THE DOMESTIC SOW. 55 



THE DOMESTIC SOW. 



IT would be superfluous to give an elaborate description 

 of an animal so well known. Jn a domestic state, the Hog 

 is apparently the most impure and filthy of all quadrupeds ; 

 yet it is not without its taste, and in some respects makes 

 a selection of its food with no small nicety. It devours, 

 indeed, the most nauseous offals, but this is only when it 

 cannot find aliment more congenial to its palate. 



We find varieties of it in every climate, except within 

 the frigid zone ; and different as their appearance may be 

 from the nature of their food, and other local causes, all 

 the breeds intermix, and will thrive in any temperate 

 latitude. In civilized countries, it is one of the greatest 

 comforts of the poor ; and among the unrefined islanders 

 of the South Sea, &c. which our navigators have discovered 

 or visited, it is almost the only animal on which they feed. 

 Their flesh, says Linnaeus, is wholesome for persons of 

 athletic constitutions, and for such as habituate themselves 

 to much exercise ; but it is improper for the sedentary and 

 studious, and particularly when cured. 



THE RABBIT. 



THOUGH the Hare and the Rabbit strongly resemble each 

 other in form and habits, they are, nevertheless, distinct 

 pecies, and have never been known to intermix. The 

 rabbit is one of the most prolific and harmless animals in 

 stature; and, at the same time, one of the most beneficial 

 no mankind. This creature has been known to breed seven 

 times in one year, and to bring forth eight each time ; from 

 which, admitting this to happen regularly for four years, 

 it follows that a single pair would multiply in that period 

 to one million two hundred and seventy-four thousand 

 eight hundred and forty! An instance of fecundity truly 

 astonishing; and, were not their numbers thinned by the 

 ravages of almost every beast of prey, they would almost 

 be sufficient to supply mankind with animal food. Indeed, 



