22o APPENDIX 



the sex of the hare is changeable, and that the buck hare 

 will sometimes give birth to young. Up to the end of 

 the eighteenth century there was a widespread and firm 

 belief in this fable (Brehm, ii. p. 626). Buffon describes 

 it as one of the animal's peculiar properties, and from the 

 structure of their parts of generation he argues that the 

 notion has arisen of hermaphrodite hares, that the males 

 sometimes bring forth young, and that some are alternately 

 males and females and perform the functions of either 

 sex. 



" Master of Game " (copying G. de F.) states that 

 the hare carries her young for a period of two months, 

 but in reality the period of gestation is only thirty days. 

 Harting says that the adult hare will breed twice or 

 thrice in the year, but Brehm declares they breed as 

 many as four times, and but seldom five times (Encyclop. 

 of Sport, vol. ii. p. 504 ; Brehm, vol. ii. p. 626 ; G. de 

 F. P . 47). 



G. de F. (p. 43) says of a hare, " Elle oït bien, mais elle 

 voit mal." "Master of Game" translates this simply as 

 She hath evil sight ; but does not say she hears well. The 

 sense of hearing is most highly developed in the hare, 

 and every lightly breaking twig or falling leaf will dis- 

 turb her. It is said that of old when warreners wished 

 to prepare hares for the market they filled their ears with 

 wax, so that, not being continually disturbed by noises, 

 they did not move about much, and grew sleek and fat 

 (Blome, p. 95). G. de F.'s assertion that the hare "has 

 evil sight " is also confirmed by Brehm, who, however, 

 says that they are endowed with a keen sense of smell, 

 whereas G. de F. says elle sent pou. 



Attention has already been called to the Duke of 

 York's statement that " the hare hath great fear to run." 

 This arose probably from the similarity of the words 

 peur and pouvoir in the MSS., for it should read " hath 

 great power to run," the principal MSS. which we have 

 examined showing pouvoir. Verard in his first edition 

 of G. de F. also has the same rendering as the Duke of 



