;o6 



MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



in the jaw up to the third year of life. If, therefore, the jaw 

 of a Pig up to the third year of its age (fig. 403) be examined, 

 there will appear to be four praemolars and three molars on 



Fig. 403. Dentition of the Boar (Sus scrofa). The tooth marked //w 1 , though taking 

 the place of a first praemolar, is really the first deciduous molar, which has not yet 

 been shed. 



each side, the first of these apparent praemolars being really 

 the long - retained first deciduous molar. The stomach is 

 mostly slightly divided, and is not nearly so complex as in the 

 Ruminants. The snout is truncated and cylindrical, fitted for 

 turning up the ground, and is capable of considerable move- 

 ment. The skin is more or less abundantly covered with hair, 

 and the tail is very short, or represented only by a tubercle. 



Of the true Swine, the best known and most important is 

 the Wild Boar (Sus scrofd], from which it is probable that 

 most of our domestic varieties of swine have sprung. The 

 Wild Boar formerly inhabited this country, and is still abun- 

 dant in many of the forests of Europe. It is often hunted, 

 arid the size and sharpness of its canines render it a tolerably 

 formidable adversary, as is also its congener, the Indian Hog 

 \Sus Indicus}. Another curious form, closely related to the 

 Wild Boar, is the Babyroussa (Porcus Babirusa), which in- 

 habits the islands of Celebes and Borneo in the Melanesian 

 province. It is remarkable for the great size and backward 

 curvature of the upper canines. The upper canines pierce 

 the upper lip in the males, and their alveoli are directed up- 

 wards. The Push - hogs (Potamockarus) of Southern Africa 

 and Madagascar are nearly allied to Sus, but possess sub- 

 jocular excrescences of a cartilaginous nature. 



