[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE HOG AS COVERED BY THE MUSCLES.
1. The lower jaw. 2. The teeth. 3. The nasal bones. 4. The upper jaw. 5.
The frontal bone. 6. The orbit or socket of the eye. 7. The occipital
bone. 8. The first vertebrae of the neck. 9. The vertebrae of the neck.
10. The vertebrae of the back. 11. The vertebrae of the loins. 12. The
bones of the tail. 13, 14. The true and false ribs. 15. The
shoulder-blade. 16. The round shoulder-bone 17. The breast-bone. 18. The
elbow. 19. The bone of the fore-arm. 20. The navicular bone. 21. The
first and second bones of the foot. 22. The bones of the hoof. 23. The
haunch bones. 24. The thigh bone. 25. The stifle bone. 26. The upper
bone of the leg. 27. The hock bones. 28. The navicular bone. 29. The
first digits of the foot. 30. The second digits of the foot.]
DIVISION. _Vertebrata_--possessing a back-bone.
CLASS. _Mammalia_--such as give suck.
ORDER. _Pachydermata_--thick-skinned.
FAMILY. _Suidae_--the swine kind.
GENUS. _Sus_--the hog. Of this genus there are five
varieties.
_Sus Scropa_, or Domestic Hog.
_Sus Papuensis_, or Bene.
_Sus Guineensis_, or Guinea Hog.
_Sus Africanus_, or Masked Boar.
_Sus Babirussa_, or Babirussa.
A very slight comparison of the face of this animal with that of any
other will prove that strength is the object in view--strength toward
the inferior part of the bone. In point of fact, the snout of the hog is
his spade, with which, in his natural state, he digs and ruts in the
ground for roots, earth-nuts, worms, etc. To render this implement more
nearly perfect, an extra bone is added to the nasal bone, being
connected with it by strong ligaments, cartilages, and muscles, and
termed the snout-bone, or spade-bone, or ploughshare. By it and its
cartilaginous attachment, the snout is rendered strong as well as
flexible, and far more efficient than it otherwise could be; and the hog
often continues to give both farmers and gardeners very unpleasant
proofs of its efficiency, by ploughing up deep furrows in newly-sown
fields, and grubbing up the soil in all directions in quest of living
and dead food.
As roots and fruits buried in the earth form the natural food of the
hog, his face terminates in this strong, muscular snout, insensible at
the extremity, and perfectly adapted for turning up the soil. There is a
large plexus or fold of nerves proceeding down each side of the nose;
and in these, doubtless, resides that peculiar power which enables the
hog to select his food, though buried some inches below the surface of
the ground. The olfactory nerve is likewise large, and occupies a middle
rank between that of the herbivorous and carnivorous animals; it is
comparatively larger than that of the ox; indeed, few animals--with the
exception of the dog, none--are gifted with a more acute sense of smell
than the hog. To it epicures are indebted for the truffles which form
such a delicious sauce, for they are the actual finders. A pig is turned
into a field, allowed to pursue his own course, and watched. He stops,
and begins to grub up the earth; the man hurries up, drives him away,
and secures the truffle, which is invariably growing under that spot;
and the poor pig goes off to sniff out another, and another, only now
and then being permitted, by way of encouragement, to reap the fruits of
his research.