THE WILD BOAR. 499 



and the ancient trainers gave it exclusively to the athletes and gladiators 

 of the arena. Our Teutonic ancestors believed that the flesh of the 

 boar Soehrimnir was the daily food of the gods and heroes who dwelt in 

 Valhalla. King Ragnar Lodbrog, when dying, sang " I am filled with 

 joy when I think of the feast preparing for me in Odin's palace." 

 Reminiscences of this mythical repast gave rise to the introduction of 

 the boar's head at solemn festivals. At the Christmas dinner at New 

 College, Oxford, a boar's head is brought to table in a long procession, 

 while the choristers of the chapel march before it singing a Latin hymn. 

 We need not mention the enormous proportions to which the American 

 trade in pork has attained. It is not too much to say that pork is the 

 chief article of diet in the world, and supplies the bone and muscle of the 

 Chinese porter, as well as of the Irish peasant, or our own farmers. 



THE WILD BOAR. 



The Wild Boar, Sus apcr (Plate XXXVII), is still common in the 

 forests of the continent of Europe. Its whole body is covered with 

 blackish-brown bristles which form a sort of mane on the neck when the 

 animal is excited. The lower canine teeth curve outward and upward, 

 and give a severe wound ; the toes are close together, and in walking the 

 hind-foot is brought forward as far as the heel, and a little outside of the 

 front-foot. Till the age of six months old, the young of the Wild Boar 

 is, like the young peccary, striped in alternate bands of light and brown 

 fallow color. The old males live alone, but the females continue with 

 their young ones for at least two years. In deserted forests troops of 

 females are found, which live on good terms, and combine for mutual 

 defence, forming a circle when attacked. 



In summer, Wild Boars are principally to be met on the outskirts of 

 forests, in the approaches to fields or vineyards, and near swamps, where 

 they retire during the heat of the day to refresh themselves by wallow- 

 ing in the muddy water. In autumn, they permanently reside in the 

 • forests, in the heart of which they establish their winter retreat. 



Dark, damp localities are generally chosen for their lairs : here they 

 lie hid during the whole day, and only leave in the evening or at night 

 to seek their food. They dig up the ground in search of worms and the 

 larvae or grubs of cockchafers; and they also devour reptiles, birds' eggs, 

 and all the young animals they can surprise. Field-mice, moles, and 



