484 



THE RABBIT 



CHAP. XI 



In addition to head, trunk, and short tail, the rabbit 

 possesses a distinct neck, and the whole animal, including 

 the limbs and even the soles of the feet, is covered with 

 a soft fur consisting of hairs (Fig. 130). In the wild 

 rabbit, the fur is of a brownish colour, lighter below, and 

 white under the tail : in the many domesticated varieties 

 the colour is very varied. 



The hairs correspond to modified epidermic cells which 

 become converted into a horny material ; they are developed 

 in tube-like involutions of the epiderm called hair-sacs, into 



FIG. 130. Lateral view of skeleton of Rabbit with outline of body. (Y. J.) 

 (From Parker and Haswell's Zoology.) 



the swollen base of each of which a mesodermal hair-papilla 

 projects, the substance of the hair, with its cortex and 

 medulla, being formed from the epidermic cells covering the 

 papilla (Fig. 131) Into the hair-sacs open the ducts of 

 sebaceous glands (HBD), the secretion of which serves to 

 lubricate the hairs, which can be erected by means of muscles 

 (Ap). 



There are five digits in the hand or manus, and four 

 in the foot or fies, each terminated by a pointed and 

 curved horny claw, developed, like the hairs, from the 





