The Domestic Hog. 
119 
quadrupeds this is the most filthy and impure. Its form 
is clumsy and unsightly, and its appetite gluttonous and 
excessive. Nature, however, has fitted its stomach to 
receive nutriment from a variety of things that would be 
otherwise wasted, as the refuse of the field, the garden, 
and the kitchen, afford it a luxurious repast. The Hog 
is naturally stupid, inactive, and drowsy ; much inclined 
to increase in fat, which is disposed in a different manner 
from that of other animals, forming a thick, distinct, and 
regular layer between the flesh and skin. Their flesh, 
Linnseus observes, is a wholesome food for those that use 
much exercise, but improper for such as lead a sedentary 
life. It is of great importance to this country, as a 
naval and commercial nation, for it salts better than 
any other flesh, and is capable of being longer pre- 
served. 
The domestic Sow brings forth twice a year, producing 
from ten to twenty at a litter. She goes four months 
with young, and brings forth in the fifth. At that time 
she must be carefully watched, to prevent her from de- 
vouring her young. Still greater attention is necessary 
to keep off the male, as he would destroy the whole 
litter. Jews and Mahommetans not only abstain from 
the flesh of swine from a religious principle, but consider 
themselves defiled by even touching it. 
