ON HEREDITY IN RABBITS. 283 



Experimental Studies on Heredity in Rabbits. (Assisted by the 

 Elizabeth Thompson Science Eund.) By C. C. Hurst, 



E.L.S. 



[Eead 15th December, 1904.] 



The following experiments were designed in 1902 with the object 

 of determining whether the Mendelian principles of heredity 

 were applicable to animals as well as plants. Eor that purpose 

 the domestic Rabbit seemed to be a likely subject, as many of 

 the fancy races were well known to possess distinct structural 

 and colour characters which constantly bred true. 



At first, in order to make the experiments as simple as possible, 

 two races only were selected for crossing. White Angora and 

 Belgian Hare. The former is an albino race with pink eyes, 

 swaying habit, and a long Angora coat of fine texture ; while the 

 latter is a normal race with pigmented skin, dark eyes, and short 

 yellow-grey fur of coarser texture. An inbred pair of each race 

 was crossed reciprocally, and the hybrids of the first generation 

 were all normal individuals with pigmented skin, dark eyes, short 

 fur, and grey coat like that of the common wild rabbit. Those 

 by the albino buck were all self-coloured, while those from the 

 albino doe were, with one exception, more or less marked with 

 white on the fore extremities. These grey hybrids bred together 

 j)roduced 14 distinct types in the second generation, viz. : — 



Short, normal *, grey, self-coloured. 

 Short, normal, grey, marked. 

 Short, normal, grey, Dutch-marked. 

 Short, normal, black, self-coloured. 

 Short, normal, black, marked. 

 Short, normal, black, Dutch-marked. 

 Short, albino t, white. 

 Angora, normal, grey, self-coloured. 

 Angora, normal, grey, marked. 

 Angora, normal, grey, Dutch-marked. 

 Angora, normal, black, self-coloured. 

 Angora, normal, black, marked. 

 Angora, normal, black, Dutch-marked. 

 Angora, albino, white. 



* Pigmented, with normal demeanour (see p. 292). 

 t Unpigmented, with swaying habit (see p. 292). 



