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Show 66 DOMESTIC PIGS. CIIAP. Ill. Firstly, the Sus scrofa breeds, or those. resembling ~be common wild boar. These still exist, accordmg to N atbusms (sc h wm· nesc h:a'd el , s. 7"v ) , in various parts of central and northern Europe; formerly every kingdo~,2 and almost every province in Britain, possessed its own n.atlve b.reed; but these are now everywhere rapidly disappearmg, bemg replaced by improved breeds crossed with tho S. Indica f~rm. ~he skull in the breeds of tho S. scroja typo resembles, m all Important respects, that of the European wild boar ; but it has .become (Schweineschadel, s. 63-68) higher. and broad~r rela~1vely ~o its length; and the hinder part IS more upnght. The ~Ifferences, however, arc all variable in uegreo. The breeds wb10h thus resemble S. scrofa in their essential skull-characters differ conspicuously from each other in other r~spects, as in ~h.e length of tho oars and legs, curvature of tho nbs, colour, hamness, size and proportions of the body. The wild Sus scrofa has a wide range, namely, Europe, North Africa, as identified by osteological characters by Riltimeyer, and Hindostan, as similarly identified by Nathusius. But the wild boars inhabiting these several countries differ so much from each other in external characters, that they have been ranked by some naturalists as specifically distinct. Even within Hindostan those animals, according to Mr. Blyth, form very distinct races in the different districts ; in the N. Western provinceR, as I am informed by tho Rev. R. Everest, tho boar never exceeds 3G inches in height, whilst in Bengal one has been measured 44 inches in height. In Europe, N orthorn Africa, and Hindostan, domestic pigs have been known to cross with the wild native species; 3 and in Hindostan an accurate observcr,4 Sir vValter Elliot, after describing the differences between wild Indian and wild German boars, remarks that " the same differences are perceptible in the domesticated 2 Nuthusius, ' Die Raccn des Schwcinos,' Berlin, 1860. An cxcollont 11ppcnclix is given with rofcrcnccs to publi~hcd and trustworthy dmwings of tho broods of each country. 3 For Europe, see .I3ccll stoin, 'Naturg soh. Doutscbl:tnds,' 1801, b. i., s. 505. Scvrml accounts ltuvo been pnblishcd Oll the fcrtilil.y of tla' off-spring from wild and tame swine. See Bmdach's • Physiology,' and Oodron, 'De l'Espccc,' tom. i. p. 370. For A fi:ica, ' Bull. de la Soc. <1' Acclimat.,' tom. iv. p. 389. For Indiu, see Nuthusius, 'Schweincschadcl,' s. 148. 4 Sir W. Elliot, Catalogue of l\fnmmulia, 'l\'[adms Journal of Lit. nncl Scionro,' Yol. x. p. 219. Cll.\P, III. TITEIR PARENTAGE. 67 indivicl.uals of tho two countries." We may therefore conclude that the breeds of the Sus scrofa type have either descended from, or been modified by crossing with, forms which may be ranked as geographical races, but which are, according to some naturalist , distinct species. Pigs of tho Sus Indica type are best known to Englishmen under the form of tho Chinese breed. The ~:;kull of S. Indica, as described by Nathu ius, diiTers from that of 8. scrofa in several minor respects, as in its greater breadth and in some details in tho teeth; but chiefly in tho shortness of the lachrymal bones, in the greater width of the fore part of the palatebones, and in the divergence of the premolar teeth. It deserves especial notice that these latter characters are not gained, even in the least degree, by the domesticated forms of S. serofa. After reading the remarks and descriptions given by Nathusius, it seems to me to be merely playing with words to doubt whether S. Indica ought to be ranked as a species ; for the above-specified differences are more strongly marked than any that can be pointed out between, for instance, the fox and the wolf, or the ass and the horse. As alrcad y stated, S. Indica is not known in a wild state ; but its domesticated forms, according to N athusius, como near to S. vittatus of Java and some allied species. A pig found wild in the Aru islands (Schweineschadel, s. 169) is apparently identical with S. Indica; but it is doubtful whetlter this is a truly native animal. The domesticated breeds of China, Cochin-China, and Siam belong to this type. The Roman or Neapolitan breed, tho Andalusian, the Hungarian, and the " Krause " swine of N athusius, inhabiting south-eastern Europe and Turkey, and having :fine curly hair, and the small Swiss "Biindtnerschwein " of Riitimeye1·, all agree in their more important skull characters with S. Indica, and, as is supposed, have all been largely crossed with this form. Pigs of this type have existed during a long period on the shores of the •·Mediterranean, for a :figure (Schwoineschaclel, s. 142) closely resembling the existing Neapolitan pig has been found in the buried city of Herculaneum. Riitimeyer has made the remarkable discovery that there lived contemporaneously in Switzerland, during the later Stone or Neolithic period, two domesticated forms, tho S. scroja, aml F 2 |