QUADRUPEDS. 97 
In former times, the Wild Boar was a native of Britain, 
as appears from the laws of the Welsh prince, Howell the 
Good, who permitted his grand huntsman to chase that 
animal from the middle of November to the beginning of 
December; and in the reign of William the Conqueror, 
those who were convicted of killing the Wild Boars, in 
any of the royal forests, were punished with the loss of 
their eyes. Our domestic pigs are descended from the 
wild race ; but the tame Boar has two tusks, though they 
are much less than those of the wild ones, and the sow 
has none. 
THE TAPIR. (Tapir Americanus.) 
THIS animal bears considerable resemblance to the wild 
boar, but it is without tusks, and it has its snout prolonged 
into a small fleshy proboscis or trunk. This trunk, how- 
ever, has not the flexibility of that of the elephant, and it 
is incapable of holding anything. The colour of the 
Tapir is a deep brown, and the male has a small mane on 
the upper part of his neck. It stands about three feet 
