THE RABBIT FAMILY. 



>73 



footing with regard to it on account of its 

 excellent flesh. The animal leads in other 

 respects much the same kind of life as a pig, 

 is fond of wallowing in the mud, and could 

 easily be domesticated among us if it were 

 of sufficient value to make it worth while to 

 do so. 



THE RABBIT FAMILY 



(LEPORIDA). 



This family is distinguished from all other 

 families of rodents by the possession of a 

 small pair of incisors in the upper jaw, not, 



\^^^\^y 



Fig. 235. — The Capybara 



however, placed beside, but close behind the 

 large gnawing teeth. They are rather small 

 and narrow, and form, so to speak, a heel 

 which prevents the lower incisors from pene- 

 trating the flesh of the palate when the 

 mouth is closed. They have, however, their 

 own sockets and are rootless like the large 

 incisors. The cheek-teeth are present in 

 considerable number; in the lower jaw there 

 are always five on each side, in the upper 

 the number may rise to six. These rootless 

 cheek-teeth, which are furnished with double 

 rings of enamel, get worn away by long use 

 in such a manner that they assume, especially 

 in the lower jaw, the zygodont character. 

 The skull also exhibits a remarkable pecu- 

 liarity. The branch of the jaw forming the 



(Hydrochcsrus cafybara). 



cheek is incomplete, and exhibits either a 

 single gap or a series of holes like a lattice. 

 The palate, too, is only slightly ossified. 

 The rabbit family is composed of only two 

 genera, and is distributed everywhere except 

 in Australia. 



The Asiatic genus of the Piping or Calling 

 Hares or Pikas [Lagomys), of which the most 

 wide-spread species, the Alpine Pika (L: 

 alpinus), is shown in fig. 236, will be best 

 characterized if we compare it as regards size 

 and general appearance to a guinea-pig, and 

 as regards its mode of life to a marmot. 

 The members of the genus in general are 

 unequivocally shown to be hares by the 

 above-described double incisors. But their 

 body is thickset; the legs are almost of 



