The wild _Sus scrofa_ has a wide range, namely, Europe, North Africa, as identified by osteological characters by Rütimeyer, and Hindostan, as similarly identified by Nathusius. But the wild boars inhabiting these several countries differ so much from each other in external characters, that they have been ranked by some naturalists as specifically distinct. Even within Hindostan these animals, according to Mr. Blyth, form very distinct races in the different districts; in the N. Western provinces, as I am informed by the Rev. R. Everest, the boar never exceeds 36 inches in height, whilst in Bengal one has been measured 44 inches in height. In Europe, Northern Africa, and Hindostan, domestic pigs have been known to cross with the wild native species;[146] and in Hindostan an accurate observer,[147] Sir Walter Elliot, after describing the differences between wild Indian and wild German boars, remarks that "the same differences are perceptible in the domesticated {67} individuals of the two countries." We may therefore conclude that the breeds of the _Sus scrofa_ type have either descended from, or been modified by crossing with, forms which may be ranked as geographical races, but which are, according to some naturalists, distinct species. Pigs of the _Sus Indica_ type are best known to Englishmen under the form of the Chinese breed. The skull of _S. Indica_, as described by Nathusius, differs from that of _S. scrofa_ in several minor respects, as in its greater breadth and in some details in the teeth; but chiefly in the shortness of the lachrymal bones, in the greater width of the fore part of the palate-bones, and in the divergence of the premolar teeth. It deserves especial notice that these latter characters are not gained, even in the least degree, by the domesticated forms of _S. scrofa_. After reading the remarks and descriptions given by Nathusius, it seems to me to be merely playing with words to doubt whether _S. Indica_ ought to be ranked as a species; for the above-specified differences are more strongly marked than any that can be pointed out between, for instance, the fox and the wolf, or the ass and the horse. As already stated, _S. Indica_ is not known in a wild state; but its domesticated forms, according to Nathusius, come near to _S. vittatus_ of Java and some allied species. A pig found wild in the Aru islands (Schweineschädel, s. 169) is apparently identical with _S. Indica_; but it is doubtful whether this is a truly native animal. The domesticated breeds of China, Cochin-China, and Siam belong to this type. The Roman or Neapolitan breed, the Andalusian, the Hungarian, and the "Krause" swine of Nathusius, inhabiting south-eastern Europe and Turkey, and having fine curly hair, and the small Swiss "Bündtnerschwein" of Rütimeyer, all agree in their more important skull characters with _S. Indica_, and, as is supposed, have all been largely crossed with this form.