THE PIG. 217 



but in no other case has it been taken advantage 

 of by man to such an extent. 



I am not aware whether any wild hogs are 

 in the habit of laying up a store of food out- 

 side their own skins. One often notices a pig 

 carrying a potato or some such morsel in his 

 mouth for a considerable time, but I have never 

 known one to attempt to conceal food after the 

 manner of dogs, squirrels, rooks, and many 

 other creatures which have to provide against 

 periodical scarcity. One faculty of the pig of 

 which man makes use occasionally is a further 

 proof of the stress to which he was subjected 

 in times of famine. He has an extraordinary 

 power of scenting certain roots and fungi which 

 are concealed beneath the ground, and the 

 truffle-hunters of Perigord have frequently em- 

 ployed pigs to aid them in their search for 

 these delicacies. That his olfactory sense is 

 by no means contemptible has also been shown 

 by his success, under proper training, in imi- 

 tating the useful habits of the pointer and 

 other dogs. 



Many animals have an extraordinary and in- 

 explicable faculty for discovering hidden stores 

 of food, which reminds us of the mysterious 



