434 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



these that the remarkable traits of the creature have been 

 discovered. These are, primarily, that all the males have 

 teats, and help to suckle the young. This has been assumed 

 from the fact that four out of the five specimens captured 

 were adult males, that all had large teats full of milk, and 

 that the hair around the nipples was wet, and stuck to it, 

 showing conclusively that they were nursing the leverets. 

 As the party found no females, they thought their captures 

 might be a hermaphrodite form; and to judge for them- 

 selves the truth of their suspicions, they got Dr. Curtis, one 

 of the company, to dissect a large one. He found it to be 

 a perfect male in every way ; but, to be sure that it was 

 not exceptional, he dissected others, and this assured him 

 that he was right. Having seen no females, he could only 

 say that he supposed both sexes took part in suckling the 

 young. The doctor certified this report publicly in Wash- 

 ington, by stating that he had carefully examined the speci- 

 mens in the field, and found they were males, yet gave ex- 

 ternal signs of being suckled. To satisfy himself, he care- 

 fully dissected one which was unmistakably marked, and 

 found conclusive evidence that it had been suckled for 

 some time previous to its death. The milk was abundant 

 in the teats, but, excepting this, it had no other characteris- 

 tics of the female sex, all the male organs being perfect. 



Those mentioned are, so far as I know, the various spe- 

 cies of true hares in the Far West and the South-west, if I 

 exclude the common hare (L. americanus), which is abun- 

 dant in portions of the country adjoining the Missouri Riv- 

 er, and the Texan variety of the jack rabbit. All resemble 

 their European congeners in habits; for they feed at night 

 principally, have about the same number of young at a lit- 

 ter, and, like them, do not burrow. There is not, in fact, a 

 specimen of the true rabbit in the country, if I except the 

 descendants of the European species that may have be- 

 come wild. 



The hares are so profuse that they are shipped by the 

 tons to the markets of the Atlantic States, and sold at 

 prices so cheap that they could not, apparently, pay for the 



