Book VII. 



SWINE. 



1067 



VII. 



em^^^^^A 1 ^^^ 



The Swine. — Siis Scrofa L. Cochon, Fr. ; Sckwein, Ger. ; Puerco, Span. ; and 



Porco, Ital. 



7274. Of swine there are several species, but none in general domestication, or much 

 used as food when taken wild, excepting the common sort, which includes the wild 

 hog; or wild boar, the original stock of our domestic breed, the European hog, and the 

 Chinese hog. 



7275. The common hop is found either in a wild or domestic state, in almost all the temperate parts of 

 Europe and Asia ; but it is not met with in the most northern parts of these continents. It is found in 

 many parts of Africa. Mr. Pennant asserts, that the wild boar was formerly a native of this country, and 

 hunted from the middle of November to the beginning of December ; and it is asserted by Fitz-Stephens, 

 that the vast forest which in his time grew on the north side of London, was the retreat of stags, wild 

 boars, and bulls. 



7276. The wild boar is still found in the forests of Germany, and in other parts of the Continent; and 



although now extinct in Britain, appears 

 from ancient paintings [fig. 89S.) to have 

 been hunted by our ancestors. It feeds 

 upon roots, acorns, and other vegetables : 

 it is generally as large as the domestic hog, 

 and is either dark grey or blackish, when 

 full grown, and pale red or rusty brown 

 when young. Between the bristles, next 

 the skin, is a finer or softer hair of a woolly 

 or curling nature. The snout is somewhat 

 longer in proportion than that of the do- 

 mestic animal ; but the principal difference 

 is in the superior length and size of the 



tusks, which are often several inches long, and capable of inflicting the most severe and fatal wounds. 

 The hunting of the wild boar forms one of the principal amusements of the great in some parts of Ger. 

 manv, Poland, &c. and is a chase of some difficulty and danger, not on account of the swiftness, but the 

 ferocitv of the animal Wild boars, according to Button, which have not passed the third year, are called 

 by the'hunters beasts of companv, because previous to that age they do not separate, but tollow their com- 

 mon parent. They never wander alone till they have acquired sufficient strength to resist the attacks of 

 the wolf. These animals, when thev have young, form themselves into flocks, and it is upon this alone 

 that their safety depends. When attacked, the largest and strongest front the enemy, and by pressing all 

 round against the weaker, force them into the centre. 



7277. Of the tame hog, white is the most general colour ; but other colours are often intermixed in various 

 proportions. In some respects, the hog seems to form an intermediate link between the whole and the 

 cloven-footed animals : in others he seems to occupv the same rank between the cloven-footed and digitated. 

 Destitute of horns ; furnished with teeth in both jaws ; with only one stomach ; incapable ot ruminating ; 

 and producing at one birth a numerous progenv : the union of these faculties confers on the hog a remark- 

 able peculiarity of character. He does not, like other animals, shed his fore teeth and put forth a second 

 set, but retains his first set through life. 



72~8. Hogs seem to enjoy none of the powers of sensation in eminent perfection. They are said to hear 

 distant sounds; and the wild boar distinguishes the scent of the hunter and his dogs, long before they 

 can approach him. But so imperfect is their feeling, that they suffer mice to burrow in the fat ot their 

 backs without discovering any uneasiness, or appearing even to notice it. In their taste they show a 

 singular degree of caprice. In the choice of herbs they are more delicate than any other herbiferous 

 animal, yet devour the most nauseous and putrid carrion with more voracity than any beast of prey. 

 At times they do not scruple to eat their own young ; they will even mangle infants out of desperate 

 voracity. 



7279.' Hogs are remarkable for the smallncss of their eyes : hence a person whose eyes are very diminu- 

 tive, and deep sunk in his head, is said to be pig-eved. The form of the hog is inelegant, and his carriage 

 is equally mean as his manners. His unwieldv shape renders him no less incapable of swiftness and 

 sprightliness, than he is of gracefulness of motion. His appearance is always drowsy and stupid. 

 He delights to bask in the sun, and to wallow in the mire. An approaching storm seems to affect his 

 feelings in a very singular manner. On such an occasion, he runs about in a frantic state, and utters 

 loud shrieks of horror. Hogs are infested with lice, and are subject to many disorders, such as the 

 scurvy, scab, and scrofula. The sow brings forth in the beginning of the fifth month after conception, 

 and she has often two litters in a year. She generallv produces a numerous progeny at a birth ; but 

 her first litter is less numerous than those that follow. Hogs, when suffered to see the natural term 

 of life, live from fifteen to thirty years. Their size and strength continue to improve till they are five or 

 six years old. 



7280. Tame hogs are often very troublesome in cultivated grounds, ploughing them up with their snouts, 

 and thus entirely frustrating the labours of the agriculturist. Worms, the wild carrot, and other roots, 

 are the objects of their search. The wild boar having a longer and stronger snout than the domestic variety, 

 digs deeper, and continues his furrow nearlv in a straight line. The inhabitants of America find the hog 

 very beneficial in clearing their lands of rattlesnakes and other serpents, upon which he constantly preys, 

 without apparently suffering any injury. 



7281. The hog is, in a very considerable degree, beneficial to ?nankind. His flesh is pleasant, substantial, 

 and nutritious. It affords numberless materials for the table of the epicure ; among these is brawn, which 

 seems peculiar to England. Pork takes salt better than the flesh of any animal, and is, in consequence, 

 preserved longer, and always makes an important article in naval stores. The lard of the hog is essential 

 to the cook and confectioner; it is used in various medical preparations, and is compounded by the per- 

 fumer into pomatums. The bristles are made into brushes, and are, moreover, of great use to the shoe- 

 maker. The skin is worked into coverings for pocket-books, and other articles. 



7JS2. The hog in British farming is in general viewed as a subordinate species of live stock, and chiefly 

 valuable as consuming what would otherwise be lost. There are, however, swine husbandmen who keep 

 large herds to advantage, especially millers, brewers, distillers, and dairymen, to whom they are an object 

 of importance ; and return, for the offal thev consume, a greater weight of meat, according to some double 

 the weight, than could be obtained from cattle. In those parts where potatoes are raised as a fallow crop, 

 much beyond the demand for them as human food, — as is the case in particular in Ireland, and the west of 

 Scotland, —the rearing and feeding of swine, the most of them sent to a distance in the state ot bacon and 

 pickled pork, is a branch of management on which great dependence is placed for the payment of their 

 rents and other charges. The prolific nature of this animal, however, rendering it so easy to increase the 

 supply beyond the demand, the price of swine flesh varies more than that of any other sort ot butcher's 



