38 THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION 



colour. The fur is redder, with far fewer black-tipped 

 hairs; the throat and belly are gray or lead-coloured, 

 instead of pure white, and the tips of the ears and 

 upper surface of the tail lack the blackish-gray fur 

 so characteristic of the European wild form. 



"The two little Porto Santo rabbits, whilst alive 

 in the Zoological Gardens, had a remarkably dif- 

 ferent appearance from the common kind. They 

 were extraordinarily wild and active, so that many 

 persons exclaimed on seeing them that they were 

 more like large rats than rabbits. They were noc- 

 turnal to an unusual degree in their habits, and their 

 wildness was never in the least subdued. . . . Lastly, 

 and this is a highly remarkable fact, Mr. Bartlett 

 could never succeed in getting these two rabbits, 

 which were bdth males, to associate or breed with 

 the females of several breeds which were repeatedly 

 placed with them. 



"If the history of these Porto Santo rabbits had 

 not been known, most naturalists, on observing their 

 much reduced size, their colour, reddish above and 

 gray beneath, their tails and ears not tipped with 

 black, would have ranked them as a distinct species. 

 They would have been strongly confirmed in this 

 view by seeing them alive in the Zoological Gardens, 

 and hearing that they refused to couple with other 

 rabbits. Yet this rabbit, which there can be little 

 doubt would thus have been ranked as a distinct 

 species, has certainly originated since the year 1420. 

 Finally, from the three cases of the rabbits which 



