20 
LEPOllIDJE. 
quoted from the British Quadrupeds correctly applies ; the subject having; been, 
for the first time, introduced to the scientific world at the period to which allu- 
sion has been made. 
“ With the club of the Linnman Society I happened to dine upon the day on 
which the specimens were received from Lord Derby (then Lord Stanley), and 
on the evening of which the subject of the Irish hare was first brought forward. 
On being questioned by the chairman, I had then the pleasure of stating, as a 
fact well known in the North of Ireland, all the external and likewise the culi- 
nary differences * * existing between the hares of the two countries ; but, at the 
same time, added, that we regarded the hare of Ireland only as a very distinct 
and well-marked variety of Lepus timidus. Further than this, as has been already 
noticed, Mr. Yarrell and Mr. Jenyns did not go, Mr. Bell being the first to 
characterize it as a species. f That it really is such, I became at once satisfied, 
on a very minute examination of Scotch and Irish specimens towards the end of 
1833. About this time my friend, Mr. Yarrell, requested from me the fullest 
information on the animal, preparatory to his drawing up a paper on it, and for 
him such facts as I was conversant with were reserved, knowing, as I did, that 
in such truly able hands the subject must be judiciously treated. In furtherance 
of the inquiry, I had, at that time, the pleasure of transmitting him a specimen 
of the animal, and of presenting others to the British Museum. In consequence 
of Mr. Yarrell having now relinquished this intention, I am induced to bring 
together here such particulars of the history, &c., of this animal as are known 
to me. 
“ In consulting the Mammalogie of Desmarest, and Synopsis Mammalium of 
Fischer, the two latest general works upon the subject, I find that there is not 
any species of Lepus described, corresponding to the hare of Ireland, nor is there 
such in any other work to which I have had access. The species known on the 
continent of Europe are but two in number, both of which, the Lepus timidus 
and Lepus variabilis, are natives of the British Islands. Between these species 
only, and the hare of Ireland, does it seem necessary to draw any comparison. 
Considered in connexion with them, it holds, in several points of view, both as 
to form and colour, such as the relative length of ears to head, length of tail, in 
assuming a white garb (though not periodically), &c., an intermediate place. 
The habits of the Alpine hare, together with the localities to which it is re- 
stricted, are very different from those of the Irish species ; the latter animal, in 
these respects, exactly agreeing with the Lepus timidus. 
“ Specimens of the hare of Ireland and of Scotland, from the approximating 
counties of Down and Wigton, and examined in a recent state, presented the 
following differences : — J 
Templeton, in which criticisms on the works he read and observations on pass- 
ing events, as well as on objects of natural history, are recorded, I find the fol- 
lowing note under date of Jan. 10, 1807. With reference to the different quality 
of the fur in hares mentioned in Lessep’s Travels in Kamtschatka, it is remarked 
* — “It is known that the Scotch hares have a fine wool fit for making hats, 
while the fur of the Irish hare is not accounted of any use.” 
* The Scotch and English hares are, at every age, and for all culinary pur- 
poses, generally esteemed superior as food to the Irish. 
f In the article “ Hare,” published in the British Cyclopaedia of Natural 
History (1836), it is likewise so mentioned, — vol. ii. p. 705. In a note contri- 
buted by the late E. T. Bennet, in his edition of White’s Selborne (1837), it is 
remarked that “ Ireland has also its peculiar hare,” — p. 128. 
I The males were obtained in February ; the females in December. The 
latter are in both species generally larger than the males. 
