PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 45 



Europe, through the upper miocene Pig of the Mount 

 Leberon (Sus major) and of Eppelsheim (Sus 

 antiquus\ and the pliocene Pigs of Montpellier (Sus 

 provincialis) and of the Auvergne (Sus arvernensis}. 

 No doubt this appears rather a strong case in favour 

 of the European origin of the wild Boar, but although 

 the Tertiary strata of Asia, as I remarked, are as yet 

 little known, a number of fossil pigs are known from 

 India, Persia, and China, the oldest being the upper 

 miocene Persian Pig (Sus maraghanus). Pigs are 

 therefore as old in Asia as in Europe, and as a direct 

 intercourse between the two continents probably never 

 ceased since miocene times, it is not surprising that 

 this genus should occur in both. Even if the genus had 

 its origin in Europe, it is quite possible that in later 

 Tertiary times, the active centre of origin was shifted 

 to the neighbouring continent, and that henceforth 

 many new species issued forth from Asia, some of 

 which may subsequently have been modified on 

 reaching our continent. The wild Boar (Sus scrofa\ 

 however, to judge from its general range, I must look 

 upon as merely an immigrant in Europe. I have no 

 doubt that it originated somewhere in Asia, probably 

 in the south. 



The view I take of the origin of our European 

 Boar is also supported by Dr. Forsyth Major's recent 

 researches. He was led to a re-investigation of the 

 history of the Pig while examining a la'-ge number 

 of fossil skulls in the Museum at Florence, and came 

 to the conclusion that only three or four species of 



