232 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



native of Britain, and probably to be regarded as the chief stock 

 from which our domesticated swine have been derived. Pigs 

 are particularly fond of marshy places, and their most charac- 

 teristic habit is that of " rooting " up the ground in search of 

 various kinds of food. The agent in this process is the strong 

 flexible snout, the flat end of which, pierced by the nostrils, is 

 supported not only by a gristly disc, but also by a special bone. 

 As the position of the nostrils would lead one to suspect, de- 

 sirable morsels are detected by means of the sense of smell, which 

 these animals possess in a highly developed state. Wild Pigs are 



Fig. 454.— Lower Jaw of Pig {S^is scro/a), showing teeth 



by no means such gross feeders as one might judge, reasoning 

 from the inhabitants of the filthy sties seen in some parts of 

 this country, and, like true epicures, they are extremely fond of 

 truffles in those parts of the Continent where savoury fungi 

 of this sort are fairly common. As most persons know, these 

 dainties grow underground at some distance from the surface, 

 where no indication is to be seen of their presence. Pigs, how- 

 ever, detect them easily by means of their acute powers of smell, 

 and truffle -hunters often employ these animals as guides to the 

 spots where the much-coveted delicacies are to be found. A 

 pig possesses a full complement of teeth (fig. 454), there being 

 forty- four in all, a number regarded as typical for mammals 

 which have not become greatly specialized. There are twelve 

 sharp-edged incisors, those of the lower jaw being forwardly- 



