ZOOLOGICAL LABORAIOKY.kcGRAW HAU 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE RABBIT. 



1. Examine the legs. Look at the soles of the 

 feet. How many toes on each foot? Which pair of 

 legs is the longer? 



2. Note the length and position of the ears. 



3. Observe the whiskers on the upper lip. Notice 

 the nostrils and the cleft in the upper lip. 



4. Find the third eyelid, or nictitating membrane. 

 Compare it with that of the pigeon. Is it functional 

 or vestigial? 



5. Notice the inside of the cheek. 



Internal! Structure. 



1. Skin a rabbit and slit through the abdominal 

 walls as far forward as the diaphragm. 



2. Identify the intestine the liver and the 

 stomach. 



3. Examine the stomach. Notice its shape and 

 size. Find the oesophagus, entering it, and the in- 

 testine, leaving it. 



4. How many lobes to the liver? Find the gall 

 bladder. Can you find a tube leading from the gall 

 bladder to the intestine? 



5. The part of the intestine just behind the 

 stomach is the duodenum. The irregular mass within 

 the loop is the pancreas. 



6. Notice the mesentery. This is the thin mem- 

 brane which holds the coils of the intestine together. 



131 



