FRUITFUL HYBRIDS. 1 47 



peculiar variety — or if you will have it, into a "good 

 species " — which is distinguished by a peculiar colour, a rat- 

 like shape, small size, nocturnal life, and extraordinary wild- 

 ness. The most important fact, however, is that this new 

 species, which I call Lepus Huxleyi, no longer pairs with its 

 European parent rabbit, and no longer produces bastards 

 with it. 



On the other hand, we now know of numerous examples 

 of fruitful genuine bastards ; that is, of mixings that have 

 proceeded from the crossing of two entirely different species, 

 and yet propagate themselves with one another as well as 

 with one of their parent species. A number of such bastard 

 species (species Hybridse) have long been known to botanists ; 

 for example, among the genera of the thistle (Cirsium), the 

 laburnum (Cytisus), the bramble (Rubus), etc. Among 

 animals also they are by no means rare, perhaps even very 

 frequent. We know of fruitful bastards which have arisen 

 from the crossing of two different species of a genus, as 

 among several genera of butterflies (Zygsena, Saturnia), the 

 family of carps, finches, poultry, dogs, cats, etc. One of the 

 most interesting is the hare-rabbit (Lepus Darwinii), the 

 bastard of our indigenous hare and rabbit, many genera- 

 tions of which have been bred in France, since 1850, for 

 gastronomic purposes. I myself possess such hybrids, the 

 products of pure in-breeding, that is, both parents of which 

 are themselves hybrids by a hare-father and a rabbit-mother. 

 I possess them through the kindness of Professor Conrad, 

 who has repeatedly made these experiments in breeding on 

 his estate. The half-blood hybrid thus bred, which I name 

 in honour of Darwin, appears to propagate itself through 

 many generations by pure in-breeding, just as well as any 



