|
vertebrae | 15 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14
| | | | |
Lumbar | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5
+--------+---------+---------+-------------+-----------
Dorsal and | | | | |
lumbar together | 21 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19
| | | | |
Sacral | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4
+--------+---------+---------+-------------+-----------
Total number | | | | |
of vertebrae | 26 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23
----------------+--------+---------+---------+-------------+-----------

{75}

Some semi-monstrous breeds deserve notice. From the time of Aristotle to
the present time solid-hoofed swine have occasionally been observed in
various parts of the world. Although this peculiarity is strongly
inherited, it is hardly probable that all the animals with solid hoofs have
descended from the same parents; it is more probable that the same
peculiarity has reappeared at various times and places. Dr. Struthers has
lately described and figured[167] the structure of the feet; in both front
and hind feet the distal phalanges of the two greater toes are represented
by a single, great, hoof-bearing phalanx; and in the front feet, the middle
phalanges are represented by a bone which is single towards the lower end,
but bears two separate articulations towards the upper end. From other
accounts it appears that an intermediate toe is likewise sometimes
superadded.

[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Old Irish Pig, with jaw-appendages. (Copied from H.
D. Richardson on Pigs.)]

Another curious anomaly is offered by the appendages, described by M.
Eudes-Deslongchamps as often characterizing the Normandy pigs. These
appendages are always attached to the same spot, to the corners of the jaw;
they are cylindrical, about three inches in length, covered with bristles,
and with a pencil of bristles rising out of a sinus on one side: they have
a cartilaginous centre, with two small longitudinal muscles; they occur
either symmetrically on both sides of the face or on one {76} side alone.
Richardson figures them on the gaunt old "Irish Greyhound pig;" and
Nathusius states that they occasionally appear in all the long