a prominent member of the hare family. The difference between the hare and the rabbit is not well understood in America. While there are many points of resemblance the distinction is, after all, not a difficult one. The rabbit is a short-legged animal. It never depends upon its fleetness. Instead of coursing away before the hounds it takes refuge in a burrow as promptly as a chipmunk. The rabbit is an adept in excavating underground passages which are oftentimes extensive. A set of galleries is called a rabbit warren. It usually accommodates a considerable colony of these timid animals. The fur of the rabbit is soft and fine. It has been used not a little as a substitute for beaver in the manufacture of hats. The winter coat makes a passable substitute for genuine ermine. Like the hare, the rabbit lives exclusively on vegetable food, being fond of clover, cabbage, lettuce, and the bark of various shrubs and trees. The tame rabbit of Europe is well known in America. It is said to have been domesticated originally from North Africa. Rabbits multiply with amazing rapidity. They begin to breed when six months old. There are from four to twelve young at a litter, and several litters are produced in a year. The young are almost naked at birth and are blind as kittens for several days. Rabbits were introduced from England into Australia some years ago. With an abundance of food and freedom from the persecution of natural enemies, they have spread over the country in such prodigious numbers as to threaten agriculture and sheep pasturage seriously. The province of New South Wales has erected 17,000 miles of rabbit-proof fence, presumably of woven wire, to exclude the little pests from choice farming regions. In 1905 it is reported that 14,000,000 Australian rabbits were frozen and shipped to England in refrigerator ships. For an account of American rabbits the reader may turn to an article on the HARE. All our American species are hares. The Belgian hare is a genuine rabbit. It may not be out of place to say that Welsh rabbit is a slang term for a dish consisting of melted cheese and ale poured on toast, for which the term rarebit is sometimes erroneously substituted. See HARE; RABIES.