80 OBSERVATIONS ON QUADRUPEDS. 



indeed would necessarily result from the greater bend 

 of that portion of the jaws in which these incisors 

 are formed. In this instance, the portion without the 

 gums had completed three parts of an exact circle, 

 and their cutting edges were in close contact with 

 the roof of the mouth. 



Both the above rabbits, when taken, exhibited 

 the appearance of having been nearly starved to death, 

 through an inability of procuring their usual food. 

 In the first case, life had been sustained solely by the 

 small quantity of herbage which the animal was 

 enabled to crop with its lips at the sides of the mouth, 

 which appeared to have been used for that purpose. 

 In the second instance, even this method of feeding 

 could scarcely have been resorted to with success ; 

 the rabbit being actually unable to close its mouth, 

 from the pressure of the lower portion of the curve, 

 formed by the upper incisors, upon the surface of the 

 tongue.* 



IN the spring of 1839, a great many young rabbits 

 were found dead in the plantations at Bottisham 

 Hall ; which, when opened, were found to have their 

 livers much enlarged and full of flukes, similar to 

 those which cause the rot in sheep. 



* The above was first published in London's Magazine of 

 Natural History, vol. ii. 1829, p. 134, with some further details 

 and remarks here omitted. 



