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HARE

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 768 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HARE . The See also:

rabbit has been domesticated from an See also:early See also:period. Little doubt exists amongst naturalists that all the varieties of the domestic See also:animal are descended from Oryctolagus cuniculus. The See also:variations which have been perpetuated and intensified by artificial selection are, with the exception of those of the See also:dog, greater than have been induced in any other mammal. For not only has the See also:weight been more than quadrupled in some of the larger breeds, and the structure of the See also:skull and other parts of the See also:skeleton greatly altered, but the proportionate See also:size of the See also:brain has been reduced and the See also:colour and texture of the See also:fur altered in a remarkable manner. The lop-eared breed is the See also:oldest See also:English variety, and has been cultivated carefully since about 1785, the aim of the breeder being directed to the development of the size of the ears, and with such success that they sometimes measure more than 23 in. from tip to tip and exceed 6 in. in width. This development, which is accompanied by changes in the structure of the skull, depends on breeding the animals in warm See also:damp hutches, without which the best See also:developed parents fail to produce the desired offspring. In colour lop-eared rabbits vary greatly. The Belgian hare is a large breed of a See also:hardy and prolific See also:character, which closely resembles the hare in colour, and is not unlike it in See also:form. Some years ago these rabbits were sold as " leporides " or hybrids, produced by the See also:union of the hare and the rabbit; but the most careful experimenters have failed to obtain any such hybrid, and the naked immature See also:condition in which See also:young rabbits are See also:born as compared with the clothed and highly developed young hare renders it unlikely that hybrids could be produced. Nor does the flesh of the Belgian rabbit resemble that of the hare in colour or flavour. A closely allied variety, though of larger size, is known as the Patagonian rabbit, although it has no relation to the See also:country after which it is called.

The See also:

Angora rabbit is characterized by the extreme See also:elongation and fineness of the fur, which in See also:good specimens reaches 6 or 7 in. in length, requiring See also:great care and frequent combing to prevent it from becoming matted. The Angoras most valued are albinos, with pure See also:white fur and See also:pink eyes; in some parts of the See also:Continent they are kept by the peasants and clipped regularly. Amongst the breeds which are valued for the See also:distribution of colour on the fur are the Himalayan and the Dutch. The former is white, but the whole of the extremities—viz. the See also:nose, the ears, tail and feet—are See also:black or very dark in colour. This very See also:pretty breed has no connexion with the mountains from which it takesits name, but is a variety produced by careful breeding and selection. Though produced by See also:crossing, it now generally breeds true to colour, at times throwing back, however, to the See also:silver greys from which it was derived. The rabbits known as Dutch are small, and valued for the disposition of the colour and markings. The entire See also:body behind the See also:shoulder-See also:blades is uniformly coloured, with the exception of the feet; the anterior See also:part of the body, including the fore legs, See also:neck, and jaws, is white, the cheeks and ears being coloured. In some strains the coloured portion extends in front of the fore legs, leaving only a See also:ring of white See also:round the neck. The more accurately the coloured portion is defined, the higher is the animal esteemed. The silver See also:grey is a See also:uniform-coloured breed, the fur of which is a See also:rich See also:chinchilla grey, varying in See also:depth in the different strains. From the greater value of the fur, silver greys have been frequently employed to stock warrens, as they breed true to colour in the open if the See also:ordinary See also:wild rabbits are excluded.

Other See also:

colours known, as silver fawn and silver See also:brown, are closely related. A See also:blue breed has been recently introduced. The largest and heaviest of all is the Flemish See also:giant, with See also:iron-grey fur above and white below. Other breeds include the See also:Japanese, with an See also:orange coat, broadly banded on the See also:hind-quarters with black; the pink-eyed and See also:short and thick-furred See also:albino See also:Polish; the Siberian, probably produced by crossing the Himalayan with the Angora; and the black-and-tan and blue-and-tan. See also HARE, See also:SHOOTING, and See also:COURSING. (W. H. F. ; R. L.

End of Article: HARE

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