two fources of the river Efra, 150 miles NW. of Madrid. Lon. 5. 31. W. Lat. 42. 35. N. (5.) LEON, a town of France, in the late Piedmontefe, 4 miles N. of Savigliano, and 11 W. of Cherafco. (6.) LEON, an island of Spain, in the Atlantic, feparated from the continent by a narrow ftrait; 10 miles long, and not quite 3 broad. The city of CADIZ ftands on its NW. extremity.. (7.) LEON, a town of Mexico, in Guadalajara; 30 miles E. of Guadalajara. (8.). LEON DE CARACCAS. See CARACCAS, N° 2. (9.). LEON DE GUANUCO. See GUANUCO. (10.) LEON DE NICARAGUA, a town of New Spain, capital of the prov. of Nicaragua; the refidence of the governor, and a bishop's fee. It confifts of about 1200 houses, and has feveral monaf teries and nunneries. At one end of the town is a lake which ebbs and flows like the fea. It is feated at the foot of a volcano, which renders it fubject to earthquakes. It was taken by the buccaneers in 1685, în sight of a Spanish army who were fix to one. Lon. 86. 1o. W. Lat. 12. 25. N. (11.) LEON, NEw, a populous province of N. America, in New Spain; bounded on the E. and S. by Mexico; W. by New Bifcay; and N. by the country of the Aboriginal Indians. The chief towns are Monelova, St Jago, Comargo, and St Ander. The interior parts are full of mountains containing rich mines. (1.) LEONARD, ST, a town of Auftria, 6 m. NE. of Waidthoven, in Batavia. (2, 3.) LEONARD, ST, two towns of France: 1. in the dep. of Vofges, 44 miles S. of St Diey; 2. in that of Upper Vienne; 10 miles E. of Limoges. (4-) LEONARD, ST, a town of Stiria. (5.) LEONARD, ST, DE RACHE, a town of France, in the dep. of the North; miles NE. of Douay. (6.) LEONARD, ST, DES BOIS, a town of France, in the dep. of Maine; 9 miles SW. of Alencon. (7-) LEONARD, ST, LE NOBLET, an ancient town of France, in the dept. of Upper Vienne, and late prov. of Guienne and territory of Limofin, with a confiderable manufactory of cloths and paper. It is feated on the Vienne, 12 miles NE. of Limoges, and 195 S. of Paris. Lon. 1. 35. E. Lat. 45. 54. N. (1.) LEONARDO DA VINCI. See VINCI. (2.) LEONARDO, ST; a town of Spain, in Old Caftile, 11 miles N. of Ofma. LEONARD'S HILL, ST, a hill of Mid Lothian, half a mile E. by S. of Edinburgh, near ARTHUR's SEAT and Salisbury Crags. LEONARD'S TOWs, a poft town of Maryland, capital of St Mary's county; 113 miles S. of Baltimore, and 217 SW. of Philadelphia. LEONATUS, one of Alexander the Great's generals, who faved his life in India. (See INDIA, 4) After that monarch's death he got that part of Phrygia, which borders on the Hellefpont. He was killed in battle, when affifting Antipater against the Athenians. LEONBERG, a town of Suabia, in the duchy of Wurtemberg, 6 miles W. of Stuttgard. LEONCLAVIUS, John, one of the moft learned men of the 16th century, was a native of Weftphalia. He travelled into Turkey, and collected excellent materials for compofing The Ottoman biftory; and it is to him the public is indebted for the best account we have of that empire. To his knowledge in the learned languages, he had added that of the civil law; whereby he was very well qualified to tranflate the Bafilica. His other verfions were esteemed. He died in 1593, aged 60. LEONE, CAPE, or CAPE LEON, a cape on the coaft of Greece, in the Gulf of Engia; 8 miles WSW. of Athens. It was anciently called Artemifium. See ARTEMISIUM, N° 1. LEONESSA, a town of Naples, in Abruzzo Ultra, 19 miles NW. of Aquila. LEONHARD, or Sr, a town of Carinthia, (1.) LEONHART, ) on the Levant, 104 miles WSW. of Vienna, and 42 E. of Clagenfurt, Lon. 15. 23. E. Lat. 46. 57. N. (2.) LEONHART, ST, or ST LEONHARDT, a town of Auftria, 10 miles SW. of St Polten. (1.) LEONI, a town of Naples, in the prov. of Principato Ultra; 12 miles W. of Conza. (2.) LEONI, Giacomo, or James, a Venetian nobleman, who fettled in England, and published a fine edition of Palladio's works in folio, 1742. He died in 1742. LEONICÉNUS, Nicolas, an eminent Italian physician, born in 1428. He was profeffor of medicine at Ferrara, for above 60 years. He was the firft who tranflated Galen's works, which he illuftrated with commentaries. He alfo tranflated Hippocrates's Aphorifms, and the works of Lucian and Dion Caffius into Italian; and wrote De' Plinii et Plurium medicorum in medicina aliorum erroribus. He died in 1524, aged 96. LEONIDAS I. king of Sparta, a renowned warrior, flain in defending the traits of Thermopyla against Xerxes, 480 B. C. See SPARTA. There were other two Spartan kings of this name. (1.) * LEONINE. adj. [leoninus, Latin.] 1. Belonging to a lion; having the nature of a lion. 2. Leonine verfes are thofe of which the end rhimes to the middle, fo named from Leo the inventor; as, Gloria factorum temere conceditur horum. (2.) LEONINE VERSES (§ 1, def. 2.) were much ufed in ancient hymns, epigrams, prophecies, &c. The origin of the word is uncertain; Pasquier des rives it from one LEONINUS Or Leonius, who excelled in this way; and dedicated feveral pieces to Pope Alexander III.; others derive it from Pope Leo; and others from leo, the lion, esteeming it' the loftieft of all verfes, as the fion is ftyled the king of beafts. LEONS, ST, a town of France, in the depart ment of Aveiron, 18 miles ESE. of Rhodez. LEONSBERG. See LEONBERG. LEONSPERG, a fort of Lower Bavaria, 5 miles N. of Diagelfingen. LEONTARI, a town of European Turkey, in the Morea, 20 miles NW. of Mifitra. LEONTEUKA, a town of Ruffia, in Novgrod." LEONTICA, feafts or facrifices celebrated among the ancients in honour of the fun. They were called Leontica, and the priests who officia ted at them Leones, becaufe they reprefented the fun under the figure of a lion radiant, bearing a tiara, and griping in his two fore-paws the horng of a bull, who struggled with him in vain to dif engage A engage himself. The critics are extremely divided Theophraftus, which Cicero praises for purity of about this feaft. Some will have it anniversary, ftyle. Cio. de Nat. Deor. 1. c. 33. and to have made its return not in a solar but in a lunar year; but others hold its return more frequent, and give instances where the period was not above 220 days. The ceremony was fometimes alfo called MITHRAICA; Mithras being the name of the fun among the ancient Perfians. (See MITHRAS.) A man was always facrificed at thefe feasts, till the time of Adrian, who prohibited it by a law. Commodus introduced the custom afresh, after whofe time it was again exploded. LEONTICE, LION'S LEAF, a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the hexandria clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 24th order, Corydales. The corolla is hexapetalous; the nectarium hexaphyllous, ftanding on the heels of the corolla, with its limb patent; the calyx hexaphyllous, and deciduous. There are 4 fpecies, natives of the fouthern part of Europe, two of which are fometimes cultivated in this country. These are, 1. LEONTICE CHRYSOGOMUM, with winged leaves; and 2. LEONTICE LEONTOPETALUM, with decom. pounded leaves. Both are natives of the Archipelago iflands, and alfo grow in the corn-fields about Aleppo in Syria, where they flower foon after Christmas. They have large tuberous roots, like those of the cyclamen, covered with a darkbrown bark. The flowers fit upon naked footftalks: thofe of the first fort fuftain many yellow flowers, but the flowers of the 2d are of a paler colour. Both are propagated by feeds, which must be sown foon after they are ripe, otherwife they feldom fucceed. When fent to diftant countries, they must be preserved in fand. The plants are, however, very difficult to be preferved in this country: for they will not thrive in pots; and when planted in the full ground, froft frequently deftroys them. The best way is to fow the feed as foon as it comes from abroad, covering it with glaffes in the winter to protect it from frost; and, in the spring, when the plants begin to appear, they must have free air admitted to them at all times when the weather is mild, otherwife they will be weak.. LEONTINÍ, or a town of Sicily, on the S. (1.) LEONTIUM, fide of the river Terias, 20 miles NW. of Syracufe. The territory, called Campi Leontini, was extremely fertile (Cicero); anciently called Campi Laftrigonii, the feat of the Læftrigons, according to the commentators on the poets: The name LEONTINI from Leo, the impreffion on their coin being a lion. It is now called LENTINI. (2.) LEONTIUM, one of the 12 towns of Achaia, whether on, or more diftant from, the bay of Corinth, is uncertain. (3.) LEONTIUM, a celebrated courtezan of Athens, who ftudied philofophy under Epicurus, and carried on her bufinefs with his pupils, and fome fay with himself. She was either the wife or concubine of Methrodorus the philofopher, by whom she had a fon, to whom Epicurus left a legacy. She had also a daughter named Danae, who married the poet Sophron. She wrote a book in defence of Epicurus's doctrine, against LEONTODON, DANDELION, a genus of the polygamia æqualis order, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, Compofita. The receptacle is naked; the calyx imbricated, with the fcales fomewhat loofe; the pappus feathery. There are 9 fpecies, of which the most remarkable one is LEONTODON TARAXACUM, the common DANDELION, found on the road fides, in paftures, and on the banks of ditches. Early in fpring, the leaves, whilft yet white and hardly unfolded, are an excellent ingredient in falads. The French eat the roots and tender leaves with bread and butter. Children who eat it in the evening experience its diuretic effects in the night, which is the reason that other European nations, as well as ourselves, vulgarly call it piss-a-bed. When a fwarm of lo cufts had deftroyed the harvest in the island of Minorca, many of the inhabitants fubfifted upon this plant. The expreffed juice has been given to the quantity of 4 oz. three or four times a-day; and Boerhaave had a great opinion of the utility of this and other lactefcent plants in vifceral obftructions. Goats eat it; fwine devour it greedi ly; fheep and cows are not fond of it, and horses refufe it. Small birds are fond of the seeds. LEONTOPETALUM. See LEONTICE, N° 2. LEONURUS, LION'S TAIL, a genus of the gymnofpermia order, belonging to the didynamia clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 42d order, Verticillata. The anthe re are powdered with fhining points, or small ele vated globular particles. There are 5 species. I. LEONURUS AFRICANA, with fpear-shaped leaves, is a native of Ethiopia. It rifes with a fhrubby ftalk 7 or 8 feet high, fending out feveral four cornered branches, garnifhed with oblong narrow leaves, acutely indented on their edges, hairy on their upper fide, ftanding oppofite. The flowers are produced in whorls, each branch having two or three of thefe whorls towards the end. They are of the lip kind, shaped somewhat like thofe of the dead nettle, but much longer, and covered with fhort hairs. They are of a golden fcarlet colour, and make a fine appearance. The flowers commonly appear in Oct. and Nov. and fometimes continue till the middle of Dec. but are not fucceeded by feeds in this country. There is a variety with variegated leaves which is admi. red, but the whorls are smaller than those of the plain fort. 2. LEONURUS NEPETAFOLIA, with oval leaves, is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. It rifes with a fquare fhrubby stalk about three feet high, fending out feveral four-cornered branches, gar. nished with oval crenated leaves, rough on their under fide like the dead nettle, but veined on the upper fide, and placed oppofite. The flowers come out in whorls like thofe of the former fort, but are not fo long nor fo deep coloured. They appear at the fame feafon with the firft, and continue as long in beauty. Both these species are propagated by cuttings, which fhould be exposed to the air long enough to harden the fhoots, and planted in the beginning of July, after which they will take root very freely. They should be planted in a loamy border to an eastern aspect; covered closely with a bell or hand glass to exclude the air, and fhaded from the fun. As foon as they have taken good root, they fhould be taken up and planted in feparate pots, filled with foft loamy earth, and placed in the fhade till they have taken new root. In October they must be removed into the green-house. LEONZO, ST, a town of Naples, in Calabria Ultra; 17 miles NE. of Girace. (1.)* LEOPARD. n. f. [leo and pardus, Latin.] A fpotted beat of prey. Sheep run not half so tim❜rous from the wolf, Or horfe or oxen from the leopard, As you fly from your oft-fubdued flaves. Shak. -A leopard is every way, in fhape and actions, like a cat his head, teeth, tongue, feet, claws, tail, all like a cat's: he boxes with his fore-feet, as a cat doth her kittens; leaps at the prey, as a cat at a mouse; and will alfo fpit much after the fame manner: fo that they feem to differ, juft as a kite doth from an eagle. Greav's Museum. Before the king tame leopards led the way, And troops of lions innocently play. Dryden. (2-4.) LEOPARD. See FELIS, N° VII. IX. & X. LEOPARDALIS. See FELIS, N° IX, LEOPARD'S BANE, in botany. See DORONI. CUM. (1, 2.) LEOPOLD I. and II. emperors of Germany. See GERMANY, § 18, and 25. (3) LEOPOLD, in geography. See LEMBERG. LEOPOLDINE ACADEMY. See ACADEMY, NO X. LEOPOLDSCHLAG, a town of Austria. LEOPOLDSTADT, a town of Hungary, on the Wagg, built by Leopold I. in 1665; 56 miles E. of Vienna, and 116 NE. of Gratz. LEOPOLIS. See LEMBERG, N° 4. LEOTAUD, Vincent, a French Jefuit and mathematician, who published a work entitled Examen Quadrature, in 4to, 1654; in which he proves the impoffibility of demonftrating the quadrature of the circle. (1.) LEOTONG, an extenfive country of Afia, bounded on the S. by the fea and a part of China; on the W. by part of Tartary; on the N. by Chinefe Tartary, and on the E. by Korea. From this country the Tartars entered China, when they conquered it. The inhabitants are neither fo polite nor fo industrious as the Chinese. (2.) LEOTONG, a large and populous town, capital of the above country. LEOTYCHIDES, king of Sparta, a celebrated general of the Greeks, who by his courage and conduct put an end to the Perfian war, at the famous battle of MYCALE. He afterwards fell a facrifice to the intrigues of the Ephori, after reign ing 22 years; A. A. C. 469. LEOVILLE, a town of France, in the dep. of Lower Charente; 14 miles SSE. of Pons. LEOVITIUS, or Cyprian, a Bohemian aftroLEOWICQU, nomer and aftrologer, born in 1504, and fprung from a noble family. He publifhed Ephemerides, and fome other works, in which he inferted predictions that alarmed great numbers in Germany; particularly that the world would come to an end in 1584. But he did not live to fee his prediction falfified, as he died in 1574. LEPANTO, a very confiderable town of European Turkey, in Livadia, with an archbishop's fee and a ftrong fort. It is built on the top of a mountain, in form of a fugar loaf; and divided into 4 towns, each furrounded by walls, and commanded by a caftle on the top of the mountain. The harbour is very small, and may be fhut up by a chain, the entrance being but 50 feet wide. It was taken by the Venetians in 1687; but was afterwards evacuated, and the caftle demolished in 1699, in confequence of the treaty of Carlowitz. Near this town Don John of Austria obtained the famous victory over the Turkish fleet in 1571. The produce of the adjacent country is wine, oil, corn, and rice. Turkey leather is manufactured here. The wine would be exceedingly good if they did not pitch their veffels on the infide, but this renders the tafte very difagreeable to thofe who are not accustomed to it. The Turks have 6 or 7 mofques, and the Greeks two churches. It is feated on a gulph of the same name. Lon. 22. 13. E. Lat. 38. 34. N. (1.) LEPAS, the ACORN, in zoology; a genus belonging to the order of vermes teftaceæ. The animal is the triton; the fhell is multivalve, unequal, fixed by a ftem or feffile. There are feveral fpecies, of which the moft remarkable is, the LEPAS ANATIFERA, confifting of five shells depreffed, affixed to a pedicle, and in clufters. It adheres to the bottom of ships by its pedicles, The tentacula are feathered; and gave the old English hiftorians and naturalifts the idea of a bird. They afcribed the origin of the barnacle goofe to thofe fhells. See Plate CXCVIII. Fig. 6, (II.) LEPAS, the LIMPET. See PATELLA, No II. LEPE, a town of Spain, in Seville. *LEPER. n. f. [lepra, leprofus, Latin.] One in fected with a leprofy. I am no loathfome leper; look on me. Shak. -The leper in whom the plague is, his cloaths fhall be rent. Lev. xiii. 45. * LEPEROUS. adj. [formed from leprous, to make out a verfe.] Caufing leprofy; infected with leprofy; leprous. Upon my fecure hour thy uncle stole, Shak, LEPERS, ISLE OF, one of the New Hebrides. The natives are partly blacks, partly mulattoes, They are much afflicted with the leprofy, which led M. Bougainville to give the ifland this name. Lon. 168. E. Lat. 15. 23. S. LEPETANE, a town in Albania, on the canal of Cattaro. It has excellent vineyards. LEPIDIUM, DITTANDER, or PEPPERWORT, a genus of the filiculofæ order, belonging to the tetradynamia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, Siliquofa, The filicula are emarginated, córdated, and polyfpermous, with the valves carinated contrary or broader than the partition. There are 19 fpecies, of which the moft remarkable is, LEPIDIUM LATIFOLIUM, or the common DITTANDER, It is a plague of leprosy. Lev. xiii. 3. Be tween the malice of my enemies and other mens mistakes, I put as great a difference as between the itch of novelty and the leprofy of disloyalty. King Charles-Authors, upon the firft entrance of the pox, looked upon it fo highly infectious, that they ran away from it as much as the Jews did from the leprofy. Wifeman. BITTANDER. It is a native of both Scotland and England. It hath small, white, creeping roots, by which it multiplies very faft, and is difficult to be eradicated after it has long grown in any place. The ftalks are fmooth, rife two feet high, and fend out many fide branches. The flowers grow in close bunches towards the top of the branches, coming out from the fide; they are fmall, and compofed of 4 small white petals. The feeds ripen in autumn. The whole plant has a hot biting tafte like pepper; and the leaves have been often used by the country people to give a relish to their viands inftead of that spice, whence the plant has got the appellation of poor man's pepper. It is reckoned an antifcorbutic, and was formerly ufed inftead of the horse radish fcurvy-grass. LEPIDOPTERA, in zoology, an order of infects, with 4 wings, covered with imbricated fquamulæ. See ENTOMOLOGY, Se&t. V. LEPIDUS, M. Æmilius, one of the triumvirs with Antony and Octavius. (See ROME.) He was forced to resign by Augustus, and died in obfcurity at Cerceli; A. A. C. 13. LEPISMA, in zoology; a genus of apterous infects, the characters of which are thefe: They have fix feet formed for running: the mouth is furnished with 4 palpi, two of which are cetaceous and two capitated; the tail is terminated by extended briftles, and the body imbricated with fcales. There are 7 fpecies. LEPISMA SACCHARINA, (Plate CXCIX.) is an American species, fo called because moftly found among fugar; but is now common in Europe. It is of a leaden colour, rather inclining to that of filver, by the small filvery fcales with which it is covered; in which circumftance it refembles the filver fish, especially in its under part. It is found in gardens, under boxes, and in the crevices of window-fafhes in houses, where it is very common. It runs with great swiftnefs, and is difficult to catch. When touched, it loofes part of its fcales, and its foftness makes it easy to crush. LEPITHUS. See LAPATHUS. LEPIUM, in natural history, a genus of foffils of the harder gypfum, compofed of very fmall particles, and of a lefs glittering hue. There is only one fpecies of this genus, being one of the leaft valuable and most impure of the clafs of gypfums. It is of an extremely rude, irregular, coarfe, and unequal ftructure; a little foft to the touch, of a very dull appearance, and of different degrees of a greyish white. It is burnt in plafter for the coarfer works; it calcines very flowly and unequally, and makes but a very coarse plaf ter. *LEPORINE. adj. [leporinus, Lat.] Belong ing to a hare; having the nature of hare. LEPPERSTOWN, a town of Ireland, in the county of Waterford, Munfter. * LEPROSITY. n. f. [from leprous.] Squamous difeafe.-If the crudities, impurities, and leprofities of metals were cured, they would become gold. Bacon. * (1.) LEPROSY. n. f. [lepra, Latin; lepre, Fr.] A loathfome diftemper, which covers the body with a kind of white fcales. So all the Athenian bofoms, and their crops, Be general leprofy. Shak. (2.) The LEPROSY is a foul cutaneous disease, appearing in dry, white, thin, scurvy scabs, either on the whole body, or part of it, and usually attended with a violent itching and other pains. See MEDICINE, Index. The leprofy is of various kinds, but the Jews were particularly subject to that called ELEPHANTIASIS. The Jewith law excluded all lepers from communion with mankind, without excepting even kings. And vari ous ceremonies were ordained to be performed by them after they were cleansed, previous to their re-admiffion into fociety. See Lev. xiii. 42 -59. xiv. 1-57 LEPROUS. adj. [lepra, Lat. lepreux, Fr.] Infected with a leprofy. The filly amorous fucks his death, By drawing in a leprous harlot's breath. Denne. LEPSINA, a town of Turkey, in Livadia. LEPTODECORHOMBES, in natural history, a genus of foffils of the order of the felenita; con fifting of 10 planes, each fo nearly equal to that opposite to it as very much to approach to a decahedral parallelopiped, though never truly or regularly fo. There are only five known fpecies: viz. 1. A thin, fine, pellucid, and flender-ftreaked kind, with tranfverfe ftriæ, found in confiderable quantities in the ftrata of clay in moft parts of England, particularly near Haddington in Oxford fire. 2. A thin, dull-looking, opaque, and flender-ftreaked fort, more fcarce, found principally in Leicestershire and Staffordshire. 3. A thin fine-ftreaked fpecies, with longitudinal ftriæ, found in the clay pits at Richmond, generally at great depths. This has often on its top and bottom a very elegant smaller rhomboid, defcribed by 4 regular lines. 4. A rough kind, with thick tranfverfe ftriæ, and a feabrous surface, very common in Leicestershire and Yorkshire. And, 5. A very fhort kind, with thick plates, common in the clay-pits of Northamptonshire and Yorkshire, LEPTOPOLYGINGLYMI, in natural history, a genus of foflil thells, diftinguiflied by a number of minute teeth at the cardo; whereof great numbers are found at Harwich cliff, and in the marl pits of Suffex. LEPTUM, in antiquity, a fmall piece of money, which, according to fome, was only the 8th part of an obolus; but others will have it to be a filver or brafs drachm. LEPTURA, in zoology, a genus of infects belonging to the order of coleoptera, the characters of which are these. The feelers are briftly; the elytra are attenuated towards the apex: and the thorax is fomewhat cylindrical. There are 15 fpecies, principally diftinguished by their colours. See Plate CXCVIII. fig. 7. (1.) LEPUS, the HARE, in aftronomy, a conftellation of the southern hemisphere. See ASTRONOMY, § 548. (II.) LEPUS, the нHARE, in zoology, a genus of 1. LEPUS ALPINUS, the Mountain bare, or Alpine rabbit, has short, broad, rounded ears; no tail; a long head, and very long whiskers, with two very long hairs above each eye: the colour of the fur at the bottom is dusky, towards the ends of a bright ferruginous colour; the tips white, and intermixed are feveral long dufky hairs, though on first inspection the whole feems of a bright bay. The length of the animal is 9 inches. This fpe. cies is firft feen on the Altaic chain; extends to lake Baikal; thence to Kamtschatka; and is found in the Fox iflands. They inhabit always the middle region of the fnowy mountains, in the rudeft places, wooded, and abounding with herbs and moisture. They fometimes form burrows between the rocks, and often lodge in the crevices. They are generally found in pairs: but in cloudy weather they collect together, and lie on the rocks, and give a keen whiftle, very like that of a sparrow. On the report of a gun, they run into their holes, but foon come out again. By wonderful instinct they provide against the rigorous seafon. A company of them, toward autumn, collect together vaft heaps of herbs and graffes, nicely dried, which they place either beneath the over-hanging rocks, or between the chafms, or round the trunks of trees. In many places the herbs appear fcattered, as if to be dried in the fun. The heaps are formed of round or conoid ricks; and are of various fizes, according to the number of the fociety employed in forming them. They are fometimes of a man's height, and many feet in diameter, but ufually about 3 feet. Without this provifion of winter's stock they would perish during the ftorms of fnow. They felect the beft of vegetables, and crop them when in the fullest vigour, which they make into excellent hay, by drying it. Thefe ricks occafion fertility amidst the rocks; for the reliques, mixed with the dung of the animal, rot in the barren chafms, and form a foil productive of vegetables. These ricks are also of great fervice to those people who hunt fables; for their horfes would often perish, if they had not the provifion of these little induftrious animals to fupport them; which is eafily to be difcovered by their height and form, even when covered with fnow. The people of Jakutz feed both their horfes and cattle with the reliques of the winter-stock of thefe hares. These animals are neglected as a food by mankind; but are the prey of fables and the Siberian weafels. They are likewife greatly infefted with a fort of gad-fly, which lodges its egg in their skin in Auguft and September, which often proves destructive to them. 2. LEPUS AMERICANUS, the American hare, or hedge coney, has the ears tipt with grey: the upper part of the tail is black, the lower white: the neck and body are mixed with cinereous, ruft colour, and black; the legs are of a pale ferruginous colour; and the belly is white: the fore legs are horter, and the hind legs longer, in proportion, VOL. XIII. PART I. than those of the common hare. It is 18 inches long, and weighs from 3 to 4 lb. This fpecies inhabits all parts of North America. In New Jerfey, and the ftates S. of it, it retains its colour the whole year. In New England, Canada, and about Hudfon's Bay, at the approach of winter, it changes its short summer's fur for one very long, filky, and filvery, even to the roots of the hairs; the edges of the ears only preferving their colour. Thefe hares are then in the highest feafon for the table; and are of vaft ufe to those who winter in Hudfon's Bay, where they are taken in great abundance in fprings made of brafs wire, to which they are led by a hedge made for that purpose, with holes left before the fnares for the hares to pass through.-They breed once or twice a-year, and have from 5 to 7 at a time. They do not migrate, but always haunt the fame places; neither do they burrow, but lodge under fallen timber, and in hollow trees. They breed in the grass; but in fpring fhelter their young in the trees, to which they alfo run when purfued; from which, in the fouthern states, the hunters force them by a hooked ftick, or by making a fire, and driving them out by the smoke. 3. LEPUS BRASILIENSIS, the Brafilian hare, has very large ears, no tail, and generally a white ring round the neck. It is of the fize and colour of a common hare (see N° 12.), but resembles the rabbit in general appearance. It inhabits the woods in S. America and Mexico. 4. LEPUS CAPENSIS, the Cape hare, has long ears dilated in the middle; the outfides naked, and of a rofe colour, the infide and edges covered with fhort grey hairs: the crown and back are of a dufky colour, mixed with tawny; the cheeks and fides cinereous; the breaft, belly, and legs, ruft-coloured; the tail is bufhy, carried upwards, and of a pale ferruginous colour. This fpecies is about the fize of a rabbit. It inhabits the country 3 days journey N. of the Cape of Good Hope; where it is called the mountain hare, for it lives only in the rocky mountains, and does not burrow. It is difficult to fhoot it, as, on the fight of any one, it inftantly runs into the fiffures of the rocks. 5.LEPUS CUNICULUS, the common RABBIT, has a very fhort tail, and naked ears. The colour of the fur, in a wild ftate, is brown; the tail black above, white beneath: in a tame ftate the general colour varies, and the eyes are of a fine red. The original native country of this fpecies is Spain, where they were formerly taken with ferrets, as is now practifed here. They love a temperate or warm climate, and are incapable of bearing great cold: In Sweden they are kept in houfes. They abound in Britain. Their furs make a confiderable article in the hat manufactories; and of late fuch part of the fur as is unfit for that purpose, has been found as goo das feathers for ftuffing beds and bolftes Numbers of the fkins are annually exported to China. The English counties moft noted for rabbits are Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Cambridgehire. Methwold is famous for the best kind for the table: the foil there is fandy, and full of moffes and the CAREX grafs. Rabbits fwarm in the Orkneys, where their skins form a confiderable article of commerce. They are in general grey : T thofe |