WILD SWINE 
den to enter the temples of the gods. Among the ancient 
Greeks and Romans, although the office of swineherd ap- 
pears to be held in contempt, the flesh of the hog was in 
high estimation. The Chinese have no prejudice against 
the hog ; on the contrary, they rear large numbers of these 
animals for the sake of their flesh. The extraordinary 
dispersion of these animals over the world is most wonder- 
ful. On the discovery of the South Sea Islands by 
Europeans they were found to be well stocked with black- 
legged pigs. The introduction of the small Chinese breed 
is one great source of improvement. The distribution in 
so many parts of the world of this family renders it highly 
probable that the domestic breeds have been derived by 
the admixture of one or more species. The old supersti- 
tion, now so perfectly disposed of, that hybrids, the pro- 
duct of two species, were barren or infertile, can no 
longer be maintained. We thus arrive at the conclusion 
that the origin of the domestic pig is beyond our power of 
certifying. 
THE JAPANESE MASKED PIG. 
This remarkable animal differs so much from all the 
varieties of domestic pigs, that I am inclined to believe its 
origin must have been from some species distinct from our 
common stock. 
The singular form of the head and face (see woodcut), 
together with the enormous development of skin, and the 
regular arrangement of the wrinkles, the large and pendu- 
lous ears, the drooping muzzle, together with its intelligent 
eye, give this animal a dog-like appearance ; in fact, the 
frequency of the remark made by persons seeing these 
animals for the first time confirms this opinion. 
Apart, however, from this, the whole structure of this 
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