EABBITS AND THEIR YOUNG. 



"THE teeth of rabbits prove they are not car- 

 nivorous. They destroy their young from over 

 affection if the nest is meddled with. Many ani- 

 mals besides rabbits kill their offspring. Bitches 

 and sows -the latter will eat them when the 

 young ones are in pain and cry : they commence 

 by licking, and irritated by the continued cry, lick 

 more and more severely until the skin is broken 

 and the young animals are pulled in pieces. When 

 any animal is wanting in milk for the sustenance 

 of its young, it invariably kills them the wise 

 ordinance of nature to prevent suffering. MAC/' 



In reply to " Mac's " communication on this 

 subject, I beg to state that I believe him to be 

 perfectly correct when he asserts that rabbits are 

 not actually carnivorous, though I certainly think 

 that the circumstance of their devouring their young 

 arises from a morbid thirst in the animal, and not 

 from " natural affection," as he seems to imagine. 

 Moreover, though he cites the teeth of rabbits as 

 an instance of their non-carnivorous propensities, 

 he overlooks the fact that rats and other rodents, 

 which feed in a great degree on flesh, resemble them 

 in all essential points of dentition. N. L. AUSTEN. 



