RABBIT. 37 



RABBIT. 



Glass— '■Mammalia. Order— Rodentia. Sub-order — Duplicideri- 

 tata. Type — Lepus (Rabbit). 



Body covered with hair, which extends over the under surface 

 of the feet and into the interior of the mouth, so that on the 

 inside of each cheek is a baDd of hair. 



There are five digits to the manus (fore foot), the pollex being 

 small. The hind limb is longer than the fore limb, and has four 

 digits. The large eyes are furnished with a third or nictitating 

 eyelid, which contains a triangular cartilage. The large lachrymal 

 gland lies above and on the outer side of the eyeball. The upper 

 lip is cleft in the middle. 



The recurved penis of the male has a scrotal sac on each side. 

 The female has five pairs of teats, placed along the side of the 

 abdomen. Both the male and female have perineal glands, which 

 are sac-like involutions of the integument — the duct of a gland 

 situated at the sides of the penis or clitoris opens into them. 



The stomach is simple, and the pancreas is diffused and very 

 large, being situated in a fold of the duodenum: its ducts are 

 two, — one, the larger, opens into the intestine about eighteen 

 inches from the pylorus, far removed from the biliary duct ; while 

 the smaller one opens just by the bile duct. 



The cascum is very large, and has attached to it a glandular 

 vermiform appendix at its free end. 



The kidney has a single papilla, which projects into the pelvis 

 of the kidney. 



The female has two uteri, which are entirely separate, and both 

 open into a common vagina. 



The vagina and urinary bladder communicate with the 

 vestibule which opens to the exterior. The clitoris is formed by 

 the united corpora cavernosa, and is the representative of the 

 penis in the female, and, like the penis, is pierced by the urethra. 



In the male rabbit the inguinal canal remains permanently 

 open, and the-vas deferens opens into the large uterus masculinus, 

 which is situated behind the neck of the bladder, and which- 

 communicates with the posterior and inferior wall of the urethra, 

 just behind the openings of the prostatic ducts. There is a, bone 

 in the penis, and vesiculse seminales and prostatic glands are 

 present. The testes remain in the abdomen, and come down into 

 the groin in the breeding season. 



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