Chap. III. 



THEIR VARIATION. 



73 



wonderful instance of the amount of modification which can 

 be effected under domestication. 



Formerly there existed in the central islands of the Pacific 

 Ocean a singular breed of pigs. These are described by the 

 Eev. D. Tyerman and G. Bennett 13 as of small size, hump- 

 backed, with a disproportionately long head, with short ears 



Fig. 2.— Head of Japan or Masked Pig. (Copied from 'Mr. Bartlett's paper in ' Troc. Zoolog, 

 Soc' 1861, p. 263.) 



turned backwards, with a bushy tail not more than two inches 

 in length, placed as if it grew from the back. Within half a 

 century after the introduction of European and Chinese pigs 

 into these islands, the native breed, according to the above 

 authors, became almost completely lost by being repeatedly 

 crossed with them. Secluded islands, as might have been 



13 ' Journal of Voyages and Travels from 1821 to 1829/ vol. i. p. 300. 



