36; 



climate, are those four valuable F's foot, form, 

 fleetness, and fur. 



Each and all of these are unquestionably most 

 useful at times, but when snow lies deep and loose, 

 the winning trump is the peculiar foot. In winter 

 this becomes a veritable snow-shoe, a truly marvellous 

 contrivance which enables the comparatively light 

 animal to patter at will over drift and level which 

 would otherwise hold him fast, a helpless prey to 

 rapacious beast or bird that chose to attack. Nothing 

 better for their purpose than his furry pads can be 

 found among Nature's many marvels. His coat, too, 

 plays an important part. Thin and cool during the 

 heated term, as the cold weather approaches it 

 thickens apace until it forms one of the lightest 

 and warmest of coverings. The wild men of the 

 North were quick to appreciate its valuable features, 

 and wove strips of it into the cosiest of wraps. But 

 the warmth and lightness of the coat are not all of 

 its peculiarities. Grayish brown upon snow would 

 be entirely too conspicuous, so Nature meets the 

 difficulty with another beautiful provision. As the 

 coat thickens as a guard against cold, it gradually 

 turns white to match the increasing snow. The 

 brown pales to a cream, and the cream whitens till 

 only a darkish stripe down the springy back, and 

 patches about the big eyes, remain to tell of the 

 summer garb. Soon these too fade, until the hare 

 is pure white, or so nearly so that he can squat amid 

 the snow and so closely match his surroundings as to 

 escape even practised eyes. If by chance discovered, 

 he can speed away upon his snow-shoes and in a few 

 bounds vanish in the snowy woods, where every log 



