208 



THE STORY OF THE WILD BOAR. 



eros, hang about the sho'ulders and rump. It is colored black, with white 

 feet, and breeds true. That it has long been domesticated there can be 

 little doubt; and this might have been inferred even from the circum- 

 stance that its young are not longitudinally striped. 



The extraordinary development of the tusks in the males of the animal 

 to which the Malays have given the name of Babirusa (meaning pig-deer) 

 is so remarkable as to suggest at first sight the idea of a malformation. The 

 babirusa, which is an inhabitant of Celebes and Boru, and is the sole repre- 



WILD HOG OF THE PHILIPPINES. 



sentative of its genus, has, indeed, derived its name from these abnormally- 

 developed tusks, which have led the Malays to liken them to the antlers 

 of the deer. In the boars the upper tusks, while curving upwards like those 

 of an ordinary wild pig, instead of protruding from the margins of the jaws, 

 arise close together near the middle line of the face, and thence, after being 

 directed upwards for a short distance, sweep backwards, frequently coming 

 into contact with the surface of the forehead, and are then finally directed 



