680 MR. YOU ATT S VETERINARY LECTURES. 
nasal opening is not more than one-sixth part so large as in the 
sheep, and the apices of the bones form one point, sharp yet ra¬ 
pidly widening, and which is brought forward to the anterior ex¬ 
tremity of the maxillary. The suture between the nasals them¬ 
selves is so intricate, that before the animal is two years old it is 
perfectly obliterated at the upper part, and the nasal cavity seems 
to be covered by one nasal bone only. 
The slightest comparison between the face of this animal and 
that of either of the others will prove that strength was the ob¬ 
ject here intended to be effected, and strength towards the inferior 
part of the bone. In fact, the snout of the hog is his spade; and 
if he can get into the kitchen or flower garden, he will use it 
most effectually, to the great annoyance of the owner. The long 
and deep furrows which he ploughs in the new-sown field are 
not viewed with pleasure by the farmer. The hog was not 
intended to live merely on that which he finds on the surface, but 
often to dig deep for worms and roots. Have none of you, in 
your boyish days, followed a hog along the side of an old and 
somewhat damp hedge, and chased him away when he stopped 
and began to turn up the earth with his snout ? You were sure 
to be rewarded by the discovery of the sweet-tasted earth-nut— 
delicious to the school-boy, at least. In some parts of Italy, 
swine are employed in hunting for truffles, which grow some 
inches deep in the ground, and make a beautiful pickle and 
sauce, well known to the epicure. One of them is driven into a 
field, and there suffered to pursue his own course. Wherever he 
stops and begins to root with his nose, truffles are always found. 
To make his instrument more perfect, an additional bone is 
added to the nasal. It is short and trifacial, and placed imme¬ 
diately before the apices or points of the nasals, and connected 
with them, and with the borders of the anterior maxillary, by 
muscles, and also by strong cartilage and ligament. This makes 
the point of the snout flexible, and it becomes a better instru¬ 
ment than the unyielding spade of the gardener. He turns up 
the soft soil with wonderful ease, and searches in every direction 
after his living and dead food, with a sagacity, and dexterity, and 
perseverance which nothing can elude. 
If you have seen a herd of swine, on the approach of a storm, 
running wildly about with straw in their mouths, uttering the 
most lamentable cries, twisting their snouts in every direction, 
and making the most ridiculous grimaces, you will have proof 
enough of the flexibility of this prominent portion of the face. 
To counteract the propensity and power to dig, the operation 
of ringing is performed by the village farrier and blacksmith; 
“And pigs he rung, and bells he hung, 
And horses shod and cured.” 
