WILD SWINE 
In what way our domestic breed of pigs has been pro- 
duced it is difficult to imagine. It is, however, very 
remarkable that in the wild boar of Europe, Africa, and 
Asia, the young are always striped at birth, and in no 
instance is this marked character found in any of our 
domestic breeds ; but the colour and markings that appear 
at birth continue during life unaltered. Not so with 
the wild species, whose young, although striped at first, 
gradually lose these markings as they grow to maturity. 
CHINESE PIGS. 
The most difficult question to answer with reference to 
the subject of swine would be, '‘What is the origin of the 
domestic pig ? ” The early writers in Europe considered 
the common wild boar as the origin of the domestic race of 
jiigs. It is very easy to understand that the pigs that were 
turned out and allowed to feed on uncultivated tracts and 
in forests did, from mixing and breeding with the wild 
race, assume so much of the character and form of those 
animals that many breeds could hardly be distinguished 
from them ; for although the domestic pigs of some 
countries exhibit many marked differences, there is not the 
slightest doubt respecting the fact, which has been well 
authenticated, that the wild boar will cross with any of the 
domestic stock and produce fertile offspring. Now this 
fact is generally considered to prove that the two are only 
varieties of the same species. This view of the case 
appears to be a very questionable one, as many arguments 
can be advanced in opposition to that assumption, without 
consideration to a full knowledge of known facts that 
strongly prevail against such conclusions. M. Frederic 
Cuvier was of opinion that the Chinese pigs were derived 
113 
I 
