There are many breeds which transmit their characters more or less
truly. Every one has seen the enormous lop-eared rabbits exhibited
at our shows; various allied sub-breeds are reared on the
Continent, such as the so-called Andalusian, which is said to have
a large head with a round forehead, and to attain a greater size
than any other kind; another large Paris breed is named the
Rouennais, and has a square head; the so-called Patagonian rabbit
has remarkably short ears and a large round head. Although I have
not seen all these breeds, I feel some doubt about there being any
marked difference in the shape of their skulls.[8] English
lop-eared rabbits often weigh 8 pounds or 10 pounds, and one has
been exhibited weighing 18 pounds; whereas a full-sized wild rabbit
weighs only about 3-1/4 pounds. The head or skull in all the large
lop-eared rabbits examined by me is much longer relatively to its
breadth than in the wild rabbit. Many of them have loose transverse
folds of skin or dewlaps beneath the throat, which can be pulled
out so as to reach nearly to the ends of the jaws. Their ears are
prodigiously developed, and hang down on each side of their faces.
A rabbit was exhibited in 1867 with its two ears, measured from the
tip of one to the tip of the other, 22 inches in length, and each
ear 5-3/8 inches in breadth. In 1869 one was exhibited with ears,
measured in the same manner, 23-1/8 in length and 5-1/2 in breadth;
“thus exceeding any rabbit ever exhibited at a prize show.” In a
common wild rabbit I found that the length of two ears, from tip to
tip, was 7-5/8 inches, and the breadth only 1-7/8 inch. The weight
of body in the larger rabbits, and the development of their ears,
are the qualities which win prizes, and have been carefully
selected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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