SwiNe. 97 
is more insatiate in its appetite, and the tendency to obesity 
increases. 
The male forsaking its solitary habits, becomes gregarious, 
and the female produces her young more frequently, and in 
larger numbers. With its diminished strength and power of 
active motion, the animal also loses its desire for liberty. These 
changes of form, appetites, and habits, being communicated 
to its progeny, a new race of animals is produced, better 
suited to their altered condition. The wild hog, after it has 
been domesticated, does not appear to revert to its former state 
and habits; at least the swine of South America, carried thith- 
er by the Spaniards, which have escaped to the woods, retain 
their gregarious habits, and have not become wild boars.* 
IL—OPINIONS RESPECTING THE HOG. 
From the various allusions to the hog in the writings of the 
ancient Greeks and Romans, it is plain that its flesh was held 
in high esteem among those nations. The Romans even made 
the breeding, rearing, and fattening pigs a study, which they 
designated as Porculatio. 
Varro states that the Gauls produced the largest and finest 
swine’s flesh that was brought into Italy; and according to 
Strabo, in the reign of Augustus, they supplied Rome and 
nearly all Italy with gammons, hog-puddings, and sausages. 
This nation and the Spaniards appear to have kept immense 
droves of swine, but scarcely any other kind of livestock... . . 
In fact, the hog was held in very high esteem by all the early 
nations of Europe; and some of the ancients have even paid it 
divine honors,t 
On the other hand, swine’s flesh has been held in utter abhor- 
rence by the Jews since the time of Moses, in whose laws they 
were forbidden to make use of it as food. The Egyptians also 
and the followers of Mohammed have religiously abstained from 
it. Paxton, in his “Illustrations of Scripture,” says : 
* Aracrican Farmer’s Encyclopedia. + Youatt, 
5 
