1 30 THE REASON WHY : 



Thus gay, the hare with many friends, 

 Twice seven long years the court attends; 

 Who, under tales conveying truth, 

 To virtue formed a princely youth.&quot; SWIFT. 



is not improbable that the noun is of the same origin as the verb 

 to hare, and that the name was given to the animal because it i 

 harried, or pursued by harriers. 



399. Why do hares leap to and fro before they jump upon 

 their forms ? 



Because their instinct tells them that their enemies pursue them 

 by scent. Hares themselves pursue their kind by scent, and being 

 practised in the exercise of that faculty, must know that a leap 

 from the ground breaks the trail. Hence, when they lay themselves 

 up for the day, they do not run in a direct line to their seat, but 

 work around it, and when near enough make a spring by which 

 they reach their form. In like manner, when pursued they will 

 sometimes throw themselves up by springing, and then remain 

 still on the spot upon which they alight ; and rabbits do 

 the same. 



400. The doublings of the hare, before she goes to form, thereby to dodge and 

 deceive the dogs, is a notable instinct for an animal less famed for cunning than 

 the fox and some others. The means of defence and escape provided by the 

 Creator for various animals are worthy of consideration. Some are sufficiently 

 guarded against all common dangers by their natural clothing, by their armature 

 of shells, or such like hard and impregnable covering of their body. Others, 

 destitute of this guard, are armed, some with horns, some with *r&amp;gt;arp quills and 

 prickles, some with claws, others with stings. Some can shift and change their 

 colours, some can make their escape by the help of their wings, and others by the 

 swiftness of their feet ; some can screen themselves by diving beneath the waters, 

 others by tinging and disordering the waters can make their escape ; some by their 

 accurate sight, smell, or hearing, can foresee dangers ; others by their natural craft 

 can prevent or escape them ; and some even by the power of their excrements can 

 deter their enemies from pursuing them.* 



Nature appears to have gifted the hare with some singularly preservative 

 properties, of which her diversified tintings offer a proof; these so harmoniously 

 blend wtfh the matters which surround her as to make her escape from all but the 

 practised eye very common. It is not that she lies concealed by cover; on the 

 contrary, she frequently forms on the loo side of a clod in a ploughed field, and yet, 

 although so situated, her mass looks so shapeless that she is, by those not 

 habituated to look for her, more frequently passed over than discovered. Her ears 



* Derham s &quot;Physico Theologv.&quot; 



