QBDEB OF PAOHYDEBMATA. 
167 
Although Wild Boars are fond of wallowing in the mud, yet 
tBey are of excessively cleanly habits, and accordingly wash them- 
selves in the ponds or brooks before returning to their lairs. 
The old males live alone ; but the females continue with their 
young ones for at least two years. In forests that are almost 
deserted, it happens sometimes that a number of females meet 
together and form, with their progeny, a considerable troop. The 
members of these coteries seem to know each othef ; they live on 
good terms and combine for one another’s defence. If the troop 
happens to he attacked, they form a circle, of which the weakest 
occupy the centre. When thus ranged in order of battle, they 
oppose to their enemies a desperate resistance. 
Previous to a female becoming pregnant, accompanied by a 
male, she quits the troop and retires into the depths of the 
forest. If a rival should discover their retreat, a terrible combat 
takes place, which is terminated sometimes by death. 
The female goes four months with young, when she brings forth 
a litter of from four to ten, these she hides in inaccessible thickets 
formed of briars and brambles, to save them, not only from the 
voracity of Wolves, but also from that of the males of her own 
species. She suckles them for three or four months, teaches 
them to find their food, and defends them with energy and 
desperate courage. 
The young one, we have said, is called (by the French) Mar- 
mssin ; when it is a year old, Bets de Oompagnie ; when two years 
old, Ragot ; when three years old, it is a Sanglier d son tiers an ; 
when four years old, it is a Quaternier ; and, lastly, it is called by 
the names of Vieux Sanglier, Solitaire , and Vieil Ermite. It lives 
from twenty to twenty- six years. 
Wild Boar hunting is occasionally dangerous sport. This savage 
animal is not alarmed by the pursuit and the barking of dogs ; 
but the sound of horns, the cries of the sportsmen, and the 
report of guns terrify it. It runs with a rapidity and a lightness 
which surprise us when we consider its heavy, thick-set figure. 
Its route is invariably straight, and if any imprudent hunter does 
not get out of its way, he is certain to be upset ; but it will not 
turn from its course to attack any one. If it is wounded, it 
changes its tactics, and rushes on all within reach. When fatigue 
or loss of blood prevents its flight, it places its back against a 
