WILD SWINE 
smoothness of the hair would naturally lead ns to regard 
them as belonging to a cultivated and carefully domestic- 
ated animal. But other members of the pig family which 
are freely admitted to be uncultivated are quite as remark- 
able for the fineness and shortness of their coats and 
smoothness of skin, for instance, the West African river 
bog {Fotamoclio&rLts jpenicillatiLs). No one will say that this 
animal’s coat has been improved by cultivation and care, 
nor has the infiuence of the cold in our climate at all 
altered or increased its thickness, although this latter 
change might have been reasonably expected, seeing that 
the tiger when brought to Europe always wears a thicker 
coat in winter than ever he obtains in India. 
Notwithstanding that domestic pigs have been liberated 
and bred wild in New Zealand and other places, and that 
they have assumed many of the distinctive habits and 
rough appearance of wild animals, yet they have not 
returned to the striped young, and the uniform colour of 
the wild boar — but are mostly black with white markings, 
a circumstance quite unknown among the true wild boars. 
RED RIVER HOGS : ‘ DICK.’ 
Many years ago I gave the late Mr. Buckland some 
notes on the Red River Hog, and which have since ap- 
peared in the Life of Frank Biichland, by his brother-in- 
law, G. Bompas Eyre. 
“During the winter of 1875 I received from Mr. Cross, 
of Liverpool, a small box about 6 in. square : upon 
opening the box a wee striped little pig, little bigger than 
a rat, put up his little snout and gave a small squeak. 
With the winter advancing, and knowing from his form of 
ears that his native home was in West Africa, I took him 
out and gave him a good feed of warm milk, boiled rice 
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