70 DOMESTIC PIGS. Ckap. III. 



Hindostan an accurate observer, 4 Sir Walter Elliot, after 

 describing the differences between wild Indian and wild 

 German boars, remarks that " the same differences are per- 

 ceptible in the domesticated individuals of the two countries/' 

 "We may therefore conclude that the breeds of the Sus scrofa 

 type are descended from, or have been modified by crossing 

 with, forms which may be ranked as geographical races, but 

 which, according to some naturalists, ought to be ranked as 

 distinct species. 



Pigs of the Sus indicus type are best known to Englishmen 

 under the form of the Chinese breed. The skull of S. indicus, 

 as described by Nathusius, differs from that of S. scrofa in 

 several minor respects, as in its greater breadth and in some 

 details in the teeth ; but chiefly in the shortness of the lachry- 

 mal bones, in the greater width of the fore part of the palate- 

 bones, and in the divergence of the premolar teeth. It 

 deserves especial notice that these latter characters are not 

 gained, even in the least degree, b} r the domesticated forms 

 of S. scrofa. After reading the remarks and descriptions 

 given by Nathusius, it seems to me to be merely playing 

 with words to doubt whether S. indicus ought to be ranked 

 as a species; for the above-specified differences are more 

 .strongly marked than any that can be pointed out between, 

 for instance, the fox and the wolf, or the ass and the horse. 

 As already stated, S. indicus is not known in a wild state; 

 but its domesticated forms, according to Nathusius, come 

 near to £. vittatus of Java and some allied species. A pig 

 found wild in the Am islands (Schweineschadel, s. 169) is 

 apparently identical with S. indicus; but it is doubtful 

 whether this is a truly native animal. The domesticated 

 breeds of China. Cochin-China, and Siam belong to this type. 

 The Eoman or Neapolitan breed, the Andalusian, the Hun- 

 garian, and the "Krause" swine of Nathusius, inhabiting 

 south-eastern Europe and Turkey, and having fine curly hair, 

 and the small Swiss " Biindtnerschwein " of Eiitimeyer, all 

 agree in their more important skull-characters with S. indicus, 

 and, as is supposed, have all been largely crossed with this 



4 Sir W. Elliot, Catalogue of Mammalia, 'Madras Journal of Lit. and Science,' 

 vol. *. p. 219. 



