634 



HARE HAREM. 



In 1700, at Amsterdam. The following epitaph, 

 which lias been erroneously ascribed to Atterbury, 

 and to president de lioze, was written by Jacob Ver- 

 net, of Geneva : 



Hie jacet hominum paradoxotatos, 



Orb is literati portentum, 

 Veiierandee antiquitatin cultor et depredator, 



Docte febricitaiis, 



Sommu et inaudita commenta vigilans ediilit, 



Scepticum pie egit, 



Credulitate puer, 



Audacia juvenis, 



Deliriia senex. 



HARE (lepus). The generic characters of this 

 well known animal are, four cutting teeth in the up- 

 per jaw, and two in the lower ; two of the upper 

 teeth, however, are placed behind the others, and 

 are of a much smaller size ; the whole dental formula 

 is, incisors J, canines , molars JJ 28: the two 

 fore feet witli five, and the hinder with four, toes. 

 These animals are found in almost every part of the 

 world, living entirely on vegetable food, and all re- 

 markably timid. They run by a kind of leaping 

 pace, and, in walking, use their hind feet as far as 

 the heel. Their tails are either very short or almost 

 wanting. The female goes with youn g about a month, 

 generally producing three to six at a litter, and this 

 about four times a-year. The eyes of the young are 

 open at birth. The dam suckles them about twenty 

 days, after which they leave her, and procure their 

 cwn food. 



The European hare (L. timidus) is found through- 

 out Europe, and some parts of Asia. The colour of 

 this species is of a tawny red on the back and sides, 

 and white on the belly. The ears, which are very 

 long, are tipped with black ; the eyes are very large 

 and prominent. The length of this animal is about 

 two feet, and, when full grown, it weighs six to eight 

 pounds. It is a watchful, timid creature, always lean, 

 and, from the form of its legs, runs swifter up hill than 

 on level ground. Hares feed on vegetables, and are 

 very fond of the bark of young trees ; their favourite 

 food, however, is parsley. Their flesh was forbid- 

 den to be eaten among the Jews and the ancient 

 Britons, whilst the Romans, on the contrary, held it 

 in great esteem. " Inter quadrupedes gloria prima 

 lepus," Martial ; and Horace, who is good authority 

 as an epicure, says, Every man of taste must prefer 

 the fore shoulder " Fecundi leporis sapiens sectabi- 

 tur armos." The flesh is now much prized for its 

 peculiar flavour, though it is very black, dry, and de- 

 void of fat. The voice of the hare is never heard but 

 when it is seized or wounded. At such times, it utters 

 a sharp, loud cry, not very unlike that of a child. It 

 has a remarkable instinct in escaping from its ene- 

 mies ; and many instances of the surprising sagacity 

 of these animals are on record, though it appears 

 that all of them do not possess equal experience and 

 cunning. A perpetual war is carried on against them 

 by cats, wolves, and birds of prey ; and even man 

 makes use of every artifice to entrap these defence- 

 less and timid creatures. They are easily tamed, but 

 never attain such a degree of attachment as renders 

 them domestic, always availing themselves of the first 

 opportunity to escape. Among the devices of hares 

 to elude their pursuers, the following have been ob- 

 served : Getting up into a hollow tree, or upon ruin- 

 ed walls ; throwing themselves into a river, and 

 floating down some distance ; or swimming out into 

 a lake, keeping only their nose above the surface ; 

 returning on their own scent, &c. 



The American hare {L.Americanus) , so well known 

 under the name of rabbit, is found in most parts of 

 North America. The summer hair is dark brown 

 on the upper part of the head, lighter on the sides, 

 and of an ash colour below ; the ears are wide, edged 

 with white, tipped with browu, and dark coloured on 



their back ; tail, dark above, white beneath, having 

 the inforior surface turned up ; the fore legs are 

 shorter and the hinder longer in proportion tlian those 

 of the European. In the Middle and Southern States, 

 the change in the colour of the hair is by no means 

 as remarkable as it is farther north, where it becomes 

 white, or nearly so. This species is from fourteen 

 to eighteen inches long. The American hare gene- 

 rally keeps within its form during the day, feeding 

 early in the morning or at night. The flesh is dark 

 coloured, but is much esteemed as an article of food. 

 It is in its prime late in the autumn and in the win- 

 ter. It is not hunted in America as in Europe, but 

 is generally roused by a dog, and shot or caught by 

 means of snares or a common box trap : this latter 

 is the most usual mode. In its gait, it is very similar 

 to the European, leaping rather than running. Like 

 that animal, it breeds several times during the year. 

 There are several other species of the hare inhabit- 

 ing North America, of which the most remarkable 

 is the polar hare (L. glacialis). This occurs in vast 

 numbers towards the extreme northern part of the 

 continent. It is larger than the common hare. The 

 fur is exceedingly thick and woolly, of the purest 

 white in the cold months, with the exception of a tutt 

 of long black hair at the tip of the ears. In summer, 

 the hair becomes of a grayish brown. See Rabbit. 



HARELIP is a single or double fissure of the upper 

 lip, by which it is divided into two or three parts, 

 and is thus made to resemble the lip of the hare. 

 Children are not unfrequently born with this deform- 

 ity. The fissure is sometimes confined to the lip, but 

 more commonly extends to the gums and palate, 

 which it divides into two parts. It produces great 

 difficulty in speech, and besides keeping the mouth 

 open, and thus suffering the saliva to escape, it is a 

 dreadful deformity in appearance, It is very com- 

 mon, but, fortunately, is easily curable, so that it sel- 

 dom goes long unremedied, unless from choice or 

 timidity. The operations for removing this most 

 unfortunate deformity, in its worst forms, are among 

 the merits which have given celebrity to the name of 

 Dessault. 



HAREM (Arabic, sacred, the sanctuary) is used, 

 by Mussulmans, to signify the women's apartments, 

 which are forbidden to every man except the husband. 

 It answers, in some measure, to the gyneeceum of the 

 Greeks. The term seraglio, often used by Europeans 

 for harem, is a corruption of the word serai, i. e., 

 palace. The ladies are served by female slaves, and 

 guarded by black eunuchs ; the head of the latter is 

 called kizlar-aga. There are two kizlar-agas, one of 

 the old, the other of the new palace, each of which 

 has its harem. The one is occupied by the women 

 of former sultans, and those who have incurred the 

 displeasure of the reigning prince ; the other, by such 

 as still enjoy his favour. Doctor Clarke, who visited 

 the summer palace during the absence of the occu- 

 pants, has given a particular description of it in his 

 Travels (vol. iii., pp. 20 37). The women of the 

 imperial harem are all slaves, generally Circassians 

 or Georgians ; for no free born Turkish woman can 

 be introduced into it as an odah-lic, or concubine. 

 Their number depends solely on the pleasure of the 

 sultan, but is very considerable. His mother, female 

 relations, and grandees, vie with each other in pre- 

 senting him the handsomest slaves. Out of this 

 great number he chooses seven wives, although but 

 four are allowed by the prophet. These are called 

 cadins, and have splendid appointments. The one 

 who first presents him with a male heir is styled the 

 sultana, by way of eminence. She must then retire 

 into the eski serai (old palace) ; but if her son as- 

 cends the throne, she returns to the new palace, and 

 has the title of svltana validt. She is the only wo- 



