Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1871-04-07
SCIR.yyIFIC .E.yD TIEEOLOGIC.sL
ASPECT or THE HOG.


tiates on the hog:
The hog has been in dispute a long time,
at least ever since he began to play his part
in the ancient religions. 1t is fashionable
to ridicule and denounce him, TO call him
n filthy brute, and to insist that he is the
dire author of leprosy, consumption, can
Ger, scrofula, and the most disgusting dis
eases that afflict humanity. This is the
teaching of prejudice, not of science.
The hog outives all hostility, and laughs,
so to speak, at the success of his SANDER
ers. Still is the reeking roast pig the sac
ritice of many dinner table, and still is
the rural ceiling festooned with the savory
sausage, and the smoke house fragrant
with ham. We deal with facts, not senti-
ment. The hog is true cosmopolite-a
citizen of the world. He increases and
multiplies, and inherits every part of the
habitable globe. He is as ubiquitous as
the bat. lie docs not stand in high repute
for his manners, but he is most accommo-
dating, thriving with equal content in the
sty of the rich and the kitchen of the indi-
gent. He wallows sometimes, but natur-
alsts tell us he does this for the sake of
cleanliness, which is next TO godliness-for
the same reason that the Pacific Islanders
grease themselves. Among his quaint pc
culiarites are his grunt of satisfaction and
his squeal of remonstrance and reproach.
He should never be fed till he stops squeal-
ing; it is the approved method of break
ing him of the habit.
Homer, in his "Odyssey," honored the
swine keeper with the confidence Of Ulys-
ses, and why not? The hog, called stupid,
is really one of the most enterprisng and
sagacious of animals. The gamekeepcr OF
Sir Henry Midway actually broke a black
SOW to hunt game in the woods; and she
ran with wonderful success. She would
track game, back and stand, and point
partridges, pheasants, snipes, and rabbits
as skillfully as bred pointer. She would
bound in response to a whistle, and would
wag her head and squeal with delight on
being shown gun.
The Babylonan Talmud says: "Cursed
be he that breedeth hogs;' and the history
of the Maccabees tells us that the scribe
Eleazcr walked straight TO the tortures OF
persecution rather than eat a slice of spare
rib, heroically preferring the martyr :
stake to pork steak. This animal has been
under the ban of many religions. The
| Mohammedans learned from the Jews, as
the Jews had previously learned from tho
Egyptians, to hate him because he per-
versely declined to ''chew the cud;" but
he still manages to mastcate and digcs
considerable pottagc in the course of 8
year.
The hog is the product of natures mos
economical thought. There is no par
that cannot be utilized. His flesh, fat
bristles, hair hoois, bones are all turned I,
account. "rhe divisions of his unctuou'
body" says Apicius, 'are as familiar "a
the division of the earth. His ears anC
dish for the epicure. His tail has for age
been claimed by successive generations o
children as their particular property. Ira
btion points out how TO appropriate it
roast on the Goals, take in the fingers, am
eat without salt"
The hog is the staff of life, the arch enc
my of famine, the poor mans best trienc
Moreover, in his earlier days, he is strik
ingly playful, risky, cunning, and grace
ful-as much more interesting than 1t
man infant of the same uge as the latter
more interesting than 50 much putty. /
adult Pighood, he is omnivorous and SO
reliant, bold and expeditionary, and /
breeds faster and keeps cheaper than an
other domestic animal.
America is pre-eminently the home
, the hog; he is logical deduction from Ii
dian corn. lie was introduced into vi
gina in 1900, and here he multiplied
rapidly that the colonists We're compell'
TO pallisade Jamestown-high, to keep Of
the Indians; close, to keep out the hog
Z Mrs. Hog can produce ten to twenty at
| birth, as often as twice a year. The d
scendants of single pair-allowing s
young for a litter-would amount to S
million in fifty years. The gratitude OF Il
= country is due to Cincinnati, for that, |
e assiduous harvesting, she keeps down Il
e inundation which constantly threatens
overwhelm us in an uncommon ruin.