112 



DOMESTIC RABBITS I 



Chap. IV. 



one ear dependent, there is nearly as good a chance of the 

 progeny having both ears full-lop, as if both parents had 

 been thus characterized. But I am informed, if both parents 

 have upright ears, there is hardly a chance of a full-lop. In 

 some half- lops the ear that hangs down is broader and longer 

 than the upright ear ; 12 so that we have the unusual case of 

 a want of symmetry on the two sides. This difference in the 

 position and size of the two ears probably indicates that the 

 lopping results from the great length and weight of the ear, 



Fig 5.— Half-lop Rabbit. (Copied from E. S. Delamer's work.) 



favoured no doubt by the weakness of the muscles consequent 

 on disuse. Anderson 13 mentions a breed having only a 

 single ear ; and Professor Gervais another breed destitute of 

 ears. 



We come now to the Himalayan breed, which is sometimes 

 called Chinese, Polish, or Eussian. These pretty rabbits are 

 white, or occasionally yellow, excepting their ears, nose, 

 feet, and the upper side of the tail, which are all brownish- 

 black ; but as they have red eyes, they may be considered as 



12 Delamer, ' Pigeons and Rabbits, 

 p. 136. See also ' Journal of Horti- 

 culture,' 1861, p. 375. 



13 'An Account of the different 

 Kinds of Sheep in the Russian Domi- 

 nions,' 1794, p. 39. 



