boys’ department. 
289 
Bods’ SPqmrtment. 
FANCY RABBITS. 
I have, as you desired, made drawin 
& 
the 
block you sent me of two “ fancy rabbits,” one 
with a true, the other with an imperfect “ lop,” or 
carriage of the ears; though, in all else, they are 
nearly correct specimens of what a fancy rabbit 
should be; and in further compliance with your 
wishes, and to save the repetition of answering, by 
the pen, the various inquiries addressed to me, I 
will give your juvenile readers what information I 
have, relative to the rearing, breeding, and general 
management of these little animals, together with 
such conventional points as are insisted upon, 
by the several London and other rabbit clubs, as 
necessary to constitute excellence, and upon which 
their decisions, in awarding premiums, are made. 
While in London, I visited several of the best 
friendly rivalry and social intercourse, their prac¬ 
tice making good their motto, Quod tibi vis fieri fac 
alteri. He congratulated those around him on the 
increasing interest in the subject, manifested by the 
continued accession of members to their society, 
and the visible improvement made in the animal 
itself. Indeed, so close had been the competition 
on the present occasion, that the judges had been 
nearly live hours in making their awards, and du¬ 
ring the time, they had received a visit from the 
president of the Geological Society, who had ex¬ 
pressed himself highly delighted with the beauty 
and perfection of the specimens before him. 
The president further observed, that, before he 
proceeded to name the successful competitors, and 
exhibit their animals, he would briefly remark, for 
the information of visitors, who might not be fami¬ 
liar with the subject, that the leading properties of 
a good fancy rabbit were, length, width, quality, 
and carriage of the ears, beauty of the eye, excel¬ 
lence in form, richness and disposition of colors, 
rabbitries there, and also had an opportunity of 
being present at the semi-annual meeting of the j with the greatest weight that could be attained by 
animals whose age did not exceed, 
six months. We were, however, 
given to understand that weights 
stood lowest in the scale of excel¬ 
lencies, being considered rather a 
higgler’s than an amateur’s property. 
The rabbits were now produced 
from their respective baskets, and 
put on the table, one at a time ; and 
more beautiful animals of the sort I 
had never before seen. The presi¬ 
dent named the owner, the age of 
the animal, its length of ear, and 
other remarkable qualities, with the 
awrnrd made to it by the committee. 
Comments wrnre now freely made, 
questions asked and answered, and 
a general conversation ensued as the 
rabbit moved up and dowm the 
whole length of the table, stopping 
every few steps to reconnoiter its 
novel position, thus affording every 
one the best possible chance of ex¬ 
amination ; after which, it was re¬ 
moved, and another took its place, 
and so on till all the prize animals had been ex¬ 
hibited, till some dozen or fifteen had passed in 
review before us, when I took my leave, promising 
to call on several of the members to whom I was 
introduced, and see their breeding stock. The 
toasts, songs, and healths, which followed, were 
duly recorded by the newspaper reporters, whom I 
left at the table, pen in hand. A handsome gold 
snuff box was presented to the president by the 
society, in acknowledgment of his services, and the 
valuable aid he had rendered them for so many years. 
After seeing numerous collections, kept in all the 
various styles, from the handsome range of ma¬ 
hogany hutches to the second-hand packing case, 
or tea chest, I made my selections from the health¬ 
iest and most vigorous stocks I could find, having 
but little regard to length of ear, compared with the 
other properties ; giving up this third favorite 
point, I made my purchases at much lower prices 
than I could otherwise have done, paying from ten 
to forty shillings sterling a piece for the young 
Fig. 80 
“Metropolitan Fancy Rabbit Club,” held in Trafal¬ 
gar square, for the exhibition of the prize rabbits, 
to which the society’s premiums had been awarded. 
I thought it a good occasion to see the best of their 
kind, and also to learn the more nice and difficult 
points of their breeding. At the appointed hour, 
in the evening, I drove to the place of exhibition, 
and was shown into a spacious, well-lighted room, 
filled with gentlemen of the fancy, who were standing 
in groups and conversing on their favorite amuse¬ 
ment. At one end of this apartment were a num¬ 
ber of small baskets containing rabbits, and down 
the middle, extending its whole length, stood a 
table, over which was stretched a green cloth. 
Hardly had I time to look around and see thus much, 
when the president, James Handy, Esq., entered, 
and took his place at the head of the table, and the 
members and visitors immediately seated themselves 
on either side. The meeting was called to order, 
and the president, in a short address, explained the 
object of tue society to be improvement elicited by 
