Page:The Hog.djvu/14

12 in the male babiroussa those of the upper jaw pierce through the skin of the snout, and are greatly elongated. The eyes are small, but quick and shrewd in expression; the ears are moderate, erect, and pointed. The tongue is elongated and smooth. The tail is short, slender, and apparently of little utility. The senses of smell, sight, and taste are in high perfection, more especially that of smell, and the olfactory nerves are large. The sense of hearing is acute. In their diet the suidæ are omnivorous, vegetable and animal substances being equally acceptable; still it is on vegetable aliment that they chiefly feed. The skin is coarse, covered with bristles, and destitute, or nearly so, of the subcutaneous muscular expansion common to most other animals, termed the panniculus carnosus, and so highly developed in the hedgehog. On looking at the skull we find its base or occipital portion forming a right angle with the obliquely rising upper surface, and a bold transverse ridge is formed by the union of the occipital to the parietal bones, which latter advance above the frontal bones, and form the most elevated portion of the skull. The nasal bones are prolonged to the end of the snout, and the symphysis of the lower jaw is consolidated. In proportion to the elevation of the occipital bone are the length and strength of the spinous processes of the dorsal vetebræ. Those of the anterior dorsal vertebræ in particular are remarkable for their development, and indicate the volume of the muscles for supporting and moving the head. These are the agents by which the dreadful tusks are brought into play. Rushing on his antagonist, the boar strikes obliquely upwards, right and left, with irresistible violence, in a direction harmonizing with that of the tusks, and in the mode best suited for the exertion of the animal's strength. The neck is short, and with this shortness is necessarily connected that of the limbs, and especially of the interior pair, otherwise the animal would not without difficulty reach the ground with its snout. Their strength must be in proportion to the weight to be sustained, and the weight depends upon the size of the head and the muscular development of the neck and shoulders.

All this species feed on plants, and especially on roots, which their snout or trunk enables them to grub out of the earth; they will devour animal substances, but rarely hunt or destroy animals for the purpose of devouring them. They are thick skinned; said to be obtuse in most of their faculties, excepting in the olfactory and oral senses; voracious, bold in defending themselves; and delight in humid and shady places. To this order belong the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, &c., the general characteristics of all of which are very similar.

From among the cloven-footed or many-toed animals of the pachydermatous order of mammalia, man has subjugated and reclaimed only two—viz., the hog and the elephant.