110 BREEDING AND EXHIBITION OF PU1ZE POULTRY. 



so-called leporines are only large rabbits ; and if it did, the 

 offspring would be a hybrid or mule, and almost certainly 

 eterile, or incapable of breeding. In the same manner the 

 common wild rabbit is a pure breed. This animal possesses 

 the capability of being domesticated, and under the new cir- 

 cumstances in which it is placed, it varies in size, form, and 

 colour from the original stock. By careful selection of these 

 variations, and by breeding from those individuals which show 

 most strongly the points or qualities desired, certain varieties, 

 or, as they are termed, ' breeds ' of rabbits, are produced and 

 perpetuated. Thus we have the lop-eared breed, the Angora 

 breed, the Chinchilla breed, &c. &c., characterised by altera- 

 tions in the length of the ears, in the colour of the fur, in the 

 size of the animals, and so on. It is obvious that by care 

 more new varieties may be produced and perpetuated. Thus, 

 by mating silver greys of different depths of colour, white 

 animals with black extremities are often produced, and these 

 have been perpetuated by mating them together. The breed 

 BO produced is known as the Himalayan variety, and, as it 

 reproduces its like, is as pure and distinct a breed as any other 

 that can be named. 



" But, in the strictest scientific sense of the word, no par- 

 ticular variety of rabbit can be said to be a pure breed, as, 

 like all the others, it is descended from the wild original. In 

 the same manner we may deny applicability of the term pure 

 breed to the varieties of any domesticated animal, even if, as 

 in the case of the dog or sheep, we do not know the original 

 from which they descended. 



" All that can be asserted of the so-called purest-bred 

 variety is that it has been reared for a number of years or 

 generations without a cross with any other variety. But it 

 should be remembered that every variety has been reared by 

 careful artificial selection, either from the original stock or 

 from other varieties. 



