Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/470

 456 HARE branch at right angles; there are five toes on the fore feet and four on the hind ; the ears are very large, as long as or longer than the head ; the tail short and bushy, either rudimentary or carried erect ; hind legs much longer than the anterior, and formed for leaping ; the stomach is simple, or partially divided internally, and the caecum very long and divided into numer- ous cells by tendinous bands ; a part of the in- ner surface of the cheeks is clothed with small hairs. Hares are found in all parts of the world except Australia, but most abundantly in North America, and are chiefly confined to the northern hemisphere, extending even into the polar regions. There are only two genera of the family, lepus and lagomys ; the latter will be described under PIKA. The genus lepus has the following dental formula : incisors, and molars fz|, a larger number than in other rodents; two small incisors are placed behind the prin- cipal pair, which are grooved in front, all be- ing white, and not implanted as deeply as European Hare (Lepus timidus). usual in the alveoli; the molars are rootless. There seems no osteological difference between hares and rabbits; the latter, however, are gregarious and make burrows in which the young are raised, while the former are more or less solitary, and merely make " forms " of grass on which they sit ; rabbits are born blind and naked, but hares are said to have the eyes open and the body covered with hair at birth. The distinction being based chiefly on habits, there are hardly any species in America like the rabbit of Europe (L. cuniculw, Linn.), un- less they be 'the gray rabbit (L. syfaaticus, Bach.) and the jackass rabbit {L. callotis, Wag- ler) ; and it is not certain that any other old world lepus has the habits and peculiarities of L. euniculus. The last three species will be noticed under RABBIT. The common hare of Europe (L. timidus, Linn.) has ears longer than the head, fringed anteriorly with long hair ; the fur mottled with black and ochrey brown, with rufous tints on the neck and outer side of limbs; the abdomen, inner side of limbs, and tail white; upper surface of tail and ears black ; length from tip of nose to root of tail, along the curve of the back, 23 in. ; weight, 8 to 12 Ibs. Black and white varieties some- times occur, but the color is not changed in winter as in the varying northern hares. This species is found generally throughout Europe, except in the coldest parts. The timidity of the hare is proverbial, and its speed has made it a favorite object of the chase from the times of the Romans; the principal use of the grey- hound is to pursue this animal. The eyes are lateral and prominent, and vision extends to objects on all sides at once ; a very acute sense of hearing and smell and great speed are given for further protection against its numerous enemies; the palms of the feet are covered with hair; the nostrils are circular, almost hidden by a fold which may be closed; the upper lip is cleft ; the opening of the ears can also be closed ; the mammae are 10. They are able to reproduce at a year old ; the period of gestation is 30 days, and from two to five are produced at a birth. They remain quiet during the day in their form or seat, which is a mere depression in the ground near some bush, coming out toward evening in search of food ; the color so much resembles that of the objects among which they rest, that, as if conscious of the resemblance, they will generally remain quiet in their form until they are almost trod- den upon. This species readily takes to the water, and swims well ; it sits upon its tarsi, and uses its fore paws in holding food and cleansing its fur, though, from its incomplete clavicles, less perfectly than in the claviculated rodents; it drinks lapping, and can bite se- verely. Early in spring the sexual appetite is very strong, and the animal acts so strangely that to be "as mad as a March hare" has become a proverb. Its intelligence is small, but its instincts in avoiding its enemies are re- markable. The hare and rabbit were ranked among ruminating animals by the Mosaic law, but were forbidden to the Jews because the hoofs were not divided ; Moses probably called the hare a ruminant from the partial division of the stomach, and the evident lateral move- ment of the lower jaw. The food of the hare is entirely vegetable, and its flesh is delicate, nutritious, and universally esteemed. The va- rying hare (L. varidbilis, Pall.) is smaller than the common species, with smaller and less black ears, shorter tail, and without the mot- tled appearance and white mark on the cheek of the latter ; in summer the general color is rusty brown, finely pencilled with black and rufous yellow above, and impure white below ; tail white, grayish above. In winter the fur is white, with ears black-tipped, the change of color being due to the cold of the season in the northern regions which it inhabits. It is found in northern Europe and Asia as far as the arc- tic ocean, but is wanting in central Europe except in Alpine regions. Twenty other spe- cies of hare are described by Waterhouse in