18 4 7 . ] On f h e Hisp id Ha re of ike So u J fores f. 57 5 



careful description of my specimens. They consist of a male and 

 female of mature, or advanced age rather, and they were taken toge- 

 ther, when in full fur in February. They were very impatient of con- 

 finement and died very soon, owing to injuries inflicted on themselves 

 by vain attempts at escape. I describe them as they lie before me, 

 dead, with fine specimens of the common hare and rabbit beside them. 

 The sexes are as near as possible of the same size and colour ; but, if 

 anything, the male is rather the larger and darker. The male mea- 

 sures 1 9^ inches from snout to vent — head to the occiput, 4 ; ears to the 

 lobe 2|- ; to the crown 2f ; foreleg from elbow to end of longest toe 

 nail 4-f . Hindleg from true knee to longest nail 7\. Planta from heel 

 to long toe-nail 3| ; heel to knee 4-r ; scut only 1 \ ; scut and hair 

 2£ ; weight 5|- lbs. The female is 19 inches long and l)\ lbs. Both 

 have a girth behind the shoulder of 12 inches; but the female's 

 tail is the longer, being 2 inches, or 3 with the fur. Her other propor- 

 tions are almost identical with the male's. Compared with the common 

 species, which lies beside them as I write, these animals are conspicu- 

 ously of darker hue and heavier make, but not larger. They have 

 heavier heads, much shorter ears, smaller eyes, shorter tails, limbs 

 shorter, stronger and less unequal — in that respect like a rabbit — and, 

 lastly, their mystaccal tufts arc much less, and their fur much harsher. 

 Looking closer into their structure it is observable that the profile of 

 the head is less curved in the Hispid than in the common species, the 

 nails somewhat larger, and the digits slightly different in gradation, the 

 thumb in particular being less withdrawn and the little finger more so, 

 from the front, in Hispidus. But the nails have no peculiarity of con- 

 formation and so far from being " very acute," they are very blunt and 

 worn. The nose and lips agree precisely with those of the common 

 species : but the eye is conspicuously smaller and placed less back- 

 wards, or midway between the snout and ears. The ears both in male 

 and female considerably exceed one half of the length of the head, and 

 are broader as well as shorter than in Ruficaudatus or Timidus ; and 

 it is remarkable that the tail in the male is shorter than in the female 

 — in both more so than in Timidus. The teats are six, two pectoral, 

 and four ventral, just as in Ruficaudatus ; and the sculls and teeth of 

 the two species are framed upon precisely the same model, general and 

 particular, with this only and striking difference that Hie skull of the 



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