garded as a distinct species."[1] In Queensland the Rabbit has apparently acquired poisonous qualities. Lumholtz relates:—"The next night we made our camp on an island, and the squatter at once went out to shoot Rabbits with his rifle. The Rabbits had been placed on this island a few years previously, and although there was no fresh water, excepting when it rained, still they throve very well, and had greatly increased in numbers. Strange to say, these Rabbits are said to be poisonous, doubtless on account of the food on which they are obliged to subsist. The squatter informed me that a year ago he had visited the island and shot some of these animals, which were roasted and eaten, but had made both him and his companions ill."[2] They vary also remarkably in colour. Prof. Strong states:—"I have seen more parti-coloured Rabbits in Australia than I have ever seen in Europe. Near Queenscliffe numerous instances occur, not merely of white and black Rabbits, which are common, but of Rabbits with beautifully striped skins."[3] In Paraguay the domestic Cat has become one-fourth smaller, its body is slender, its hair short, shiny, thin, and pressed closely to the skin, especially on the tail, which is almost naked (Rengger).[4]
(To be continued.)
- ↑ 'Royal Nat. Hist.,' vol. iii. p. 200. In the face of this and other testimony it is somewhat startling to find Weismann stating no alteration has taken place: "The Rabbit which was brought by sailors to the Atlantic island of Porto Santo has bred abundantly, and remains unchanged in this locality" ('Essays upon Heredity,' &c, Engl, transl. 2nd edit.vol. i. p. 271).
- ↑ 'Among Cannibals,' p. 322.
- ↑ 'Zoologist,' 3rd series, vol. xviii. p. 406.
- ↑ Eimer, 'Organic Evolution,' Engl, transl. p. 102.
