SIAMESE BREED. 
PLATE II. 
SOW, Three Years Old, imported from Singapore by Messrs Dugdale, Manchester : the Litter by a half- 
bred Chinese Male. 
The south-eastern countries of Asia, comprehending the territories of the Birmans, the kingdoms of Cambodia, Siam, 
Cochin-China, Malacca, and others, are covered, it is known, with forests of magnificent growth, which are filled with numerous 
animals, amongst which the Hog abounds, along with other Pachydermata. In all these countries the Hog has been reduced to 
domestication, and over all the rich and populous empire of China proper, and the neighbouring islands and countries, it is largely 
cultivated for human food. The Hogs of these countries present certain characters which may distinguish them from those of 
Europe, but they have all the habits of our common Swine, and breed as freely with them as the latter do with one another; and 
it is only in accordance with analogy, that a species common to countries so distant and dissimilar as those of Eastern Asia and of 
Western Europe, should acquire each a set of characters dependent on the physical conditions in which it is placed. 
The race supposed to be the most typical of the domestic Hogs of those countries has been termed the Siamese breed, from 
the kingdom of Siam, situated on the gulf of that name, nearly in the centre of the countries sometimes termed India beyond the 
Ganges. But the terms the Birman, the Cambodian, the Malacca breed, would be equally applicable; and, therefore, by the de¬ 
signation Siamese breed, must be understood not a race proper to Siam, but to a vast extent of country situated in this part of 
Asia. 
The individuals are of small size, and have a cylindrical body, with the back somewhat hollow, and the belly trailing near the 
ground, in consequence of the shortness of the limbs. The bristles are soft, approaching to the characters of hair: the colour is 
usually black, the skin externally of a rich copper colour. The ears are short, small, and somewhat erect. They are less hardy 
and prolific than the native races of Europe, and the females do not yield the same quantity of milk; but they arrive very soon 
at maturity, they fatten on a small quantity of food, and their flesh is white and delicate. 
The varieties of this widely extended race with which we are chiefly conversant in this country, are derived from China, being 
brought hither as sea stock, or otherwise, by the vessels employed in the trade which England has so long carried on with the 
Chinese empire. They have usually the dark colour characteristic of the race, but they are often also white, and of a size ex¬ 
ceeding the medium ; for in China there are varieties or breeds, just as in other countries. Some of them kept in the temples at¬ 
tain, in consequence of age and long fattening, to enormous magnitude ; but it does not appear that these sacred pigs are any other¬ 
wise distinguished from the common breeds. The Chinese race with which we are chiefly familiar is derived from the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Canton. Those of the interior, or bordering on the Tartar countries, are little known to us. 
It is well known that the Chinese feed more largely on pork than on any other kind of animal food. To this cause some have 
attributed the rejection by the Chinese of the Mohammedan faith. However this be, the flesh of the Hog appears to have been long 
the food of this singular people, and the animal itself is almost the only large quadruped which is cultivated by them for human 
subsistence. It is said that they also use the milk of the Sow ; at least there is reason to believe that they supply with this sub¬ 
stance the strangers who visit them. The English merchants and sailors who arrive at the port of Canton are thus unconsciously 
furnished with a substance, perfectly wholesome and nutritious it may be believed, but the use of which is revolting to the habits of 
Europeans. 
The Chinese pay a minute caie to the rearing and feeding of an animal so important to them as a means of subsistence i but 
the information of travellers is exceedingly scanty with respect to the really useful details of practice in this as in other branches 
of their rural economy. We learn, however, that, in the treatment of the animal, an extreme attention is paid to cleanliness and 
regular feeding. English traders who have resided in the suburbs of Canton describe the care of the Chinese, in this respect, as 
exceeding any thing that is practised in Europe. It is much to be regretted that we remain so ignorant of the few useful arts, in 
which we might hope to profit by the experience of this jealous people. Their knowledge of details, founded on experience and 
practice, is nearly all they have to communicate. Of principles, and any thing that can be termed science, they are as io-no- 
rant as barbarians : they can exhibit mechanical skill, and imitate what is placed before them; but in almost every thing that 
relates to the higher powers of inventive genius they are in the state of children. During their boasted dynasties of nume- 
D ### 
