112 
POINTS OF A GOOD HOG. 
brain connected with hyperaemia, and that a low specific 
gravity exists in conjunction with the opposite condition of 
the brain. 
"That no relation appears to exist between the specific 
gravity and the actual weight of the brain.” 
POINTS OF A GOOD HOG. 
“ 1 could caution the reader against being led away by a 
mere name in his selection of a hog. A hog may be called a 
Berkshire or a Suffolk, or any other breed most in estimation, 
and yet may, in reality, possess none of this valuable blood. 
The only sure mode by which the buyer will be able to avoid 
imposition is, to make name always secondary to points. If 
you find a hog possessed of such points of form as are calcu- 
lated to insure early maturity and facility of taking flesh, you 
need care little w r hat it has seemed good to the seller to call 
him ; and remember that no name can bestow value upon an 
animal deficient in the qualities to which I have alluded. 
The true Berkshire — that possesses a dash of the Chinese 
and Neapolitan varieties — comes, perhaps, nearer to the 
desired standard than any other. 
“ The chief points which characterise such a hog are the 
follow ing : — In the first place, sufficient depth of carcass, and 
such an elongation of body as will insure a sufficient lateral 
expansion. Let the loin and chest be broad. The breadth 
of the former denotes good room for the play of the lungs, 
and a consequent free and healthy circulation, essential to 
the thriving or fattening of any animal. The bone should 
be small and the joints fine — nothing is more indicative of 
high breeding than this ; and the legs should be no longer 
than, when fully fat, w r ould just prevent the animaFs belly 
from trailing upon the ground. The leg is the least profit- 
able portion of the hog, and w r e require no more of it than is 
absolutely necessary for the rest. See that the feet be firm 
and sound ; that the toes lie w r ell together, and pass straightly 
upon the ground : as also that the claw r s are even, upright, 
and healthy. Many say that the form of the head is of little 
or no consequence, and that a good hog may have an ugly 
head ; but I regard the head of all animals as one of the very 
principal points in which pure or impure breeding will be 
the most obviously indicated. A high-bred animal will 
invariably be found to arrive more speedily at maturity, to 
