----+----------------------------------- | VII. | | Showing how much per cent. | the Brain, by calculation, | according to the length of the | Skull, is too light or too heavy, | relatively to the Brain of the | Wild Rabbit No. 1. ----+----------------------------------- 1. | 2. | 3. | ( [2 per cent. too heavy in | ( comparison with No. 1.] 4. | 5. | 4 per cent. too light. 6. | 3 " " 7. | 3 " too heavy. 8. | 2 " " 9. | 16 " too light. 10. | 9 " " | Av. | 7 " " | 11. | 12 " " 12. | 24 " " 13. | 54 " " 14. | 13 " " 15. | 18 " " 16. | 9 " " 17. | 21 " " 18. | 4 " " 19. | 7 " " 20. | 16 " " 21. | 5 " " 22. | 11 " " ----+----------------------------------- 23. | 24. | ----+----------------------------------- {128} I have previously remarked that, if we had possessed many domestic rabbits of the same average size with the wild rabbit, it would have been easy to compare the capacity of their skulls. Now the Himalayan, Moscow, and Angora rabbits (Nos. 11, 12, 13 of Table) are only a little larger in body, and have skulls only a little longer, than the wild animal, and we see that the actual capacity of their skulls is less than in the wild animal, and considerably less by calculation (column 7), according to the difference in the length of their skulls. The narrowness of the brain-case in these three rabbits could be plainly seen and proved by external measurement. The Chinchilla rabbit (No. 14) is a considerably larger animal than the wild rabbit, yet the capacity of its skull only slightly exceeds that of the wild rabbit. The Angora rabbit, No. 13, offers the most remarkable case; this animal in its pure white colour and length of silky fur bears the stamp of long domesticity. It has a considerably longer head and body than the wild rabbit, but the actual capacity of its skull is less than that of even the little wild Porto Santo rabbits. By the standard of the length of skull the capacity (see column 7) is only half of what it ought to have been! I kept this individual animal alive, and it was not unhealthy nor idiotic. This case of the Angora rabbit so much surprised me, that I repeated all the measurements and found them correct. I have also compared the capacity of the skull of the Angora with that of the wild rabbit by other standards, namely, by the length and weight of the body, and by the weight of the limb-bones; but by all these standards the brain appears to be much too small, though in a less degree when the standard of the limb-bones was used; and this latter circumstance