232 Miscellaneous. 



being ordinarily 8 lbs, and frequently reaching 12 lbs. ; and if I may 

 trust my notes, as well as the fresh specimens now on the table be- 

 fore me, the females of macrotus invariably have six teats, of which 

 two are placed on the very top of the thorax, and four remotely from 

 them in a parallelogram in the central part of the abdominal region. 

 This is a noticeable circumstance, if the six to ten mammae of authors 

 be ascribed to the genus with sufficient care, and if timidus, or the 

 European type, may be thence presumed to have ever more than six. 

 If so, the invariably restricted number of mammae in macrotus will 

 form one feature of specific independency ; another will be deduced 

 from its inferior size ; and a third from the greater length of the ears 

 as compared with timidus, to which, in its general proportions and 

 colours, it certainly bears a close resemblance ; even in colours how- 

 ever, there is at least one material and constant difference ; that 

 whereas the dorsal aspect of the scut or tail in timidus is black, in 

 macrotus it is of similar hue with the back, but paler. Nor do I 

 notice in macrotus any peculiarity of structure in the hair (towards 

 tips enlarged, acuminate, and recurved) such as is ascribed to that 

 of timidus. The general colour of the Indian Hare is a deep cin- 

 namon-red, copiously mixed with black on the body superiorly, but 

 unmixed upon the limbs and front of the neck and chest, and also 

 on the nape and dorsal aspect of the neck near it ; pure white upon 

 the head and body below, as well as upon the insides of the limbs near 

 it, upon the genital region, posterior margin of the buttocks, and 

 whole inferior and lateral surfaces of the tail. The front of the up- 

 per lip, the margin of the mouth, a circle round the eye, and a line 

 thence to the nostril are always pale, rufescent, hoary, or purer 

 white, and so also the bases of the ears dorsally, and a strip thence 

 continued towards the shoulders, and bounding the purely ruddy hue 

 of the soft nape. The superior margin of the ears on both sides is 

 black, but the general hue of the fur on the ears anteriorly is similar 

 to that of the head, whilst posteriorly and interiorly the ears are nearly 

 nude. The mustachios (which are not undulated) are half black and 

 half white, and though the arms or cubits are usually unmixed with 

 black, yet this is not always the case, the animal in very high fur 

 having the cubits, like the tibiae (externally), powdered with black. 

 The fur in general is very rich, full and soft, both the woolly and 

 hairy portions, the former of which seldom exceeds an inch in length, 

 whilst the latter varies from 1^ to 11 inch. The hair has mostly 

 four rings from the base, thus — bluish hoary, black, red and black. 

 The wool wants the terminal black ring everywhere, and is for the 

 most part white, but ruddy apically : the hair wants it on the purely 

 red parts of the animal, such as the abdominal aspect of the neck 

 and the limbs ; and both wool and hair are devoid of all rings, and 

 wholly white upon the belly and parts adjacent, as well as upon the 

 inferior surface of the head. Some hairs are wholly black or dusky 

 on the back ; but in general, besides its bluish hoary base, every hair 

 on that surface of the animal has two black rings divided by a red 

 one, which latter is of a deep cinnamon hue, almost exactly, or if the 

 reader pleases, brownish red. The buttocks posteriorly are less dashed 

 with black than the middle of the back, which in fine furred animals 



