TAME NESS OF RABBITS. Si 



marked degree. Of a litter of wolf-cubs, all 

 brought up in the same way, "one became tame 

 and gentle like a dog, while the others preserved 

 their natural savagery." Is it not probable that 

 permanent domestication was rendered possible by 

 the inevitable selection of spontaneous variations in 

 this direction ? The excessive tameness, too, of the 

 young rabbit, while easily explicable as a result of 

 unconscious selection, is not easily explained as a 

 result of acquired habit. No particular care is 

 taken to tame or teach or domesticate rabbits. 

 They are bred for food, or for profit or appear- 

 ance, and they are left to themselves most of their 

 time. As Sir J. Sebright notices with some sur- 

 prise, the domestic rabbit " is not often visited, 

 and seldom handled, and yet it is always tame." 



