214 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



the beginning of Chinese civilisation. This 

 rapid acquisition of adipose tissue was a most 

 necessary habit in the case of the pig's wild an- 

 cestors in any but the most favoured climates ; 

 for in all probability the hog which did not get 

 fat in the autumn would perish during a hard 

 winter. 



To the casual observer there is not much in 

 common between fat pork and honey, although 

 analysts tell us that they are chemically very 

 similar. Yet in both cases they were in the first 

 place stores of heat-giving material laid up for 

 winter use by their respective owners, which man, 

 the Arch-plunderer, has appropriated for his own 

 purposes. There is this difference, however, that 

 whereas the bees accumulate their savings in a 

 joint-stock bank, the pig carries his about with 

 him. 



Throughout the spring and summer in North- 

 ern and Central Europe the wild hog, by dili- 

 gently grubbing for roots and whatever else he 

 could find, managed to make a bare living. If 

 his present habits are a true record of his past 

 history, he must have had a hard struggle even 

 through these softer seasons. His passionate 

 addiction to " rooting," which is so inveterate 



