_Third cervical vertebra._—In the wild rabbit (fig. 13, A _a_) this
vertebra, viewed on the inferior surface, has a transverse process,
which is directed obliquely backwards, and consists of a single pointed
bar; in the fourth vertebra this process is slightly forked in the
middle. In the large lop-eared rabbits this process (B _ a_) is forked
in the third vertebra, as in the fourth of the wild rabbit. But the
third cervical vertebræ of the wild and lop-eared (A _b,_ B _b_)
rabbits differ more conspicuously when their anterior articular
surfaces are compared; for the extremities of the antero-dorsal
processes in the wild rabbit are simply rounded, whilst in the
lop-eared they are trifid, with a deep central pit. The canal for the
spinal marrow in the lop-eared (B _b_) is more elongated in a
transverse direction than in the wild rabbit; and the passages for the
arteries are of a slightly different shape. These several differences
in this vertebra seem to me well deserving attention.
_First dorsal vertebra._—Its neural spine varies in length in the wild
rabbit; being sometimes very short, but generally more than half as
long as that of the second dorsal; but I have seen it in two large
lop-eared rabbits three-fourths of the length of that of the second
dorsal vertebra.
Illustration: Fig. 14—Dorsal Vertebræ, from sixth to tenth inclusive,
of natural size, viewed laterally. A. Wild Rabbit. B. Large,
Hare-coloured, so-called Spanish Rabbit.
_Ninth and tenth dorsal vertebræ._—In the wild rabbit the neural
spine of the ninth vertebra is just perceptibly thicker than that
of the eighth; and the neural spine of the tenth is plainly thicker
and shorter than those of all the anterior vertebræ. In the large
lop-eared rabbits the neural spines of the tenth, ninth, and eighth
vertebræ, and even in a slight degree that of the seventh, are very
much thicker, and of somewhat different shape, in comparison with
those of the wild rabbit. So that this part of the vertebral column
differs considerably in appearance from the same part in the wild
rabbit, and closely resembles in an interesting manner these same
vertebræ in some species of hares. In the Angora, Chinchilla, and
Himalayan rabbits, the neural spines of the eighth and ninth
vertebræ are in a slight degree thicker than in the wild. On the
other hand, in one of the feral Porto Santo rabbits, which in most
of its characters deviates from the common wild rabbit, in a
direction exactly opposite to that assumed by the large lop-eared
rabbits, the neural spines of the ninth and tenth vertebræ were not
at all larger than those of the several anterior vertebra. In this
same Porto Santo specimen there was no trace in the ninth vertebra
of the anterior lateral processes (see fig. 14), which are plainly
developed in all British wild rabbits, and still more plainly
developed in the large lop-eared rabbits.
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