Quadrupeds. 



7923 



PS. — I find that in the remarks which commence this paper I have 

 inadvertently omitted all mention of the bulkiest and perhaps the most 

 important contribution to the Natural History of the island, — namely, 

 the Rev. J. G. Cumming's * Isle of Man ; its History, &c.,' which treats 

 very fully of its Geology, Palaeontology and Meteorology. T ought 

 also perhaps to have named the lists of Messrs. Doubleday and Water- 

 house, as my authorities for the nomenclature employed fcr the Lepi- 

 doptera and Coleoptera respectively. 



H. A. S. 



February 13, 1862. 



A Summary of the History of the Leporines. 

 By E. W. H. Holds worth, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c * 



The interest now generally felt in the question of hybridism, espe- 

 cially in the reputed successful inter-breeding of the hare and rabbit, 

 induces me to send you an abstract of an important paper on the sub- 

 ject, which I have met with in the course of my inquiries about the 

 experiments at Angouleme. 



This paper is one of a series of four memoirs, by M. Paul Broca, 

 " Sur l'Hybridite et sur les Metis du Lievre et du Lapin," and published 

 in the 'Journal de la Physiologic,' whose editor is the well-known 

 physiologist, Dr. E. Brown-Sequard. 



In the first two memoirs, M. Broca discusses the probable origin of 

 the different races of dogs and men ; in the third, published in July, 

 1859, he gives an account of the production of leporines, and his 

 concluding paper is devoted to the results of hybridism, or inter- 

 breeding among the various types of the human race. 



I shall confine myself to that embodying his observations on the 

 hare and rabbit cross, his remarks being chiefly founded on the 

 experiments carried out by M. Roux, at Angouleme, which had been 

 made the special subject of his investigations. 



Before speaking of the leporines, M. Broca makes some remarks on 

 other authenticated hybrids, and points out that M. Chevreuil was 

 mistaken in disputing the Rev. John Bachman's statement of the 

 fertility of the cross between the goat and sheep. Every one who, 

 under suitable conditions, had repeated the experiments of Buffon, 

 had succeeded in producing such fertile hybrids ; and if similar 

 attempts in the Jardin des Plantes had failed, it was probably 



* Printed in the ' Field' newspaper, and kindly communicated by the author. 



