Turning to Table 3: the first four wild rabbits have skulls of the same
length, and these differ but little in capacity. The Sandon rabbit (No.
4) is interesting, as, though now wild, it is known to be descended
from a domesticated breed, as is still shown by its peculiar colouring
and longer body; nevertheless the skull has recovered its normal length
and full capacity. The next three rabbits are wild, but of small size,
and they all have skulls with slightly lessened capacities. The three
Porto Santo feral rabbits (Nos. 8 to 10) offer a perplexing case; their
bodies are greatly reduced in size, as in a lesser degree are their
skulls in length and in actual capacity, in comparison with the skulls
of wild English rabbits. But when we compare the capacities of the
skull in the three Porto Santo rabbits, we observe a surprising
difference, which does not stand in any relation to the slight
difference in the length of their skulls, nor, as I believe, to any
difference in the size of their bodies; but I neglected weighing
separately their bodies. I can hardly suppose that the medullary matter
of the brain in these three rabbits, living under similar conditions,
can differ as much as is indicated by the proportional difference of
capacity in their skulls; nor do I know whether it is possible that one
brain may contain considerably more fluid than another. Hence I can
throw no light on this case.
Looking to the lower half of Table 3, which gives the measurements
of domesticated rabbits, we see that in all the capacity of the
skull is less, but in very various degrees, than might have been
anticipated according to the length of their skulls, relatively to
that of the wild rabbit No. 1. In line 22 the average measurements
of seven large lop-eared rabbits are given. Now the question
arises, has the average capacity of the skull in these seven large
rabbits increased as much as might have been expected from the
greatly increased size of body. We may endeavour to answer this
question in two ways: in the upper half of the Table we have
measurements of the skulls of six small wild rabbits (Nos. 5 to
10), and we find that on an average the skulls are ·18 of an inch
shorter, and in capacity 91 grains less, than the average length
and capacity of the three first wild rabbits on the list. The seven
large lop-eared rabbits, on an average, have skulls 4·11 inches in
length, and 1136 grains in capacity; so that these skulls have
increased in length more than five times as much as the skulls of
the six small wild rabbits have decreased in length; hence we might
have expected that the skulls of the large lop-eared rabbits would
have increased in capacity five times as much as the skulls of the
six small rabbits have decreased in capacity; and this would have
given an average increased capacity of 455 grains, whilst the real
average increase is only 155 grains.
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