STRUCTURE OF RABBIT 



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teeth the hairy skin of the lips projects into the mouth. 

 This generally occurs in Rodents, and is said to prevent 

 the inedible substances which they gnaw from passing 

 backwards to the gullet. On the sides of the snout, and 

 about the eyes, there are tactile hairs or vibrissae. 



Fig. 468. — Fore-limb and shoulder-girdle (I.) and 

 hind-limb (II.) of rabbit. 



SC, Scapula; A., acromion; AI., metacromion process; H., humerus; 

 O., olecranon process ; U., ulna ; R., radius ; C, carpals ; MC, 

 metacarpals ; D., five digits ; F., femur.; P., patella ; FI., fibula ; 

 T., tibia; O.C., os calcis ; AS., astragalus; D.T., distal tarsals; 

 MT., metatarsals ; £>., four digits. 



The plump trunk is separated from the head by a short 

 neck. The tail is very short, but in the scampering wild 

 rabbit it is conspicuous as a white tuft, which some 

 naturahsts interpret as a directive signal. Beneath the base 

 of the tail the food canal ends, and beside the anus are the 

 openings of the perineal glands, whose secretion has a char- 



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