MAMMALIA. 219° 
twenty-five thousand were taken at the post at which he resided in Hudson’s Bay, 
and great numbers might still be obtained in some districts, were it an object 
to do so. In some parts of the fur countries the natives line their dresses with 
hare-skins, and the Hare-Indians sometimes tear the skins with the fur into strips, 
and plait them into a kind of cloth. They resort to this expedient, however, only 
from the scarcity of deer-skins and moose-leather, which form closer and better 
dresses. 
DESCRIPTION. 
- The form of this animal is similar to that of the other species of the genus amongst which 
there is a great resemblance, and it is so like that of the common European rabbit, that it is 
universally called “ the rabbit” by the English residents at Hudson’s Bay. Its average 
weight is about four lbs. 
Dental formula ; incisors, 4; canines 33; grinders, =; = 28. 
Incisors, white ; superior ones linear, flattened anteriorly with a deep groove near their 
inner margins, rounded laterally, without a groove there; inferior ones quite flat and smooth 
anteriorly, and on the sides ; somewhat narrower behind ; with slightly oblique cutting edges. 
In the winter this animal is covered with a thick coat. of fine long fur, which, when lying 
smooth, appears every where of a pure white colour, except a narrow border on the posterior 
margins of-the ears, and round their tips, and about one-third down their anterior margins, 
which are blackish-brown, on account of the dark roots of the hair being visible on these parts. 
The whiskers, which are three inches long, are some of them black throughout, whilst 
others are black only at the base. There are four or five long black hairs ove: the eyes, 
and a narrow margin of the eyelids is blackish-brown. 
The fur on the back, when blown aside, shews a blackish-gray colour for more than one- 
third of its length from the roots upwards; then a clear yellowish or wood-brown for rather 
a shorter space; and, lastly, a pure snow-white to the tips. There are also interspersed 
many longer and rather stronger hairs, which are white their whole length. The fur on 
the throat is similar to that on the back, but on the belly it is almost entirely white, there 
being merely a slight tinge of gray at the roots. The fur on the upper aspect of the head 
is shorter than that on the body, and the brown colour beneath the white tips is much 
darker. The fur on the ears is blackish-brown from beneath the white tips to the roots. 
The éail appears entirely white in winter, but the fur is coloured towards its base like that 
on the back, though with less of the pale brown in its middle parts. The fur on the outer 
and anterior aspect of the extremities corresponds in colour with that of the back, whilst the 
fur on the inner aspects is white nearly its whole length, as on the belly. The fore-nails are 
narrow, nearly straight, and very sharp. The hind-ones are broader and longer. Their 
colour on both feet is nearly white. 
In its summer dress, the fur on the upper parts is shining blackish-gray at the roots as in 
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