4 8 4 



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 involu- 

 tions of the epiderm called hair-sacs, into the swollen base of each of 



FIG. 130. Rabbit. 



Lateral view of skeleton with outline of body. (From Parker and Haswell's 

 Zoology.} 



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 pes, each terminated by a pointed and curved 

 horny claw, developed, like the hairs, from the epiderm. 



