BABBIT. 285 



France. The skins are bought and dressed by French 

 houses, and sold to EngHsh, French, and German 

 merchants. Many of these animals seem almost to 

 revert to the white type, and are called " Millers." 



Blue Babbits are extensively met with in France, and 

 Belgium. 



Fawn varieties are common in all the fore-mentioned 

 countries. 



White Babbits are very abundant in Poland. In this 

 country they are generally called Himalayan Babbits. 

 They are quite wild, and are kept in large warrens. 

 They are small, and generally have a smut on the nose 

 or tail ; the tail is drab, or dark drab, and is brown, and 

 sometimes black, at the tip. They are sometimes marked 

 with grey spots. The Polish skins are produced in large 

 quantities, and are used for coat-hnings, linings of shoes, 

 gloves, etc., and for making boas. Many are also used 

 for clerical vestments in England, instead of Ermine. 

 The Australian skins, except those from Melbourne, are 

 opened at the head and tail, the ears are removed, and 

 the skins are stretched on wire, cleaned, and dried. 



The Tame or Hutch Babbit is much larger than its 

 wild brother, and it varies more in colour, mottled, . 

 black and white, black, white, fawn, grey, and silver- 

 grey being very abundant. The fawns have usually 

 white bellies, and a white under fur. Dove and drab- 

 coloured animals are very rare, and have usually white 

 bellies. Lynx-coloured and dark tabby are still rarer, 

 especially the former; scarcely one is found in 4,000 

 skins. In these the ground-colour is deep bliie, and 

 the top hairs are yellow and white. . 



In the domesticated state the ears grow longer, and 

 become pendant, and this formation has become a fancy, 

 some ears even measuring 23J inches in length, and 6J 



