LEPUS. 383 
Behind the eyes are the large so-called ‘“ ears,” or more 
properly pzzne. At the base of the pinna is the opening of 
the external auditory meatus which leads, as in the pigeon, 
a short way into the tympanum. The pinna is movable and 
serves to collect and concentrate the sound. 
The limbs closely resemble each other; but the fore- 
limb has five claws, the hind-limb four. At the base of the 
tail is the avus, and in front of this opening is the urogenital 
aperture, either in the female a simple opening, the vulva, 
or in the male an opening situated at the end of a fens, at 
the base of which are the ¢es¢es situated in scrotal sacs. In 
neither sex is there a cloaca. 
The whole body is clothed in “ fur,” which consists of a 
dense mass of hair. A hair is an epidermic structure pecu- 
liar to mammals; it grows from a follicle 
and is provided with glands (sebaceous glands) 
at its base (see page 455). The secretion of the glands keeps 
the hair flexible and moist. The fur forms a remarkable 
protection, for a warm-blooded animal like the rabbit, against 
changes of temperature. Like the frog, the rabbit has a 
great number of glands in its skin. These are known as 
the sudorific glands and excrete water and salts in the form 
of “sweat.” Large serinzal glands are also found near the 
anus secreting an offensive liquid. 
But the most remarkable skin-glands of the rabbit are 
the mammary glands. These are modified from sebaceous 
glands and secrete “milk.” They open by ducts to the 
exterior upon mamme or teats and are intermittently active 
for the nourishment of the young. In the rabbit the teats 
are in two ventral rows upon the hinder portion of the body 
or abdomen. 
The skin may now be removed by a median ventral 
incision from chin to anus, the mammary glands—at the 
right season—being observed as yellowish glandular patches 
on the inside of the skin. 
A median ventral incision of the muscular wall of the 
body, as far forwards as the hind-border of the sternum, 
exposes the large abdominal cavity. The anterior end of 
this cavity is formed of a large septum or diaphragm, partly 
muscular and partly membranous: through it emerge the 
cesophagus and main blood-vessels: in front of it lies 
Integumentary. 
