ANlMAi.3. .'^03 



most noted for these animals, are Lincolnsbire, Norfolk, a.id 

 Cambridgeshire. They delight in grounds of a sandy soil, which 

 are warmer than those of clay ; and which also furnish a softer 

 and iiner pasture. 



The tame rabbits are larger than the wild ones, from their 

 taking more nourishment, and using less exercise ; but their 

 flesh is not so good, being more insipid and softer. In order to 

 \mprove it, they are chiefly fed upon bran, and are stinted in 

 their water ; for if indulged in too great plenty of moist food, 

 they are apt, as the feeders express it, to grow rotten. The 

 hair or fur is a very useful commodity, and is employed in Eng- 

 land for several purposes, as well when the skin is dressed with 

 it on, as when it is pulled off. The skins, especially the white, 

 are used for lining clothes, and are considered as a cheap imita- 

 tion of ermine. The skin of the male is usually preferred, as 

 being the most lasting, but it is coarser ; that on the belly, in 

 either sex, is the best and finest. But the chief use made of 

 rabbit's fur is in the manufacture of hats ; it is always mixed, in 

 certain proj)ortions, with the fur of the beaver ; and it is said 

 to give the latter more strength and consistence. 



The Syrian rabh)it, like all other animals bred in that country, 

 IS remarkable for the length of its hair ; it falls along the sides 

 in wavy rt'reaths, and is in some places curled at the end, like 

 wool ; it is shed once a year in large masses ; and it often hap 

 pens that the rabbit, dragging a part of its robe on the ground, 

 appears as if it had got another leg, or a longer tail. There are 

 no rabbits naturally in America; however those that have been 

 carried from Europe, are found to multiply in the West fndia 

 islands in great abundance. In other parts of that continent, 

 they have animals that in some measure resemble the rabbits of 

 Europe ; and which most European travellers have often called 

 hares or rabbits, as they happened to be large or small. Their 

 giving them even the name will be a suflicient excuse for my 

 placing them among animals of the hare kind ; although they 

 may differ in many of the most essential particulars. But be- 

 fore we go to the new contirflent, we will first examine such as 

 hear even a distant resemblance to the hare kind at heme. 



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