335 



CHAPTER III. 

 AETIODACTYLA THE PIG OR HOG FAMILY. 



Introductory Remarks on the Artiodactyla Character of their Feet The Wanting Digit Comparison of the Bones of the 

 Fore Feet of Representative Animals Other Characters in the Artiodactyla Classification SUID^E, OR HOG 

 FAMILY Groups of the Family Snout Sense of Smell labels Mention in the Bible Among the Jews Range- 

 Teeth THE WILD BOAK General Features Habits Historical Mention THE INDIAN HOG Habits A Wild Boar 

 Hunt A Noble Foe THE DOMESTIC HOG The "Irish Greyhound Pig" Effects of Domestication THE SOLID- 

 HOOFED BREED OP PIGS Description of the Bones of Foot MASKED PIG BUSH HOG BABIRUSA THE WART 

 HOGS ^ELIAN'S WART HOG THE ETHIOPIAN WART HOG PECCARIES Habits Dentition Feet Species THE 

 FOSSIL HOGS. 



SUB-ORDER ARTIODACTYLA. 



BESIDES the Perissodactyla there is another large group of animals in which the extremities 



of the fore and hind toes are entirely surrounded by horny tissue in the shape of hoofs. These 



are the Artiodactyla, or cloven-hoofed animals, 



which differ from the Perissodactyla in the 



manner in which the weight of the body is 



carried upon the feet. In the Artiodactyla the 



toes are even in number, being four in all the 



feet, except in the Camel tribe, the Giraffe, and 



a very few Antelopes, in which only two are 



present. It is the digit which corresponds to 



the human thumb in the fore foot, and to the 



great toe in the hind, which is always deficient, 



the inner and the outer digits (the second and 



the fifth) being frequently reduced to but 



minute rudiments, as in the Sheep and Ox. 



Some may ask how we know that it is the 



thumb and the great toe which are missing, and 



not the little finger or toe, for instance. A 



glance at the human hand and foot will explain 



the point. Counting the bones in the thumb or 



great toe, it will be found that there are but 



two bones beyond the limit of the ' ball of the 



thumb," or the free part of the great toe, whilst 



in all the other fingers and toes three bones can 



be counted. A reference to Fig. 3 makes it 



evident that in the Artiodactyla there figured, 



as in all others, each toe has three bones in it ; 



and as all mammalian animals which have five 



toes agree with man in possessing one less bone 



in the inner toe than in any of the others, it is 



but logical to conclude that when four toes only 



are present, all possessing an equal number of 



bones, the one absent is that corresponding to 



the thumb and great toe. Each foot is always 



symmetrical in itself, at the same time that its 



imaginary axis, which is the line drawn down 



the middle of it, runs between the two medial 



toes, they corresponding with the third and 



fourth of the human limb. The accompanying 



drawings of the bones of the fore-foot of the Pig, the Water Chevrotain (or Deerlet), the Javan 



* The numbers in each figure refer to the digits, the thumb being always absent. The seven square-shaped bones above 

 the digits in each figure constitute the wrist or carpus. Above these are the large radius, and the small ulna in some. 



BONES OF THE LEFT FORE LIMB OF (1) COMMON PIG, (2) 

 AFRICAN DEERLET, (3) JAVAN DEERLET, W ROEBUCK, 

 (5) COMMON SHEEP, (6) CAMEL.* 



(From Specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.) 



