62 NATURAL HISTORY. 
ert. of this armour. Thus, like the hedgehog and 
porcupine, it is fecured from danger, without having 
recourfe to flight or refiftance, and becomes invui- 
nerable while in the midit of danger. 
ete alto tay“ eee a 
HARE, 
Turs timid and defencelefs animal is another in- 
ftance of the bountiful care of providence towards 
mankind. ‘he hare not only. fupplies us with a del- 
icacy for our table, and a covering for our heads 
(the fur being manufactured into hats) but alfo af- 
fords us one of the moft wholefome of our rural di- 
verfions. . : 
It is an inhabitant of moft parts of Europe, A fate 
Egypt, Barbary, japan, Ceylon and-North America ; 
but thofe of Barbary, Spain and Italy, are much 
fmaller than ours. In Wales and France they ane 
generally larger, though not of fo fine a fiayonr. 
This. folitary animal has, independent of man, a 
hoft of enemies, both in the animal and feathered 
‘tribes. ‘The fox, polecat, ftote and weafel, hunt 
them with fuch unremitting perfeverance, that, not- 
withftanding their {wiftnefs it is with great difficulty 
they efcape their rapacious purfuit. ‘ihe weaiel wit 
frequently faften upon the neck of a hare, while en 
‘her form, and hold there till it 1s quite dead, fucking 
its blood while running. ‘The kite, hawk, owl and 
many other birds of prey, are very defiructive te 
oung leverets. This perfecuted animal, however, 
ike the rabbit, is fo prolific, as to ailord & plentifid 
fupply to thofe who protect it againft the unlawiul 
and deftructive {nares of the poacher. en Me 
The female goes thirty days with young, and 
brings forth from two to four at a time, with their 
eyes open; fhe breeds fix cr feven tines a year, and 

