Chapter VIII: Part 8

_Treatment._ Warmth, gentle stimulants, and good nursing may raise the patient; but, in the vast majority of cases, it is more economical and equally humane, to deprive it of life at once.

PELT-ROT.

This is often mistaken for the scab, but it is, in fact, a different and less dangerous disease. The wool falls off, and leaves the sheep nearly naked; but it is attended with no soreness, though a reddish crust will cover the skin, from the wool which has dropped. It generally arises from hard keeping and much exposure to cold and wet; and, in fact, the animal often dies in severe weather from the cold it suffers on account of the loss of its coat.

The _remedy_ is full feeding, a warm stall, and anointing the hard part of the skin with tar, oil, and butter. Some, however, do nothing for it, scarcely considering it a disease. Such say that if the condition of a poor sheep is raised as suddenly as practicable, by generous keep in the winter, the wool is very apt to drop off; and, if yet cold, the sheep will require warm shelter.

PNEUMONIA.

Pneumonia--or inflammation of the lungs--is not a common disease in the Northern States; but undoubted cases of it sometimes occur, after sheep have been exposed to sudden cold, particularly when recently shorn. The adhesions occasionally witnessed between the lungs and pleura of slaughtered sheep, betray the former existence of this disease in the animal--though, in many instances, it was so slight as to be mistaken, at the time, for a hard cold.

_Symptoms._ The animal is dull, ceases to ruminate, neglects its food, drinks frequently and largely, and its breathing is rapid and laborious; the eye is clouded; the nose discharges a tenacious, fetid matter; the teeth are ground frequently, so that the sound is audible at some distance; the pulse is at first hard and rapid, sometimes intermits, but before death it becomes weak. During the height of the fever, the flanks heave violently; there is a hard, painful cough during the first stages, which becomes weaker, and seems to be accompanied with more pain as death approaches.

After death, the lungs are found more or less hepatized--that is, permanently condensed and engorged with blood, so that their structure resembles that of the _hepar_, or liver--and they have so far lost their integrity that they are torn asunder by the slightest force. It may here be remarked that when sheep die from any cause, _with their blood in them_, the lungs have a dark, hepatized appearance. Whether they are actually hepatized or not, can readily be decided by compressing the windpipe, so that air cannot escape through it, and then between such compression and the body of the lungs, in a closely fitting orifice, inserting a goose-quill, or other tube, and continuing to blow until the lungs are inflated as far as they can be. As they inflate, they will become of a lighter color, and plainly manifest their cellular structure. If any portions of them cannot be inflated, and retain their dark, liver-like consistence, and color, they exhibit hepatization--the result of high inflammatory action--and a state utterly incompatible, in the living animal, with the discharge of the natural functions of the viscus.

_Treatment._ In the first, or inflammatory stages, bleeding and aperients are clearly called for. Some recommend early and copious bleeding, repeated, if necessary, in a few hours; this followed by aperient medicines, such as two ounces of Epsom salts, which may be repeated in smaller doses, if the bowels are not sufficiently relaxed. The following sedative may also be given with gruel, twice a day: nitrate of potash, one drachm; powdered digitalis, one scruple; and tartarized antimony, one scruple.

While depletion may be of inestimable value during the continuance--the short continuance--of the febrile state, yet excitation like this will soon be followed by corresponding exhaustion, when the bleeding and purging would be murderous expedients; and gentian, ginger, and the spirits of nitrous ether will afford the only hope of cure.

POISON.

Sheep will often, in the winter or spring, eat greedily of the low laurel. The animal appears afterward to be dull and stupid, swells a little, and is constantly gulping up a feverish fluid, which it swallows again; a part of it will trickle out of its mouth, and discolor its lips. The plant probably brings on a fermentation in the stomach, and nature endeavors to throw off the poisonous herb by retching or vomiting.

_Treatment._ In the early stages, if the greenish fluid be allowed to escape from the stomach, the animal generally recovers. To effect this, gag the sheep, which may be done in this manner: Take a stick of the size of the wrist, six inches long--place it in the animal's mouth--tie a string to one end of it, pass it over the head and down to the other end, and there make it fast. The fluid will then run from the mouth as fast as thrown up from the stomach. In addition to this, give roasted onions and sweetened milk freely. A better plan, however, is to force a gill of melted lard down the throat; or, boil for an hour the twigs of the white ash, and give one-half to one gill of the strong liquor immediately; to be repeated, if not successful. Drenchers of milk and castor-oil are also recommended.

ROT.

This disease, which sometimes causes the death of a million of sheep, in England, in a single year, is comparatively unknown in this country. It prevails somewhat in the Western States, from allowing sheep to pasture on land that is overflowed with water. Even a crop of green oats, early in the fall, before a frost comes; has been known to rot young sheep.

_Symptoms._ The first are by no means strongly marked; there is no loss of condition, but rather the contrary, to all appearance. A paleness and want of liveliness of the membranes, generally, may be considered as the first symptoms, to which may be added a yellowness of the caruncle at the corner of the eye. When in warm, sultry, or rainy weather, sheep that are grazing on low and moist lands, feed rapidly, and some of them die suddenly, there is ground for fearing that they have contracted the rot. This suspicion will be farther increased if, a few days afterward, the sheep begin to shrink and grow flaccid about the loins. By pressure about the hips at this time, a crackling is perceptible now or soon afterward, the countenance looks pale, and upon parting the fleece, the skin is found to have changed its vermilion tint for a pale red, and the wool is easily separated from the felt; and as the disorder advances, the skin becomes dappled with yellow or black spots. To these symptoms succeed increased dullness, loss of condition, and greater paleness of the mucous membranes, the eye-lids becoming almost white, and afterward yellow. This yellowness extends to other parts of the body, and a watery fluid appears under the skin, the latter becoming loose and flabby, and the wool coming off readily. The symptoms of dropsy often extend over the body, and sometimes the sheep becomes _chockered_, as it is termed; a large swelling forms under the jaw, which, from the appearance of the fluid which it contains, is sometimes called the _watery poke_. The duration of the disease is uncertain; the animal occasionally dies shortly after becoming affected, but more frequently it extends to from three to six months, the sheep gradually losing flesh and pining away, particularly if, as is frequently the case, an obstinate purging supervenes.

_Post-mortem._ The whole cellular tissue is found to be infiltrated, and a yellow serous fluid everywhere follows the knife. The muscles are soft and flabby, having the appearance of being macerated. The kidneys are pale, flaccid, and infiltrated. The mesenteric glands are enlarged, and engorged with yellow serous fluid. The belly is frequently filled with water, or purulent matter; the peritoneum is everywhere thickened, and the bowels adhere together by means of an unnatural growth. The heart is enlarged and softened, and the lungs are filled with tubercles. The principal alterations of structure are in the liver, which is pale, livid, and broken down with the slightest pressure; and on being boiled, it will almost dissolve away. When the liver is not pale, it is often curiously spotted; in some cases it is speckled, like the back of a toad; some parts of it, however, are hard and schirrous; others are ulcerated, and the biliary ducts are filled with flukes. The malady is, unquestionably, inflammation of the liver. This fluke is from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter in length, and from one-third to one-half an inch in its greatest breadth. These fluke-worms undoubtedly aggravate the disease, and perpetuate a state of irritability and disorganization, which must necessarily undermine the strength of any animal.

_Treatment._ This must, to a considerable extent, be very unsatisfactory. After the use of dry food and dry bedding, one of the best _preventives_ is the abundant use of pure salt. In violent attacks, take eight, ten, or twelve ounces of blood, according to the circumstances of the case; to this, let a dose of physic succeed--two or three ounces of Epsom salts; and to these means add a change of diet, good hay in the field, and hay, straw, or chaff in the yard. After the operation of the physic--an additional dose having been administered, oftentimes, in order to quicken the action of the first--two or three grains of calomel may be given daily, mixed with half the quantity of opium, in order to secure its beneficial, and ward off its injurious effects on the ruminant. To this should be added common salt, which acts as a purgative and a tonic. A mild tonic, as well as an aperient, is plainly indicated soon after the commencement of rot. The doses should be from two to three drachms, repeated morning and night. When the inflammatory stage is clearly passed, stronger tonics may be added to the salt, and there are none superior to the gentian and ginger roots; from one to two drachms of each, finely pounded, may be added to each dose of the salt. The sheep having a little recovered from the disease, should still continue on the best and driest pasture on the farm, and should always have salt within their reach. The rot is not infectious.

SCAB.

This is a cutaneous disease, analogous to the mange in horses and the itch in man, and is caused and propagated by a minute insect, the _acarus_.

If one or more female _acari_ are placed on the wool of a sound sheep, they quickly travel to the root of it, and bury themselves in the skin, the place at which they penetrate being scarcely visible, or only distinguishable by a minute red point. On the tenth or twelfth day, a little swelling may be detected with the finger, and the skin changes its color, and has a greenish blue tint. The pustule is now rapidly formed, and about the sixteenth day breaks, when the mothers again appear, with their little ones attached to their feet, and covered by a portion of the shell of the egg from which they have just escaped. These little ones immediately set to work, penetrate the neighboring skin, bury themselves beneath it, find their proper nourishment, and grow and propagate, until the poor creature has myriads of them preying upon him. It is not wonderful that, under such circumstances, he should speedily sink. The male _acari_, when placed on the sound skin of a sheep, will likewise burrow their way and disappear for a while, the pustule rising in due time; but the itching and the scab soon disappear without the employment of any remedy. The female brings forth from eight to fifteen young at a time.

In the United States, this disease is comparatively little known, and never originates spontaneously. The fact, that short-woolled sheep--like the Merino--are much less subject to its attacks, is probably one reason for this slight comparative prevalence. The disease spreads from individual to individual, and from flock to flock, not only by means of direct contact, but by the _acari_ left on posts, stones, and other substances against which diseased sheep have rubbed themselves. Healthy sheep are, therefore, liable to contract the malady, if turned on pastures previously occupied by scabby sheep, although some considerable time may have elapsed since the departure of the latter.

The sheep laboring under the scab is exceedingly restless. It rubs itself with violence against trees, stones, fences, etc.; scratches itself with its feet, bites its sores, and tears off its wool with its teeth; as the pustules are broken, their matter escapes, and forms scabs, causing red, inflamed sores, which constantly extend, increasing the misery of the tortured animal; if unrelieved, he pines away, and soon perishes.

The _post-mortem_ appearances are very uncertain and inconclusive. There is generally chronic inflammation of the intestines, with the presence of a great number of worms. The liver is occasionally schirrous, and the spleen enlarged; and there are frequently serous effusions in the belly, and sometimes in the chest. There has been evident sympathy between the digestive and the cutaneous systems.

_Treatment._ First, separate the sheep; then cut off the wool as far as the skin feels hard to the finger; the scab is then washed with soap-suds, and rubbed hard With a shoe-brush, so that it may be cleansed and broken. For this use take a decoction of tobacco, to which add one-third, by measure, of the lye of wood-ashes, as much hog's lard as will be dissolved by the lye, a small quantity of tar from a tar-bucket, which contains grease, and about one-eighth of the whole, by measure, of spirits of turpentine. This liquor is rubbed upon the part infected, and spread to a little distance around it, in three washings, with an interval of three days each. This will invariably effect a cure, when the disorder is only partial.

Or, the following: Dip the sheep in an infusion of arsenic, in the proportion of half a pound of arsenic to twelve gallons of water. The sheep should be previously washed in soap and water. The infusion must not be permitted to enter the mouth or nostrils.

Or, take common mercurial ointment; for bad cases, rub it down with three times its weight of lard--for ordinary cases, five times its weight. Rub a little of this ointment into the head of the sheep. Part the wool so as to expose the skin in a line from the head to the tail, and then apply a little of the ointment with the finger the whole way. Make a similar furrow and application on each side, four inches from the first; and so on, over the whole body. The quantity of ointment after composition with the lard, should not exceed two ounces; and, generally, less will suffice. A lamb requires but one-third as much as a grown sheep. This will generally cure; but, if the animal should continue to rub itself, a lighter application of the same should be made in ten days.

Or, take two pounds of lard or palm oil; half a pound of oil of tar; and one pound of sulphur; gradually mix the last two, then rub down the compound with the first. Apply as before. Or, take of corrosive sublimate, one half a pound; white hellabore, powdered, three-fourths of a pound; whale or other oil, six gallons; rosin, two pounds; and tallow, two pounds. The first two to be mixed with a little of the oil, and the rest being melted together, the whole to be gradually mixed. This is a powerful preparation, and must not be applied too freely.

An erysipelatous scab, or erysipelas, attended with considerable itching, sometimes troubles sheep. This is a febrile disease, and is treated with a cooling purgative, bleeding, and oil or lard applied to the sores.

SMALL-POX.

The author acknowledges himself indebted for what follows under this head to R. McClure, V. S., of Philadelphia, author of a Prize Essay on Diseases of Sheep, read before the U. S. Agricultural Society, in 1860, for which a medal and diploma were awarded.

Although the small-pox in domestic animals has, fortunately, been as yet confined to the European Continent--where it has been chiefly limited to England--no good reason can ever be assigned why it should not at some future time make its appearance among us, especially when we remember how long a period elapsed, during which we escaped the cattle plague, although the Continent had long been suffering from it.

The small-pox in sheep--_variola overia_--is, at times, epizooetic in the flocks of France and Italy, but was unknown in England until 1847, when it was communicated to a flock at Datchett and another at Pinnier by some Merinos from Spain. It soon found its way into Hampshire and Norfolk, but was shortly afterward supposed to be eradicated. In 1862, however, it suddenly reappeared in a severe form among the flocks of Wiltshire; for which reappearance neither any traceable infection nor contagion could be assigned. With the present light upon the subject, it would seem to be an instance of the origination _anew_ of a malignant type of varioloid disease. Such an origin is, in fact, assigned to this disease in Africa, it being well established that certain devitalizing atmospheric influences produce skin diseases, and facilitate the appearance of pustular eruptions.

The disease once rooted soon becomes epizooetic, and causes a greater mortality than any other malady affecting this animal. Out of a flock numbering 1720, 920 were attacked in a natural way, of which 50 per cent. died. Of 800 inoculated cases, but 36 per cent. died.

Numerous experiments have proved beyond all doubt that this disease in sheep is both infectious and contagious; its period of incubation varies from seven to fourteen days. The mortality is never less than 25 per cent., and not unfrequently whole flocks have been swept away, death taking place in the early stages of the eruption, or in the stages of suppuration and ulceration.

The _symptoms_ may be mapped out as follows: The animal is seized with a shivering fit, succeeded by a dull stupidity, which remains until death or recovery results; on the second or third day, pimples are seen on the thighs and arm-pits, accompanied with extreme redness of the eyes, complete loss of appetite, etc., etc. It is needless to enumerate other symptoms which exist in common with those of other disorders.

_Prevention._ At present, but two modes are resorted to, for the purpose of preventing the spread of the disease, which promise any degree of certainty of success. The first is by _inoculation_, which was recommended by Professor Simonds, of London. This distinguished pathologist appears to have overlooked the fact that he was thereby only enlarging the sphere of mischief, by imparting the disease to animals that, in all probability, would otherwise have escaped it. By inoculation, moreover, a form of the disease is given, not of a modified character, but with all the virulence of the original affection which is to be arrested, and equally as potent for further destruction of others. By such teaching, inoculation and vaccination would be made one and the same thing, notwithstanding their dissimilarity. Even vaccination will not protect the animal, as has been already shown by the experiments of Hurbrel D'Arboval.

The second and best plan of prevention is _isolation and destruction_, as recommended by Professor Gamgee, of the Edinburgh Veterinary College. This proved a great protection to the sheep-farmers of Wiltshire, in 1862. In all epizooetic diseases, individual cases occur, which, when pointed out and recognized as soon as the fever sets in and the early eruptions appear, should be slaughtered at once and buried, and the rest of the flock isolated. By this means the disease has been confined to but two or three in a large flock.

_Treatment._ In treating this disease, resort has of late been had to a plant, known as _Sarracenia purpura_--Indian cup, or pitcher plant--used for this purpose by the Micmacs, a tribe of Indians in British North America. This plant is indigenous, perennial, and is found from the coast of Labrador to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, growing in great abundance on wet, marshy ground. The use of this plant is becoming quite general, and good results have almost uniformly attended it.

Take from one to two ounces of the dried root, and slice in thin pieces; place in an earthen pot; add a quart of cold water, and allow the liquid to simmer gently over a steady fire for two or three hours, so as to lose one-fourth of the quantity. Give of this decoction three wine-glassfuls at once, and the same quantity from four to six hours afterwards, when a cure will generally be affected. Weaker and smaller doses are certain preventives of the disease. The public are indebted to Dr. Morris, physician to the Halifax (Nova Scotia) Dispensary, for the manner of preparing this eminently useful article.

SORE FACE.

Sheep feeding on pastures infested with John's wort, frequently exhibit an irritation of skin about the nose and face, which causes the hair to drop off from the parts. The irritation sometimes extends over the entire body. If this plant is eaten in too large quantities, it produces violent inflammation of the bowels, and is frequently fatal to lambs, and sometimes to adults.

_Treatment._ Rub a little sulphur and lard on the irritated surface. If there are symptoms of inflammation of the bowels, this should be put into the mouth of the sheep with a flattened stick. Abundance of salt is deemed a _preventive_.

SORE MOUTH.

The lips of sheep sometimes become suddenly sore in the winter, and swell to the thickness of a man's hand. The malady occasionally attacks whole flocks, and becomes quite fatal. It is usually attributed to noxious weeds cut with the hay.

_Treatment._ Daub the lips and mouth plentifully with tar.

TICKS.

The treatment necessary as a preventive against these insects, and a remedy for them, has already been indicated under the head of "FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT," to which the reader is referred.

SWINE AND THEIR DISEASES.

HISTORY AND BREEDS.

The hog is a cosmopolite, adapting itself to almost every climate; though its natural haunts--like those of the hippopotamus, the elephant, the rhinoceros, and most of the thick-skinned animals--are in warm countries. They are most abundant in China, the East Indies, and the immense range of islands extending throughout the whole Southern and Pacific oceans; but they are also numerous throughout Europe, from its Southern coast to the Russian dominions within the Arctic.

As far back as the records of history extend, this animal appears to have been known, and his flesh made use of as food. Nearly fifteen hundred years before Christ, Moses gave those laws to the Israelites which have given rise to so much discussion; and it is evident that, had not pork been the prevailing food of that nation at the time, such stringent commandments and prohibitions would not have been necessary. The various allusions to this kind of meat, which repeatedly occur in the writings of the old Greek authors, show the esteem in which it was held among that nation; and it appears that the Romans made the art of breeding, rearing, and fattening pigs a study. In fact, the hog was very highly prized among the early nations of Europe; and some of the ancients even paid it divine honors.

The Jews, the Egyptians, and the Mohammedans alone appear to have abstained from the flesh of swine. The former were expressly denied its use by the laws of Moses. "And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven-footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean unto you." Lev. xi. 7. Upon this prohibition, Mohammed, probably, founded his own. For the Mosaic prohibition, various reasons have been assigned: the alleged extreme filthiness of the animal; it being afflicted with a leprosy; the great indigestibility of its flesh in hot climates; the intent to make the Jews "a peculiar people;" a preventive of gluttony; and an admonition of abstinence from sensual and disgusting habits.

At what period the animal was reclaimed from his wild State, and by what nation, cannot be stated. From the earliest times, in England, the hog has been regarded as a very important animal, and vast herds were tended by swineherds, who watched over their safety in the woods, and collected them under shelter at night. Its flesh was the staple article of consumption in every household, and much of the wealth of the rich and free portion of the community consisted in these animals. Hence bequests of swine, with land for their support, were often made; rights and privileges connected with their feeding, and the extent of woodland to be occupied by a given number, were granted according to established rules. Long after the end of the Saxon dynasty, the practice of feeding swine upon the mast and acorns of the forest was continued till the forests were cut down, and the land laid open for the plough.

Nature designed the hog to fulfil many important functions in a forest country. By his burrowing after roots and the like, he turns up and destroys the larvae of innumerable insects, which would otherwise injure the trees as well as their fruit. He destroys the slug-snail and adder, and thus not only rids the forests of these injurious and unpleasant inhabitants, but also makes them subservient to his own nourishment, and therefore to the benefit of mankind. The fruits which he eats are such as would otherwise rot on the ground and be wasted, or yield nutriment to vermin; and his diggings for earth-nuts and the like, loosens the soil, and benefits the roots of the trees. Hogs in forest land may, therefore, be regarded as eminently beneficial; and it is only the abuse which is to be feared.

The hog is popularly regarded as a stupid, brutal, rapacious, and filthy animal, grovelling and disgusting in all his habits, intractable and obstinate in temper. The most offensive epithets among men are borrowed from him, or his peculiarities. In their native state, however, swine seem by no means destitute of natural affections; they are gregarious, assemble together in defence of each other, herd together for warmth, and appear to have feelings in common; no mother is more tender to her young than the sow, or more resolute in their defence. Neglected as this animal has ever been by authors, recorded instances are not wanting of their sagacity, tractability, and susceptibility of affection. Among the European peasantry, where the hog is, so to speak, one of the family, he may often be seen following his master from place to place, and grunting his recognition of his protectors.

The hog, in point of actual fact, is also a much more cleanly animal than he has the credit of being. He is fond of a good, cleanly bed; and when this is not provided for him, it is oftentimes interesting to note the degree of sagacity with which he will forage for himself. It is, however, so much the vogue to believe that he may be kept in any state of neglect, that the terms "pig," and "pig-sty" are usually regarded as synonymous with all that is dirty and disgusting. His rolling in the mud is cited as a proof of his filthy habits. This practice, which he shares in common with all the pachydermatous animals, is undoubtedly the teaching of instinct, and for the purpose of cooling himself and keeping off flies.

Pigs are exceedingly fond of comfort and warmth, and will nestle together in order to obtain the latter, and often struggle vehemently to secure the warmest berth. They are likewise peculiarly sensitive of approaching changes in the weather, and may often be observed suddenly leaving the places in which they had been quietly feeding, and running off to their styes at full speed, making loud outcries. When storms are overhanging, they collect straw in their mouths, and run about as if inviting their companions to do the same; and if there is a shed or shelter near at hand, they will carry it there and deposit it, as if for the purpose of preparing a bed.

In their domesticated state, they are, undeniably, very greedy animals; eating is the business of their lives; nor do they appear to be very delicate as to the kind or quality of food which is placed before them. Although naturally herbivorous animals, they have been known to devour carrion with all the voracity of beasts of prey, to eat and mangle infants, and even gorge their appetites with their own young. It is not, however, unreasonable to believe that the last revolting act--rarely if ever happening in a state of nature--arises more from the pain and irritation produced by the state of confinement, and often filth, in which the animal is kept, and the disturbances to which it is subjected, than from any actual ferocity; for it is well known that a sow is always unusually irritable at this period, snapping at all animals that approach her. If she is gently treated, properly supplied with sustenance, and sequestered from all annoyance, there is little danger of this practice ever happening.

All the offences which swine commit are attributed to a disposition innately bad; whereas they too often arise from bad management, or total neglect. They are legitimate objects for the sport of idle boys, hunted with curs, pelted with stones, often neglected and obliged to find a meal for themselves, or wander about half-starved. Made thus the Ishmaelites of our domestic animals, is it a matter of wonder that they should, under such circumstances, incline to display Ishmaelitish traits? In any well-regulated farm-yard, the swine are as tractable and as little disposed to wander or trespass as any of the animals that it contains.

The WILD BOAR is generally admitted to be the parent of the stock from which all our domesticated breeds and varieties have sprung. This animal is generally of a dusky brown or iron-gray color, inclining to black, and diversified with black spots or streaks. The body is covered with coarse hairs, intermixed with a downy wool; these hairs become bristles as they approach the neck and shoulders, and are in those places so long as to form a mane, which the animal erects when irritated. The head is short, the forehead broad and flat, the ears short, rounded at the tips, and inclined toward the neck, the jaw armed with sharp, crooked tusks, which curve slightly upward, and are capable of inflicting fearful wounds, the eye full, neck thick and muscular, the shoulders high, the loins broad, the tail stiff, and finished off with a tuft of bristles at the tip, the haunch well turned, and the leg strong. A full-grown wild boar in India averages from thirty to forty inches in height at the shoulder; the African wild boar is about twenty-eight or thirty inches high.

The wild boar is a very active and powerful animal, and becomes fiercer as he grows older. When existing in a state of nature, he is generally found in moist, shady, and well-wooded situations, not far remote from streams or water. In India, they are found in the thick jungles, in plantations of sugar-cane or rice, or in the thick patches of high, long grass. In England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, their resorts have been in the woods and forests. This animal is naturally herbivorous, and appears to feed by choice upon plants, fruits, and roots. He will, however, eat the worms and larvae which he finds in the ground, also snakes and other such reptiles, and the eggs of birds. They seldom quit their coverts during the day, but prowl about in search of food during twilight and the night. Their acute sense of smell enables them to detect the presence of roots or fruits deeply imbedded in the soil, and they often do considerable mischief by ploughing up the ground in search of them, particularly as they do not, like the common hog, root up a little spot here and there, but plough long, continuous, furrows.

The wild boar, properly so called, is neither a solitary nor a gregarious animal. For the first two or three years, the whole herd follows the sow, and all unite in defence against any enemies, calling upon each other with loud cries in case of emergency, and forming in regular line of battle, the weakest occupying the rear. When arrived at maturity, the animals wander alone, as if in perfect consciousness of their strength, and appear as if they neither sought nor avoided any living creature. They are reputed to live about thirty years; as they grow old, the hair becomes gray, and the tusks begin to show symptoms of decay. Old boars rarely associate with a herd, but seem to keep apart from the rest, and from each other.

The female produces but one litter in the year, much smaller in number than those of the domestic pig; she carries her young sixteen or twenty weeks, and generally is only seen with the male during the rutting season. She suckles her young for several months, and continues to protect them for some time afterward; if attacked at that time, she will defend herself and them with exceeding courage and fierceness. Many sows will often be found herding together, each followed by her litter of young; and in such parties they are exceedingly formidable to man and beast. Neither they nor the boar, however, seem desirous of attacking any thing; and only when roused by aggression, or disturbed in their retreat, do they turn upon their enemies and manifest the mighty strength with which Nature has endowed them. When attacked by dogs, the wild boar at first sullenly retreats, turning upon them from time to time and menacing them with his tusks; but gradually his anger rises, and at length he stands at bay, fights furiously for his life, and tears and rends his persecutors. He has even been observed to single out the most tormenting of them, and rush savagely upon him. Hunting this animal has been a favorite sport, in almost all countries in which it has been found, from the earliest ages.

Wild boars lingered in the forests of England and Scotland for several centuries after the Norman conquest, and many tracts of land in those countries derived their name from this circumstance; while instances of valor in their destruction are recorded in the heraldic devices of many of their noble families. The precise period at which the animal became exterminated there cannot be precisely ascertained. They had, however, evidently been long extinct in the time of Charles I., since he endeavored to re-introduce them, and was at considerable expense to procure a wild boar and his mate from Germany. They still exist in Upper Austria, on the Syrian Alps, in many parts of Hungary, and in the forests of Poland, Spain, Russia, and Sweden; and the inhabitants of those countries hunt them with hounds, or attack them with fire-arms, or with the proper boar-spear.

All the varieties of the domestic hog will breed with the wild boar; the period of gestation is the same in the wild and the tame sow; their anatomical structure is identical; their general form bears the same characters; and their habits, so far as they are not changed by domestication, remain the same. Where individuals of the pure wild race have been caught young and subjected to the same treatment as a domestic pig, their fierceness has disappeared, they have become more social and less nocturnal in their habits, lost their activity, and lived more to eat. In the course of one or two generations, even the form undergoes certain modifications; the body becomes larger and heavier; the legs shorter, and less adapted for exercise; the formidable tusks of the boar, being no longer needed as weapons of defence, disappear; the shape of the head and neck alters; and in character as well as in form, the animal adapts itself to its situation. Nor does it appear that a return to their native wilds restores to them their original appearance; for, in whatever country pigs have escaped from the control of man, and bred in the wilderness and woods, not a single instance is on record in which they have resumed the habits and form of the wild boar. They, indeed, become fierce, wild, gaunt, and grisly, and live upon roots and fruits; but they are, notwithstanding, merely degenerated swine, and they still associate together in herds, and do not walk solitary and alone, like their grim ancestors.

AMERICAN SWINE.

In the United States, swine have been an object of attention since its earliest settlement, and whenever a profitable market has been found for pork abroad, it has been exported to the full extent of the demand. Swine are not, however, indigenous to this country, but were doubtless originally brought hither by the early English settlers; and the breed thus introduced may still be distinguished by the traces they retain of their parent stock. France, also, as well as Spain, and, during the existence of the slave-trade, Africa, have also combined to furnish varieties of this animal, so much esteemed throughout the whole of the country, as furnishing a valuable article of food. For nearly twenty years following the commencement of the general European wars, soon after the organization of our national government, pork was a comparatively large article of commerce; but exports for a time diminished, and it was not until within a more recent period that this staple has been brought up to its former standard as an article of exportation to that country. The recent use which has been made of its carcass in converting it into lard oil, has tended to still further increase its consumption. By the census of 1860, there were upward of thirty-two and a half millions of these animals in the United States.

They are reared in every part of the Union, and, when properly managed, always at a fair profit. At the extreme North, in the neighborhood of large markets, and on such of the Southern plantations as are particularly suited to sugar or rice, they should not be raised beyond the number required for the consumption of the coarse or refuse food produced. Swine are advantageously kept in connection with a dairy or orchard; since, with little additional food besides what is thus afforded, they can be put in good condition for the butcher.

On the rich bottoms and other lands of the West, however, where Indian corn is raised in profusion and at small expense, they can be reared in the greatest numbers and yield the largest profit. The Scioto, Miami, Wabash, Illinois, and other valleys, and extensive tracts in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and some adjoining States, have for many years taken the lead in the production of Swine; and it is probable that the climate and soil, which are peculiarly suited to their rapid growth, as well as that of their appropriate food, will enable them to hold their position as the leading pork-producers of the North American Continent.

The breeds cultivated in this country are numerous; and, like our native cattle, they embrace many of the best, and a few of the worst, to be found among the species. Great attention has been paid, for many years, to their improvement in the Eastern States; and nowhere are there better specimens than in many of their yards. This spirit has rapidly extended West and South; and among most of the intelligent farmers, who make them a leading object of attention, on their rich corn-grounds, swine have attained a high degree of excellence. This does not consist in the introduction and perpetuity of any distinct races, so much as in the breeding up to a desirable size and aptitude for fattening, from such meritorious individuals of any breed, or their crosses, as come within their reach.

THE BYEFIELD.

This breed was formerly in high repute in the Eastern States, and did much good among the species generally. They are white, with fine curly hair, well made and compact, moderate in size and length, with broad backs, and at fifteen months attaining some three hundred to three hundred and fifty pounds net.

THE BEDFORD.

The Bedford or Woburn is a breed originating with the Duke of Bedford, on his estate at Woburn, and brought to their perfection, probably, by judicious crosses of the Chinese hog on some of the best English swine. A pair was sent by the duke to this country, as a present to General Washington; but they were dishonestly sold by the messenger, in Maryland, in which State, and in Pennsylvania, they were productive of much good at an early day, by their extensive distribution through different States. Several other importations of this breed have been made at various times, and especially by the enterprising masters of the Liverpool packets, in the neighborhood of New York. They are a large, spotted animal, well made, and inclining to early maturity and fattening. This is an exceedingly valuable hog, but nearly extinct, both in England and in this country, as a breed.

THE LEICESTER.

The old Leicestershire breed, in England, was a perfect type of the original hogs of the midland counties; large, ungainly, slab-sided animals, of a light color, and spotted with brown or black. The only good parts about them were their heads and ears, which showed greater traces of breeding than any other portions. These have been materially improved by various crosses, and the original breed has nearly lost all its peculiarities and defects. They may now be characterized as a large, white hog, generally coarse in the bone and hair, great eaters, and slow in maturing. Some varieties differ essentially in these particulars, and mature early on a moderate amount of food. The crosses with small compact breeds are generally thrifty, desirable animals.

THE YORKSHIRE.

The old Yorkshire breed was one of the very large varieties, and one of the most unprofitable for a farmer, being greedy feeders, difficult to fatten, and unsound in constitution. They were of a dirty white or yellow color, spotted with black, had long legs, flat sides, narrow backs, weak loins, and large bones. Their hair was short and wirey, and intermingled with numerous bristles about the head and neck, and their ears long. When full grown and fat, they seldom weighed more than from three hundred and fifty to four hundred pounds.

These have been crossed with pigs of the improved Leicester breed; and where the crossings have been judiciously managed, and not carried too far, a fine race of deep-sided, short-legged, thin-haired animals has been obtained, fattening kindly, and rising to a weight of from two hundred and fifty to four hundred pounds, when killed between one and two years old; and when kept over two years, reaching even from five hundred to seven hundred pounds.

They have also been crossed with the Chinese, Neapolitan, and Berkshire breeds, and hardy, profitable, well-proportioned animals thereby obtained. The original breed, in its purity, size, and defectiveness, is now hardly to be met with, having shared the fate of the other large old breeds, and given place to smaller and more symmetrical animals. The _Yorkshire white_ is among the large breeds deserving commendation among us. To the same class belong also the large _Miami white_, and the _Kenilworth_; each frequently attaining, when dressed, a weight of from six hundred to eight hundred pounds.

THE CHINESE.

This hog is to be found in the south-eastern countries of Asia, as Siam, Cochin China, the Burman Empire, Cambodia, Malacca, Sumatra, and in Batavia, and other Eastern islands; and is, without doubt, the parent stock of the best European and American swine.

There are two distinct varieties, the _white_ and the _black_; both fatten readily, but from their diminutive size attain no great weight. They are small in limb, round in body, short in the head, wide in the cheek, and high in the chime; covered with very fine bristles growing from an exceedingly thin skin; and not peculiarly symmetrical, since, when fat, the head is so buried in the neck that little more than the tip of the snout is visible. The pure Chinese is too delicate and susceptible to cold ever to become a really profitable animal in this country; it is difficult to rear, and the sows are not good nurses; but one or two judicious crosses have, in a manner, naturalized it. This breed will fatten readily, and on a comparatively small quantity of food; the flesh is exceedingly delicate, but does not make good bacon, and is often too fat and oily to be generally esteemed as pork. They are chiefly kept by those who rear sucking-pigs for the market, as they make excellent roasters at three weeks or a month old. Five, and even seven, varieties of this breed are distinguished, but these are doubtless the results of different crosses with our native kinds; among these are black, white, black and white, spotted, blue and white, and sandy.

Many valuable crosses have been made with these animals; for the prevalent fault of the old English breeds having been coarseness of flesh, unwieldiness of form, and want of aptitude to fatten, an admixture of the Chinese breed has materially corrected these defects. Most of our smaller breeds are more or less indebted to the Asiatic swine for their present compactness of form, the readiness with which they fatten on a small quantity of food, and their early maturity; but these advantages are not considered, in the judgment of some, as sufficiently great to compensate for the diminution in size, the increased delicacy of the animals, and the decrease of number in the litters. The best cross is between the Berkshire and Chinese.

THE SUFFOLK.

The old Suffolks are white in color, long-legged, long-bodied, with narrow backs, broad foreheads, short hams, and an abundance of bristles. They are by no means profitable animals. A cross between the Suffolk and Lincoln has produced a hardy animal, which fattens kindly, and attains the weight of from four hundred to five hundred and fifty, and even seven hundred pounds. Another cross, much approved by farmers, is that of the Suffolk and Berkshire.

There are few better breeds, perhaps, than the improved Suffolk--that is, the Suffolk crossed with the Chinese. The greater part of the pigs on the late Prince Albert's farm, near Windsor, were of this breed. They are well-formed, compact, of medium size, with round, bulky bodies, short legs, small heads, and fat cheeks. Many, at a year or fifteen months old, weigh from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds; at which age they make fine bacon hogs. The sucking-pigs are also very delicate and delicious.

Those arising from Berkshire and Suffolk are not so well shaped as the latter, being coarser, longer-legged, and more prominent about the hips. They are mostly white, with thin, fine hair; some few are spotted, and are easily kept in fine condition; they have a decided aptitude to fatten early, and are likewise valuable as store-pigs.

THE BERKSHIRE.

The Berkshire pigs belong to the large class, and are distinguished by their color, which is a sandy or whitish brown, spotted regularly with dark brown or black spots, and by their having no bristles. The hair is long, thin, somewhat curly, and looks rough; the ears are fringed with long hair round the outer edge, which gives them a ragged or feathery appearance; the body is thick, compact, and well formed; the legs short, the sides broad, the head well set on, the snout short, the jowl thick, the ears erect, skin exceedingly thin in texture, the flesh firm and well flavored, and the bacon very superior. This breed has generally been considered one of the best in England, on account of its smallness of bone, early maturity, aptitude to fatten on little food, hardihood, and the females being good breeders. Hogs of the pure original breed have been known to weigh from eight hundred to nine hundred and fifty pounds.

Numerous crosses have been made from this breed; the principal foreign ones are those with the Chinese and Neapolitan swine, made with the view of decreasing the size of the animal, improving the flavor of the flesh, and rendering it more delicate; and the animals thus attained are superior to almost any others in their aptitude to fatten; but are very susceptible to cold, from being almost entirely without hair. A cross with the Suffolk and Norfolk also is much improved, which produces a hardy kind, yielding well when sent to the butcher; although, under most circumstances, the pure Berkshire is the best.

No other breeds have been so extensively diffused in the United States, within comparatively so brief a period, as the Berkshires, and they have produced a marked improvement in many of our former races. They weigh variously, from two hundred and fifty to four hundred pounds net, at sixteen months, according to their food and style of breeding; and some full-grown have dressed to more than eight hundred pounds. They particularly excel in their hams, which are round, full, and heavy, and contain a large proportion of lean, tender, and juicy meat, of the best flavor.

None of our improved breeds afford long, coarse hair or bristles; and it is a gratifying evidence of our decided improvement in this department of domestic animals, that our brush-makers are obliged to import most of what they use from Russia and northern Europe. This improvement is manifest not only in the hair, but in the skin, which is soft and mellow to the touch; in the finer bones, shorter head, upright ears, dishing face, delicate muzzle, and wild eye; and in the short legs, low flanks, deep and wide chest, broad back, and early maturity.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HOG.

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.

FORMATION OF THE TEETH.