icious; but when left to gorge almost exclusively on animal food, it
becomes oily, coarse, and unpleasant. Perhaps there is no other instance
in nature where the effect of rapid and perfect digestion is so well
shown as in this animal, which thrives on _everything_, and turns to the
benefit of its physical economy, food of the most _opposite nature_, and
of the most unwholesome and _offensive_ character. When fully fattened,
the thin cuticle, that is one of its characteristics, cracks, from the
adipose distension beneath, exposing the fatty mass, which discharges a
liquid oil from the adjacent tissues. The great fault in this breed is
the remarkably small quantity of lean laid down, to the immense
proportion of fat. Some idea of the growth of this species may be
inferred from the fact of their attaining to 18 stone before two years,
and when further advanced, as much as 40 stone. In its pure state,
except for roasters, the Chinese pig is too disproportionate for the
English market; but when crossed with some of our lean stock, the breed
becomes almost invaluable.

[Illustration: WESTPHALIAN BOAR.]

787. THE WILD BOAR is a much more cleanly and sagacious animal than the
domesticated hog; he is longer in the snout, has his ears shorter and
his tusks considerably longer, very frequently measuring as much as 10
inches. They are extremely sharp, and are bent in an upward circle.
Unlike his domestic brother, who roots up here and there, or wherever
his fancy takes, the wild boar ploughs the ground in continuous lines or
furrows. The boar, when selected as the parent of a stock, should have a
small head, be deep and broad in the chest; the chine should be arched,
the ribs and barrel well rounded, with the haunches falling full down
nearly to the hock; and he should always be more compact and smaller
than the female. The colour of the wild boar is always of a uniform hue,
and generally of an iron grey; shading off into a black. The hair of the
boar is of considerable length, especially about the head and mane; he
stands, in general, from 20 to 30 inches in height at the shoulders,
though instances have occurred where he has reached 42 inches. The young
are of a pale yellowish tint, irregularly brindled with light brown. The
boar of Germany is a large and formidable animal, and the hunting of
him, with a small species of mastiff, is still a national sport. From
living almost exclusively on acorns and nuts, his flesh is held in g