CHAP. V. PASSIVE DEFENCES OP QUADRUPEDS. 137 



antipathy), by ripping it up without mercy, with this 

 weapon. One of these animals is known to have killed 

 a horse by a single stroke of the horn, which not only 

 penetrated through the saddle flap and padding, but 

 fractured two of the ribs, leaving a wound through 

 which a small hand might pass into the horse's lungs.* 

 (158.) The next great division of quadrupeds (Glires) 

 comprehends the smallest and the weakest : these are 

 the rats, the mice, the squirrels, the hares, and similarly 

 formed animals. In these, the means of defence, for 

 the most part, are of a very feeble nature. It is true 

 that all have the power of inflicting, by their sharp 

 and enormous cutting teeth, very severe wounds, in 

 proportion to their bulk ; but this quality is of little 

 avail against those larger animals of which they are 

 the prey. Their safety, indeed, for the most part, 

 consists in their quickness, precaution, and nocturnal 

 habits. The rat and the mouse are familiar instances ; 

 they bite, it is true, with great force, considering their 

 diminutive size; but their safety consists in caution, 

 agility, and nocturnal motions. The hare is, probably, 

 for its size, the most defenceless quadruped yet dis- 

 covered. It has not even the hooked claws of the 

 sloth, or the burrowing habits of the mole ; yet, how 

 admirably has Nature provided for its safety ! Its 

 whole organisation seems to indicate the extreme of 

 watchfulness in perceiving danger, and of speed and 

 cunning in avoiding it. Hence, but for a refined and 

 regularly organised system in effecting its destruction, 

 by means of men, horses, and dogs, the hare the 

 most timid and defenceless of quadrupeds would be 

 one of the most secure from the injuries of uncivilised 

 man, and from all the quadruped races. The whole of 

 the Glires, in short, represent the order of Grallatores, 

 or wading birds ; and both respectively comprise the 

 smallest individuals and the swiftest runners in their 

 separate classes. The speed of the horse, in com- 

 parison to its bulk, is nothing to that of the hare ; and 



* Williamson's Field Sports, vol. i. p. 174. 



