ORIGIN OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 233 



about the size of a common mule down to one not much larger 

 than the modern pigmy hog of India. Evidently the hog tribe 

 has been a long time with us and has seen, as it is now seeing, 

 exceedingly prosperous days. 



Besides these already mentioned, Asia affords another notable 

 species, the babiroussa, a little further removed from the true 

 pig, as he has a pair of tusks rising from his nose and midway 

 between his snout and his eyes. He is, however, essentially a 

 wild pig, and in his natural habitat, the lowlands of Celebes, he 

 is found both wild and domesticated. 



Africa affords a goodly number of wild relatives, notably the 

 gray bush pig (Sus africamis) of the south-central regions and 

 the little red bush pig or river hog {Sus porcus) of the west- 

 ern lowlands. Aside from these true pigs there are several 

 species of the so-called wart hogs, ugly specimens with immense 

 heads and broad noses crowned with vicious tusks, deriving 

 their name from three hornlike " warts " that develop on the 

 side of the face just below the eyes. 



Altogether the pig is not at all wanting in relatives of the 

 woods, even without going to the more remote connections such 

 as the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, or the elephant. Of all our 

 domesticated animals none are more readily traced to the wild and 

 none more quickly or more thoroughly revert to the feral state. 

 The pig in domestication is generally quiet and harmless, but he 

 is capable of a good fight, and in the semiwild state a drove of 

 hogs is an enemy more dangerous than most wild animals. 



Quite contrary to popular opinion, the pig is among the 

 cleanest of our domestic animals. Like the buffalo he seeks 

 the water, or mud in absence of water, as a protection against 

 the heat of the sun. Having no sweat glands, he gets no relief 

 by evaporation from his own body, and his resort to the cooling 

 effects of water is not only natural but necessary. 



The cat (Felis catus). Here again domestication is lost in 

 anticjuity, but the origin is not difficult to trace. Wild catlike 

 animals are common in the world, and nowhere more common 



