OF all the animals in the New World, the Mexican Hog is the most numerous and most remarkable species.  At first sight, he resembles our wild boar, or rather the hog of Siam, [271] which, as formerly remarked, is only a variety of the wild boar.  In the same manner, the Mexican hog has been called the boar, or hog of America.  He constitutes, however, a different species; for, from repeated trials, it has been found, that he does not intermix either with our wild or domestic kinds.  He likewise differs from the hog in several essential characters, both external and internal.  He is not so corpulent, and his legs are shorter.  The form of his stomach and intestines is also different.  He has no tail.  His bristles are much coarser than those of the wild boar.  Lastly, on his back, near the crupper, there is an orifice about three lines broad, and more than an inch deep, from which an ichorous humour, of a disagreeable smell, flows very copiously.  No other animal has an aperture in this region of the body.  The civets, the badger, [272] and the genet have the reservoir of their perfume under the organs of generation; and the Canadian musk rat, and the musk animal, have it under the belly.  The liquor which issues from the dorsal aperture of the Mexican hog is secreted by a number of large glands, which are well described by M. Daubenton, and by Dr Tyson.*  It is unnecessary to give in detail the observations of these acute anatomists.  It shall only be remarked, that Dr Tyson is wrong in asserting that this animal has three stomachs, or, as Mr Ray⁺ expresses it, a gizzard and two stomachs.  M. Daubenton has clearly demonstrated, that it has bun one stomach, divided by two strangulations, which give it the appearance of three; that only one of these three bags has a pylorus, or aperture for allowing the descent of the aliment into the other intestines; and, consequently, that the other two should be regarded as appendages, or rather portions, of the same stomach.

            The Mexican hog might be rendered domestic, as well as the common kind.  He is nearly of the same dispositions, feeds upon the same nourishment, and his flesh, though drier, and less loaded with fat, is by no means disagreeable.  It is likewise improved by castration; but, when his flesh is intended to be eaten, not only the organs of generation, as is practiced on the wild [273] boar, but the whole dorsal glands of both male and female should be cut off instantly after death; for the retention of them for a single half hour gives the meat an odour so strong as to render it uneatable.

            These animals are very numerous in all the warm climates of South America.  They go in herds, which sometimes amount to two or three hundred.  For defending themselves, and repelling those who want to deprive them of their young, they are endowed with the same instincts as the common hog.  They mutually assist each other; they surround their enemies, and often wound the dogs and the hunters.  In their native country, they prefer the mountains to the plains.  They search not for marshes and mires, like our wild boar, but remain in the forests, where they live upon fruits, seeds, and roots.  They likewise eat serpents, toads, and lizards, whose skins they previously tear off with their feet.  They produce a great number at a time, and, perhaps, more than once a-year.  The young soon follow their mother, and never separate from her till they are full grown.  When taken young, they are easily tamed; they lose their natural ferocity, but retain their stupidity; for they know no person, and have no attachment to those who take care of them.  They do no mischief, and may be allowed to go and come at pleasure, without any inconvenience.  They never stray, but return home spontaneously; and they never [274] quarrel, but when a number of them are presented with victuals in the same trough.  When angry, their grunting is stronger and harder than that of the common hog; but they seldom cry.  Like the wild boar, when suddenly alarmed, they make a sharp blowing kind of noise.  Their breath is very strong; and, when irritated, their hair rises, which is so coarse, that it rather resembles the prickles of a hedgehog than the bristles of the wild boar.

            The species of the Mexican hog is preserved without any change; for they never intermix with those hogs which were transported from Europe, and have become wild in America.  These animals often meet in the woods, and even go in company, without producing any new variety.  The same observation applies to the Guiney hog, which has multiplied greatly in America, after being brought thither from Africa.  The European hog, the Guiney hog, and the Mexican hog, are three species, which, though they seem to approach very near each other, are perfectly distinct, since they all subsist in the same climate, without change or intermixture.  Our wild boar is the strongest and most formidable of the three.  The Mexican hog is equally ferocious; but he is weaker, more unwieldy, and worse armed, his tusks being much shorter than those of the wild boar.  The former is impatient of cold, and cannot subsist, even ion our temperate climates, without being sheltered, [275] and the wild boar cannot subsist in very cold countries.  Hence neither of these animals could pass from the one Continent to the other by the lands lying toward the north pole; and, therefore, the Mexican hog cannot be regarded as the European hog altered or degenerated by the influence of the American climates, but as an animal peculiar to the southern regions of the New World.

            Ray, and other authors, maintain, that the liquor secreted by the dorsal glands of the Mexican hog, is a kind of musk, an agreeable perfume, even when it issues from the body of the animal; that it perfumes the places where he inhabits, or through which he passes.  But, on the contrary, I have a thousand times experienced, that the odour of this liquor, when it escapes from the animal, is so nauseous, that we could neither smell nor collect it without extreme disgust.  It seems only to become less fetid by drying in the air; but it never assumes the agreeable odour of musk or of civet; and naturalists would have made a nearer approach to truth, if they had compared it to that of castoreum.

            M. de la Borde remarks, that, in Cayenne, there are two distinct species of pecari or Mexi- [276] [PLATE CXXXII here] [PLATE CXXXIII here] can hog, which never intermix.  The largest kind, says he, has white hair on its chops; and, on each side of the jaw, there is a round white spot, of the size of a small crown-piece.  The rest of the body is black; and the animal weighs about one hundred pounds.  The smaller species has reddish hair, and weighs not above sixty pounds.

            It is the large species which is here represented.  And, with regard to the smaller kind, the difference of colour and size, mentioned by M. de la Borde, must be only a variety produced by age, or some other accidental circumstance.

            M. de la Borde, however, says that the large kind runs not, like the small, after dogs and men.  He adds, that both species inhabit the large woods, and that they go I flocks of two or three hundred.  They feed on the mountains during the rainy season; and, when it is past, they frequent the low and marshy grounds.  They feed upon fruits, seeds, and roots, and likewise dig in the mires, in quest of worms and other insects.  They are hunted without dogs, by following the track of their feet.  They are easily shot; for, instead of flying, they assemble together, and often give the hunters an opportunity of charging and discharging several times.  They pursue the dogs, and sometimes men.  He relates, that, being one day employed, along with several others, in hunting these animals, accompanied by a single dog, which, as soon as they [277] appeared, took refuge between his master’s legs.  For the greater safety, he, with the other hunters, stood on a rock. They were, nevertheless, surrounded by the flock of hogs.  A constant fire was kept up; but the creatures did not retire till a great number of them was slain.  These animals, however, he remarks, fly after they have been several times hunted.  The young, when taken in the chace, are easily tamed; but they will not associate or mix with the domestic species.  In their natural state of liberty, they frequent the marshes, and often swim across large rivers.  They make great havock [sic] in the plantations.  Their flesh, says he, has an excellent taste, but is not so tender as that of the domestic hog; it resembles the flesh of the hare, and has neither lard nor grease.  The females bring forth only two at a litter but they produce in all seasons.  When killed, the dorsal gland should be instantly cut out, otherwise it will give a bad flavour to the meat.

            M. de la Borde mentions another species of hog, which he calls patira, and is also found in Guiana.  I shall transcribe what he remarks of this animal, solely with the view that he, or some other observer, may furnish us with more precise information, and a more complete description of it.

            “The patira is the size of the smaller species of Mexican hog; and differs from it only [278] by having a white line along the spine from the neck to the tail.”

            “These animals live in the large forests, from which they never depart.  They associate not in large flocks, but in families.  They are, however, very common, and never leave their native country.  They are hunted with or without dogs.  When pursued by dogs, they stand firm, and defend themselves with courage.  They take refuge in hollow trees, or in holes of the earth dug by the armadillos.  These holes they enter backwards, and remain as long as they can:  But, when highly irritated, they instantly issue out in a body.  In order to seize them as they come out, the hole is inclosed with branches of trees; one of the hunters, armed with a pitchfork, stands above the hole to fix them by the neck, while another forces them out, and kills them with a sabre.”

            “When there is but one in a hole, and the hunter has not leisure to seize it, he shuts up the entrance, and is sure of his game next day.  The flesh of the patira is superior to that of other hogs.  When taken young, they are easily tamed; but they have a mortal antipathy to dogs, whom they perpetually attack.  The females bring forth only two at a time; and they are fit for procreating in every season of the year.  They keep always in the marshes, unless when totally covered with water.” [279]

            “The hair of the patira is not so hard as that of the wild boar, or domestic hog, but is soft and flexible like that of the pecari.  The patira, when tamed, follows his master, and allows himself to be handled by those with whom he is acquainted; but strangers he threatens with his head and teeth.”    

*  The Mexican hog has four cutting teeth above, six below, and two tusks in each jaw; those in the upper jaw pointing down, and little apparent when the mouth is shut; the others hid.  The length from the nose to the anus, is about three feet.  The head is not so taper as in common swine.  The ears are short and erect.  The body is covered with bristles, stronger than those of the European kind, and more like those of a hedgehog; they are dusky, surrounded with rings of white; those on the top of the neck and back are five inches long; they grow shorter on the sides.  The belly is almost naked.  From the shoulders to the breast, there is a white band.  It has no tail.  On the lower part of the back there is a gland, open at the top, which discharges a fetid, ichorous liquor, which has been mistakenly called a navel; Pennant’s Synops. of quad. p. 72. 

            It is called Le Pecari, or le sanglier pecari, by the French.

            The wild boar called Pecari; Desmarchais, tom. 3. p. 312.  Wafer’s voyage, Dampier, tom. 3. p. 328. tom. 4. p. 48.

            NOTA.  Few animals have received such a variety of names.  The savages of Brasil call it Tajassou, according to Lery.  Piso and Marcgrave call it Tajacu and Caaigoara; Coreal Tajoussou, (Voy. aux Index Orient. tom. 1. p. 173.); the Mexicans, Quauhtla coymatl, Quapizotl, or Coyametl.  Travellers have also mentioned it under different appellations.  At the bay of All Saints, according to Dampier, it is called Pelas; Javari or Paquire at Tabago, according to Rochefort, (Relat. de l’isle de Tabago, p. 31.); Paquira, in the country of the Amazons, (Jumilla, tom. 2. p. 6.); Saino or Zaino, in several places of America, [271] (Joseph Acosta, p. 196); Chuchie, according to Oviedo, (See Hernand. Hist. Mex. p. 649); Coscui (Voyage de Coreal, tom. 1. p. 84)

            Aper Mexicanus; Faber, apud Hernand. Hist. Mex. p. 637.

            Sus umbilicum in dorso habens; Aldrov. de quad. bisul. p. 939.

            Tajacu; Pison. hist. Brasil. p. 98. et Marcgrav. hist. nat. Brasil. p. 229.

            Tajacu, feu aper Mexicanus moschiferus; Raii synops. quad. p. 97.

            Sus minor umbilico in dorso; Cochon noir; Barrere, Hist. Franc. equin. p. 161.

            Sus tajacu, dorso cystifero, cauda nulla; Lynn. Syst. nat. p. 103.

            Sus ecaudatus, folliculum ichorosum in dorso gerens; Brisson Regn. animal. p. 111.

            Mexican musk hog; Phil. Trans. abr. ii. 876 [This note straddles two pages, with the break occurring where indicated above.  There was no period after the end parenthesis preceding the “Aper Mexicanus” line.  Back to page 271].

*  Phil. Trans. No 153 [no period after the “No”].

+  Raii Synops. quad. p. 99 [back to page 273].