LEPUS. 
315 
Suborder I) UP LICID EN TA TA. 
LEPOEID^ 1. 
LEPUS. 
Lepus, Linn. Syst. Nat. x. 1758, p. 57. 
Lhis genus contains the Hares and the Rabbit, and, so far as existing forms are 
concerned, constitutes the family Leporida?. This, with the Pikas (Lagomyidee), forms 
the suborder, which is distinguished by having a second pair of small incisor teeth in 
the upper jaw placed behind the large cutting-teeth characteristic of the order. The 
members of this suborder also differ in many other respects from other rodents. 
Ihe clear definition of the different species of Hares is a matter of great difficulty. 
Proportions of ears and limbs change with age, the teeth are all of persistent growth, 
and the skulls give no reliable records, the sutures of the different bones being so 
variable in individuals belonging to the same species. 
Dr. Forsyth Major has shown (Trans. Linn. Soc. 2nd ser. Zool. vii. p. 433, 1898) that 
the Hares may be classified to a certain extent by characters of the teeth; and, indeed, 
very valuable help in distinguishing and showing the affinities of the various species will 
be found in the character of the infolding of the enamel which forms the groove on the 
front of the upper incisors. This character is easily discerned by examining the cutting- 
face of the teeth with the aid of a lens, when the fold of enamel will be seen to 
penetrate in variable pattern according to species, and to be generally filled with 
cement. In the Hares with which we are now dealing these grooves are comparatively^ 
simple, but in some Indian species in particular the pattern of the fold is very 
complicated. 
According to Champollion (Syst. Hierogl. 1826, p. 36) the hare was the symbol for 
the letter S in the ancient hieroglyphic writing. The Coptic name for this animal is 
‘ Saragousch ’; Arabic name ‘ Aerneb.’ 
Hares occur in various Hunting-Scenes on the Monuments, e. g. at Abusir and 
Sakkarah; they are also depicted in colours at Beni Hasan, and one very good Hare 
coloured reddish-brown, is figured from Deir-el-Bahari by Mr. F. LI. Griffith in his 
“ Memoir on Hieroglyphs ” 2 . There is a fine Hunting-Scene at Thebes, probably of the 
XVHI. Dynasty, well portrayed in Prisse’s ‘ Art Egyptien,’ t. ii. pi. 24, in which a hare 
is being held by its ears. 
^ Except when otherwise stated, the chapter on the Hares is written by W. E. de Winton. 
2 Arch. Survey of Egypt, 6th Mem. pi. i, fig. 2. 
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