The Domestic Hog. 



119 



quadrupeds this is the most filthy and impure. Its form 

 is clumsy and unsightly, and its appetite gluttonous and 

 excessive. Nature, however, has fitted its stomach to 

 receive nutriment from a variety of things that would be 

 otherwise wasted, as the refuse of the field, the garden, 

 and the kitchen, afford it a luxurious repast. The Hog 

 is naturally stupid, inactive, and drowsy ; much inclined 

 to increase in fat, which is disposed in a different manner 

 from that of other animals, forming a thick, distinct, and 

 regular layer between the flesh and skin. Their flesh, 

 Linnasus observes, is a wholesome food for those that use 

 much exercise, but improper for such as lead a sedentary 

 life. It is of great importance to this country, as a 

 naval and commercial nation, for it salts better than 

 any other flesh, and is capable of being longer pre- 

 served. 



The domestic Sow brings forth twice a year, producing 

 from ten to twenty at a litter. She goes four months 

 with young, and brings forth in the fifth. At that time 

 she must be carefully watched, to prevent her from de- 

 vouring her young. Still greater attention is necessary 

 to keep off the male, as he would destroy the whole 

 litter. Jews and Mahommetans not only abstain from 

 the flesh of swine from a religious principle, but consider 

 themselves defiled by even touching it. 



