ORDER PACHYDERMATA. 411 



is no other figure, and the bearded ears and lengthened 

 hair of the animal are very peculiar in its kind, the figure 

 may perhaps not be uninteresting. 



The subgeneric characters of the dorsal gland or open- 

 ing, the teeth, and the toes, which separate the Peccaries 

 from the common swine, are noticed elsewhere. We have 

 only here to give some further detail of the species. Until 

 the time of D'Azara it was presumed that only one species of 

 the Hog with a dorsal gland existed in America : that na- 

 turalist, however, has distinguished the Common Peccary 

 from the white-lipped species or Tajassu. 



The Peccary and the Common Hog resemble each other 

 in general form and manner of living, and in their taste and 

 readiness for an omnivorous sort of diet ; they also dig with 

 the nose, and eat and drink in the same manner; their 

 bristles, moreover, become erect in anger — they all respire 

 strongly, and grunt when irritated : but the Peccaries are 

 observed to be more readily tamed, and to submit to the 

 authority of man with more celerity than the Wild Boar. 



" It is said," says D'Azara, " that their flesh is good, 

 but that it is necessary to deprive them of the dorsal pipe 

 or gland immediately they are killed, otherwise the meat 

 will taste of the secretion produced there, but the Indians it 

 appears eat them without doing so." 



The Peccaries differ from the Wild Boar and Domestic 

 Hog in having the head shorter and thicker, the angle at the 

 buttock closer, and the body, neck, ears, and legs, shorter. 

 They have no visible tail, but D'Azara states that a very 

 short one may be found on close inspection, which is flat; 

 their bristles are nearly stiff enough to penetrate a con- 

 siderable resistance. 



Both the species inhabit the large and thick forests of Ame- 

 rica; the Common Peccaries in numerous herds conducted 

 by a male leader, and the white-lipped species in pairs, or 

 in small numbers only — the two species keeping always 



