88 ANIMAL FOOD RESOUECES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



partaken of them to be Excellent eating, and Sonnini 

 frequently mentions his delicious repasts on them in the 

 forest. 



Swine. — The wild boar, the peccary, and other of the pig 

 tribe are less common than the domestic hog, but the pig 

 plays an extensive part in the culinary service of man- 

 kind in nearly all parts of the world; and a delicate 

 sucking pig, a Bath chap, or a good rasher of bacon are 

 tit bits not to be held in light esteem, common as they 

 are with us. 



There are nearly three million pigs in the United 

 Kingdom, and about half of these are slaughtered 

 annually. Ireland has nearly half the number — 1,348,314. 



Lord Brougham hoped to see the day when every man 

 in the kingdom would read Bacon. To which Cobbett is 

 said to have replied that it would be much better if his 

 Lordship would use his influence that every man in the 

 kingdom could eat bacon. The phrase of "going the 

 whole bog" must certainly have originated in Chicago, 

 for in that American city they slaughter annually four 

 or five millions of pigs, and the inhabitants are therefore 

 certainly the most hoggish community in the world. 

 Pigs' ears, a dainty and gelatinous morsel, are at the 

 pork-packing establishments in the United States pre- 

 served and canned. 



American bacon is not so fat as good English or Irish 

 bacon; it is better boiled than grilled or fried; when 

 grilled it is apt to waste, and some of it also emits a 

 peculiar flavour. 



The pig may be considered quite a classical animal. 

 The ancients sacrificed it to Ceres the goddess of har- 

 vests. In the island of Crete, the pig is considered 

 sacred and honoured as such. It was highly esteemed in 

 Rome, but not in a religious point of view, only for 

 raising and fattening for food. Sensuality elevated it 

 to such a point that the Emperors made a sumptuary 

 law for it. The rich Romans cooked the animal in two 

 very costly ways. The first consisted in serving the pig 

 entire, cooked in such a way that one side was roasted 



