THE BABYROUSSA. 209 
In this country the Hog is used not only for food, but for the sake of the 
hide, which, when prepared after a peculiar fashion, is found to make the 
best leather for saddles. The bristles which are so largely used in the manu- 
facture of brushes are almost exclusively imported from the Continent. 
In its wild and domesticated state the Hog is a most prolific animal, 
producing from eight to twelve pigs twice in each year, when it is in full 
vigour and in good health. Gilbert White records a sow which, when she 
died, was the parent of no less than three hundred pigs. 
There is a prevalent idea, that whenever the Hog takes to the water he 
cuts his own throat with the sharp hoofs of his fore-feet. This, however, 
is by no means the case, for the animal is an admirable swimmer, and 
will often take to the water intuitively. In one of the Moray Islands, three 
domestic pigs belonging to the same litter swam a distance of five miles ; 
and it is said that if they had belonged to a wild family they would have 
swum to a much greater distance. 
The flesh and fat of the Hog is especially valuable on account of its apti- 
tude for taking salt without being rendered hard and indigestible by the 
process ; and the various breeds of domesticated Swine are noted for their 
adaptation to form pork or bacon in the shortest time and of the best quality. 
A full account of the various English varieties, together with the mode of 
breeding them and developing their peculiar characteristics, may be found in 
many books which are devoted especially to the subject. 
ONE of the most formidable-looking of Swine is the BaByRoussa of 
Malacca. This strange creature is notable for the curious manner in which 
the tusks are arranged, four of 
these weapons being seen to 
project above the snout. The 
tusks of the lower jaw project 
upward on each side of the 
upper, as is the case with the 
ordinary boar of Europe, but 
those of the upper jaw are 
directed in a very strange man- 
ner. Their sockets, instead of 
pointing downwards, are curved 
upwards, so that the tooth, in 
filling the curvatures of the 
socket, passes through a hole in 
the upper lip, and curls boldly 
over the face. The curve, as well as the comparative size of these weapons, 
is extremely variable, and is seldom precisely the same in any two individuals. 
The upper tusks do not seem to be employed as offensive weapons ; indeed, 
in many instances they would be quite useless for such a purpose, as they 
are so strongly curved that their points nearly reach the skin of the forehead. 
The female is devoid of these curious appendages. 
The skin of the Babyroussa is rather smooth, being sparsely covered with 
short bristly hairs. The object of the upper tusks is at present unknown, 
although certain old writers asserted that the animal was accustomed to 
suspend himself to branches by means of the appendage. The Babyroussa 
lives in herds of considerable size, and is found inhabiting the marshy parts 
of its native land. 
The BoscH VARK, or Bush Hog, of Southern Africa, is a very formidable 
animal in aspect, as well as in character, the heavy, lowering look, the pro- 
jecting tusks, and the callous protuberance on the cheek, giving ita ferocious 
oxpression which is no way belied by the savage and sullen temper of the 
P 
BABYROUSSA. —(Aadirussa Alfurus.) 
