SWINE. 



SWINE. 



short in proportion to the body ; the extremi- 

 ties are free from coarseness ; the chest is 

 broad, and the trunk round. Possessing these 

 characters, the hog never fails to arrive at 

 earlier maturity, and with a smaller consump- 

 tion of food, than when he possesses a different 

 conformation." 



The wild boar, which was undoubtedly the 

 progenitor of all the European varieties, and 

 also of the Chinese breed, was formerly a na- 

 tive of the British Islands, and very common 

 in the forests until the time of the civil wars in 

 England. 



The wild hog is now spread over the tem- 

 perate and warmer parts of the old continent 

 and its adjacent islands. His colour varies 

 with age and climate, but is generally a dusky 

 brown with black spots and streaks. His skin 

 is covered with coarse hairs or bristles, inter- 

 sected with soft wool, and with coarser and 

 lon^'T bristles upon the neck and spine, which 

 he erects when in anger. He is a very bold 

 and powerful creature, and becomes more 

 fierce and indocile with age. From the form 

 of his teeth he is chiefly herbivorous in his 

 habits, and delights in roots, which his acute 

 MMISC of smell and touch enables him to dis- 

 cover beneath the surface. He also feeds upon 

 animal substances, such as worms and larvae, 

 which he grubs up from the ground, the eggs 

 of birds, small reptiles, the young of animals, 

 and occasionally carrion; he even attacks 

 venomous snakes with impunity. 



The female produces a litter but once a year, 

 and in much smaller numbers than when do- 

 mesticated. She usually carries her young for 

 4 months, or 16 weeks. 



In a wild state the hog has been known to 

 live more than 30 years ; but when domesti- 

 cated he is usually slaughtered for bacon be- 

 fore he is 2 years old, and boars killed for 

 brawn seldom reach to the age of 5. When 

 the wild hog is tamed, it undergoes the follow- 

 ing amongst other changes in its conformation. 

 The ears become less movable, not being re- 

 quired to collect distant sounds. The formi- 

 dable tusks of the male diminish, not being 

 necessary for self-defence. The muscles of 

 the neck become less developed, from not be- 

 ing so much exercised as in the natural state. 

 The head becomes more inclined, the back and 

 loins are lengthened, the body rendered more 

 capacious, the limbs shorter and less muscu- 

 lar; and anatomy proves that the stomach and 

 intestinal canals have also become propor- 

 tionately extended along with the form of the 

 body. The habits and instincts of the animal 

 change : it becomes diurnal in its habits, 

 not choosing the night for its search of food ; 

 is more insatiate in its appetite, and the tend- 

 ency to obesity increases. 



The male, forsaking its solitary habits, be- 

 comes gregarious, and the female produces her 

 young more frequently, and in larger numbers. 

 With its diminished strength and power of ac- 

 tive motion, the animal also loses its desire for 

 liberty. These changes of form, appetites, and 

 habits being communicated to its progeny, a 

 new race of animals is produced, better suited 

 to their altered condition. The wild hog, after 

 T has been domesticated, does not appear to 

 129 



: revert to its former state and habits ; at least 



: the swine of South America, carried thither by 



the Spaniards, which have escaped to the 



woods, retain their gregarious habits, and hiave 



not become wild boars. 



In its wild state the hog has 6 incisor teeth 

 in the upper, and 6 in the lower jaw; but 

 when domesticated the number is reduced to 

 3 in each jaw, and this number is not constant. 

 The vertebrae of the back vary from 14 to 15 

 in number; the lumbar and the sacral from 4 

 to 6 ; the caudal from 2 to 3 or 4, the tail being 

 often rudimental in the domesticated races. 



Mr. T. E. Eyton (Trans, of Zoo/. Soc., Feb. 

 1837), amongst other osteological differences 

 in the races of hogs, points out the following 

 as applicable to the number of vertebras: 



The hog family includes several species, but 

 these have utually been divided into three 

 genera. 



1. The true hi g, which is the most diffused 

 and important class, comprehending the wild 

 boar (Susaper) of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the 

 babiroussa (.> haliirussay of the islands of 

 the Eastern Archipelago, which is of lighter 

 form than the common wild hog; the Papuan 

 hog (Sus papuensis) of New Guinea, and the 

 wood swine, or masked African boar (S. lar- 

 ratus), of Southern Africa and Madagascar. 



2. The wart-bearing hogs of Africa (Phaco- 



rfttrrcx). 



3. The peccaries of America. Of thess 

 there are two species, the collared peccary 

 (Dicotyles torquatus) and the white-lipped pec- 

 cary (D. Inbintiis), both inhabiting the countries 

 of the Atlantic from Guiana and Paraguay, 

 extending into the northern continent, being 

 common on Red River. The peccaries are 

 rather smaller than the common swine of Eu- 

 rope : they are covered with stiff bristles, very 

 long upon the neck and spine, which they erect 

 when irritated, are nearly destitute of tail, and 

 are further characterized by a glandular open- 

 ing in the back, whence the generic term 

 dicotyles, signifying a double navel. 



The true hog does not appear to have been 

 indigenous to America, but was taken over by 

 the early voyagers from the old world, and it 

 has now spread and multiplied throughout the 

 continent. 



The first settlers of Canada, the British 

 North American settlements, and the United 

 States, carried with them the swine of the pa- 

 rent country, and a few of the breeds still re- 

 tain traces of the old English character. From 

 its nature and habits the hog was the most pro- 

 fitable and useful of all the animals bred by the 

 early settler in the distant clearings. It was 

 his surest resource during his first years of toil 

 and hardship. It arrived earlier at maturity, 

 1 required less care, sought out, for the most 

 I part, its own food, was *he least subject u> ac- 



1025 



