32 THE MAMMALS OF THE WOODS 



of the nose into a movable snout, which has a disc with the nostrils at its end. 

 The narrow feet of the swine have four completely developed toes, the outer pair 

 of which do not touch the ground, while the inner ones are flattened. Their 

 tusks grow throughout life, and the upper ones are usually directed upwards 

 instead of downwards. The ears are large and drooping ; the rather long, round 

 tail has a tuft at its end ; the body is covered with sparse bristles ; the neck is 

 short and thin ; and the head is carried low. 



All the more typical swine are restricted to the Old World, and include 

 animals that like damp and marshy situations, and enjoy walking in mud. 

 In Europe there is only one genus, that of the true swine (Sus). These are 

 distinguished by forty-four teeth; the upper tusk having a smooth terminal 

 surface, produced by rubbing against the lower canine. Owing to this, both the 

 upper and lower canines are kept from growing long, but, if one of these teeth 

 be broken, its fellow in the opposite jaw grows to an inordinate length. 

 Besides their bristles, pigs have more or less developed under-fur ; and the wild 

 race has a long and narrow face. They are very prolific, and the young, especially 

 those of the wild species, are striped all along the body with light or dark lines. 

 Before the wild boar was so persistently hunted, wild swine were spread all over 

 Europe and North Africa, as well as southern and central Asia, Japan, and the 

 Malay Isles. 



The wild boar (Sus scrofa), the only representative of the family in Europe, 

 is blackish brown, in winter sometimes blackish grey, in summer dark brown or foxy 

 red. Although resembling the domestic pig in form, the wild boar differs consider- 

 ably in the shape of the head, which occupies nearly a third of the entire length 

 of the animal, exclusive of the tail. The snout consists of cartilage, thickening to 

 a protruding edge at the nose, and is worked by strong muscles. The chief weapons 

 of the boar are its tusks, especially those of the lower jaw. In the upper jaw 

 the tusks are comparatively short and club-shaped, but those of the lower jaw stand 

 up vertically, and even at the age of two years form spear-like weapons, project- 

 ing a little above the edge of the muzzle. These tusks are more formidable in a 

 boar of three years old, owing to their increase in length and their vertical position. 

 The lower tusks at that age are indeed particularly dangerous, since they enable 

 the animal to strike with its full strength ; but in the fourth year they begin to 

 curve backwards, thus rendering the boar less dangerous as he grows older. 

 During this time the upper canines gradually curve over the muzzle, the lower 

 pair, in old age, becoming much worn, if not broken and entirely lost. Unlike 

 the boar, the sow has only small tusks, which are practically incapable of inflicting 

 harm ; and her means of defence are limited to biting and trampling with her feet, 

 for which reason she is often more dangerous than a big boar, especially as she 

 persists in her attack to the last, trampling on her adversary with her hoofs, and 

 biting until the encounter ends. 



The eyes of wild swine are scarcely visible externally, being deeply sunk and 

 protected by bristles, thus enabling the animal to rush through the densest brush- 

 wood without closing the eyelids. The ears stand erect, although sometimes laid 

 back a little. The front of the body is much more developed than the hind 

 part, being joined to the powerful head by a thick-set neck, and supported on 



