HOP'WYL, a village of Switzerland, in the canton of Bern, and situated 6 m. n. of the town of that name. It has been long famous as the seat of the educational and agricul tural institution founded here by the late M. Fellenberg (q.v.). Not many years after the death of M. Fellenberg, the institution was given up.
HOG, Su?, a genus of pachydermatous quadrupeds, of the family suidcr (q.v.). The neck is earned straight forward from the trunk, and is very thick and strong. The skin is very thick, and mostly covered with stiff bristles, among which a short curled hair is often also found. The bristles of the back of the neck generally become mane in wild hogs, and particularly in the males, although, in domestication, this tends to disappear. The muzzle is elongated, and terminated by a movable cartilaginous disk, furnished, as in the mole, with a special small bone, and used, along with the tusks, as an implement for turning up the soil in search of roots and other food. There are 6 incisors, 2 canine teeth, and 14 molars in eaoh jaw, the lower incisors projecting forwards; the canine teeth long and strong, projecting and curved, becoming formidable tusks in wild boars, and large and powerful even in the females in a wild state. The feet have each four toes, the lateral ones small, and scarcely touching the ground, all separately hoofed. The tail is short. The stomach shows mere traces of division. The food is chiefly vegetable, but perhaps no animals may more properly be called omnivorous; and although, even in a wild state, hogs are not to be reckoned among beasts of prey, they not unfrequently, even in domestication, kill and eat small animals that come in their way, as many a housewife has had occasion to observe in respect to chickens.—The common hog (S. &rya) appears to be a native of most parts of Europe and Asia, and domesticated swine were found by the first navigators in many of the islands of the southern seas. The wild boar is still found in the forests of many parts of Europe, and was at one time an inhabitant of those of Britain, where it was protected by game-laws in the 10th and 11th centuries; but at what time it ceased to exist as a wild animal in Britain is uncertain. The adult males, in a wild state, are generally solitary; the females and young gregari ous; and when assailed by wolves or other beasts of prey, wild swine defend themselves vigorously, the stronger animals placing themselves in the front, and the weaker seeking shelter in the rear. The chase of the wild boar is one of the most exciting sports of Europe or of India, particularly when carried on without the rifle, and ou horseback with the spear (" pig-sticking"). The speed of the animal is very considerable, and the chase sometimes extends to 6 or 7 miles. Although the use of its flesh was prohibited to the Jews, and the prohibition has been adopted in the Mohammedan law, the hog has been a domesticated animal from a very early period, and its flesh constitutes a large part of the food of many nations. The fecundity of the hog is great; with proper treatment, it will produce two litters annually, generally of 4 to 8 pigs each, although sometimes there are as many as 14 in a litter. Vast quantities of the flesh are consumed in various forms in the British islands and North America, as pork, fresh or salted, bacon, ham, etc. Brawn
(q.v.) is an esteemed English luxury. The fat of the hog, which is produced in a thick layer under the skin, is an article of commerce, and of various use under the name of Lard (q.v.). The skin of the hog is made into leather, which is particularly esteemed for saddles. The bristles, particularly of the wild boar, are much used for brush making.
There are numerous varieties of the domestic hog, of which some have erect, and some pendant ears; and those are most esteemed which exhibit the greatest departure from the wild type, in shorter and less powerful limbs, less muscular and more rounded forms, etc. The Chinese breed and the Neapolitan have been of great use in the crossing and improving of the breeds commonly reared in Britain, giving rise to the improved white and black breeds respectively. Hogs are profitably kept wherever there is much vegetable refuse on which to feed them, as by cottagers having gardens, farmers, millers, brewers, etc. They are often allowed to roam over fallow ground, which they grub lip for roots, and over stubble-fields, which they glean very thoroughly. They are also fed in woods—an ancient practice—where they consume acorns, beechmast, and the like. When they are fed, as is sometimes the case, chiefly on animal garbage, their flesh is less palatable and less wholesome.
The hog has a reputation which it does not deserve, of peculiar filthiness of habits. It is true that it wallows in the mire, as the other paehyderrnata also do, to cool itself and to provide itself with a protection against insects, and it searches for food in any puddle; but its sleeping-place is, if possible, kept scrupulously clean. The too common filthiness of is rather the fault of their owners than of their occupants; and a clean and dry sleeping-place is of great importance to the profitable keeping of hogs.
The hog is not inferior to other quadrupeds generally in intelligence. It can be easily rendered very tame and familiar. Its acuteness of scent has been turned to account in making it search for truffles; and an instance is on record of a pig having been used as a pOinter, in which service it learned to acquit itself extremely well. Instances have occurred of the use of the hog as a beast of draught.
The forests of the island of Papua or New Guinea produce a species or variety of hog (S. papitensis), more widely different from the common hog than its breeds are from one hi another. It is 18 or 20 in,gh,with short ears, and very tail. .The color is brown. The Papuans have not prciperly domesticated 'Ow animaValthnugh they often trap the yeung ones and keep them till ready to be killed for use. The flesh is very delicate.
The babyroussa (q.v.) is another and very remarkable species of hog.
The besch nark, or bush hog of South Africa (choiropotamus Africanus), is about 2 ft. 6 in. high, covered with long bristles; it has projecting tusks, a.arge callous protuberance on each cheek, and long sharp tufted ears. It is gregarious, subsists chiefly on vegetable food, and makes destructive inroads on cultivated fields.