426 UNGULATES. 



and a third from Madagascar, belong, however, to a group distinct from that in- 

 cluding the rest. Domesticated pigs have been turned loose in many parts of the 

 world, such as America, the West Indies, and New Zealand, where they have 

 formed feral races tending to revert more or less completely to the wild type, some 

 even producing striped young. 



Although some of the species are markedly distinct, the pigs 

 (exclusive of those from Southern Africa) are an exceedingly 

 puzzling group, scarcely any two zoologists being in accord as to the number 

 of existing species. Some of the most important distinctive features are afforded 

 by the cheek-teeth ; but as such differences, after all, are but slight, and 

 difficult to recognise, we shall, in the main, confine our attention to some of the 

 better-known species, such as those of Europe and India. 



European wild The type of the genus is the European wild pig, or wild boar 



Boar. ($%is scrofa), ranging over Europe, Northern Africa, and part of 

 Western and Central Asia. In Asia, it is believed by Mr. Blanford to extend into 

 Mesopotamia, Persia, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, while northwards it ranges 

 to the neighbourhood of Yarkand. It was formerly abundant throughout the 

 British Islands, as is attested not only by historical evidence, but also by the 

 abundance of its remains in the peat-mosses and fens ; and boar-hunting was a 

 favourite pursuit of our ancestors. Although the exact date of the extermination 

 of wild boars from the British Islands does not appear to be ascertained, Mr. J. E. 

 Harting has shown that they still existed in Oxfordshire in the year 1339, in 

 Suffolk in 1572, and in Chartley Forest, Staffordshire, as late as 1593 ; and it 

 is quite probable that in Scotland, and perhaps in Ireland also, they may have 

 lingered on till a still more recent date. In many parts of the Continent, and 

 especially in the Black Forest, wild boars are still abundant. 

 Indian wild The Indian wild boar (S. cristatus) is so closely allied to its 



Boar. European cousin that it is frequently regarded as specifically 

 inseparable. It is, however, a somewhat taller animal, with a thinner coat of 

 hair and no under-fur ; but it is more especially distinguished by the presence 

 of a crest or mane of long black bristles running from the nape of the neck 

 along the back, and by the more complex structure and larger size of the last 

 molar tooth in each jaw. As regards the latter characteristic, it may be observed 

 that in the European wild boar the hindmost of the three lobes constituting 

 the last lower molar, is not more complex than in the specimen figured on 

 p. 425 ; but in the Indian species, and more especially in the males, this lobe 

 (the one on the left of the figure) is complicated by the addition of one or more 

 extra tubercles to the hinder extremity, thus making the whole of this tooth 

 considerably longer and more complex. Analogous but less strongly - marked 

 differences may be observed between the corresponding upper teeth of the two 

 species. The usual height of the Indian wild boar varies from 30 to 40 inches 

 at the shoulder, but it is stated that one specimen has been killed standing 

 upwards of 43 J inches ; while the weight ranges from 200 to considerably over 

 300 Ibs. When extracted from the jaw, the lower tusk of a fine boar will 

 measure somewhere about 8 or 9 inches in length ; but specimens measuring 

 9J and 10 inches have been recorded, and one is said to have been obtained 



