THE RABBIT ; Lepus cuniculus. 



A. External characters. Observe — 



1. The head, consisting of a rounded cranial portion, and an elongated facial 



portion. 



(a) The mouth, a small transverse aperture on the under surface of the 



front of the head, bounded by the upper and lower lips. 



(b) The external nostrils or anterior nares, a pair of oblique slits at the 



fore end of the snout, connected with the mouth by a median hair- 

 less groove. 



(c) The vibrissse, long stout hairs on the upper lip. 



(d) The eyes, each protected by an upper and a lower eyelid, and by a 



third eyelid or nictitating membrane, formed by a fold of opaque 

 white skin that can be pulled across the eye from its inner corner. 



(e) The large movable external ears, each supported at its base by 



cartilage. 



2. The trunk, made up of two portions ; the anterior portion or thorax, 



and the posterior portion or abdomen. 



(«) The anus, with at each side a hairless patch, the perinseal space, on 

 which the ducts of the perinseal glands open. 



(6) The urinogenital opening, in front of the anus ; in the male, small 

 and situated at the end of the penis, which is loosely covered by 

 a sheath, the prepuce ; in the female, large and slit-like. 



(c) In the adult male, the scrotal sacs, into which the testes descend, 



two ovoid pouches of skin, one on either side of the root of the 

 penis. 



(d) In the female, the teats, four or five pairs of small projections, 



the anterior pair being thoracic in position, the remaining three 

 pairs abdominal. 



3. The short tail. 



4. The limbs. 



(1) The fore-limb, consisting of — 



(o) The upper arm or brachium, closely applied to the side of the 

 thorax, and enclosed in the skin of the trunk. 



(h) The fore-arm or anti-brachium. 



(c) The hand or manus, provided with five clawed digits, and hav- 

 ing its palmar surface covered with hair. The innermost 

 digit, the pollex, is the shortest, and does not reach the 

 ground. 



(2) The hind-limb, much longer that the fore-limb, and divided into — 



(a) The thigh or femur, which is inclosed in the skin of the trunk. 



