LEPLS. 3S3 



Behind the eyes are the large so-called " ears," or more 

 properly pinnce. At the base of the pinna is the opening of 

 the external auditory meatus which leads, as in the pigeon, 

 a short way into the tympanum. The pinna is movable and 

 serves to collect and concentrate the sound. 



The limbs closely resemble each other; but the fore- 

 limb has five claws, the hind-limb four. At the base of the 

 tail is the anus, and in front of this opening is the urogenital 

 aperture, either in the female a simple opening, the vulva, 

 or in the male an opening situated at the end of 2, penis, at 

 the base of which are the testes situated in scrotal sacs. In 

 neither sex is there a cloaca. 



The whole body is clothed in *' fur," which consists of a 

 dense mass of hair. A hair is an epidermic structure pecu- 

 liar to mammals ; it grows from a follicle 

 and is provided with glands {sebaceous glands) 

 at its base (see page 455). The secretion of the glands keeps 

 the hair flexible and moist. The fur forms a remarkable 

 protection, for a warm-blooded animal like the rabbit, against 

 changes of temperature. Like the frog, the rabbit has a 

 great number of glands in its skin. These are known" as 

 the sudorific glands and excrete water and salts in the form 

 of " sweat." Large perinceal glands are also found near the 

 anus secreting an offensive liquid. 



But the most remarkable skin-glands of the rabbit are 

 the mammary glands. These are modified from sebaceous 

 glands and secrete "milk." They open by ducts to the 

 exterior upon mammce or teats and are intermittently active 

 for the nourishment of the young. In the rabbit the teats 

 are in two ventral rows upon the hinder portion of the body 

 or abdomen. 



The skin may now be removed by a median ventral 

 incision from chin to anus, the mammary glands — at the 

 right season — being observed as yellowish glandular patches 

 on the inside of the skin. 



A median ventral incision of the muscular wall of the 

 body, as far forwards as the hind-border of the sternum, 

 exposes the large abdominal cavity. The anterior end of 

 this cavity is formed of a large septum or diaphragm, partly 

 muscular and partly membranous : through it emerge the 

 oesophagus and main blood-vessels ; in front of it lies 



