172 MAMMALIA. 



his force by the tail in the opposite direction. As the beast 

 supposes that it is required to go backwards, it precipitates itself 

 in the reverse "way. 



The voracity of this animal is as proverbial as its obstinacy. 

 No sort of food comes amiss to it. It devours indifferently meat 

 and vegetable products. A remarkable fact is, that it can eat 

 without danger hemlock and henbane, either of which are deadly 

 poison to other animals. 



One may say that Man has manufactured the Pig, and that he 

 makes it take the shape he finds most to his liking. The modifi- 

 cations this animal has been made to undergo, by an elaborate 

 system, of breeding and rearing, are truly wonderful. This art 

 has been carried to great perfection in England. Not only has 

 the flesh of this Pachyderm been very greatly improved, but, 

 moreover, their primitive proportions have, as we may say, been 

 converted to the most desired form. The English, by their mode 

 of treatment and the food they give it, have manufactured a new 

 sort of monster, when we compare it with the primitive and wild 

 type of Pig. Further this zoological monster is a chef-cV ceuvre in an 

 economical point of view. When it has attained this ideal type of 

 perfection, the Pig is square-shaped ; its head disajDpears in a 

 cushion of fat ; its belly reaches to the ground ; its whole body 

 speaks of its weight and quality of flesh. What a difference there 

 is between these singular products of civilization and the Pigs 

 on our (French) farms ; lank, miserable creatiu'es, making a 

 fit member of the household of the peasant, whose condition is bad, 

 whose land is unprofitable, and who is still ignorant of the best 

 systems of breeding. 



In a work on the Pig,* M. Gustave Heuze divides into three 

 groups the porcine races which live in Europe. The first com- 

 prises the French races and their varieties ; the second contains 

 all those that are of foreign origin ; to the third group belong the 

 varieties which result from crosses between the French and 

 foreign races. We will give the characteristic features which M. 

 Heuze has marked out for distinguishing each of these varieties. 



Among the French breeds, the common race has the head and 

 muzzle elongated ; the neck slender and long ; the ears thick, 

 semi-jDcndant, and projecting in front of the eyes ; the body thin; 



* Paris, 8to. 1867. 



