SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 249 



Pigs. — Fine breeds of these useful animals 

 are kept by many persons of wealth, as an 

 article of trade, in the city of Mexico ; and 

 the care and attention paid to their cleanliness 

 and comfort so far exceed any thing I have 

 seen elsewhere, that a short account may be 

 useful, by furnishing hints to our farmers, 

 brewers, distillers, &c. by whom large num- 

 bers of these valuable animals could be con- 

 veniently kept. The premises where the busi- 

 ness is carried on are extensive ; consisting in 

 general of a good dwelling-house, with a shop, 

 slaughter-house, and places for singing the 

 pigs ; large bowls for rendering the lard ; salt- 

 ing and drying rooms : and lard rooms, with 

 wooden binns for containing the rendered fat, 

 which is an article of great consumption in 

 Spanish cookery, being used as a substitute 

 for butter. There is also a soap manufactory, 

 in which the offal fat is manufactured, and 



