SWINE. 745 



IN the SWINE the snout is far less elephantine than in the preceding animals, and 

 although capable of considerable mobility, cannot be curled round any object so as to 

 raise it from the ground. Nor, indeed, is such a power needed, as the Swine employ 

 the snout for the purpose of rooting in the earth, and of distinguishing, by its tactile 

 powers, and the delicate sense of smell which is possessed by these animals, those 

 substances which are suitable for its food. 



In order to enable this instrument to perform its functions more effectually, it is 

 furnished with a small bone, as is the case with the mole. Their form is heavy and 

 massive, their neck and fore-quarters are very strong, and their heads are wedge-shaped, 

 probably because in a wild state they inhabit dense bushes and thickets, and require 

 this form of head and snout to enable them to pierce the tangled vegetation with ease. 

 A wild boar will charge fearlessly at an apparently impenetrable thicket, and vanish 

 into its interior as if by magic. The tusks, especially in the male, are largely developed, 

 and are terrible weapons of offence, a boar being able to rip up a dog or a man's leg 

 with a single blow of his tusks. When striking with these weapons, the boar does 

 not seem to make any great exertion of strength, but gives a kind of wriggle with his 

 snout as he passes his victim. In India, it is not uncommon for an infuriate wild boar 

 to pursue some unfortunate native, to overtake him as he flies, and putting his snout 

 between the poor man's legs, to cut right and left with an almost imperceptible effort, 

 and to pass on his course, leaving the wounded man helpless on the ground. 



There are many species as well as varieties of Swine, which are found in different 

 parts of the earth, the first and most familiar of which is the DOMESTIC HOG of 

 Europe. 



This species is spread over the greater portion of the habitable globe, and was in 

 former days common in a wild state even in England, from whence it has only been 

 expelled within a comparatively late period. The chase of the wild boar was a favorite 

 amusement of the upper classes, and the animal was one of those which were protected 

 by the terribly severe forest laws which were then in vogue. The boar was usually 

 slain with the spear, although the net or the arrow were sometimes employed in his 

 destruction. In several continental countries the boar-hunt is still carried on, and by 

 some more legitimate sportsmen is attacked solely with the spear. The chase is then 

 a most exciting one, for the boar is a terrible antagonist, his charge is made with light- 

 ning swiftness, and together with his furious eyes and lips dripping with the foam, he 

 is a sufficiently formidable foe to disconcert any one who is not possessed of good 

 nerves and a steady hand. The animal has an awkward habit of swerving suddenly 

 from his course, snapping at the spear-head and breaking it from the shaft. He also, 

 when the hunter is on horseback, will charge at the horse instead of the rider, and rising 

 on his hind legs, in order to give the blow greater force, will lay open the horse's flank and 

 instantly disable it. There are, however, but few sportsmen of the present day who 

 will restrict themselves to the use of the spear in boar-hunting, but employ the rifle in 

 lieu of that weapon, so that the danger and excitement of the sport are almost entirely 

 destroyed. 



At the present time the wild Swine have ceased from out of England, in spite of 

 several efforts that have been made to restore the breed by importing specimens from 

 the Continent and turning them into the forests. There are, however, traces of the 

 old wild boars still to be found in the forest pigs of Hampshire, with their high crests, 

 broad shoulders, and thick, bristling manes. These animals are very active, and are 

 much fiercer than the ordinary Swine. 



Swine are very accommodating in their appetite, and will devour almost any vege- 

 table or animal substance. Although more of a vegetable than an animal feeder, the 

 Hog, whether wild or domesticated, will pick up any dead animal it may find, and will 

 sometimes kill meat for itself. As a specimen of the carnivorous powers of the Swine, 

 Buffon mentions that in the stomach of a wild boar opened by himself, he found part of 

 the skin of a roebuck, and some feet of birds. Certain pig-keepers take a base advan- 

 tage of the omnivorous qualities of the Hog, and instead of feeding their animals with such 

 a vegetable diet as will produce a firm and sound flesh, maintain them on the worst kind 

 of garbage, which they obtain at a cheap rate from slaughter-houses, and even force them 



