133 RABBIT. 
tise an art which they could only learn from na- 
ture. 
Rabbits of the domestic breed, like all other 
animals that are under the protection of man, are 
of various colours ; white, brown, black, and 
mouse colour. The black are the most scarce ; 
the brown, white, and mouse colour are in greater 
plenty. Most of the wild rabbits are of a brown 
and it is the colour which prevails among the spe- 
cies ; for in every nest of rabbits, whether the 
parents be black or white, there are some brown 
ones found of the number. But, in England there 
are many warrens stocked with the mouse colour 
kinds, which some say came originally from an 
island in the river Humber, and which still conti- 
nue them original colour, after a great number of 
successive generations. A gentleman, who bred 
Tip tame rabbits for bis amusement, gives the fol- 
lowing account of their production : 
cc I began," says he, by having but one male 
and female only ; the male was entirely white, and 
the female brown; but, in their posterity, the 
number of the brown by far exceeded those of any 
other colour ; there were some white, some parti- 
coloured, and some black. It is surprising how 
much the descendants weresobedient and submissive 
to their common parent ; he was easily distinguish- 
ed from the rest by his superior whiteness ; and, 
however numerous the other males were, this kept 
them all in subjection. Whenever they quarrelled 
among each other, either for their females or 
provisions, as soon as he heard the noise he ran 
up to them with all dispatch, and upon his ap- 
pearance, all was instantly reduced to peace and 
order. If he caught any of them in the fact, he 
instantly punished them as an example to the rest. 
Another instance of his superiority was, that hav- 
ing* accustomed them to come to me with the call 
