HARE

ארנבת , Arabic arneb , Lev. xi, 6; Deut. xiv, 7. This name is derived, as Bochart and others suppose, from ארה , to crop , and ניב , the produce of the ground ; these animals being remarkable for devouring young plants and herbage. This animal resembles the rabbit, but is larger, and somewhat longer in proportion to its thickne . The hare in Syria, says Dr. Ru el, is distinguished into two species, differing considerably in point of size. The largest is the Turkman hare, and chiefly haunts the plains; the other is the common hare of the desert: both are abundant. The difficulty as to this animal is, that Moses says the arnabeth chews the cud, which our hares do not: but Aristotle takes notice of the same circumstance, and affirms that the structure of its stomach is similar to that of ruminating animals. The animal here mentioned may then be a variety of the species.