BREEDS AND TYPES 6l 



is called; the Guinea; the Mnle-Foot or solid-hoofed; 

 and the Cuino. Domesticated swine have been traced 

 back in origin to the wild hog, and remarkable changes 

 have been observed of the manner in which wild speci- 

 mens kept in confinement will take on the appearance 

 and flesh of those that are the product of man's im- 

 provement. On the other hand, improved varieties 

 turned out to shift for themselves have assumed all the 

 characteristics of wild hogs, although observations in 

 New Zealand have shown that animals once domesticated 

 do not revert to as wild or solitary a disposition as is 

 noticeable in the undomesticated types. Experiments in 

 confining wild animals have shown that advantages at- 

 tained through years of domestication are valuable be- 

 cause they ha\'e been secured and made permanent by 

 very slow processes, and that the opinion sometimes ad- 

 \anced that crosses with the Razor-Back or other un- 

 tamed stock will give a much hardier and ''cholera- 

 proof" constitution is without substantial foundation. 



MULE-FOOT HOGS 



The Mule-Foot or solid-hoofed hog is reared, but to 

 an extent scarcely appreciable, in the southwestern part 

 of the United States, and is said to be common in some 

 ])ortions of Old Mexico in considerable numbers. There 

 are some in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and a few 

 have found their way to Missouri and Indiana. There 

 was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana, in January, 1908. 

 "The National Mule-Foot Hog Record Association," 

 composed of Indiana breeders, which is to record and 



