4b MAMMALIA PACHYDEKMATA DIAGRAM o. 



The flesh is eaten in many countries, and is as wholesome as 

 beef or mutton, to which some people prefer it. 



The Ass is very far from deserving its bad reputation, for it is 

 a quiet, patient, and very tractable animal. When it is not 

 ill-treated and is well fed, it does its duty zealously and cheer- 

 fully. It is accused of being sometimes very stubborn, a quality 

 which it shares with the mule, which is a cross between the ass 

 and the horse. 



The Zebra resembles the ass rather than the horse. It is 

 covered with black and tawny stripes, which make it a beautiful 

 animal. 



The Hemionus is also intermediate between the ass and the 

 horse. It is smaller than the one, and handsomer than the 

 other, and is perhaps the wild stock from which the domesticated 

 horse is descended. 



HOGS. If there is a useful animal in the world which costs 

 little and yields large returns, it is the hog. The wild boar, 

 which inhabits the depths of great forests, is its nearest 

 relation. It is armed with prominent canines, called tusks. The 

 wild boar has four ; the canines of the upper jaw rests 

 alongside those of the lower jaw. The wild boars are fierce 

 and savage animals; they lie all day in their retreats or lairs, 

 and only go out at night to seek for fruits and roots ; they 

 dig them up with the end of their snout. When the female 

 is about to bring forth, she abandons the male, who would eat her 

 young ones. 



The Hog is derived from the wild boar, and much resembles it ; 

 But it is not so savage, although it has sometimes been known 

 to devour children. It eats everything, and likes to wallow in the 

 mud. It grunts constantly, but is nevertheless tolerably intelli- 

 gent, and it has been trained to go to seek its food and to return 

 at a particular time. It is fattened for the table, and almost its 

 whole body is made use of for sausages, pies, ham, bacon, lard, 

 brawn, etc. 



The HIPPOPOTAMUS is a great pachyderm which inhabits the 



