PECARY. 107 



continent; and great numbers of them are every year 

 killed in this way. These are the parent stock of our 

 present valuable domestic. They are found in almost 

 every part of the world, except those countries where the 

 cold is excessive. The wild boar is in size much smaller 

 than the Common Hog. Wild boars were formerly found 

 in England, where, also, they were considered as beasts 

 of chase ; but, for many centuries past, they have been 

 all destroyed. 



Our domestic Swine, valuable as they are, cannot be 

 considered but as voracious and uncleanly animals. They 

 do not refuse even the most nauseous and disgusting 

 food ; and are selfish, indolent, and rapacious. Yet they 

 are capable of great attachment towards each other ; and 

 the exhibition of learned pigs fully prove that they are by 

 no means destitute of sagacity. The late Sir H. P. St. 

 John Mildmay had a sow which would find game, back, 

 and stand, in the manner of a pointer. Scarcely any ani- 

 mals are more prolific than these. A sow, belonging to a 

 gentleman in Hampshire, is supposed to have produced, in 

 the whole, more than three hundred young ones. The 

 utility of swine is universally known and acknowledged. 

 There are scarcely any parts of their body which may not 

 be converted to some useful purpose. Their flesh is 

 employed as food, and their skins are made into lea- 

 ther. Their bristles are formed into large brushes for 

 painters, and are also used by shoemakers in place of 

 needles. 



Pecary. Among the woody hills of South America 

 and the West India Islands, these animals live in con- 

 siderable herds. They have many of the habits of swine, 

 wallowing in the mire, and occasionally rooting in the 

 earth with their nose, in search of food. Besides roots 



