THE TRUE PIGS ion 



naked surface at the extremity, in which are situated the nostrils, the disc being 

 supported by an additional separate bone at the extremity of the skull, shown in the 

 cut on p. 1009. The feet are narrow, and carry four completely-developed toes, of 

 which the hindmost do not touch the ground in walking, while the inner surfaces 

 of the main pair are flattened. The molar teeth are narrow, the last one in both 

 the upper and lower jaws being more or less elongated; 

 and the large tusks grow continuously throughout life, 

 those of the upper jaw curving upward, instead of 

 pointing downward, after the usual fashion. Swine 

 have large flapping ears, and rather long cylindrical 

 tails, with a tuft at the end. Their bodies are more or 



1 i 1 ^ j -xi i_ .1 i- j .LI THE LAST R IGHT LOWER 



less sparsely clothed with bristly hairs and their MOI<AR TOQTH QF A pIG 

 stomachs are quite simple. I,ike all unspecialized 



Ungulates, swine have the neck short and thick, and imperfectly differentiated both 

 from the body and the head, the latter being consequently carried low. The whole 

 of the existing members of the family are restricted to the Old World; and they 

 chiefly frequent damp or swampy districts, and are fond of wallowing in wet mud. 



THE TRUE PIGS 

 Genus Sus 



The typical representatives of the Pig family, such as the European wild boar, 

 are characterized by having forty-four teeth, among which the last molar in each 

 jaw is greatly elongated, while the thick and short upper tusk is turned sharply 

 upward, and has a large smooth facet worn on the outer side of its upturned ex- 

 tremity by the abrasion of the inner surface of the extremity of the lower tusk. 

 Consequently, if either tusk happens to be broken, the opposing one continues to 

 grow indefinitely and, from its curved form, generally pierces some portion of the 

 skull with its tip, thus ultimately leading to the death of the animal which has had 

 the misfortune to meet with an accident of this nature. In addition to the bristly 

 hairs, there is generally a more or less developed woolly under-fur. The skull of 

 the pigs, besides the presence of the additional bone in the snout, already mentioned, 

 is remarkable for the great length of the nasal bones, an4 also for the high eleva- 

 tion of the crest of the occiput, which is generally even more developed than in the 

 specimen figured here. In wild pigs the profile of the face is straight, although in 

 most domesticated races it is more or less concave. Pigs are exceedingly prolific 

 animals; and the young of all the wild species (as shown in our illustration) are 

 marked with light longitudinal stripes, although these markings are very rarely 

 observed in those of domesticated breeds. 



The distributional area of the genus, before curtailed by human 

 agency, was extensive, comprising the greater part of Europe, South- 

 ern, and a portion of Central Asia, Japan, the islands of the Malayan region, and 

 Africa. The two species inhabiting Africa south of the Sahara and a third from 



