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Show CHAP. IV. DOME8TIC RABDJTS. 114 ° . f the brain-case IS, ortionally with the body; ~nd th~l ca;:l~::~l~. I prepared four ~s we shall hereafter see, smgul~ yt] r more closely than do sknlls, and these resemble~ et~J:O"~~~ rabbits; but the only gener.a l ly .t he skulls. ofh iwchil dt hey po resent c d was that the supra-difference m structme w b were narrower. orbital processes of the ,front~:ah~~e~iffcrs considerably _from the I Colour the Porto Santo . edder and IS rarely n urface lS r ' Common rabbit; the upper s bl k ti"pped hairs. The throat · black or ac - · intersr)ersed wrt.ll any ' d ·face instead of bemg pure and certain parts of the un er S.U 1I de'n colour. But t h e mos t hl.te are generaI ] Y pal e grey or ea d tail. I have exa-w ' · in the ears an ' remarkable difference 1~ b. d the large collection of mined many fresh English r~b Jts, ~~ s countries and all have .. ]· M m from vanou. ' h d skins in the Bntis r useu . d th tips of the cars clot e f the tml an · e tho upper surface o . . . n 1·n most works as one f . d. this IS give with blackish-grey ur ' an bb"t Now in the seven Porio . r. h . tors of tho ra I . . h b of the speculC c arac f th tail was reddis - rown, Santo rabbi• ts tt11. e upp er surface o ef the black edgm. g. Bu t and the tips of the cars ~ad nlo tr~~e om stance: ·in June, 1861, 'th smgu ar CllCU . z here we meet WI a . tly sent to the oo 1o - f t] rabb1ts recen ' . I examined. two o 1e~e 'l d cars were coloured as JUSt 1 thcrr tm s an . ()'ical Gardens, anc . d d bodies was sent to roe m d scribed; but when one of then le~ ly edged and the upper 865 th ears were p am ' d tl February, 1 ' e l 'th blackish-grey fur, an 10 ·1 coverec WI . li t surface of the tm was d . ~o that under the Enghsh c. rna e whole body was roue~ less rc ' 0 d the proper colour of Its fur this individual rabbit had recovere in rather less than four years! bb"t hi1st alive in the Zoo· rrhe two little Porto Santo 1rablr sdi;erent appearance from loO'J. Cal G ar de ns, ha' d. a remarra Y od. arily wild and ac t.I ve, 0 · d rrh were extraOI lll the common lnn . ey . them that they were ·la'med on seemg so that many persons exc 1 • bb't They were nocturnal to more like large ra~s tha_n ra . I s~nd their wildness was never an unusual degree m therr habJts, . t ndent Mr. Bartlett, d d th t the supenn e ' . in the least sub ue ; so a h d ilder animal under his assured me that he had never a a-~ 0. that they are de-h This is a singular fact, consi enng . d at it c arge. . d . I was so much surpnse ' scended from a domesticated bree ' l . quiries on the spot, that I requ.ested Mr. Haywood to ma \:e m CI!AP. IV. DIFFERENCES IN TllEIR SKELETONS. 115 whether they wore much hunted by the inhabitants, or persecuted by hawks, or cats, or other animals; but this is not tho case, and no cause ran be a.·r;igned for their wildnes. They live on the central, higher Ioocky Jand and near the sca-chff.~, and, being exceedingly shy and timid, seldom appear in the lower and cultivated districts. They are said to produce from four to six young at a birth, and their breeding season is in July and August. Lastly, and this is a highly remarkable fact, Mr. Bartlett could never succeed in getting these two rabbits, which were both males, to a sociate or breed with tho females of several breeds which were repeatedly placed with them. If the history of these Porto Santo rabbits had not been known, mo 't naturalists, on observing their much reduced size, their reddish colour above and grey beneath, with neither tail nor ears tipped with black, would have ranked them as a distinct species. They would have been strongly confirmed in this Yiow by seeing them alive in the Zoological Gardens, and hearing that they refnsed to coupie with other rabbits. Yet this rabbit, which there can be little doubt would thus have been ranked as a dis6nct species, has certainly originated since tho year 1420. Finally, from the throe cases of the rabbits which have run wild in Porto Santo Jamaica and the Falkland Islands, we see that these animals do' not, ;mder new conditions of life, revert to or retain their aboriginal character, as is so generally asserted to be tho case by most authors. Osteological Characters. When we remember, on the one hand, how frequently it is stated that important parts of the structure never vary; and, on the other hand, on what small differences in the skeleton, fos il species have often been founded, the variability of the skull and of some other bones in tho domesticated rabbit well deserves a~tention. It must not be supposed that the more important differences immediately to be described strictly characterise any one _brood; ~11 that can be said is, that they are generally present m certam breeds. We should boar in mind that selection has not been applied to fix any character in the skeleton, and that the animals have not had to support themselves under I 2 |