242 suiDjE. 



and I tliink is worthy of specific Beparation as many other recognised 

 species. Mr. Elliot states that the Indian wild hog differs considerably 

 from the German one, the former of which is altogether a more active 

 looking animal, the German having a stronger, heavier appearance. He 

 was the first, I believe, to point out the differences, some of which more- 

 over are perceptible in domesticated individuals of the two countries. 



Gray too in describing a Sus indicus from Madras, says bristles more 

 abundant on the front part of the body, legs slender, covered with a few 

 bristles ; skulls of the Indian one have the hinder part of the forehead less 

 high and dilated. 



There appear to be two or three varieties of type in India. Blyth has 

 indicated two different forms of skulls. One skull 14^ inches long, was 

 only 1| inch wide at the vertex, flat and narrow, with the lower tusks 7^ 

 inches long : the other one was 2 j inches wide at the vertex, and the whole 

 vertical aspect of the cranium wider and more convex. The latter he 

 distinguished as Sus bengalensis, and the former as S. indicus. The 

 frontal region is flat in the latter, somewhat convex and broad in the former. 

 The skull of one of the Bengal type was nearly 16 inches long. It is 

 found all over Bengal to the foot of the Himalayas, Arrakan, and probably 

 Assam, Sylhet, &c. Sus indicus, apud Blyth, is the wild hog of India 

 generally and Ceylon. Gray has indicated* another race, from the Neel- 

 gherries, as Sus neelgJierriensis. The wild boar of Bengal is said to be 

 larger, and to stand higher on its legs than those from other parts of India, 

 some large individuals being said to stand nearly 40 inches high at the 

 shoulder. 



The wild hog is found throughout India, from the level of the sea to 

 12,000 feet of elevation, wherever there is sufficient shelter either of long 

 grass, low jungle, or forest. It is very numerous in some parts, and 

 does much damage to various crops. It associates in more or less numer- 

 ous herds, called " sounder" technically, in sporting language in the Deccan, 

 but isolated individuals are frequently met with especially in long grass. 



Where this form their chief shelter, they construct a sort of rude abode 

 by cutting a lot of grass and spreading it out carefully on the ground. 

 They then creep under this and raise it up to the proper height, and they 

 remain in these lairs during the day which afford a good shelter from the 

 heat of the sun. I have seen numerous lairs of this description in various 



• Cat. ot Osteologicttl Specimens, British Museum. 



