THE BABIRUSA HOG 173 



specimen, presented in 1816 by Dr. Babington, has 

 the upper tusks, though small, so much curved as to 

 cause pressure-indentation of the skull at the fronto- 

 nasal suture. Finally, a cranium in this series is 

 remarkable in possessing an additional premolar 

 tooth on each side. 



The object of the curious curved defences of the 

 male babirusa has long puzzled naturalists, and is 

 still unknown. It has been suggested that their 

 curvature is partly pathological ; that the tusks> 

 which formerly served some function not now 

 required, have become abnormally curved like the 

 incisor tooth of a rat or rabbit, which is no longer 

 ground down, its fellow in the opposite jaw having 

 been lost. Again it has been thought that they 

 protect the face of the animal against the briars of 

 the jungle, though this does not explain their absence 

 in the sows. As fighting weapons they are probably 

 effective enough, presenting several inches of razor- 

 edge to an adversary ; these wild swine are 

 well-armed indeed, as may be seen from a record of 

 injury inflicted by the much smaller weapons of the 

 Indian boar. On February 3, 1904, a boy ten years 

 old was admitted to the Purneah Charitable Hospital,. 

 Bengal, suffering from a serious chest wound caused 

 by a wild boar. The ninth and tenth ribs were 

 broken, a portion of engorged intestine protruded 

 from the chest wall, and the diaphragm was also 

 wounded ; happily under treatment the boy made a 



