high esti- 

 mation, and a sucking pig was as favourite a dish as 

 amongst ourselves in the present day. The Chinese 

 have derived no prejudices against the hog from the 

 Mohammedan nations of the East: on the contrary, 

 they rear these animals in great numbers for the sake of 

 their flesh ; and even the numerous population who tenant 

 the floating town of rafts or barges contrive to keep and 

 rear them. 



'' One of the most singular circumstances," says Mr. 

 Wilson, "in the domestic history of this animal, is the 

 immense extent of its distribution, more especially in 

 far-removed and insulated spots inhabited by semi- barba- 

 rians, where the wild species is entirely unknown. For 

 example, the South Sea Islanders, on their discovery by 

 Europeans, were found to be well stocked with a small 

 black- legged hog; and the traditionary belief of the 

 people in regard to the original introduction of these ani- 

 mals showed that they were supposed to be as anciently 

 descended as themselves. Yet the latter had no know- 

 ledge of the wild boar or any other animal of the hog 

 kind from which the domestic breed might be su[)posed 

 to be derived." (' Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.') 

 Among our Saxon forefathers the hog was of great im- 

 portance : its flesh was a staple article of consumption in 

 every household, and a great portion of the wealth of 

 the farmers and landed proprietors consisted of droves of 

 swine, which were attended by swineherds, thralls, or 

 bondslaves, and which were driven into the woods of oak 

 and beech, in order to feed on acorns and mast, and all 

 the while guarded from the attacks of the wolf. The 

 domestic hog of that period a))j)ears to have closely 

 resembled, in form and colour, the wild species ; and the 

 old unimproved breed, now seldom seen, may be re- 

 garded as its modern representative. (Fig. 40.) There 

 are now in our island several "breeds of this useful animal, 



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