NATURAL HISTORY. 



" You aro the hare of whom the proverb goes, 

 Whose valour plucks doud lions by the beard." SHAKSPEARE. 



" The prowling for, 

 "Whose nightly murders thin the bleating fold." DOBSLEY. 



392. Why are, the, ears of hart* unusually long, and capable 

 of more varied motion than those of most other animals? 



This fact illustrates a prin- 

 ciple in the great design 

 observable in nature, referring 

 to many animals, but to the 

 hare in particular. 



The external ears of animals 

 of flight are turned backwards 

 to give notice of the approach 

 of an enemy from behind, 

 whence he may steal upon 

 them unseen ; while the ears 

 of beasts of prey, such aa 

 lions, tigers, wolves, foxes, 

 &c., have their trumpet part 

 standing forwards, to seize 

 tlie sounds which are before 

 them ; visL, the sounds of the 

 animals which they pursue. 



The ears of the hare are long, and stand erect when the animal 

 is listening. Upon other occasions, when concealment is necessary, 

 they lie down close upon the animal's back. When being hunted, 

 and well a-head of the hounds, the hare will frequently throw one 

 ear forward and the other backward, that it may discriminate 

 not only whence to fly but whither to go. 



393. The anatomy of tie internal ear also favours its reception of sounds from 

 very dii action. The auditive canal is in part soft, and in part bony, so that the 

 tube may be turned in the direction of the outer ear. In general the ears are 

 naked, or very thinly covered with short hairs nd the membranes of which they 

 tre composed are so thin that they are nearly transparent. 



In order to enable this creature to pereeive the most distant approaches of danger, 

 nature has provided it with these very long ears, which, like tubes applied to the 

 auditory organs of deaf persons, convey to it such sounds as are remote ; and the 

 motions of the hare are directed accordingly. Its large prominent eyes being placed 

 o far backward as to receive the rays of Light on every side, it ^M almost see 



