The Hare, and its very near congener, the Rabbit, are animals too well-known to need description; but it is necessary to say that, besides the species of both, peculiar to Great Britain, there are many other kinds in other parts of the world. Even in Britain itself, including Ireland, there are several distinct sorts both of hares and rabbits; for the Irish hare is distinct, being a larger, stronger, and even swifter animal than the English hare, and having many other points peculiar to it. Moreover, in the northern and mountainous parts of Scotland there is found the Varying or Alpine Hare, whose fur changes in the winter season to a snowy whiteness. But I may here remark, that the Irish hare also possesses this singular power of transformation, since upon the mountains of the north, especially upon the Mourne range, in county Down, _white_ hares have been frequently observed. Is this the Irish hare turned white, or the true Alpine hare of Pallas? Hares and rabbits are peculiarly the denizens of cold countries, as their warm woolly covering would plainly indicate. In tropical climates their place is supplied by other kinds of rodents, that resemble them in habits, if not in "dress." Of these other animals we shall presently speak. To the above remark, however a few partial exceptions may be brought forward; since there is a species existing in Egypt known as the Egyptian Hare, and there are three others at the Cape--the Rock Hare, the Burrow Hare, and the Vlakte Haas. These, however, differ very considerably from the common hares and rabbits of northern countries; and the remark still holds good, that in the tropics--properly so called--the hare does not exist: neither has any true hare been found in the new world of Australia. Otherwise, hares are plenteous in the different continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. In Asia there is a species inhabiting the regions of the Altai Mountains, and another peculiar to the Siberian territory, called the Tolai. There is an Indian species found in the Nepaul Mountains, and a curious variety, also a native of Nepaul and the Himalayas, known as the Woolly Hare of Thibet.