128 HARE. Class I. 



mal gives the following elegant account of it 

 Lepus omnium prcedce nascens, solus prcBter 

 Dasypodem superfxtat, aliud educans, aliud in 

 utero pills vestitum, aliud implume, aliud inchoa- 

 tum germs pariter. 



Hares are very subject to fleas ; Linnmis tells 

 us, that the Dalecarlians make a sort of cloth 

 of the fur, called j^7^ ; which, by attracting those 

 insects, preserves the wearer from their trouble- 

 some attacks.* The hair of this creature forms 

 a great article in the hat manufacture ; and as 

 this country cannot supply a sufficient number, 

 vast quantities are annually imported from 

 Russia and Siberia. . 



The hare was reckoned a great delicacy among 

 the Romans ;'\ the Britons, on the contrary, 

 thought it impious even to taste it ; J yet this 

 animal was cultivated by them, either for the 

 pleasure of the chace, or for the purposes of 

 superstition, as we are informed that Boadicea, 

 immediately before her last conflict with the 

 Romans, let loose a hare she had concealed in 



* Faun. Suec. 25. 



'f' Inter aves tardus, si quid mejudice verum: 



Inter quadrupedes gloria prima Lepus. Martial. 13- 92. 



X Leporemet gallinam ei anserem gustarefas nonputant: hiec 

 tamen aluni, animi voluptatisque causa. Cssar- Com. lib. v. 



