THE BABBIT. 



rally accepted form of Noah's ark. From front to back it 

 slionld measure six feet, from side to side three feet six inches, 

 and from roof to floor twenty-six inches — ^measuring from the 

 commencement of the slope, and not at its apex. Tour roof 

 should, if possible, contain but two pieces, as you will then 

 have a better chance of rendering it waterproof than if it is in 

 .. four or more pieces. The slanting roof-pieces should eave 

 beyond the upright walls of your house. Thus you have your 

 " carcase," as housebuilders say. Now for the interior. Down 

 the centre must be erected a light partition, rising to within 

 four inches of the ridge of the roof, and falling short of the 

 entire length of the hutch to the extent of a foot at either end. 

 Next fix across the middle of your house another partition, or 

 rather two partitions, one on either side of your first divisional 

 piece. Thus you have four ' chambers to your house, but at 

 present they are open at the ends, and must be walled in by 

 means of two other partitions stretching across and fixed at 

 either side to the edge of the loiig centre partition. Thus you 

 get in addition to your four rooms the two commodious end 

 compartments which will serve admirably for weaning pur- 



I may assume that your roof, for obvious reasons, although 

 " roughed out," is not yet fixed. It will be seen that at present 

 we have six rooms mightily snug, but furnished with no means 

 of egress or ingress. The chamber doors must be in the roof 

 of your house. This is, I am aware, at variance with ordinary 

 notions of architecture, but will be found better than any other 

 arrangement for your four-footed tenants ; they may be more 

 easily lifted through a roof door than through a wall door; they 

 may be more easily supplied with food and bedding, and the 

 ventilation of the compartments may, if proper care be taken, 

 be secured. There should be as many doors or slides ia the 

 roof as there are rooms below. They must not be hinged like 

 a box-lid, but made to slide in grooves, after the same fashion, 

 to use a homely comparison, as the door that guards the vent 

 of an ordinary dust-bin. I have seen these slides of glass, but 

 it is not advisable to use that material. In the first place, 

 rabbits are not partial to overmuch light, and, in the second, a 

 cat mounting the roof of your rabbit-house, although she -would 

 be unable to get at the inmates, would probably indulge in 

 such awfiil grimaces as to send a weak-minded doe into fits, or 

 at least lead her to devour her little ones as fast as she could, 

 if only to put them out of reach of the threatened danger, 



