126 THE REASON WHY : 



" The hare, 



Tho' timorous of heart, and hard beset 

 By death in various forms, dark snares, and dogs, 

 And more unpitying men, the garden seeks, 

 Urg'd on by fearless want." THOMSON. 



388. Wliy is the hare, though more fleet than the fox, generally 

 the soonest caui 



Because when the hare is started, she frequently exhausts herself 

 by her excessive efforts to immediately escape. The fox, on the 

 contrary, less timid than the hare, breaks away only at a moderate 

 speed, which gradually increases as he finds himself pressed by 

 the hounds. 



389. Why is the hare generally lean, while rabbits are 

 frequently fat ? 



The habitual timidity of the hare, and its perpetual apprehen- 

 sion of danger, preserve it in a lean state ; but rabbits, having safe 

 places of retreat in their burrows, are less influenced by fear, and 

 are called upon for less exertion to escape from danger. It may 

 also be observed that the leanness of the hare, which is caused by 

 its timidity, is the condition of body best adapted for flight 

 irom danger. 



390. Of the great speed of which the hare is capable, some idea may be gathered 

 from the following facts : In February, 1800, a brace of greyhounds, in Lincoln- 

 shire, ran a hare from her seat to where she was killed, a distance, measuring 

 straight, upwards of four miles, in twelve minutes. During the course there were 

 a great number of turns, which very considerably increased the space gone over. 

 The hare ran herself dead before the greyhounds touched her. 



391. Why is the cavity of the chest of the young hare larger 

 than the contained lungs? 



The condition of the lungs of the hare are liable to extreme 

 variation. When the animal sits upon its form in an inactive state 

 for many hours, the lungs are comparatively passive ; but when 

 chased, the lungs are in a continual state of violent expan- 

 sion and contraction. This ultimately increases the size of the 

 lungs, which, in the old hare, will be found to fill the entire cavity 

 of the chest. 



