164 THE HISTOBY OF ANIMALS. [B. TL 



sidered as a sign of pregnancy ; but it is not easy for anyone 

 to understand this, who does not follow and accustom him- 

 self to them : and some persons are of opinion that they have 

 no catamenia. The female oreus has no catamenia, but her 

 urine is thicker than that of the male. 



11. On the whole, the liquid excrements are thicker in 

 other animals than in man ; and those of female sheep and 

 goats thicker than in the males of the same animal. That 

 of the she ass is thinner, of the cow is harsher, than of their 

 respective males. After parturition the urine of all creatures 

 becomes thicker, and especially in those which have no puri- 

 fication. When females begin to feel sexual desires, their 

 milk is like pus ; it afterwards becomes useful after parturi- 

 tion. Sheep and goats become fat when they are pregnant, 

 and consume more food ; and so do cows, and all other quad- 

 rupeds. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



1. GENERALLY speaking, the sexual desires of animals are 

 more violent in spring. They do not all, however, copulate 

 at the same seasons, but at the time of year which will cause 

 them to produce their young at the proper season. The 

 period of gestation in domestic swine is four months. They 

 never produce more than twenty pigs ; and if they have 

 many, they cannot bring them all up. When aged, they 

 produce in the same manner, but they copulate more 

 slowly. They become pregnant with one act of coition; 

 but they submit themselves to the boar very frequently, on 

 account of their rejection of the capria after they are preg- 

 nant. This takes place in all, but some will also eject the 

 semen. 



2. If any of the pigs are injured or deteriorated during 

 pregnancy, it is called metachseron. This may take place in 

 any part of the uterus. In parturition the sow gives the 

 first teat to the first pig. It is not necessary that she should 

 go to the boar as soon as the sexual appetite is felt, or before 

 her ears begin to hang down ; for otherwise she desires to 

 go again. If she goes to the boar when she is desirous of it, 

 the impregnation is complete in a single act of intercourse. 

 Barley is a proper food for the boar at the period of coition. 

 It should be cooked for the female after parturition. Some 



