THE WILD RABBET. 309 



a white one, about the month of September, and 

 become again grey in April. It is remarkable that, 

 even if this animal be brought into a house, and 

 kept in stoved apartments, it still changes its co- 

 lour at the same periods as when among its native 

 mountains. 



The skins of Varying Hares, particularly when 

 they are white, form a considerable article of com- 

 merce betwixt the Russians and Chinese. The 

 flesh is, at all times, harder, more dry, and less fla- 

 voured, than that of the common kind; but in 

 winter it is extremely insipid. 



THE WILD RABBET*. 



IN some countries, Rabbets have been known 

 to multiply so fast, as to prove seriously injurious 

 to the inhabitants. It is recorded by Pliny, that 

 in the islands of Majorca and Minorca, anciently 

 called the Baleares, the inhabitants were compelled 

 to implore the assistance of a military force from 



* Lepus cuniculus. Linnceus. Le Lapin. Buffon. 

 For the description of the Rabbet, see the Synopsis, p. 52, No. 35. 



Y 3 Augustus 



