VII 



THE PIG 



All of our important breeds of hogs have 

 descended from the wild hog (Sus apcr) that 

 once roamed over Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

 What people first subjugated the wild hog and 

 brought him into a better style of living, history 

 has not told us, nor has any one attempted to 

 say just when this subjugation took place. 

 The wild hog is a very active and powerful 

 individual ; when he grows old he is extremely 

 fierce and dangerous. Generally speaking, the 

 color is an iron-gray or a dirty brown, spotted 

 here and there with black. Like his descend- 

 ants, only to a very much greater extent, the 

 original hog was covered with coarse, long hair 

 that showed bristles of great prominence all the 

 time, and especially when the animal was irri- 

 tated. The head of the wild hog is large, bony, 

 and coarse ; the large jaw is covered with the 

 tusks that inflict severe wounds ; the neck is long 

 and muscular, and the loins broad and strong. 

 The wild hog makes a foe fearful to combat 

 when attacked by an enemy of any sort. In his 

 wild habitat he selects places that are moist, 

 rather well concealed by forest growth, where 

 he may feed upon plants, fruits, and roots of vari- 

 ous kinds, though when hunger affects him he 

 greedily appeases his appetite on worms, snakes, 

 and flesh of any kind. The twilight, early dawn, 

 and nighttime seem by choice his favorite 

 periods for seeking food, sport, adventure, and 

 e.xercise. Sense of smell has been developed 

 to such a marked degree in the wild hog that 

 he is able to detect the presence of food though 

 it be covered in the ground. Like other domes- 

 tic animals in their wild and native state the 

 wild hog seeks thick forests and there herds 

 with his kind for safety and protection; when 

 age comes on he strolls much about by himself, 

 never seeking danger, but when it comes he 

 avoids it not. It has been estimated that 

 thirty or forty years is not an infrequent age 

 for some of these wild animals to attain. 



When young are born they follow their mother 

 for several months, in fact, remain with her as 

 much as a year or more, when each individual 

 becomes bolder and goes farther from the home 

 land, naturally drifting apart by himself. 



It is surprising with what ferocity and cour- 

 age the wild boar meets an attack, and with 

 what ease he wards it off. Because of courage 

 and fierceness the wild hog has from the earliest 

 ages been the favorite sport with all classes 

 and conditions of society. Particularly is this 

 true with the nobility of England and Germany. 

 When Rome was at her supreme height the wild 

 hog entered largely into the sports and fights 

 of the times. The wild hog of to-day, while his 

 numbers are small and his territory very limited, 

 remains true to his ancestry and habits. He 

 has lost neither his strength nor his endurance, 

 and when chased by hunters and sportsmen 

 the most powerful horses are necessary, else 

 they will be distanced in the chase. 



The domestic pig may degenerate and be- 

 come wild and grisly, yet he never takes up to 

 the fullest extent the habits of his ancestor, who 

 "walks the glade in savage, solitary grandeur." 



Despite the fierceness of the wild hog, every 

 people appreciates his racial worth. 



I. Long a Source of Food 

 The hog has been the principal quadruped 

 in the South Sea Islands, and more carefully 

 cultivated there than any other animal. For 

 a long time he was used as a most precious 

 sacrifice to the deities. The hog is recorded 

 as sacred on the island of Crete also. We are 

 told that the Greeks at the beginning of harvest 

 time sacrificed a hog to Ceres, and at the 

 beginning of vintage a hog was sacrificed to 

 Bacchus. As meat, hog flesh has long been 

 esteemed ; this is plainly indicated by the 

 many allusions of great authors. The hog 

 entered largely into the diet of the Romans, 



