186 NATURAL HISTORY. 



length. They are not very deep in the socket, and 

 have also, like those of the elephant, a cavity at the 

 superior extremity ; but- the elephant and sea-cow 

 have only these defensive teeth in the superior jaw, 

 and even want canine teeth in the inferior jaw. The 

 male hog and the wild boar on the other hand, have 

 them in both jaws, and those of the inferior are the 

 most useful to this animal. These are also the most 

 dangerous ; for it is with these lower tusks the wild 

 boar wounds. 



Of all quadrupeds the hog appears the most rough 

 and unpolished. His voraciousness seems to be owing 

 to the incessant avidity he has to fill the vast capaci- 

 ousness of his stomach. It is the roughness of the 

 hair, the hardness of the skin, and the thickness of the 

 fat, which render these animals so insensible to blows. 

 Mice have been known to lodge in their backs, and 

 eat their fat and their skin, without their seeming 

 sensible of it. Their other senses are good ; and 

 the huntsmen know that wild boars both see, hear 

 and smell at a great distance. In order therefore to 

 surprise them, they wait in silence during the night, 

 and place themselves under the wind, to prevent the 

 boars perceiving their smell, of which they are sensi- 

 ble at a great distance, and which makes them change 

 their road immediately. 



This imperfection in the senses of the taste and 

 touch, is still more increased by a distemper which is 

 called the measles, and which renders them almost 

 absolutely insensible. This disorder proceeds in ge* 

 neral from the coarseness of their food ; for the wild 

 boar, which usually lives on corn, fruits, acorns, and 

 roots, is not subject to this distemper, any more than 

 the young pig whilst it sucks. This is only to he 



