52 



the waters of the neighboring pond and perished. Whether 

 the biblical lore of those in authority prompted this out-of-the- 

 way location, or whether fears Avere entertained that some ir- 

 reparable damage might be inflicted by the hogs on the immac- 

 ulate sward of Bartlett Mall, so tenderly cherished by some 

 citizens of Newburyport, your committee did not discover. 

 The hogs, however, manifested much curiosity on this or some 

 other question of the day, by poking their noses into whatever 

 presented itself, with an insinuating manner that would have 

 been creditable to a newspaper reporter. 



Your committee were not preceded by a band of music, nei- 

 ther did a mounted marshal, with badge and baton, announce 

 their advent, to pronounce judgment upon the porcine candi- 

 dates for premiums to be awarded, but as they approached the 

 pens they were encouraged by a welcome chorus, in which the 

 more sedate competitors grunted basso profimdo, while the 

 frisky youngsters indulged in altissimo squeals. It was indeed 

 an imposing spectacle, and your committee felt inspired by 

 what they saw and heard, to mete out exact justice. The four 

 practical members set about making the awards, while to ther 

 associate, who is more familiar with the ])e>i than with the ani- 

 mals, was assigned the task of preparing the report. An inti- 

 mation had been given that this production was, if possible, to 

 be made spicy, to season the Society's transactions, yet on the 

 part of the hogs there was nothing but gravity of demeanor 

 visible, and your committee would respectfully suggest that as 

 the jollity of a horse laugh is proverbial, the equine committee 

 be next year charged with the comic business. 



The history of the Hog, — general and local, — should not 

 be forgotten. It has been generally believed that the original 

 American porkers were carpet baggers, brought to this conti- 

 nent by the Spaniards soon after its discovery by Christopher 

 Columbus, but modern science shows that the race existed on 

 this continent ages before. Fossil bones, identified as those of 

 the Hog, have been found in the deposits of the miocene age, 

 ^which was the second division of the tertiary epoch,) repos- 



