SOILS SUITABLE FOR RABBITS 33 



They are, perhaps, at their best for the table 

 during the earlier months of winter, after a few 

 frosts. About March their ears become covered 

 with a minute kind of black flea, and when these 

 appear it is a sign that they are commencing to 

 breed, and are therefore less suitable for food. 

 Their size and quality depend very greatly on 

 the nature of the ground which they inhabit, a 

 light dry, sandy soil being the best ; the drier 

 and lighter the better they will thrive, always 

 provided that there is an ample supply of food. 

 In wet, low-lying lands they never attain to any 

 great weight, and are, moreover, very subject to 

 become what is termed by the country people 

 'coed,' which is, I believe, a corruption of the 

 word 'cothered,' meaning a diseased state of the 

 liver. It is easy to ascertain when a rabbit is thus 

 affected, inasmuch as the animal presents a thrift- 

 less, lanky appearance, and if grasped by the 

 hand across the loins it will be 'observed that 

 there is an absence of flesh and firmness in that 

 region. Any doubt there may be on the subject 

 may very readily be removed when the animal is 

 paunched, as the liver will be seen to be covered 

 with w r hite spots i.e., tubercles. Of course, 

 rabbits thus diseased are unfit for food. Never- 

 theless, numbers are doubtless sold in the markets 

 which are in this condition, but from which the 

 livers have been purposely removed. The 

 disease is more prevalent during a wet season. 

 I do not know if rabbits suffering from it ever 



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