WILD SWINE 



den to enter the temples of the gods. Among the ancient 

 Greeks and Romans, although the office of swineherd ap- 

 pears to be held in contempt, the flesh of the hog was in 

 high estimation. The Chinese have no prejudice against 

 the hog ; on the contrary, they rear large numbers of these 

 animals for the sake of their flesh. The extraordinary 

 dispersion of these animals over the world is most wonder- 

 ful. On the discovery of the South Sea Islands by 

 Europeans they were found to be well stocked with black- 

 legged pigs. The introduction of the small Chinese breed 

 is one great source of improvement. The distribution in 

 so many parts of the world of this family renders it highly 

 probable that the domestic breeds have been derived by 

 the admixture of one or more species. The old supersti- 

 tion, now so perfectly disposed of, that hybrids, the pro- 

 duct of two species, were barren or infertile, can no 

 longer be maintained. We thus arrive at the conclusion 

 that the origin of the domestic pig is beyond our power of 

 certifying. 



THE JAPANESE MASKED PIG. 



This remarkable animal differs so much from all the 

 varieties of domestic pigs, that I am inclined to believe its 

 origin must have been from some species distinct from our 

 common stock. 



The singular form of the head and face (see woodcut), 

 together with the enormous development of skin, and the 

 regular arrangement of the wrinkles, the large and pendu- 

 lous ears, the drooping muzzle, together with its intelligent 

 eye, give this animal a dog-like appearance ; in fact, the 

 frequency of the remark made by persons seeing these 

 animals for the first time confirms this opinion. 



Apart, however, from this, the whole structure of this 



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