702 



HARE. 



toes each. All the toes, and even the soles of the 

 i'eet, Hire covered with hair similar to that on the rest 

 of the body ; and this character has been considered 

 as a distinguishing one from the earliest periods of 

 natural history, and on account of it the genus has 

 sometimes been called Dasypoda, or hairy foot. The 

 tail, which is generally thickly beset with soft hair, is 

 always short, and in some of the species is entirely 

 wanting. 



The ears form a distinguishing natural character in 

 these animals ; they are usually very long, and capa- 

 ble of much more motion than the ears of most other 

 animals. In the natural state their common attitude 

 is erect ; but in some of the domesticated varieties 

 (for the domesticated ones are very much broken into 

 varieties) they are pendulous. In general the ears 

 are naked, or very thinly covered with short hairs ; 

 and the membranes of which they are composed are 

 so thin, that they are transparent or nearly so, at 

 least a strong light shines through them. The upper 

 lip is entirely slit or divided on the mesial line ; and 

 this is so marked a character, that the common name 

 given to a divided lip is a hare lip. The external 

 part of the mouth is partially covered with hair. The 

 eyes are large, stand far out from the head, are placed 

 laterally, and capable of commanding nearly the 

 whole horizon ; that is, seeing behind the animals as 

 well as before without turning the head. The nos- 

 trils are straight ; and in the upper part there is a 

 transverse membrane which can occasionally be 

 brought down, so as nearly to close the orifice. 



The females have a variable number of mammae, 

 in the different species or rather subgenera. The 

 greatest number is ten, and the least number six ; and 

 whatever the number is, there are always four pec- 

 toral, or on the breast, and the remainder abdominal 

 or on the belly. In the hares and rabbits, which may 

 be considered as the typical species, or the true hares, 

 the number is always ten ; and though it does not 

 hold universally that the number of young increases 

 with the number of mammas, yet it is natural to sup- 

 pose that the general tendency is that way. 



We have already mentioned that these animals are 

 exceedingly prolific ; and the females of them are 

 among the few in which the singular process of super- 

 fetation takes place ; that is, a new conception hap- 

 pens after the young one, already in the matrix, is 

 considerably advanced. But though this does take 

 place, all the animals of this genus are true placental 

 mammalia, and have not in the system of reproduc- 

 tion, any approximation to the structure of the mar- 

 supial animals. 



There is, however, one circumstance here which is 

 not a little wonderful, and which shows that we are 

 to seek the characters of animals in the whole animal 

 and not in any individual part ; that, in short, inde- 

 pendently of the matter of which the body is com- 

 posed, and the organs and the form into which that 

 matter is moulded, there is something, even anterior 

 to this matter and this form, which collects the one 

 and fashions the other. The animals of this genus 

 make a nearer approach, in their general form, their 

 gait when walking, and their mode of life, to the 

 rodent marsupial animals, that is to the kangaroos, 

 especially the smaller ones, than is made by any other 

 race, indeed than is made by any two races in the 

 whole class of mammalia, the one of which is strictly 

 placental, and the other marsupial. And in the kan- 

 garoos this tendency to superfcetation is far stronger 



and more common than in the genus Lepus. So 

 strong is it indeed that, when they "are in free nature, 

 there is perhaps no instance of a female kangaroo 

 which has not two or more successions of young ones 

 bringing forward at the same time. We shall have 

 occasion to make some further remarks on this very 

 singular portion of the economy of nature, when we 

 come to the article KANGAROO, in the course of the 

 alphabet ; and we trust that before then we shall be 

 in possession of two or three little points which are 

 yet wanting, before the physiological history of those 

 most extraordinary animals is complete. The present 

 analogy is, however, of too striking a nature for being 

 passed over without notice, and therefore we have 

 introduced it to prepare such of our readers as may 

 be fond of inquiring into the wonders of Nature's 

 modes of working, for what we may have occasion to 

 advance in the article above alluded to. 



The hares admit of convenient division into two 

 sub-genera; hares properly so called, TLeyms ; and 

 rat-hares, Lagowys. 



HARES PROPERLY so CALLED (LejnisJ. These, 

 besides the common characters of the genus, as 

 already described, the hares properly so called, have 

 certain characters of their own. One of these is 

 colour, which, in a state of nature, is always greyish- 

 brown, except in some of the Alpine species, and 

 their colours appear to be climatal and seasonal. 

 Another coloured mark, which distinguishes them in 

 a state of nature, is a spot over or around the eye. 

 In many this spot is white, in all it is lighter coloured 

 than the surrounding parts, and it is never wanting. 

 The tail is also invariably white on the under side, 

 and generally blackish on the upper, except in the 

 American rabbit, in which it is reddish. With the 

 exception of the sides of the neck, the upper part, 

 including the outsides of all the legs, is generally of 

 the same colour as the back ; the under part is 

 white in almost all the species, and the tips of the 

 ears are black ; the body, the upper part especially, 

 is covered with two sorts of hair, the one long and 

 silky, and rather strong in the staple, the other 

 shorter, more woolly, and much finer, and therefore 

 extensively used in the manufacture of hats, in which 

 it is frequently employed as a substitute for the fine 

 woolly hair of the beaver, to which, however, it is 

 greatly inferior, both in strength, and in retaining the 

 colour given to it by dyeing. The hair of the rabbits 

 is still greatly inferior to that of the typical hares in 

 this respect, but it is also used, though hats made of 

 rabbits' felt are of exceedingly little value. 



The other remarkable character of the true hares 

 which we shall mention is their extreme productive- 

 ness. They are capable of breeding during the first 

 year ; the females go only thirty days with young ; 

 the broods are often numerous ; and the young are 

 born completely covered with fur, with their eyes 

 open, and are very soon in a condition for finding 

 their own food. IVJany of the species dig burrows in 

 the ground to a greater or less depth ; and those 

 who do not, are in the habit of selecting for them- 

 selves particular seats or " forms," upon which they 

 rest, not only during a portion of the night, but 

 during the greater part of the day. The morning and 

 the evening are their principal feeding-times ; and 

 while the sun is bright they are but rarely seen, though, 

 in gloomy days, and especially after a shower, they 

 do come abroad, though the young do this more 

 frequently than the old ones. On their forms they 



