HOG KIND. 379 



The peccary, though like the hog in so many 

 various respects, is nevertheless a very distinct 

 race, and will not mix, nor produce an interme- 

 diate breed. The European hog has been trans- 

 planted into America, and suffered to run wild 

 among the woods ; it is often seen to herd among 

 a drove of peccaries, but never to breed from them. 

 They may therefore be considered as two distinct 

 creatures : the hog is the larger and the more 

 useful animal, the peccary more feeble and local ; 

 the hog subsists in most parts of the world, and 

 in almost every climate ; the peccary is a native 

 of the warmer regions, and cannot subsist in ours 

 without shelter and assistance. It is more than 

 probable, however, that we could readily pro- 

 pagate the breed of this quadruped, and that, in 

 two or three generations, it might be familiarized 

 to our climate ; but as it is inferior to the hog in 

 every respect, so it would be needless to admit a 

 new domestic, whose services are better supplied 

 in the old. 



' 



THE CAPIBARA, OR CABIAI. 



THERE are some quadrupeds so entirely differ- 

 ent from any that we are acquainted with, that it 

 is hard to find a well known animal to which to 

 resemble them. In this case, we must be content 

 to place them near such as they most approach in 

 form and habits, so that the reader may at once 

 have some idea of the creature's shape or disposi- 



