22 THE HOG. 



noun to the Arabit sense of the verb, viz., to have narrow eyes, and there 

 is much of the probability in their supposition. In some respects 

 swine seem to form an intermediate link between the whole-footed 

 and cloven-footed animals, and the others to occupy the same ground 

 between the cloven-footed and the digitative ; but look at them in 

 what point of view we may, these animals present various peculiar 

 characteristics, and are of vast importance as affording the means 

 of sustenance to millions of human beings in all parts of the world. 

 The hog is a perfect cosmopolite, adapting itself to almost every cli- 

 mate ; increasing rapidly, being more prolific than any other domes- 

 tic animal, with the exception of the rabbit ; easily susceptible of 

 improvement, and quickly attaining to maturity. 



As far back as the records of history enable us to go, the hog ap- 

 pears to have been known, and his flesh made use of as food. 1491 

 years before Christ, Moses gave those laws to the Israelites which 

 have occasioned so much discussion, and given rise to the many 

 opinions which we shall presently have to speak of; and it is quite 

 evident that had not pork then been the prevailing food of th&t 

 nation, such stringent commandments and prohibitions would not 

 have been necessary. The various allusions to this kind of meat, 

 which occur again and again, in the writings of the old Greek au- 

 thors, plainly testify the esteem in which it was held among this 

 nation, and it appears that the Romans actually made the art of 

 breeding, rearing, and fattening pigs a study, which they designated 

 Proculatio. Every art was put in practice to impart a finer and 

 more delicate flavor to the flesh ; the poor animals were fed, and 

 crammed, and tortured to death in various ways, many of them too 

 horrible to be described, in order to gratify the epicurism and glut- 

 tony of this people. Pliny informs us that they fed swine on dried 

 figs, and drenched them to repletion with honeyed wine, in order to 

 produce a diseased and monstrous-sized liver. The Porcus Trojanus, 

 so called in allusion to the Trojan horse, was a very celebrated dish, 

 and one that eventually became so extravagantly expensive that a 

 sumptuary law was passed respecting it. This dish consisted in a 

 whole hog, with the entrails drawn out, and the inside stuffed with 

 thrushes, larks, beccaficoes, oysters, nightingales, and delicacies of 

 every kind, and the whole bathed in wine and rich gravies. Another 

 great dish was a hog served whole, the one side roasted and the 

 other boiled. 



Varro states that the Gauls produced the largest and finest swine's 

 flesh that was brought into Italy ; and, according to Strabo, in the 

 reign of Augustus, they supplied Rome and nearly all Italy with 

 gammons, hog-puddings, hams, and sausages. This nation and the 

 Spaniards appear to have kept immense droves of swine, but scarcely 

 any other kind of live stock ; and various authors mention swine as 

 forming a part of the live stock of most Roman farms. 



