SWINE. 609 



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. 



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

 days common in a wild state. 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 antago- 

 nist, his charge is made with lightning 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. 



Swine are very accommodating in their appetite, and will devour almost any vegetable 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 advantage 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 to eat the offal of their own species. The flesh of 

 such ill-fed animals is always flabby and of ill-savor, and is also injurious to those by whom it 

 is consumed. 



In this country, the Hog is used not only for food, but for the sake of the hide, which, 

 when prepared after a peculiar fashion, is found to make the best leather for saddles. The 

 bristles are largely used in the manufacture of brushes. 



Both to the Jews and the Mahometans the Hog is a forbidden article of diet, the latter 

 prohibition being evidently in imitation of the former. In the Mosaical law the Hog is spoken 

 of as an unclean animal that might not be eaten, although for what reason is not easy to ascer- 

 tain, and the Rabbinical mandates which exercised such a potent sway over the people laid 

 such a stress upon the interdict that they declared the animal itself to be a vile and foul beast, 

 and pronounced a sentence of uncleanness against those who came in contact with a Hog or 

 with anything which it had touched. It must be remarked, that the Egyptians, among whom 

 the Hebrews had so long resided, held similar views of the Hog, and that might be in defer- 

 ence to their prejudices which they had contracted from their former masters. The Hebrews 



