completely backwards that only the outer part of them
should remain in front: they should match exactly in their
descent, and should slant outwards as little as possible."

The same authority asserts that perfect lops are so rare, that a
breeder possessing twenty of the handsomest and most perfect
does would consider himself lucky if, in the course of a year,
he managed to raise twelve full-lopped rabbits out of them all.
As regards variety and purity of colour an experienced breeder
says:--

"The fur of fancy rabbits may be blue, or rather lead-colour,
and white, or black and white, or tawny and white, that is,
tortoiseshell-coloured. But it is not of so much importance what
colours the coat of a rabbit displays, as it is that those
colours shall be arranged in a particular manner, forming
imaginary figures or fancied resemblances to certain objects.
Hence the peculiarities of their markings have been denoted by
distinctive designations. What is termed 'the blue butterfly
smut' was, for some time, considered the most valuable of fancy
rabbits. It is thus named on account of having bluish or
lead-coloured spots on either side of the nose, having some
resemblance to the spread wings of a butterfly, what may be
termed the groundwork of the rabbit's face being white. A black
and white rabbit may also have the face marked in a similar
manner, constituting a 'black butterfly smut.'

"But A good fancy rabbit must likewise have other marks, without
which it cannot be considered a perfect model of its kind. There
should be a black or blue patch on its back, called the saddle;
the tail must be of the same colour with the back and snout;
while the legs should be all white; and there ought to be dark
stripes on both sides of the body in front, passing backwards to
meet the saddle, and uniting on the top of the shoulders at the
part called the withers in a horse. These stripes form what is
termed the 'chain' having somewhat the appearance of a chain or
collar hanging round the neck."

"Among thorough-bred fancy rabbits, perhaps not one in a hundred
will have all these markings clearly and exactly displayed on
the coat; but the more nearly the figures on the coat of a
rabbit approach to the pattern described, the greater will be
its value, so far, at least, as relates to colour