106 THE HOG. 



ever bred. To the acute sense of the hog are epicures indebted for 

 the truffles which form such a delicious sauce, for they are the actual 

 finders. A pig is turned into a field and suffered to pursue his own 

 course and watched. He stops and begins to grub up the earth, the 

 man hurries up, drives him away, and secures the truffle, wliich is 

 invariably growing under that spot, and the poor pig goes off to 

 sniff out another, and another, only now and then being allowed by 

 way of encouragement to reap the fruits of his research. And how 

 many a school-boy has by watching a hog along the hedge sides, and 

 driven him away just as he began to dig, secured a fine juicy earth- 

 nut! 



The muscles, too, of the snout of the hog require some notice. 

 According to Cuvier, there are four principal muscles proceeding to 

 it ; the superior of these proceeds from the lachrymal bone, which 

 occupies a rather large rhomboidal space upon the cheek, and its 

 tendon bears upon the snout, but does not approach sufficiently 

 near it to unite with it. The next two are situated immediately 

 beneath, and proceed from the maxillary bone ; these are partially 

 united, but their tendons pass on separately, one on the one side, and 

 one on the other of the extremity of the snout ; and the fourth and 

 smallest passes obliquely beneath the tendons of the others, from 

 the nasal bone towards the insertion of the second and third muscles. 

 These longitudinal muscles are enveloped in annular fibres, which 

 appear to be a continuation of the orbicularis of the lips, and give 

 to the snout its extreme flexibility. 



THE JEETH. 



The hog has fourteen molar teeth in each jaw ; six incisors and 

 two canines ; these latter are curved upwards, and commonly denomi- 

 nated tushes. The molar teeth are all slightly different in structure, 

 and increase in size from first to last ; they bear no slight resem- 

 blance to those of the human being. The incisors are so fantastic in 

 form as to baffle description, and their destined functions are by no 

 means clear. Those in the lower jaw are long, round, and nearly 

 straight ; of those in the upper jaw four closely resemble the corre- 

 sponding teeth in the horse, while the two corner incisors bear some- 

 thing of the fleur de Us shape of those of the dog. These latter are 

 placed so near to the tushes as often to obstruct their growth, and 

 it is sometimes necessary to draw them, in order to relieve the ani- 

 mal and enable him to feed. 



It is seldom that it becomes necessary to ascertain the age of the 

 hog by inspecting his teeth, nor is it by any means an easy task to 

 do so, but still it may occasionally be interesting, and, with refer- 

 ence to those intended for breeding, important to be able to do so 

 when necessary. 



