7924 



Quadrupeds. 



because, being kept closely confined, the animals had not enjoyed 

 sufficient liberty;* but whenever a he-goat had been folded with 

 sheep alliances and fertile hybrids had been the result. The author 

 then refers to the success which has attended this cross-breeding in 

 Chili, where thousands of " pellions," or the skins prepared with the 

 wool on, are annually exported to Peru. These animals, as well as 

 their skins, are called " pellions" in Chili, but are known elsewhere as 

 " chabins," and are the produce only of the male goat and the ewe, 

 the best wool being procured by recrossing the first generation of 

 "chabins" with the sheep. 



After referring to the more or less fertile hybrids between the camel 

 and dromedary, the Llama family, the wolf and dog, &c, and among 

 several species of birds, M. Broca says the decisive experiment must 

 be made with nearly-allied animals, living in a wild state in the same 

 country, but with different instincts, which prevent their crossing 

 whilst in a free condition. These requirements the author believes to 

 be perfectly satisfied in the case of the hare (Lepus timidus) and the 

 rabbit {Lepus cutnculus). 



No one, he says, can doubt these two animals being specifically 

 distinct. They certainly differ less in their anatomical characters 

 than many animals reputed to be of the same species ; but their 

 instincts, tastes and habits are so opposed, that it is impossible to 

 confound them. The hare is solitary, the rabbit gregarious; the hare 

 lives above-ground, and hides in the brakes ; the rabbit burrows, forms 

 subterranean colonies, where each family has its nest, and the young 

 are sheltered during lactation. Gestation lasts thirty days in both 

 species (?), but the hare has only two or three litters in the year, and 

 from two to four young ones in a litter. The rabbit bears eight times 

 annually, and on each occasion produces at least four young, — usually 

 six or eight, — often more. The rabbit was early and readily domesti- 

 cated. Youug wild rabbits are constantly captured, and easily tamed. 

 They reproduce in confinement, and become domesticated in the 

 second generntion. All attempts, however, to domesticate the hare 

 have entirely failed , some have been tamed, but have very rarely 

 bred, and their descendants have been nearly barren. This sterility 



* In a note, the author says, " I have authentic information that many species of 

 animals, though kept pure, become barren after three or four generations at the Jardin 

 des Plantes. Domestication rarely diminishes the fertility of animals, and even 

 frequently increases it ; but it appears that want of exercise, or the nature of their 

 food, may, in many cases, impede reproduction. Perhaps, also, in the experiments at 

 the Museum j the union of near relations has not been sufficiently avoided." 



